meridiano tank rental cost

[ggunn]

And you were fine when they charged you $10 more for horse radish - got it.

Um, no, you haven't got it. I got plenty of horseradish at both places. The thing is, I didn't balk at the high price at the first place because I knew going in that it was an upscale eatery and everything was going to be more expensive there. It was my choice to eat there and I didn't hassle the waitress about how much those oysters cost them and try to tell her how much they should charge me. I could have passed on the oysters, or even eaten somewhere cheaper, but I didn't, so I paid the $36 and didn't whine about it.

It really is the same thing. If you don't like the asking price, don't buy it. If no one bought nitrox at 10 bucks, then the price would come down, but that is obviously not happening, so either pony up or not. It's your choice. The markup has got nothing to do with anything.

 

[Christi]

No argument there. As I previously said, I opted not to buy nitrox on my last visit because of the cost. Had it been more reasonable, I would probably have got the upgrade. If I'd done that, I'd have been happier, and the dive shop would have made some extra money (just not the 400% or whatever it works out to). In the end, a business has to decide what they market will bear. I don't think many Cozumel diveshops are losing customers over the price of nitrox. They're just selling less nitrox than they might otherwise sell. Maybe enough people buy it anyway that they don't think it would be beneficial to reduce the price.

I just figured it's probably not much extra effort to order 50 air and 20 nitrox (or whatever they need for that day) than it is to just order 70 air from merry-d. Maybe I'm wrong about the $100ish/year cost of a nitrox analyzer being significant to their bottom line.

kelemvor - I'm not addressing you or arguing with you I just happened to click reply on your post I am addressing the thread in general - not to be argumentative, just to clarify some variables that have been brought up throughout the thread.

With that said, I know what my costs of doing business are, and I know what diving services and ours specifically are worth and what it takes to break even or to realize a very small profit.

We replace sensors (@$100 each) every 2-3 months and replace the entire units 12 - 18 months or as needed in reply to that question. They get heavy use - on a daily basis in a moist salt air climate.

Most of our divers use nitrox, but not for every dive - it's typically 1 air and 1 nitrox - air on the wall dives and nitrox typically on the second and subsequent - depends on what we're doing.

I provide nitrox to my DM's on the 2nd and subsequent tanks of the day - every single day. My DM's average 70 minutes a dive so they are also paid accordingly.

I don't rent nitrox tanks, I own my tanks - so again, costs are not simply the fills. In fact, I just purchased 20 new tanks - in addition to the cost of the actual tanks, add about $70usd a tank to get them from the states to the island + the cost of stamping them and inspections once they arrive.

Gordon seems to "get it" - while some of you may believe the markup on Nitrox is egregious - you're not really looking at the big picture.

Nitrox retail prices range from $10 - $15 on the island - that's SOP here on the island among 80 - 100 shops - it's not one or two shops doing it, so that has to say something about our actual costs of providing nitrox.

For those of you who think the mark-up is too high, that's your perception and you're entitled to it - but it does not mean that we (dive ops) are ripping anyone off or making a big profit off of it - even those of you who fill your own gas in your garage and think you understand our costs of doing business here. I'll add that those published prices do NOT include the 16% tax that we also pay.

 

[gopbroek]

We replace sensors (@$100 each) every 2-3 months and replace the entire units 12 - 18 months or as needed in reply to that question. They get heavy use - on a daily basis in a moist salt air climate.

Christi if you are using an Analox O2EII Analyzer you might try DGX's aftermarket sensors, they cost $75 and seem to last significantly longer than 2-3 months. I muled one down to Servando a few weeks back..

From DGX: "The PSR-11-37-52D will work in the Analox O2EII Analyzer."

Specialty Oxygen Sensors (Analyzers)

 

[Christi]

Christi if you are using an Analox O2EII Analyzer you might try DGX's aftermarket sensors, they cost $75 and seem to last significantly longer than 2-3 months. I muled one down to Servando a few weeks back..

From DGX: "The PSR-11-37-52D will work in the Analox O2EII Analyzer."

Specialty Oxygen Sensors (Analyzers)

THANK YOU! I owe you a coffee or two or three for that tip!!

 

[BRT]

So far there has been cost analysis, but what about value analysis to the diver?

How much increase % of dive time per day, Vs, how much increase in %cost per day, air Vs Nitrox? If your %increased dive minutes is greater than your % increase dollars paid, than you have also "profited", and then Nitrox upgrade can be described as "profit sharing" between shop and diver.

I would say that generally we get little or no additional dive time. We may stay deeper and we do exit with less nitrogen.

 

[cvchief]

I would say that generally we get little or no additional dive time. We may stay deeper and we do exit with less nitrogen.

I definitely get longer dives. BT would cut me short on air.

And I think it is fair to say, it increases labor costs. I know we are typically last on the boat and make for a longer work day for the DM and crew.

 

[blue steal]

Gary is correct some of the cheaper aftermarket 02 sensors work better and much longer.
I purchase them in bulk for our facility and they run continuously up to 6 months in a moist environment.
As far as analyzers go even the top of the line units only seem to last 3-4 years.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Gary is correct some of the cheaper aftermarket 02 sensors work better and much longer.
I purchase them in bulk for our facility and they run continuously up to 6 months in a moist environment.
As far as analyzers go even the top of the line units only seem to last 3-4 years.

Dear Blue Steal,

Our lifetime expectation goes way down on all kinds of equipment when used by uneducated employees who seldom treat equipment well. Not to slam them, they just don't have any kind of appreciation. You should see what they do with handheld radios! My guess is that people in your SoCal facility treat stuff with respect—not here.

Of course we have 8 boats and lots of crews and it is hard to closely supervise all of them

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[caseybird]

Dear Blue Steal,

Our lifetime expectation goes way down on all kinds of equipment when used by uneducated employees who seldom treat equipment well. Not to slam them, they just don't have any kind of appreciation. You should see what they do with handheld radios! My guess is that people in your SoCal facility treat stuff with respect—not here.

Of course we have 8 boats and lots of crews and it is hard to closely supervise all of them

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Dave,
Did you just admit you're employees are uneducated, abuse the gear and are poorly supervised?
I think you need to explain this post.

 

[BRT]

Dave,
Did you just admit you're employees are uneducated, abuse the gear and are poorly supervised?
I think you need to explain this post.

Yikes Caseybird! Do you have any employees? No matter how good they are they do not care for tools and equipment like the owner does. If you could watch them all the time you wouldn't need employees.