paulwall
Contributor
reefraff:Draining a tank, removing the valve and shipping it cross country means that the tank needs a VIP inspection before filling; the age of the tank does not matter. You may disagree with the protocol but that doesn't change the reality, regardless of what you read on the internet.
Because the online dealers can't follow the protocols by inspecting the tanks upon arrival, their stickers are meaningless and dive shops should not honor them. Some probably do, many won't, so caveat emptor.
Interesting, because I got that statement from the LDS that was filling the tank (After I had it shipped in from scubatoys.com and after several other fills he had done. The VIP sticker fell off after nearly a year.