OP
Doctor Rig
Contributor
Good posting and some worthy experienced advice. Thanks!
Poll: What are the top tier regulator brands?
- Thread starter Doctor Rig
- Start date
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Good posting and some worthy experienced advice. Thanks!
Floats
Registered
I see Scubapro seems to be rated highly. I am new to all this. But I have had several people, unrelated to one another, tell me that Scubapro Warranty and Customer service is very poor and that once you buy a SP item you are on your own, with no support. If that is true why rate it so high? If not true why are people saying that? It seems odd that several people would say that without some justification.
OP
Doctor Rig
Contributor
Floats, I’ll try to reply, based on what I’ve learned from the replies from this thread and elsewhere. I relatively new to this too, and that’s the reason I started this tread.
At one time Scubapro had a parts for life free program and recently they abandoned that program and their commentment to customers on the same. As a result, many customers are not happy with Scubapro over this. But Scubapro undeniably makes good equipment that holds up well.
There was a lot of good dialog on this thread about service intervals, costs and what’s actually needed. The manufacturer’s approach to service varies significantly across the industry. I heard one should not buy a regulator based on any service warranty, as they ultimately aren’t worth much. It’s most important to have access to good service options, wherever you’re diving.
There is one new company Deep6 that has a unique straight forward approach to service, where they offer rebuild instructions and easily obtainable service parts to owners, which I understand divers like. This approach is attractive and uniquely different than anyone else in the industry.
Hopefully, the above is a unique representation of SB memeber comments on this thread. Let’s see what further comments we get.
W W Meixner
Banned
Doc...Floats...others...
I've always tried not to dis someone elses choices...most folks will buy what they like for reasons that suit them...I previously mentioned the two piles of dive gear most divers have...the large useless pile...and the small useful pile...there's lots of purchasing mistakes made in this industry and lots of reasons why...a lot of the mistakes have to do with buying the wrong product from the wrong dealer...and not asking enough questions...
If a dealer ever says to you...''you ask a lot of questions''...that should be the last thing he or she says before you turn around and walk out the door...
Over and above brand choice...dealer/retailer choice is paramount...
In an effort to put money in the till...some retailers will sell brands that they are not factory authorized to sell...or certified to service...some will resort to going through ''back-door'' sources to get the buyers choice in the store...and then offer you all kinds of reasons why they don't want the gear back in the shop the first time you have a problem...on the other side of the coin...there's the dealers who will attempt to service everything whether they are certified to service that particular product or not...and one is just as bad as the other...
If your ''local dealer'' doesn't normally stock your desired product and provide ''all'' required support...certified or otherwise...stay away from that particular product and find something else...remember your dealer is your ''master link'' to warranty...
Touching on warranty...most manufacturers have on-line product registration...and completing purchaser product registration is very important...especially for the expensive gear...regs/BCD's/computers/dry-suits...etc...most manufacturers will not allow the products to be registered for warranty if the selling dealer was not authorized by the manufacturer to retail the products...where you buy is as important as what you buy...this is one of the primary reasons there are so many complaints about...''no after sales support''...no manufacturer authorization means no support...
If you don't mind boxing up and return shipping your regs in for service...you can't go wrong with a US based retailer like Dive Gear Express...they sell a wide range of brands...have excellent house brand products...know all the answers to all the questions...and most importantly are factory authorized to service what they sell...
Dive Safe...
Warren...
OP
Doctor Rig
Contributor
Well said Warren! That clarification is helpful, for all, even if just a reminder.
I know you said you don’t like to dis others, but would you comment on the Deep 6 service model. I’d like to hear your associated thoughts.
W W Meixner
Banned
runsongas
Contributor
if your LDS doesn't carry the gear you want, find another LDS or buy it online. you don't owe your LDS anything.
Not sure of the objective for your survey, but thought I would point out that your results are probably biased towards the availability and market penetration of the brands within the Scubaboard population, rather than measuring a true head to head comparison. for instance, I can provide knowledgeable feedback on 3-4 of these brands, but have little if any direct knowledge or experience on most of the others.
OP
Doctor Rig
Contributor
”Top Tier” Regulator Brand Poll Final Report:
This thread’s poll closed today with 87 replies and 4630 views. Thanks to everyone for your informative posts..... impressive! Approximately 137 people cast votes (410 total votes) for their “three top tier brand’s with regulators less than $600”. Four (4) brands received the large majority of available voting, so they are appropriately named our “top tier” regulator brands.
89% voted for Scubapro
78% voted for Apeks
69% voted for Atomic
33% voted for Aqualung
There is one brand, Deep 6, which was unintentionally omitted from the poll. SBers appropriately commented about their omission and have shared many supportive posts and comments. Based on this information and other related SB threads, I do believe Deep 6 deserves to be considered a top tier brand, with one reservation. As a new brand, Deep 6 already has a dedicated and growing customer base for their regulators, but apparently they are having some manufacturing growing pains keeping product in stock.
Since this poll was to be based on brands with regulators less than $600, I thought our top tier brand’s number of regulator models, less than $600, would be of interest within this summary.
6 of 10 (60%) for Apeks
5 of 14 (36%) for Aqualung
5 of 11 (45%) for Scubapro
2 of 10 (20%) for Atomic
1 of 1 (100%) for Deep 6
Reader comments have been very informative, which leads me to believe these poll results primarily apply only for the North American market, as prices, service and availability can be significantly different elsewhere.
Thanks for everyone’s thread participation and informative contributions.
This thread’s poll closed today with 87 replies and 4630 views. Thanks to everyone for your informative posts..... impressive! Approximately 137 people cast votes (410 total votes) for their “three top tier brand’s with regulators less than $600”. Four (4) brands received the large majority of available voting, so they are appropriately named our “top tier” regulator brands.
89% voted for Scubapro
78% voted for Apeks
69% voted for Atomic
33% voted for Aqualung
There is one brand, Deep 6, which was unintentionally omitted from the poll. SBers appropriately commented about their omission and have shared many supportive posts and comments. Based on this information and other related SB threads, I do believe Deep 6 deserves to be considered a top tier brand, with one reservation. As a new brand, Deep 6 already has a dedicated and growing customer base for their regulators, but apparently they are having some manufacturing growing pains keeping product in stock.
Since this poll was to be based on brands with regulators less than $600, I thought our top tier brand’s number of regulator models, less than $600, would be of interest within this summary.
6 of 10 (60%) for Apeks
5 of 14 (36%) for Aqualung
5 of 11 (45%) for Scubapro
2 of 10 (20%) for Atomic
1 of 1 (100%) for Deep 6
Reader comments have been very informative, which leads me to believe these poll results primarily apply only for the North American market, as prices, service and availability can be significantly different elsewhere.
Thanks for everyone’s thread participation and informative contributions.
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