Where do you folks have your Regs serviced?

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

I provide a complimentary spare O-ring kit when I return customers regulators in the event they might need them between service intervals. Kit includes two sizes for valves, HP and LP hose and HP gauge spool.

 

[The Chairman]

I provide a complimentary spare O-ring kit

Nice touch!

 

[YukonJack]

It should be pointed out that we don't know what was replaced. Replacing hoses can add up quickly.

BTW, my biggest pet peeve is to have someone on the dive with a freshly serviced set of regs and you see champagne bubbles coming from the SPG. Two tiny o-rings that should be replaced with every reg service. They don't come in any kit, so a few shops just skip them.

No hoses were replaced. Like I mentioned, I'm not jamming on my LDS, they provided me great training for my OW certification, and they are really nice folks. Just looking around to see what other's experiences are. I did learn to open (unscrew) my second stage reg and my Air2 so that I could look inside and understand them better, but servicing is a whole different ball game for me.

 

[tbone1004]

yeah you just got ripped off big time then. Sounds like you got charged top dollar. $35 for each of the three parts kits, and $35 for the four different components. Atomic charges $35 for their kits, and $25 for the SS1 *air2 equivalent*, but you just got ripped off, not much else to say about it unfortunately

 

[The Chairman]

yeah you just got ripped off big time then.

Comments like this aren't helpful and make many LDSs hate ScubaBoard with these over the top statements. There's no need to bash any LDS. You're suggesting $35/stage for labor and $35/stage for parts and that's $210 right there. There was also a BC check in there, so that might be another $25. Add in taxes and $250 is not a "Rip off". A rip off is when you DON'T get what you paid for. That didn't happen here. Was it a cheap service? Nope. But hopefully, he got what he paid for; quality service! I just don't understand the need to be so combative. Not even on the interwebs.

 

[tbone1004]

Comments like this aren't helpful and make many LDSs hate ScubaBoard with these over the top statements. There's no need to bash any LDS. You're suggesting $35/stage for labor and $35/stage for parts and that's $210 right there. There was also a BC check in there, so that might be another $25. Add in taxes and $250 is not a "Rip off". A rip off is when you DON'T get what you paid for. That didn't happen here. Was it a cheap service? Nope. But hopefully, he got what he paid for; quality service! I just don't understand the need to be so combative. Not even on the interwebs.

$35 per stage for parts is a rip off.... we know they're scubapro regs not atomics, and scubapros are usually $30/$20. What we also know is that Air Tech has full time, with benefits, staff that does nothing but service scuba gear. They are comparatively expensive compared to many other shops. Scubatoys for reference would have been $90+ parts vs $140+ parts. Air Tech is very expensive, but you are paying for something that a normal LDS isn't going to have, which is true experts in regulator repair.

 

[The Chairman]

$35 per stage for parts is a rip off

At retail? First, I don't see in the OP that these are ScubaPro. I wonder what their hourly shop rate is? I was in automotive for 30 years. I've seen the people who expect you to sell everything at cost and frankly: it's stupid. Lights, AC, salaries and more are covered by parts markups. Selling parts at retail is NOT a rip-off. Hey, I get that it makes you sound important and all that, but it's just not helpful. Yours is a skewed perspective based on unrealistic expectations. I think the OP should know. Running an LDS on stupid thin margins is a quick way for them to go out of business. As I pointed out earlier: get the prices straight up front so you aren't surprised. If anything, I believe that this is the biggest problem here. No upfront communication which surprised the customer is the real sin.

 

[redacted]

Hi there all,
Just to let you all know I am dealing just with scuba diving O-rings and recently with O-rings for diving computers. Behind my brand name (Scubagaskets) there is a specialized company on the area of seals called Europeseals Holland .I have all sorts of NBR soft ,NBR hard, EPDM, Nitrox Viton black, Polyurethane , and Green Viton for pure oxygen O-rings in a huge range of sizes That are used in scuba diving applications and diving computers . I offer best quality at the best price and free delivery world wide
You can check all my products at www.scubagaskets.com
Let me know what you think
regards
Nicolas

Nice approach but I suggest you do a quality review of your website presentartion (Mk2/Mk10 mix-up) and your kit contents. Why is a Mk5 kit more expensive than Mk20/25. S-wing poppet takes 2 o-rings. Using duro 90 o-rings where duro 70 would be correct.

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

At retail? First, I don't see in the OP that these are ScubaPro. I wonder what their hourly shop rate is? I was in automotive for 30 years. I've seen the people who expect you to sell everything at cost and frankly: it's stupid. Lights, AC, salaries and more are covered by parts markups. Selling parts at retail is NOT a rip-off. Hey, I get that it makes you sound important and all that, but it's just not helpful. Yours is a skewed perspective based on unrealistic expectations. I think the OP should know. Running an LDS on stupid thin margins is a quick way for them to go out of business. As I pointed out earlier: get the prices straight up front so you aren't surprised. If anything, I believe that this is the biggest problem here. No upfront communication which surprised the customer is the real sin.

Huh. Weird.

It almost seems like you understand how things work at an LDS and you're trying to facilitate a rational, middle ground between a diver and a shop. I'm not sure I'm understanding...

 

[tbone1004]

At retail? First, I don't see in the OP that these are ScubaPro. I wonder what their hourly shop rate is? I was in automotive for 30 years. I've seen the people who expect you to sell everything at cost and frankly: it's stupid. Lights, AC, salaries and more are covered by parts markups. Selling parts at retail is NOT a rip-off. Hey, I get that it makes you sound important and all that, but it's just not helpful. Yours is a skewed perspective based on unrealistic expectations. I think the OP should know. Running an LDS on stupid thin margins is a quick way for them to go out of business. As I pointed out earlier: get the prices straight up front so you aren't surprised. If anything, I believe that this is the biggest problem here. No upfront communication which surprised the customer is the real sin.

he specified Air2, and in another post about Deep6 the dive shop was telling him it was junk and he should "upgrade" to scubapro

$35 is well above retail for most regulators. $20 for the second stage, $30 for the first is msrp for most regulator kits.

In the auto world, aren't the rate structures basically dictated by how long the manufacturer says the job should take? I.e. this is a 2 hour job, so we charge at that rate? Raleigh has a higher cost of living by about 5% than Albuquerque, so the wages should be the same. It's not like we are comparing middle of nowhere in Idaho to Los Angeles, so that one is out. I just think he got shafted by the dive shop for either marking up the parts considerably, or charging above standard rates for the service.