My LDS

[divingmedic]

OK last year after my annual dive trip I take my Regs and BC for thei annual inspection/repair. After I got them back I packed them away. Well about a month ago I went to diving at the "Lovely" Blue Lagoon. I had a problem with my inflator hose. My BC kept inflating by itself. No big deal, I am only in about 25 feet of water. I just un hook it and inflate manually when needed. I take my BC back to the LDS to get it fixed. I tell the owner what happened, that I used it after it being "repaired and inspected", and I thought that this should not have happened if it was properly inspected and repaired. The owner actually got mad at me for saying this. I guess it is time to find a new LDS.

[mitsuguy]

yah, he shouldnt have taken offense to it... unfortunately in any type of repair business, things are bound to go wrong... an apology, offer to fix immediately should have been his first course of action... but it doesn't appear he has any idea of customer service...

[mulefeathers]

I just don't understand this. Where do some shops get off on treating people this way? The same problem happened to my dive buddy 2 weeks ago. BC inflating at will. This was at a dive on Sunday. The following Wednesday the local shop replaced the power inflator free of charge. By doing this the shop knows we will come back and buy more gear.

I read about all the local shops that are rude and unfriendly. I guess the just don't need customers.

[BSea]

1st off , he shouldn't have gotten mad. But in his possible defense, sometimes things show up after being serviced. Seats change due to being under constant pressure, so something that worked fine after service could creep when it's used a few months later. This could also happen if the storage area gets hot or cold. Now, it sounds like this wasn't your problem because it was an inflator issue, but there could have been something that happened from the time it was serviced till you used it. I've had to take a few items back for tweaking, but nothing like you describe.

I always do a pool dive with any of my newly serviced gear. Just to be sure. It is my life, so I'll accept some of the resonsibility. Plus, if my gear has set up for a few months, I'll connect everything & do a dry test before I go out. This way it lessens the chance of a surprise when I get to a dive site.

[h2odragon1]

I had purchased a set of reg's,(used) and took them to my local dive shop to have them checked and serviced. I got them back two days before i went diving. I first tried them in knee deep water to see if they worked. The primary breathed a little wet, but the octo was fine and used as primary fro that weekend. I took them back to the shop, and explained what was wrong to they guy behind the counter, (he did not write anything down) and I waited. when I went to pick them up, the parts I received the second time looked as if they had seen a few years of service, not like the parts I received the first time. They tried to charge me for this second repair, but I told them that I had already paid for the repairs the first time. It took them about half-an-hour to decide that they would not charge me.
I had been going to this shop for 5 years at that time, knew the owners, and had already put a lot of $ in their cash register, everything turned out the way it should have, but I will be watching closely, since there are a lot of new people around the shop. I also learned last night that the owners had just sold the shop. I WILL BE WATCHING!!

[BSea]

Originally Posted by h2odragon1

I had purchased a set of reg's,(used) and took them to my local dive shop to have them checked and serviced. I got them back two days before i went diving. I first tried them in knee deep water to see if they worked. The primary breathed a little wet, but the octo was fine and used as primary fro that weekend. I took them back to the shop, and explained what was wrong to they guy behind the counter, (he did not write anything down) and I waited. when I went to pick them up, the parts I received the second time looked as if they had seen a few years of service, not like the parts I received the first time. They tried to charge me for this second repair, but I told them that I had already paid for the repairs the first time. It took them about half-an-hour to decide that they would not charge me.
I had been going to this shop for 5 years at that time, knew the owners, and had already put a lot of $ in their cash register, everything turned out the way it should have, but I will be watching closely, since there are a lot of new people around the shop. I also learned last night that the owners had just sold the shop. I WILL BE WATCHING!!

Now that's a shop I would avoid. New owners = New dive shop. Not that that's neccesarily bad, but sounds like they need some customer service lessons.
Every time I hear stories like this, I really appreciate my LDS even more.

[divingmedic]

What ended up being wrong with the thing was a Scharder valve was bad. my whole issue was I know for a fact they did not even look at my BC when it was in for the inspection and repair. I tied a small bit of wire to the part where the Schrader valve goes and it was there afterwards. Why did I do this? The last time I had my gear in the did not check my BC, charged me for it. I was there to pick my stuff up and the tech had to find my BC, I asked if he serviced it and he said "uh sure I think?".

[PaDiver93]

Here is a question somewhat off topic - has anyone ever used Scubatoys for service? (I am talking about mailing the regs in). What's the turnaround?

Thanx

[ReefHound]

Originally Posted by PaDiver93

Here is a question somewhat off topic - has anyone ever used Scubatoys for service? (I am talking about mailing the regs in). What's the turnaround?

Thanx

I have, regs were back at my door 8 days after being mailed off. I think they were actually ready a few days before that but i was ordering some gear and asked that everything ship together to save on combined shipping. Regs worked great and came with a printout of the final specs.

[awap]

Originally Posted by divingmedic

What ended up being wrong with the thing was a Scharder valve was bad. my whole issue was I know for a fact they did not even look at my BC when it was in for the inspection and repair. I tied a small bit of wire to the part where the Schrader valve goes and it was there afterwards. Why did I do this? The last time I had my gear in the did not check my BC, charged me for it. I was there to pick my stuff up and the tech had to find my BC, I asked if he serviced it and he said "uh sure I think?".

To be fair, while schrader valves are fairly reliable little devices, usage cycles and time both take their toll. Plus any dirt that may get into the connector will work its way to tyhe valve and may cause a seating problem. So, that inflator may have worked fine at the last service (if it was check) and the time and dirt of storage may well be the culprit. Too bad your shop chose to get nasty rather than to explain this to you in a professional way. I doubt if any shops disassemble an inflator as part of an inspection unless there is a known problem.