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ScubaLawyer
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Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 3:14 pm

Had another run-in with a woman who works at our LDS. Took my steel twin 45's in for a fill as usual. At first she said they weren't in hydro. I showed her the stamped hydro dates from last year. She next said the burst discs on my manifold (USD J-62) were the old kind and she couldn't fill the tanks. These are new burst disks I bought from Bryan last year. Then she started peeling back the coating on one of the cylinders, began laughing at me and told me it was illegal for them to fill vinyl coated tanks and what kind of an a-hole was I to think they could. At that point I told her what thought of her in no uncertain terms and was then told to leave by a reg tech who was working in another room. I thanked him for the suggestion and left.  I don't plan on ever going back and I'm going to tell all my friends not to patronize them. Too bad because the guys that normally work there are fantastic. They appreciate vintage gear, they ask tons of questions and want to learn. They give me old DH regs that people bring in. Sad that one ignorant person's attitude (in my opinion anyway) can cause loss of a very long term customer. I'm either going to have to drive a while to get my air fills or go the compressor route. Hard for me to justify a compressor with my average of 4 fills a month (excluding fills on commercial dive boats and friend's boats with compressors). Sorry about my venting but I'm just pissed.  Don't know why it bothers me so much. I guess I just remember the good old days when the person helping you at the dive shop actually knew what they were talking about. Ignore my rantings. I feel better now.
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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antique diver
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 6:32 pm

Can't ignore your "rantings".... there is just too much of that crap going on now at "Dive Boutiques" all over the place. When the hell did they quit being real Dive Shops anyway?

So, out of respect for remaining businesses that treat people well, maybe we should recognize and promote those who meet that standard.
I am so lucky to know some dive shop owners that still know everything they need to know about everything that matters, and don't act like they know everything. These folks have always been helpful and treated this old fart (me) and his fondness for vintage diving with kindness and respect: Tom Cummings - owner of Arlington Scuba (48 years), CB Kloppe - owner of Grapevine Scuba (25 years) , plus Don and Bessie Reese - owners of Scuba Schools of Fort Worth (51 years). All these folks even have collections of vintage gear. Maybe that's because most of them are getting pretty vintage themselves.
Thanks to all of them for their good attitudes toward the diving public! :D
The older I get the better I was.

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Bryan
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:18 pm

Happened to me as soon as I moved to Tampa. Two shops within 5 miles of each other, both had been in business for decades... You can't fill those old bombs (steel 72's) Diving that old crap is dangerous..... Bought a compressor a few weeks later and a couple of years ago I had the pleasure of purchasing some of the inventory from one of the shops when it went belly up.
Ignorance is bliss till you run out of money...

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Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 10:25 pm

I agree with you Bill. There are still some fantastic people who have dive shops, but very few around here anymore. I confess I don't know all of them. Guess I'll just have to ship my tanks to Texas for a fill. :D
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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antique diver
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:20 pm

There is a dive store only 5 miles from us, but the nicest thing I can say at this point is that we drive 30 minutes to Fort Worth instead, even if I just need an oring.

You should just go ahead and buy a compressor and free yourself from the need to visit the nice lady at the LDS. It is very satisfying to be self sufficient with the air supply.
The older I get the better I was.

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:53 pm

antique diver wrote:
Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:20 pm
There is a dive store only 5 miles from us, but the nicest thing I can say at this point is that we drive 30 minutes to Fort Worth instead, even if I just need an oring.

You should just go ahead and buy a compressor and free yourself from the need to visit the nice lady at the LDS. It is very satisfying to be self sufficient with the air supply.
Bill, can you write a letter that says something to the order of "Dear Mark's wife, please let him have his own air compressor so the lady at the dive shop won't be mean to him anymore..." :D
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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Ron
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:57 pm

I've never been able to figure out why so many stupid people own or run dive shops. It's like some sort of oddly specific mental illness. Thankfully, we finally have a good one near us. Every time I see a shop throw a customer out I think to myself that I know how unprofitable a scuba shop is, so you should really take those points of margin...even if they are 10 points of margin instead of 60.

I've had shops literally tell me that they don't need my money before. A shop in Florida told me that when I tried to dive vintage on their charter boat. They are out of business.

I have an outbuilding with a 220 outlet and I once threatened to buy a commercial grade compressor and fill anyone's tanks for free if a particular shop kept pissing me off. I was like Bryan during the era of banjo adapters and stickers pissed. I was like..."I'll blend nitrox for anyone for free" pissed.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

SnarkIII
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:58 am

Most of the people in dive shops today know nothing about vintage equipment and are primarily interested in selling new stuff. I had a tech in a local shop tell me my triple tanks couldn't be sent for hydro because there was no DOT markings on them. They were made before DOT existed and have ICC markings. My buddy was with me who used to do hydro testing told him the ICC markings were valid the tech told him "he had no idea what he was talking about". I'm not surprised we've gone from 6 local dive shops to 1.

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Chris
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sun Feb 25, 2018 1:57 pm

SnarkIII, just tell the LDS you'll take the tank to the welding shop yourself for the hydro and save them the trip. I know dive shops are told by their vendors that anything before a certain date is old, therefore dangerous, but I dont understand how they believe it. Especially the ones working on gear. I followed the air flow through every diagram in Regulator Savvy and read the pages on balancing until I understood the concept, then I listen to seasoned dive shop "techs" and think, "they did read a book or two, right???" My dive shop is now 2.5 hours away and won't touch a double hose. If it wasnt for you guys learning me, my gear would be dead in the water. Well, hopefully not the water.

Formerly tripplec. Decided to use my real name since you guys aren't a bunch of flaky internet trolls.

SnarkIII
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:20 pm

Thanks for the tip Chris. I'm sure I can find a hydro facility near me to do it and cut the LDS out of the picture. This same LDS won't touch my USD Pro Diver because the "kit" is no longer available from Aqua-Lung. From what I've read here on the threads the internals of the Pro Diver are identical to the Conshelf 22, the difference is the Pro Diver has 1/2" low pressure ports vs 3/8 on the Connie.

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Ron
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:25 am

Yep, it took me about 45 seconds to learn how to rebuild a pro diver after rebuilding a bunch of Conshelfs. They just don’t want your money.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

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SurfLung
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:07 pm

In our town, we don't have a full time LDS. And there probably isn't enough dive business to support a full time shop anyway. The one actual shop is only open one day a week now. The other guy works his dive and training business part time from home. Both of them are personal friends. The one from home has politely stated that he won't be able to fill the 1/2" tapered thread tanks nor the bushing tanks due to liability concerns. He is certified in tank inspection but just doesn't want to stick his neck out. One of the tanks he took up to Brainerd for the hydro passed fine but the hydro guy mentioned to him that it was pretty rusty inside. So, even though it passed fine and was stamped as such, he has declined to fill it.

The one day a week dive shop hasn't refused to fill anything but I kind of got in the habit of not bringing in my vintage doubles because I don't want to take them all apart for visuals every year. They are all in current hydro but they don't have a current VIP and I wouldn't expect him to fill those.

The Compressor Solves Everything - Frankly, I don't know how I got along before I got my compressor. I don't have any of the LDS problems you guys are talking about and I don't worry about what a dive shop will say or do... The compressor is just SO good that if I suddenly couldn't use it anymore, I think I'd just go get another one and put it on the credit card. There wouldn't be any argument in my mind about whether I can justify the cost, etc.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Chris
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:28 pm

Its funny how shops worry about the 1/2 neck threads at 2250psi, but when was the last time one of those little burst disk nuts went shooting across the shop at 3400psi?
Formerly tripplec. Decided to use my real name since you guys aren't a bunch of flaky internet trolls.

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ScubaLawyer
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:30 pm

SurfLung wrote:
Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:07 pm
The Compressor Solves Everything - Frankly, I don't know how I got along before I got my compressor. I don't have any of the LDS problems you guys are talking about and I don't worry about what a dive shop will say or do... The compressor is just SO good that if I suddenly couldn't use it anymore, I think I'd just go get another one and put it on the credit card. There wouldn't be any argument in my mind about whether I can justify the cost, etc.
Probably need to move this to the compressor forum, but coming from a guy like me that only knows that compressors take air from the surroundings and stuff it into a little steel or aluminum bottle, I'd love to get some opinions on what compressor to get. Ideally, I'd like electric (110 or 220 - have both outlets) and one that puts out really pure air (as I am adverse to death). Only going to be filling 4 bottles a month or so but don't want to take an hour to fill each one. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but ease of maintenance, filter changes, readily available maintenance items/consumables, automatic whatever would be nice. I do have a few 3500 psi tanks. Hear about oil-less ones but not sure what that does to the cost. Oh yeah, and cheap! Thanks, Mark
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

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SurfLung
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Re: Ignorant Dive Shop people (A rant)

Mon Feb 26, 2018 5:16 pm

If I was going to buy another compressor, I'd get one of those Alkin units... Brand new for less than $3000. I believe that price is complete and ready to pump tanks as soon as it arrives. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alkin-High-Pre ... SwnNFZutwS

I love my RIX but the only reason I could afford it is that bought it used and re-built it piecemeal. A new one is at least $6,000 without the filter tower.
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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