Northwest Dive Club

I just have to vent a little.

My LDS won't sell o-rings "for liability reasons." Maybe if I had lied and said "camera" instead of "inflator" they would have, I don't know, but I didn't think I had to be crafty to purchase o-rings over the counter.

So, instead of spending $5 locally, I am spending $30 online, because as long as I have a shipping charge I may as well load up the cart with other goodies.

... I'm so glad my shop doesn't play stupid games ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I miss NWSD... heck, I miss USW Kirkland. UWS will sell o-rings, but they told me that only the Seattle location actually has them sorted by size. That is an inconvenient trip and I am not in a hurry, so I'm off to Dive Gear Express where I am finding myself spending an extra $100 I didn't expect.

Matt S. wrote:I miss NWSD... heck, I miss USW Kirkland. UWS will sell o-rings, but they told me that only the Seattle location actually has them sorted by size. That is an inconvenient trip and I am not in a hurry, so I'm off to Dive Gear Express where I am finding myself spending an extra $100 I didn't expect.

It's worth it. I bought a kits worth of viton O rings a couple years ago, and it's probably paid for itself many times over by now, in terms of the number of trips to the dive shop I would have made without it.

That's annoying.

I've gotten viton O-rings for overhauling cameras from these guys in S. Seattle near the 1st Ave S. Bridge.
Omni Packing & Seal Co. Phone: (206) 762 - 3850
132 South Orcas Street
Seattle, Wa. 98108

I've also gotten small kits of regular, viton, and some green ones (?) from Harbor Freight. I figure they don't make 'em, they just package them. So far I can't say I've had any issues with them including sealing the piston stem on a Scuba Pro first stage. They're pretty good for hoses and the like.

Matt S. wrote:I just have to vent a little.

My LDS won't sell o-rings "for liability reasons." Maybe if I had lied and said "camera" instead of "inflator" they would have, I don't know, but I didn't think I had to be crafty to purchase o-rings over the counter.

So, instead of spending $5 locally, I am spending $30 online, because as long as I have a shipping charge I may as well load up the cart with other goodies.

Power inflator orings? I have quite a lot of them. If you can cancel your order, I'll send you whatever you need.

Thanks, Matt. Don't sweat it. I decided just to replace the power inflators instead of servicing them, they're pretty cheap and they don't last forever anyway. Appreciate it, though.

depending on where you are at? There are a host of LDS's that will help you, guaranteed.

if you ever find yourself in a bind and need any form of service kit or o-rings and cant find it, drop the community a post here and I'm convinced we will sort you out pretty quick!

some offer Spatty gave you applies, let me know what you need if the online order falls through or somethin.

K

I'm going to make the pitch again for one of my favorite sources: http://www.amazonsupply.com the evil empire bought SmallParts a few years ago and have integrated it into their universe, meaning that if you are a Prime member, a lot of stuff is free two day shipping.

The best o-ring solution I've found is their site plus a viton kit from Harbor Freight. The kit misses a few key scuba sizes (HP spool and tank neck, notably) but has everything else, so a quick supplement and you're good to go.

There is no reason to shop at a LDS that displays that kind of behavior, ever.

An LDS forcing a customer to go purchase a very common part online or elsewhere.... interesting.

It is amazing what some dive shops do to drive away customers.
Its also amazing the number of really cool dive shops we have in the area.... Guess you always have the good and the bad.

Re http://www.amazonsupply.com/ -- HOLY CRAP THAT'S COOL!

Even if they didn't want to sell me parts, they still could have handled it better. For example: "Well, if we sold the parts they'd be $5, but did you know you can just replace the entire inflator for $15? If your inflator is a few years old you might just want to replace it."

I ended up reaching that conclusion on my own while shopping online.

Yep, we have a great community. Thanks to everyone. And there are a lot of good dive shops around, it's just too bad I am not happy with the closest one. Once I run out my air card there, I'll not go back.

The time required may be their big problem. Several years ago I decided I was tired of not having the right O-rings in my shop. I bought the biggest assortment I could find and then filled in all the missing spots and have continued to expand it. I decided to charge a lot for the first O-ring someone needed. Otherwise the employee time used exceeded any possible profit. O-rings cost almost nothing in bulk but the cost of keeping them organized and dispensing them takes any profit out of selling single O-rings. And you can make a customer mad by charging $3 or $5 for an item they know you bought for 3 or 5 cents.

Choosing not to sell o-rings for reasons of cost, I understand. I don't necessarily agree that it's the best decision, but if I was told, "sorry, don't have that" I'd respect the business decision and get over it.

Being told, "we have it, and won't sell it to you" is a different kettle of fish.

Service is supposed to be the special sauce that keeps the LDS in business. I will happily stand aside and let the shop sell someone an expensive item if I stop in for a loss-making item like o-rings. But if the store is slow it costs them nothing to help me. And if they tell me to get lost, it costs them.

We have had excellent service from (for example) Waynne at Capital Divers, so when it's time to buy a big-ticket item, we try to give them the business even though it is 80 miles out of our way.

(I don't mean to make my LDS sound totally awful. They did offer to give us a free loaner tank when one of ours was unexpectedly due for a hydro when we went in for a fill.)

Two things, 1 Where did you find PI's for $15, and does anybody have the o-rings to rebuild a Golem Gear Stainless inflator? GG seems to ignore all calls and e-mail.

1. Dive Gear Express
2. Dunno!

Nwbrewer wrote:Two things, 1 Where did you find PI's for $15, and does anybody have the o-rings to rebuild a Golem Gear Stainless inflator? GG seems to ignore all calls and e-mail.

Is that the same oring kit as the Halcyon inflator?

Haven't dealt with these folks personally, but I've read good things online from other divers. They're local to the Seattle area:

http://www.oringswest.com/

Whoa, that place is awesome, like Tacoma Screw for o-rings.

Nwbrewer wrote:GG seems to ignore all calls and e-mail.

Jakub isnt best to get ahold of or respond to emails, although I've found bugging the crap out of him to be effective.