Internet Purchase Policy

A great deal of Scuba equipment is available for purchase on the internet. Some is sold by factory authorized dealers, but most of it is not. Much of the equipment you see is from overseas sources and includes “gray market” versions of products which appear to be the same as that sold by factory authorized dealers. These items may or may not contain true factory parts and often have “different” parts than standard US.

 Most dive shops are small local businesses run by the guy next door who is trying to provide a service to his/her customers because he/she has a love of diving. In many cases the prices on the internet are hard to beat and customers come in all the time to try something on only to order it on line for a few dollars cheaper. While we don’t begrudge the customer for wanting to save money, the buyer truly needs to beware. Equipment bought on the internet in many cases does not have a factory warranty. Some internet retailers will have disclaimers on their site stating that they “stand behind the products they sell” and offer their own “warranty service” which, if you read the fine print, is NOT factory authorized service and they may NOT be using factory parts. Do you want to rely on a piece of life support equipment purchased with this kind of warranty?

You might also look carefully at the true savings. A price might look quite appealing until you tack on shipping and handling costs and then wait five to ten days to receive the goods. Of course if the product is defective or does not perform as promised you have to deal with returning the item to some distant location while talking with faceless, nameless operators who probably are disinterested at best.

Your local dive shop retailer is someone you meet and talk to face to face. He or she can demonstrate the equipment, help you try it out and is there to help if something isn’t right.

Our policy at Rum Runner is as follows:

• We will honor any manufacturer’s warranty for which we are an authorized service facility. The customer will need to produce a proof of purchase receipt and warranty registration card. If a receipt is not available determination of intact warranty status may be available from the manufacturer. This applies only to equipment purchased from a factory authorized dealer.
• If a regulator set purchased on the internet from a non-factory authorized retailer is brought in for assembly or testing we require that a factory service, including replacement of standard service parts, be performed at the customer's expense to insure the regulator has true factory parts not gray market parts. In this situation the customer is asking us to assume some degree of responsibility for the equipment and we need to be sure the equipment meets factory specifications.

The bottom-line here is there is value in supporting your local dive shop. He or she is the one you go to for air, tanks, training, advice, travel, a dive buddy, problem solving and maybe a cup of coffee and a conversation. The great mail-order warehouses of the internet can offer none of that and isn’t there some value in developing a relationship with a shop that can offer those other items.

So next time you see a great deal on a piece of equipment you’ve been longing for on www.wecansellalmosteverypieceofscubagearatridiculouslylowprices.com talk to your local dive shop first and see what he offers. You might be surprised at the value you get from him.

Pete Wagner
Owner

Download a PDF copy of this policy.