This review is a personal experience for my rental and reference the inaccurate and irresponsible comments made by the owner (see comment originally made on 8/12/17 by Zoe Y., and subsequent reply by Arlene A. on the same day), related to rental equipment failure.
On Friday 8/11, I had picked up the requested rental dive gear as reserved for myself and Zoe Y., and had performed visual inspection at the time of pick up. Although the equipment did not display any apparent defect, keep in mind that a visual inspection at the time of pick up does not equate to a professional inspection, nor should it guarantee the functionality of the equipment. As a renter of the diving equipment, I have every expectation that the gear I am renting is in good working condition, no matter who checked it at the time of pick up.
On Saturday 8/12, we arrived at Gunrock Beach in Hull, MA around 9am. We specifically unload and gear up on a paved surface prior to entering the sandy portion of the beach. To be even more specific, all of the dive gear were worn on our bodies prior to setting foot on sand. We proceeded with our dive, and swam about 20 minutes north from the beach which marks the half way point of our planned dive. Zoe and I ascended to the surface of the water to verify our bearings before returning to shore. Once both Zoe and I reached the surface of the water, in an attempt to further inflate our BCD to help us stay afloat, an audible "pop" was heard and immediately Zoe's BCD begins to deflate. Struggling to stay above water without ANY buoyancy for Zoe, we reacted to the equipment failure by abandoning our intention to stay above water, and instead swim ashore at the bottom of the ocean. Keep in mind we are still 20 minutes away from land. Since the equipment no longer provide any buoyancy control, it is inevitable for Zoe or myself to come in contact with sand swimming at the bottom of the ocean. The is important to note, to address the false assumption that user error and sand is the cause of equipment failure.
The actual cause of failure is a check valve cap at the top of the BCD inflator hose coming apart (presumably when the pop sound was heard), causing the BCD to no longer hold air. The fact that the check valve cap was physically missing was pointed out to the staffs of South Shore Divers, thus I am rather confused as to why "sand" is being blamed as the cause of failure.
Keep in mind, this failure is a life safety issue beyond a leisurely trip cut short. The inability to property control buoyancy means Zoe alone would not be able to surface in case of emergency. I am writing this not because I have I have any ill intent towards South Shore Divers. South Shore Divers provided our training as Advanced Adventure Divers last year, furthermore over the last 3 years South Shore Divers was one of the shops we routinely visited. However, if the staff and owners of South Shore Divers is unable to correctly identify issues with their equipment (regardless of who's at fault), dismissing any issues as user errors, or is quick to shift blame, the rental program being offered becomes a serious concern, and a hazard for my own safety. If the owners of the shop find this review different from their point of view, they are more than welcome to reach out to me directly as they have my contact info on record. Very disappointed for the business-customer relationship to end this way as South Shore Divers had been our local shop for as long as we had been certified to dive. read more
