Scuba shop closed before I finished my training! Now what?

[mike_s]

I can see the shop owners point of view in not honoring previous gift certificates and classes. I might not agree with it but the old owner already took the money, new customers are showing up expecting to cash in on some goods/services. If the old owner was a poor record keeper, as many small business are, he might not have had any real way of letting the new owner know about liabilities and so they could not be considered in the purchase.

I can see if it's operated as a new business under a new name, etc....

but if it closed one day and opened the next with the same business name on the sign, it's implied that it's the same shop, just "under new management".

If they are implying they are the same shop, they should honor gift cards with their name on it.

In the perfect world, they should honor the stuff but technically what happened does not sound much different then if a Target purchased an old Walmart building. Target simply isn't going to honor the old gift cards.

Yeah.. but Target doesn't operate the old shop as a Walmart. They close it down, remodel and re-open with a new Target sign up front. It's pretty clear to everyone that the store is a different store with different product lines.





Another recent example of issues with this is Sharper Image, which recently filed bankruptcy. They won't honor gift cards with their own name on it anymore and consider anyone holding one of those cards to be a "debt creditor" in their bankruptcy filing. In order to get your money back you have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court....

Yet Sharper Image is still in business and still taking peoples money. So... just wrong that they do that.

Circuit City is going out of business and all their gift cards are about to be worthless also.... but they are at least allowing people to redeem them during their going out of business sale.

 

[Primus67]

i'm from NJ and the shop was Shore Scuba in Brick, NJ.

this is their website: Shore Scuba Center

i've left messages for some of the instructors there and sent several e-mails, but no answers yet.

 

[Standingbear56]

Hi Primus67,
Sorry to hear about your situation. I checked the website you showed. Seems like all the names of the instructors are listed. As mentioned before, I suggest you contact NAUI and explain the problem. Tell them that you need to get a hold of the instructor. They can help you to do that, and have done so in the past.
Hope this helps, let us know.
Take care,
George

 

[Steve02]

Another recent example of issues with this is Sharper Image, which recently filed bankruptcy. They won't honor gift cards with their own name on it anymore and consider anyone holding one of those cards to be a "debt creditor" in their bankruptcy filing. In order to get your money back you have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court....

Yet Sharper Image is still in business and still taking peoples money. So... just wrong that they do that.

Circuit City is going out of business and all their gift cards are about to be worthless also.... but they are at least allowing people to redeem them during their going out of business sale.

The way I understand this to work is that a clearing house company actually buys the remaining inventory of the store and there is an agreement made that they can operate out of that stores location for a certain period of time. Hence you example of Sharper Image, it isn't really Sharper Image - it's just their old store front and their old stuff. Some of these outfits actually have their own employees, so the people selling you the stuff may not have ever worked for Sharper Image. You also notice during these "sales" that all sales are "as-is and final". It really is quite a racquet.

 

[mike_s]

The way I understand this to work is that a clearing house company actually buys the remaining inventory of the store and there is an agreement made that they can operate out of that stores location for a certain period of time. Hence you example of Sharper Image, it isn't really Sharper Image - it's just their old store front and their old stuff. Some of these outfits actually have their own employees, so the people selling you the stuff may not have ever worked for Sharper Image. You also notice during these "sales" that all sales are "as-is and final". It really is quite a racquet.

Yep... that's how they do it with liquidating the big box retailers... (I doubt dive that close are done this way as they aren't big enough).

I have a friend of mine who works for a company that manages the liquidation of these type stores.

I guess each deal is different in who really owns the stores, but some of the employees they bring in are the "outside company", mostly to manage the liquidation, and the rest are store employees who the outside company also pays performance bonuses to.

The whole object is to maximize profits during a liquidation.... so all kinds of gimmicks are used.

As for it being a racket... I guess so, but folks go in there and buy the liquidation items willingly and most of the time there are huge signs up that say 'all sales final'.

Racket or not, my friend who works in this business makes a jaw dropping amount of money, most of it in performance bonus for exceeding store goals in the liquidations of the stores he oversees.....

 

[Steve02]

The whole object is to maximize profits during a liquidation.... so all kinds of gimmicks are used.

As for it being a racket... I guess so, but folks go in there and buy the liquidation items willingly and most of the time there are huge signs up that say 'all sales final'.

Racket or not, my friend who works in this business makes a jaw dropping amount of money, most of it in performance bonus for exceeding store goals in the liquidations of the stores he oversees.....

Thanks Mike - you said this a little bit better than me. When I referred to racket, I was referring to how they mark the prices up before they advertise xx% off.

I am one who will, on occasion, go into a liquidation sale to see what, if any, deals they have; but rarely end up buying anything.

Thanks for further explaining how the process works, and I'm glad to hear that your friend, from the sounds of it, is doing quite well.

-Steve

 

[mike_s]

Thanks Mike - you said this a little bit better than me. When I referred to racket, I was referring to how they mark the prices up before they advertise xx% off.

That I agree with you on... I find that aggravating also.

I've gotten where I rarely go to these "liquidation sales" anymore because of that.

Kay Bee Toys (national toy seller in Malls) for example went out of business at Christmas time. Well, I was in the mall and went in the store to see what they had because everything was "40% off". (but no returns or refunds).

Well they had marked up everything 20-25% over what you could buy it at other stores. so the 40% off price wasn't that great of a savings, considering if something broke you couldn't return and exchange it.

Definately a racket and almost borderline false advertising.

 

[PhilEllis]

Another recent example of issues with this is Sharper Image, which recently filed bankruptcy. They won't honor gift cards with their own name on it anymore and consider anyone holding one of those cards to be a "debt creditor" in their bankruptcy filing. In order to get your money back you have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court....

Yet Sharper Image is still in business and still taking peoples money. So... just wrong that they do that.

Circuit City is going out of business and all their gift cards are about to be worthless also.... but they are at least allowing people to redeem them during their going out of business sale.

Actually, this is allowed under federal bankruptcy law. The bankruptcy judge has a responsibility to secure all assets first for the benefit of the secured creditors. Unfortunately, gift card holders are unsecured. In most cases, the bankruptcy judge will not allow any "creditor" who is unsecured (the customer holding the gift card) to get any "benefits" from the assets until the secured creditors are paid or accept settlement.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

 

[BabyDuck]

op, same thing happened to me, except worse. my instructor was also the shop owner, and he died in a plane crash between open water checkout dives 1&2 and 3&4.

i just bit the bullet & paid the whole thing again somewhere else. i hated to hassle the family, even though they might have come up with a plan.

 

[WKD]

In the UK, if you are having a sale, the goods have to have been available at the original price for a given period (I think its 30 days) in a least one of the stores locations. So they can't one day decide to inflate the prices to make the sale look better. I think this applies to all sales even closing down sales, could be wrong though and of course there is always a way round these things. A quiet unadvertised store where no one goes but the prices are different to be used at a later date for example.

Doesn't really help the OP though, sorry for the hijack.