Am I being too hard on a LDS?

[LarryHinDC]

I'm not going to pass judgement on either shop, but I'd say to go with your gut, not your head. Your body knows better than your mind what's safe for you.

 

[Hotpuppy]

The best restaurants are the "dives," no pun intended. There may be a roach or two crawling around... but that's not so bad... kind of means the food is really good. I usually don't want to eat in the clean restaurants... the food isn't so hot and that's because they spend more time cleaning than cooking.

Now with all that said, dive shops aren't serving you food... but they may be maintaining your life support equipment... which one could argue is comparable to life sustaining food.

For the sake of playing devils advocate... lets say your dive shop has been in business 20 years in the same location and isn't the tidiest place on the block... and the other shop if the crisp clean shop in business for five years. Would you prefer 20 years of experience working on your regs or five? Not that duration makes one repair guy better than the other... which is just my point.

Um, I guess you have never had food poisoning. If I see a roach I leave. No questions asked. If it's dirty, I leave. I've had food poisoning twice and I'd sooner go hungry than get it again.

You raised a good point about time in business. The neat one with the nice workbench has been in business 25 years. They are a 5 star PADI shop. The one that is messy is reasonably new.

You make a good point about knowledge and skill being the most important things. I'll take that into consideration.

I think that diving is alot like healthcare, you need to participate in the decisions about services because you will be subject to the outcome.

I'll throw one more tidbit back to you..... A restaurant with no line likely has bad food, bad service, or both. A restaurant with a line out the door is very likely to be good eats.

I think that all of the responses have been interesting. The most important thing I've read is that I should trust my instincts and that I'm not out of line for being critical when it comes to the safety of my equipment. That tells me what I need to know and I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[mikemill]

They are a 5 star PADI shop.

Just an FYI. The PADI 5 star thing is not a quality rating. It is more like a loyality rating.

 

[Hotpuppy]

It does not hurt suits that are dry to lay for a day or so until they can be gotten on hangers or rolled and stowed. I myself like to be organized but sometimes my way of organizing is closer to controlled chaos on my desk for example. But I know where every paper, business card, or contact is. Neat does not always mean good. It may mean too much time on someone's hands because the other guy who is not so organized has a better rep and is much busier!

I personally use the geographic clustering method of sorting. This is also called piles of stuff. I am however a firm believer in having an organized workspace for important work.

I guess what bothered me was seeing 3 or 4 people in the shop watching cable TV instead of putting equipment up. I saw equipment lay on the floor in a pile for 3 or 4 days.

I personally am bad about putting my tools back. I try very hard to put them back in the toolbox and in the slot that they belong to. It's not necessarily that I'm anal about it... but I like to be able to find a 3/4" drive 1/2" deep 6 sided socket when I want it... not after 30 minutes of playing my least favorite game ("Where would I hide this if I was an $8/hr employee")

Anyhow, I said at the beginning I'm not bashing either LDS. If I didn't think the guy was competent I would walk from his class. I don't know about you, but my life is worth more than $300 to me.

I chose his shop because he was honest and up-front about his costs. I was familiar with where he was because I drive past it when I go to my sailboat. I wound up checking out the other shop because I think it's due diligence to check out some of the other shops before investing in gear.

I did buy my mask and fins from him and probably spent more as a result because I knew what was important to me. If I had been required to buy gear before having used any of it and knowing nothing about it I would have bought cheap and been frustrated.

 

[Hotpuppy]

Just an FYI. The PADI 5 star thing is not a quality rating. It is more like a loyality rating.

I will keep that in mind. I saw something somewhere where someone referred to them as "put another dollar in" and I had to chuckle.

Believe it or not, the feedback here has caused me to re-examine the situation and give a little more latitude to the first LDS. I'm still planning to check out the 2nd LDS a little more because they do more of the types of trips I'm interested in. They have a much more active dive club and its made up of people who live closer to me.

 

[Hotpuppy]

2) It's not all about money, as people's habits are their habits, but on the other hand, you went to shop A (as I understand it) at least partly because their OW class price was considerably less than shop B's price. To be fair to the shop owner, it's probably hard to have the dedicated classroom and all new gear on half the funds. Now that doesn't mean the shop can't be tidy, so that may a separate issue, but there is probably some correlation between the class prices and the gear and classroom space.

I'm on as much of a budget as anyone, and certainly no-one should take financial advice from me (!), but I often find that if you are willing to pay a little bit more than the cheapest, it pays off.

I appreciate the response and think we think along similar lines.

I want to clarify that it was more about it being predictable. I honestly didn't shop him out. I called, his price was reasonable, I didn't feel like I was being maneuvered for the sales kill.

I started to check diving out a few years ago. I called and the sales person I spoke to at that LDS was slicker than a fish in J-Lube. I couldn't get a straight answer about the price or what it would wind up costing me. I felt like I was about to be ripped off so I dropped it.

One thing I was surprised to hear from both of the LDS owners at the beginning of this post is that most LDS feel like they lose money on the classes. That's a real shame. I hate to do business with someone when I know they are losing money. I know I hate being on the losing end of a transaction when I'm selling things. Everyone needs to make a living. I will probably end up buying my regulator and maybe my BC from shop #2 because they have a dive club program that includes alot of things that make it easier to go diving. At the same time I made a point of buying some of my gear from LDS 1.

At the same time, the way I run my business I try to give people simple, straight forward pricing with no surprises. Nobody likes to order a product and then find out they are spending twice as much when they get the final invoice.

 

[--tom--]

One thought I have is, have you expressed your concern? You may be doing him a huge favor.

Often LDS' owners are SCUBA enthusiasts that own a store (as opposed to a store owner that is in the SCUBA business). Sometimes they need reminders.

Heck, I have been married for a very long time & my wife still needs to remind me to pick up my socks.....

 

[GeorgeC]

Hotpuppy
Just the mere fact that you are posting means you already know the answer. Go with your gut feeling on this one. My two psi!

 

[fnfalman]

I don't like my dive shops or motorcycle shops to look clinically cleaned and boutique-like. I prefer a bit of rustic flavor to these shops.

A quick chat with the owner/operator/shop representative will tell me right away if they're full of BS or straight up, and that is what would determine my business.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think you should go to the neater shop. You are obviously a very critical and meticulous person and you are already nit picking before the class starts. Heaven help you if the reg hose has a microscopic crack in it or the inflator is scratched.

You SHOULD have spent you time trying to get references from expereinced divers and picking the instructor that is better. However if a messy shop bothers you, then you better pick the neat one.