Why...LDS...Why!!!

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divemed06

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Location
Canada
So I go into a LDS in my area to look for a Suunto computer. After talking with the "clerk" for about 45 minutes about the advantage/disadvantages of the several models I finally ask her for a price quote for the Vyper....499$ (cdn) she tells. I say 499$? She says 499$..if you find a better price around town, we'll match it! Ok thanks, I tell her. Will think about it. I go home, check the net for e-prices and other LDS prices and 499$ sounds great. So I go back the next day to the LDS to purchase the Vyper. This time the owner is at the front (the same clerk is at the back in rentals). So I tell the owner that I had a good conversation with the clerk and that I've decide to purchase the Vyper. He gets the paperwork done and than tells me "That will be 629$ + tax"...:confused: So I tell him "no, I want the Vyper"...he replies "yup, that's 629$ plus tax...so I reply " the wristmount vyper without the computer interface"..he says " 629$ + tax." Frustrated, I tell him that the clerk said that the Vyper was 500$ and that they would match a better price. He goes to the back to talk with the clerk and comes back out to say that she probably just made a mistake when quoting a price (of course the clerk doesn't come out from the back to apologize or explain!!!) and that the Vyper has always been 629$. So I tell him that he should make sure that his staff provide proper quotes and that I'm really not satisfied with the service that I've received. He says: Do you want the Vyper or not (in a very impolite way). So I tell him..Of course I do...just not from you. That LDS just made an E-shopper out of me. I've also sent an email to Suunto letting them know my disatisfaction of this dealer...probably won't do much but hey... Why is it so hard for people working in dive shops to provide proper price quotes and good customer service?:upset: This is the second time this happens to me (other LDS, for my reg). Communication between owners and staff!!!!
 
I'm in sales, sometimes you make mistakes on your quotations, she more than likely read the pricelist columns wrong...it happens. I agree that it would have been nice for you to have had an apology directly from the sales person who misquoted.

For the most part, most Canadian shops sell at full suggested retail unless you are a regular customer/student and get around a 10% discount give or take depending on the situation.

I think you're taking this one a little too personally.

What did every other shop in town quote you...hmm...most likely exactly what the owner quoted you the next day.

Smile, should've bought it yesterday...:wink:
 
BS bro, that is bait and switch, illegal, you should contact your local police department and make a complaint, even if it was a mistake they should honor their initial offer, period- zeN
 
an apology can go the same way.

Had a similar incident happen to me. Went to the LDS and placed an order for a wetsuit. They charged my credit card and all. Two weeks later I get an email saying they went to place the order and the price is actually $150 more. Let us know if you still want it.

I called and their attitude was very curt, as if I had done something wrong... no explanation about price other than "he got it wrong" and no explanation at all about why it took two weeks for them to call in the order.

Needless to say, I had them cancel the order and reverse the charges to my credit card.

A simple "I'm sorry, we made a mistake" and I probably would have gone ahead with the order....
 
Well Zen, as much as I oft agree with your posts (I think im not getting you confused with someone else) that is not bait and switch...

Bait and switch (as I understand it) is when you post a sale for one item that you do not have in stock and when the customer shows up to buy it you (the retail department) lets you know they are "...currently out of stock on that item but this one is just as good or better and is only $XXXX dollars more..." and you, the customer who doesnt want to make a second trip chooses to buy the higher priced item instead.

PC Richards and another major outlet - I forget the name of at the moment - have been nailed multiple times on this ploy.

The reality on compputers is that you will not find an LDS price even close to what you can get online. $700+ dollars for the Cobra in any LDS. As low as $300 sometimes online. sic.

Spydertek
 
The clerk quoted the wrong price, but if you'd bought it then - it would have been your's. If you'd received a written bid with a time limit, the price would have been good for that long. If you wait, then price adjustments/corrections can happen. The young clerk should have come out and apologized, but - it ends up an "oh well."

I've done it - quoted a too low price. People who bought then got a bargain, people who came back later - I apologized.

:$: Just imagine - what if the price on the 'puter had been $400 - $100 less? Would you have said "No, the clerk quoted $500, so I want to pay the higher price." :$$: Kinda' doubt it.

You might give the LDS another chance, but - I always ask for the owner of my main LDS.

Don
 
Actually, I used to work in retail at SportChecl, one of Canada's biggest sports equipement retailers. If our price tags/ signage stated 69.99$ and the actual price was 99.99$; the customer would get it for 69.99$ That being said, large chains can afford to make these types of mistakes; small dive shops can't. So if the LDS can't afford to make that mistake, then they should take the proper precautions (make sure every items is properly price tagged, provide price lists up-front to the customer, if they have a computerized system (which most do) look it up on the computer before giving a quote). It's the owner's (and staff) responsibility to properly price their gear or pay the consequences (in this case; losing my patronage...he may not really care...but I'm looking for a video housing, tanks and new drysuit!!!)
 
divemed06 once bubbled...
So I go into a LDS in my area to look for a Suunto computer. After talking with the "clerk" for about 45 minutes about the advantage/disadvantages of the several models I finally ask her for a price quote for the Vyper....499$ (cdn) she tells. I say 499$? She says 499$..if you find a better price around town, we'll match it! Ok thanks, I tell her. Will think about it. I go home, check the net for e-prices and other LDS prices and 499$ sounds great. So I go back the next day to the LDS to purchase the Vyper. This time the owner is at the front (the same clerk is at the back in rentals). So I tell the owner that I had a good conversation with the clerk and that I've decide to purchase the Vyper. He gets the paperwork done and than tells me "That will be 629$ + tax"...:confused: So I tell him "no, I want the Vyper"...he replies "yup, that's 629$ plus tax...so I reply " the wristmount vyper without the computer interface"..he says " 629$ + tax." Frustrated, I tell him that the clerk said that the Vyper was 500$ and that they would match a better price. He goes to the back to talk with the clerk and comes back out to say that she probably just made a mistake when quoting a price (of course the clerk doesn't come out from the back to apologize or explain!!!) and that the Vyper has always been 629$. So I tell him that he should make sure that his staff provide proper quotes and that I'm really not satisfied with the service that I've received. He says: Do you want the Vyper or not (in a very impolite way). So I tell him..Of course I do...just not from you. That LDS just made an E-shopper out of me. I've also sent an email to Suunto letting them know my disatisfaction of this dealer...probably won't do much but hey... Why is it so hard for people working in dive shops to provide proper price quotes and good customer service?:upset: This is the second time this happens to me (other LDS, for my reg). Communication between owners and staff!!!!

I generally do my research before going to the LDS, since if the LDS gives me a good price, they will want me to purchase at that time.

If you had done your research earlier, perhaps you could have bought it the same time you got the good quote. :)
 
zeN|| once bubbled...
BS bro, that is bait and switch, illegal, you should contact your local police department and make a complaint, even if it was a mistake they should honor their initial offer, period- zeN

Huh?

Bait and switch is advertising something that either doesn't exist, or that you only have one of, and then asking the customers that arrive to buy something entirely different....

Sorry, but this isn't a bait and switch situation.
 
Anyway, I recommend doing your homework prior to shopping, then you are more informed & get better deals. If I see a great deal, I jump on it. Right then & there.


"He who hesitates often pays full retail"
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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