Handling LDS fee?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

This has been a constant struggle for me. I have two local dive shops. One I was certified with and bought a ton of gear from, they changed owners and just before the transition I had some really poor service and stopped going there. The other initially turned me off, the normal crap, “those tanks are illegal” if they are over 20years old, I brought some old atomic regs in and was told I should just buy new ones.
The funny part is the regs are what I had serviced and turned me off to the 1st shop, the reg tech at the 2nd shop that told me to buy new ones fixed them and said they would last forever, asked why I did not bring to him in the first place. Well they have a pool, do kids swim lessons and are much closer, I spend lots of time and money there. The relationship has grown and improved. I was in the marked for a new rather expensive piece of equipment from a manufacturer that has “very strict” MAP pricing. The shop I currently go to is not a dealer, my original shop is. I went and asked if when they have store wide sales would the item I want be included. I explained I wanted to support them, I ended up buying local and was very satisfied with what they did to earn my business
 
Yep, Same everywhere. I get asked about OW class costs a lot. I tell them you can get the class for $299 that includes nothing or a class for $1000 that includes everything. Both cost about $1000.

Our class is $300. Includes all the gear, they just need to buy a book if they don’t have one. The only thing they need to show up with is a swim suit.

how do they know what gear they like, or how to pick mask, snorkel and fins, until they’ve had weeks to try everything we have to offer?
 
Our class is $300. Includes all the gear, they just need to buy a book if they don’t have one. The only thing they need to show up with is a swim suit.

how do they know what gear they like, or how to pick mask, snorkel and fins, until they’ve had weeks to try everything we have to offer?

Book?
 
how do they know what gear they like, or how to pick mask, snorkel and fins, until they’ve had weeks to try everything we have to offer?
Not all shops agree with this philosophy.

I sat through a week-long marketing workshop given by the owner of a major dive agency just before the dive shop where I was working switched to that agency. He emphasized that the purpose of instruction was to sell gear, and the shop should focus its energy on getting the new student to purchase a full set of gear, hopefully before the first class session and at worst by the end of confined water. He suggested strategies to make that happen. The gear to be purchased was predetermined by the shop in order to maximize markups. The instructors were to wear that gear and tell students they had chosen it all personally because as instructors they would use only the best.

ScubaBoard had a huge thread related to one of the disciples of that philosophy. A woman went in to ask about scuba lessons, and after a few glasses of wine with the owner, she agreed to purchase all the equipment for the class ahead of time, with the understanding that she could return it all for a full refund if she changed her mind. She did not make it through the first confined water session. When she tried to return the gear, she was told refunds were only given if the equipment was unused--since she had used it in the first confined water session, it would no longer be returned for a refund. That included the rebreather she had bought as part of the package and used during the first CW session.
 
Course costs are set by the shop or instructor offering the course, not the certifying agency.

This is so true, yet I still come some people who try to tell me otherwise. Sigh....
 
Our class is $300. Includes all the gear, they just need to buy a book if they don’t have one. The only thing they need to show up with is a swim suit.

how do they know what gear they like, or how to pick mask, snorkel and fins, until they’ve had weeks to try everything we have to offer?

All the power to you. What does the instructor get per student?
 
There’s books involved in class :)

I thought most places were all e learning now? Would that cost be on top of everything else?
 
All the power to you. What does the instructor get per student?

Half
 
I thought most places were all e learning now? Would that cost be on top of everything else?

I like elearning for just a few courses. Not the best way to go in all courses, imo
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom