Aqualung Legend LX ACD - Buy Local or Online?

[SoybeanQueen]

My husband and I are new divers and we want to buy some of our own gear. Much of it will come from a local dive shop that we're pretty happy with. In looking online, though, it seems like the regs we want (Aqualung Legend LX ACD) could be found cheaper by far online.

The pros of buying at the local shop - service, good advice, the occasional freebie.
Pro of buying online - the regs cost $250 less!

We're pretty loyal customers, but for two regs, that's a lot of loyalty, right? Are there other issues with buying regs online that we should be considering? Will there be warranty issues if there is a problem with my reg?

I'm usually pretty confident with online purchases, but generally I'm not buying something that my life will depend on, and most of the time the cost savings aren't quite that extreme, so I'm wondering if there's some piece to the puzzle that I'm not seeing yet.

 

[martzak]

Hi SoybeanQueen,

I totally understand your dilemma. I started diving a few years back and when looking for my first regulator had to make the same decision. I decided to go with online stores for all of my four regulators and I have no regrets about it. Most of the online scuba stores also have a physical store front (scubatoys, leisurepro to name two) and offer all of the same warranties as your LDS. They would not be in business very long if people were getting hurt/killed using regulators purchased from them.
So, don't let anybody guilt you into buying from one store or another...it's all business.
That being said, I think there are some arguable advantages to buying some gear (ie. regulators) from your LDS, namely, saving on shipping charges, having a knowledgeable person to talk to face-to-face, trust (in most cases).
If you feel more comfortable buying from your LDS but don't want to overpay, give them a chance to price match what you found online. If the LDS is unwilling to work with you on the price perhaps they don't want your business after all.
Good luck.

 

[yupito]

My husband and I are new divers and we want to buy some of our own gear. Much of it will come from a local dive shop that we're pretty happy with. In looking online, though, it seems like the regs we want (Aqualung Legend LX ACD) could be found cheaper by far online.

The pros of buying at the local shop - service, good advice, the occasional freebie.
Pro of buying online - the regs cost $250 less!

We're pretty loyal customers, but for two regs, that's a lot of loyalty, right? Are there other issues with buying regs online that we should be considering? Will there be warranty issues if there is a problem with my reg?

I'm usually pretty confident with online purchases, but generally I'm not buying something that my life will depend on, and most of the time the cost savings aren't quite that extreme, so I'm wondering if there's some piece to the puzzle that I'm not seeing yet.

That is exactly the same regulator that i have and bought online. The difference is that i had more than 100 dives under the belt before I did. My first purchase was the Titan LX, at the LDS, and then upgraded to the Legend online.

Althought the experience was good, and the price was excellent, when I buy my next regulator, I will go back to the LDS. The reasons are mutliple, starting with that the LDS are now willing to give you a price break, if not in $$, then in store credits for future purchases. I had to get my regulator serviced, and it was a hassle, the LDS knew that i did not buy it from him, and the online vendor offered a 6 weeks turnaround. Ultimately i was sufficiently good customer to the LDS that he repaired the regulator and processed it as a warranty like if it was his, and repaired it on the spot.

So if the LDS is willing to give you some discount (especially since you are purchasing 2X), I would stick with him.

Please note, that unless you buy the regulator, the SPG and any other gauge from the online retailer and espefically request that it be assembled before shipment, it will all come in separate boxes. This means that unless you know what you are doing (and it is not difficult), you will still have to take it the shop to get assembled.

 

[tfsails]

In today's market I'd be willing to bet my coworker's paycheck that the LDS would be more than willing to haggle over price. It's a buyer's market these days. Buying from a LDS can bring great dividends down the road, and you have the advantage of knowing it works when you pick it up and the staff there will train you in its use.

Yupito is right--if a shop is unwilling to match online prices, it doesn't really want your business.

FWIW, we had a customer bring a reg in that he'd bought online (represented as new) but wouldn't work right. We couldn't fix it using the usual remedies so we took it apart. That "brand new" reg showed evidence of being used and refurbished. It had several scratches on its inside surfaces that we'd never seen in genuine new regs. The customer wasn't too happy when we mentioned that to him. He took the reg back and tried to get his money back from the online source. I have no idea what the outcome was.

 

[fnfalman]

I buy a lot of things online for cheap prices, but none of them are "essential" dive gears. If I were to have any problem with my gears, the LDS will take care of it. Period. No questions asked. My dive buddy tried to save a few bucks by buying the Sherwood Wisdom 1 computer from Leisure Pro. The thing had funked out three times already and each time had been sent back to Leisurepro for "supposedly warranty work". He ended up borrowing my SPG for weeks on end while this troublesome compuer get "repaired by Sherwood" although he couldn't get Leisurepro to answer how it could be serviced by Sherwood if they weren't a Sherwood dealer.

If it were purchased by the LDS, they would have given him a brand new dive comp no questions asked and handle the rest with Sherwood later.

Anyway, the guy bit the bullet and bought a new Aeris Elite from the LDS for just a hair more than he could have gotten online yet it now has full factory warranty AND the LDS's support.

 

[SoybeanQueen]

So if the LDS is willing to give you some discount (especially since you are purchasing 2X), I would stick with him.

Please note, that unless you buy the regulator, the SPG and any other gauge from the online retailer and espefically request that it be assembled before shipment, it will all come in separate boxes. This means that unless you know what you are doing (and it is not difficult), you will still have to take it the shop to get assembled.

Thanks. I'll send my husband to the LDS ready to ask for a price break. He's not afraid to do that at all. Hopefully the local shop is willing to make a deal because I *don't* know what I'm doing with a bunch of reg/octo/dive computer boxes and hoses. :doh2:

 

[Katamuki]

Good deals and all are fine but as has already been said, try and negotiate if you can first with your LDS for a better deal. They depend on customers like you to survive and you cannot do without them to get your air fills, travel, dive clubs etc etc.

 

[colo_diver]

As an owner of a shop I can tell you if you come into my store and want to purchase 2 Legends I will work a deal with you. While I can not match the online pricing (Aqualung has a minimum price I can seel for as does Scubapro), but I can give a little to earn your business and hopefully your loyal continuing support of our shop. After all you might need a new BCD or want to join us on one of our trips and lets not forget you have friends that might want to learn to dive or maybe you want to take some continuing education classes. Regardless, the purchase of gear is an important step in your diving enjoyment and cost is a factor in that but keep in mind that we as owners of the shops have contracts with the suppliers to set minimum pricing levels along with the overhead that we carry so while LP and other "on-line stores" offer a sometime large savings hopefully the LDS can and will work with you to earn your business and not just because the economy "sucks" but even in the future

 

[SoybeanQueen]

As an owner of a shop I can tell you if you come into my store and want to purchase 2 Legends I will work a deal with you. While I can not match the online pricing (Aqualung has a minimum price I can seel for as does Scubapro), but I can give a little to earn your business and hopefully your loyal continuing support of our shop.

My husband and I went to our preferred shop today and came away very happy. I made a list of all of the equipment we wanted to look at, including the online prices, so I knew what the packages might cost online when we went in. We spent a bit more than we would have online and the dive shop came down a bit on their price (though, to be fair, they had sale prices on several things since the last time we were there, and that put them within a reasonable distance of online prices, really).

However, for the extra dollars we spent, we'll be able to try out the gear and make sure we like it, and they will do whatever needs to be done to know that we're happy with what we bought. We also ended up with a couple of upgrades on my husband's gear that he is very happy with, and decided against some upgrades on mine because the sales guy felt that they would be a waste of money for me. So, the extra money may have been better spent on things that are actually useful and not things that will end up on my "stuff I wish I didn't buy" list.

I'm still going to order some odds and ends from LeisurePro. They carry some brands and items my LDS doesn't.

I appreciate all of the advice on this. And, since it's the regulators board I posted this to - I ended up with the Legend LX ACD Supreme. We'll probably end up diving in colder water if we want to dive year-round where we live, so we tried to think ahead as much as we could, equipment-wise.

 

[ferretchen]

Doh! By the time I finished posting, soybeanqueen had made her decision - I'll hit "post" anyway.

Martzak wrote:

> Most of the online scuba stores also have a physical store front (scubatoys, leisurepro to name two) and offer all of the same warranties as your LDS.

There is a notice on Aqualung's web site entitled "Leisure Pro is NOT an authorized Aqua Lung dealer ". Here's the link: Leisure Pro is NOT an authorized Aqua Lung dealer . God bless 'em, I like their prices, and have bought some things from them, but be warned.

This site is full of agonized, hand-wringing posts asking for help on what to buy and how to do it. I ground my teeth over the purchase of my critical life support equipment too!

I decided that I wanted the kind of no-questions-asked service that some have mentioned. It's hard for a self-reliant do-it-yourself tinkerer to admit it, but when starting in scuba, you can't do everything yourself. Some things yes, just make sure you take the measure of your own ignorance. You seem to be on the right track just by asking questions.

Imagine how much it would be worth to you if something went wrong on a dive, or near one - what's the cost of getting to a vacation spot and finding out you have broken gear, if you can't get more on-site? What's the cost of being at 80 FSW and wondering "am I safe?" Of course, you never _know_ the answer to that question, but you might feel better about it if all of your Ts are crossed.

I'd drive 100 miles to get a deal on scuba gear that I knew was supported by warranty etc. than save $250 on-line and not be sure. You will always meet someone who paid fifty cents for their AL legend or whatever, you can't win them all - know that starting out. Just find a deal that allows you to sleep at night.