Too bad you don't live here in the Northeast. I wouldn't force you to buy anything and would concentrate on teaching you to be a great diver. Everything else is a bunch of bs!
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I love threads on this subject. They bring out some hilarious quotes and some good business sense.
That is a really good price, as far as I can see. Oh and then we charge 20kd for a 2 tank dive (that's about 75$) for pleasure divers. It is the going rate here. I understand the weight belt price, cause we were losing stupid amounts of them for awhile and they are ridiculous. So we make them put a deposit for them and if they don't give them back, they pay for the replacements.I think that's pretty good. My cost in PA was
$300 for the course,
$50 for the naui ow package,
$25 for weight belt rental (wasn't happy about that),
$64 for two days at the quarry
$50 for check out equipment rental
So...~$490, and no boat ride or soft drinks. I thought the price at my shop was fair.
What they said, wow that's a deal.My Ow...
170 for the class which included the online part
30 for the C-card
Free air
5 dollars for the day for parking at the lake for the second day of the OW check out dives (first day was free at a different location)
30 bucks for boots
Free rental of rest of equipment....
235 out the door....
I is illegal to shore dive in the state of Kuwait.
Yeah. but have you noticed that this thread is a month old and the original poster has not been back to post in it since it was created?
Yes, I read his post, so don't get so excited! The dive shop should not force equipment on him or refuse to certify him; I simply said dive shops cannot stay in business if no one buys equipment from them and everyone buys online. I guess alot of you guys buy online? Out of curiosity, who services your equipment? ... or do ALL of you service it yourselves? I think not. I am not so naive as to think all of you are trustworthy to service life dependent gear, but hey if you do and something happens, it is your little red wagon to pull ....Did you even read his post? He ALREADY has the gear. He got it thru his cousin who works for a shop in another part of the state. Why should he buy it again? Oh and that guy from Palm Springs- I sent him to Leisure Pro to look for a bc!
I've often wondered if the future holds "for profit" dive clubs (or co-op, not for profit dive shops) that provided air fills, training, pool, practice opportunities, programmatic mentoring (as opposed to Con Ed), pooled major capital items (scooters, can lights, rebreathers, etc.) and perhaps even a live aboard or oceanside condos.
Equipment sales would not be the focus, thought they might go on, most folks would shop on the net, possibly through discounts arranged with preferred providers or even buys booked with manufacturers like a shop.