Being pushed into buying gear - Is this normal?

[sheeper]

go elsewhere.

the truth is that shops make their money not from teaching but from selling gear. A shop that pushes the gear heavily like that seems to be putting money ahead of their divers. Yes a shop needs to sell gear but a happy dive customer is a long time dive customer. I'd rather have a relationship with a diver instead of just a sale.

 

[fishb0y]

Please... I'm not sure when it was decided that being an instructor or operating a dive business was a non-profit venture.

If you are taking you OW course from a dive shop, of course they will try to sell you gear. How do you think they stay in business? I encourage you to shop around, but if they want your buisness they will work with you on price.

 

[mikeycanuk]

We snorkeled a lot until we became divers when our son became 10, so we already had the mask and fins.

Run away! What if you (like us) find the instructors not to your liking? You've already given them money they didn't deserve and you might/will have to go back to get warranty/service.

Plus I'm betting they are more $ than other shops. We found a local(ish) store that was a lot cheaper, instructors 10X better, with a tech I trust our lives with to service our gear.

Tip: Don't buy an I3 BCD, that was our only mistake and it was ours we made. Nobody pushed us.

 

[diver 85]

bunch of crap---IMO......

EDIT:..except for mask/fins/snorkel..........I was thinking of the 'big stuff'......

 

[W1ngz]

Please... I'm not sure when it was decided that being an instructor or operating a dive business was a non-profit venture.

If you are taking you OW course from a dive shop, of course they will try to sell you gear. How do you think they stay in business? I encourage you to shop around, but if they want your buisness they will work with you on price.

My expectation isn't that they run a charity. But to tell people that they expect them to purchase that much equipment without even having gotten into the pool is ridiculous. I'm more likely to spend money at a shop that's willing to loan me equipment to try out during training dives, so I can make a choice with some frame of reference.

---------- Post added February 5th, 2015 at 02:45 PM ----------

Plus I'm betting they are more $ than other shops.

Good guess. From what little research I've managed so far, they come out the most expensive for certs, AND for gear.

I'll be staying away from them and choosing another school.

 

[redacted]

Please... I'm not sure when it was decided that being an instructor or operating a dive business was a non-profit venture.

If you are taking you OW course from a dive shop, of course they will try to sell you gear. How do you think they stay in business? I encourage you to shop around, but if they want your buisness they will work with you on price.

It is not that the business is working to make a profit. The problem is the deceptive practices they employ.

Find a less deceptive shop.

 

[delmolino]

W1ngz,

When I took my OW pool classes on January 2014, I decided to buy the snorkeling gear and I really recommend getting an open heel fin with boots (I used to get pretty nasty blisters when wearing rental fins). The LDS pushed hard on me and others to sell stuff. I believed it would not be a good idea to spend money as uninformed as I was (only had the PADI e-Learning) and believed we would be ok in the indoor pool without a wetsuit. At the end I was extremely cold and shivering a lot: do not underestimate temperature exchange on water!

I am new into scuba diving but I am pretty sure the sport is for me and I decided to purchase my own gear only around my 25th dive, and honestly, as I got more used to everything things started to click and to get much clearer for me, though I still have a lot to learn. Had I purchased at the very beginning I would be exchanging everything now - I am upgrading basically all my snorkeling gear now - as I would have bought a jacket BCD, "standard" hose regulators, probably split fins, etc.

I'd recommend you purchase your snorkeling gear and check the pool temperature to see if you need a wetsuit for the training, it could also be used for surfing if you are into it, I am not. As you grow into diving and realize if you really like it you will understand much better what kind of equipment you will need.

 

[kelemvor]

People who buy a full set of gear before class feed the aftermarket and keep used gear prices low for the rest of us!


Most shops in my area provide everything except mask/boots/fins/snorkel for the class duration.


How would you know what gear to buy if you don't even know how to dive yet? Trust a salesman?

 

[W1ngz]

How would you know what gear to buy if you don't even know how to dive yet? Trust a salesman?

I ask the internet lol

 

[kelemvor]

I ask the internet lol

That's what I did, but it took me a good month or two to decide on each piece. There's so many brands out there and no shop I've ever seen carries them all. It's tough to compare. I think I rented everything for my first 20-25 dives.