Bloody dive shops...

[chillyinCanada]

You mean...a dive bar?



... I'll show myself out.

 

[chillyinCanada]

The LDS that I use is ridiculously friendly and responsive in my opinion. As someone mentioned above I choose to buy things from them even though I know I can/could get them cheaper elsewhere. I make this choice because I want to support a Local Business as I also own a Local Business. Once I started going to the LDS, and it was discussed what I did and where I was located, the Owner of the LDS has come to me for my services. The whole place makes me feel very welcome and appreciated when I walk in the door and I feel that my supporting them the way I do is a big part of that.

As to emails....7 days ago I emailed a Dive Shop in a place I plan to Vacation in late January. The email asked a few basic questions BUT I also stated I was interested in booking their Services while I was there. I stated that after looking at their offerings I was interested in doing a morning 2 tank dive and an Night 2 tank dive every day for 5 days. This is no small amount of money, imo. To date I have received NO response......frustrating to say the least. Maybe next week I will call....maybe not.

Perhaps they are in a part of the world that has intermittent internet issues?

I know that this scenario is becoming less likely all the time but small places in small hot places do have technical difficulties even if it's only to their hard equipment.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Interesting. I always thought it would be a great idea to have a little coffee area in a shop. People could wait their turn with the staff or chat with staff and other divers. Talk about diving, get hooked on a new piece of gear or a trip or a course. But that would be expensive real estate just in the hopes that it would pay off in other ways.

Maybe a cash bar, lol. Always money in booze.

I have had an idea for a dive center for a few years now that includes a "lounge area" with nice comfy couches, a coffee machine and TVs with dive videos. Customers can come in, look around, talk gear or just sit and BS. This center would also have a bar in a detached building (this is designed for a dive destination on an island) where people can hang out post-dive, have some beers or cocktails and munch on food while comparing their dives they did for the day.

I find that shops with areas like this tend to breed a more family type atmosphere. You are more than just a customer and that relationship building goes a long way.

 

[W W Meixner]

I am wondering whether other SB members around the world experience the same issues I encounter with some dive shops. I deal with around 4-6 shops for various bits and the below is very common.

Some are better than others, but few care to do a good job and there is a general sense of slack and some odd air of cheerful, unapologetic indifference about many of them, with disorganisation behind the scenes very apparent. You would think that in an industry where high standards, conscientiousness and safety should rank highly, sloppiness is below average. Yet I feel like it is the messiest industry I deal with.

They never ever answer their emails.
Shops more often than not fail to respond to email enquiries. It is like you need to beg for attention or service as a customer. This must result in a lot of lost business for these shops, and most of them do not appear like they wouldn't need it. As much as I would like to form a relationship with an LDS to order in equipment and pay a bit of a premium for it, I now exclusively rely on 2 online shops thousands of km away.

They are forgetful and will not follow up.
Even after you pick up the phone (since emails are futile) to schedule picking up a couple tanks "at 9am next Tuesday", a few days in advance, it happened a couple of times across two different operators that I rock up and they don't know about it, particularly annoying if they need extra notice for Nitrox or are out of filled tanks with nobody there to fill any. So you miss your dive if it was time sensitive. You know what that means if you haven't been able to make your schedule align with decent condition for weeks. Similarly, they will say they'll let you know when something arrives, and it sits there for days until you call to see why it is late. Or they'll say they'll let you know when the next night dive or whatever is scheduled, but nah.

They are randomly not there during their opening hours.
Also happened twice. You get to the shop during their usual opening hours to pick up or drop off something and the door is shut. Nobody around. Nobody answers the phone. No sign in the window. You'll get through and some mobile number and they'll be there in 2 hours, 'sorry'. Sorry indeed, if I just wasted 60min drive time and 15mins circling the shop like a thief.

Their systems are outdated.
Calendars, POS systems, record keeping, customer forms, everything seems more backwards, paper-based and manual than one would expect in 2019. There is clearly a lack of investment or appreciation of the long-term benefits of running a proper digital setup. It is probably behind some of the above issues, relying on people's memory rather than reminders and CRMs. The apparently high turnover of inexperienced staff/DMs does not help either. I guess a lot of them are seasonal, low paying jobs and not everyone has enough passion to worry about the level of perceived service.

I am interested to hear about your general experience. Do you have a dream LDS to fall back on?

Dive...

It's LDS arrogance that comes from the belief that ''you'' are their captive audience...it's the LDS belief that a dive operation can be run with no cash flow...and last but most importantly...it's the LDS belief that if I can dive...I can run a dive business...

The best way to ensure that you are not responsible for reinforcing their beliefs...is to not put any money in their tills...

You'd be surprised by just how much diving you can still do...and not be joined at the hip to the LDS...

You've identified what you don't like...choose a solution that best suits ''you''...

I have two US based suppliers for dive gear...one for dry-suits...one for everything else...both of whom I've used and trusted for years...I get my cylinders filled at dive destinations...and other than cylinder re-hydro...I do all my own servicing...haven't been near an LDS for years...and I don't intend to change any time soon...

Works for me...and I'm not alone...

W.W...

 

[clownfishsydney]

The situation in Sydney and New South Wales is similar to the Gold Coast. I no longer go to dive shops, I have my own compressor and buy all my gear via the internet. Why? Because years ago shops stopped opening most days of the week so you could not phone with any sort of reliability and they then did not respond to emails. Also because they would close for a few hours to teach a course etc.

Shops away from where I live are also (in many cases) useless as they do not respond to emails asking about dive schedules/costs etc. All this really should be on their web site so you do not even need to email, but in most cases it is not. There are exceptions, a few shops have all relevant information about dives/costs and do respond quickly to questions and bookings.

In Sydney, diving is dieing. There are now no dive shops in the area I live where there were three (even four for a while). Between me and the centre of Sydney there are only four (and two are way out of the way), there used to be more than eight.

As mentioned, most dive shops are run by people who should not run a business and have no idea about what the customer wants or really needs.

 

[Divectionist]

The situation in Sydney and New South Wales is similar to the Gold Coast. I no longer go to dive shops, I have my own compressor

I would get my own compressor if I knew that I was going to be a long-term resident here, but there's a very high chance of going overseas for a long time in the next few years.

As it stands now, I am always nervous about actually getting the tanks I asked for.

On another note, they just approved some strange artificial floating reef diving attraction on the GC in a bid to attract some more diving tourism. Going to be good for the boat operators, but certainly not make the shops here any more reliable.

 

[W W Meixner]

I have had an idea for a dive center for a few years now that includes a "lounge area" with nice comfy couches, a coffee machine and TVs with dive videos. Customers can come in, look around, talk gear or just sit and BS. This center would also have a bar in a detached building (this is designed for a dive destination on an island) where people can hang out post-dive, have some beers or cocktails and munch on food while comparing their dives they did for the day.

I find that shops with areas like this tend to breed a more family type atmosphere. You are more than just a customer and that relationship building goes a long way.

Turk...

There is no relationship building...the LDS is a seller...you're a buyer...that's the relationship...

Your ''fantasy model'' is a nice thought...you'd be broke in a month...remember...this is diving...one of the planets smallest industries...dive operations are not closing down because they're putting ''too much'' money in the till...but because they're putting in too little...

No different than any other retail...support the best...let the rest tank...

W.W...

 

[abnfrog]

I just spit up all over my screen , turk if you can build a business model that you can make it work , don't listen to people who have NEVER owned a business let alone a dive shop , ive owned 2 THEY are BOTH still running after 20 years , you wont make a millon dollars but it can be a great way of life .....I just love these so called experts some one should call them out on their dive credentials ..... you would see them scurry off .......

 

[Jonn]

Seconding the whining about Facebook. Current users might not understand how limited the logged-out experience is. There’s no particular reason for basic business information to reside on any proprietary social media platform, that seems sloppy and unprofessional even if you do approve of the way Facebook works. Even Erik selling Freedom Plates (love mine, thanks!) out of this forum is better. I don’t need a personal bedtime story, but involving a dubious third party like that seems like poor customer service.

This Information Age can’t be ignored though, too many dive shops treat their website as a pointless time-suck to be ignored when it’s every bit as important as their brick-and-morter storefront. Being strong in the water is nice for a shop proprietor, but many other skills are far moreso.

 

[flyboy08]

Amazon. I do my research, I order for home delivery and if I don’t like it, I return it to Kohl’s whom gives me a 25% off good for the day coupon and I buy a few shirts...and repeat my amazon order until I’m satisfied. We even ordered our bathtub from Amazon when we revamped one of our bathrooms.