lee3:
the mrs and i have bought all of our gear from local dive shops and the last item on the list is a dive computer.
i understand the advantage to buying gear i'll have serviced locally and have done so. But, with these dive computers, i can order them from a site like leisure pro and save over 40% but lose the warranty. I'm not terribly concerned with warranty coverage for a computer costing $900, when i can get it for $600. I'm fine self insuring to save $300 - any of you smarter than me have a comment as to why i shouldn't?
OK I'll jump in.
I travel a lot so buying on line is sometimes my only option... or so it would seem. A dive shop is a resource. It can be used to give you information, education and specific equipment advice. I try to support my favorite dive shop(s) when I can. I know that if I need to pay a little more for an item I do so willingly because of the advice I have recieved from my local shop. My solution is that I do have a continuing relationship with 2 particular dive shops. One in Los Angeles where I have purchased some expensive gear and the other in my new home town in Virginia where I can send my regulators home to my wife and she will take them in for service.
At the shop in L A, I am on a first name basis with the owner and when I need somthing like a new dive light (a situation I am in right now), I call him up on the phone and let him know what I am after and he takes care of me. Sure Leisure Pro is cheaper on the specific item, but the owner of the shop in L A can and will give me specific advice about somthing as simple as a light. This interaction has value, and I am willing to pay for the service, I turst his opinion and he is familiar with my experience level and personal diving style.
The shop in Virginia is a small shop but good, and they are an authorized repair center for my brand of regulator, while the shop in L A is not. Again I have spoken with the owner and he is doing an overhaul on one of my regulators right now. I have been happy with his work in the past and I fully expect that I will continue to be happy with it in the future.
The key to both of these shops is communication. These shops are both smaller family run shops where I feel comfortable when I walk in. I have seen lots of the larger shops where the profit is more important than telling the customer not to get that piece of junk.
If you are happy with your local dive shop, by all means keep doing business there. Yes, you might spend a little more money now but in the long run they will be a resource from which you will get more than you put in. If your local dive shop is a good shop but they do not sell a particular brand of computer, ask them where a good shop that does sell this brand is located. If they are worth their salt they will be comfortable telling you and letting you get gear you are happy with. No dive shop can carry every brand of everything.
I understand that money is important Wal-Mart is very popular but I don't shop there when I have a choice, and I choose not to shop at the Wal-Mart of SCUBA stores either.
That is my opinion and I sign with my name,
Mark Vlahos
Good idea, no?
