Buying used/new equipment on eBay/craigslist...

[ReefHound]

I can tell you what his feelings will be in the future, unfortunately he is going to harbor ill feelings for a long long time. He may show them openly or hide them well behind a smile, but they will be there. You can forget about special favors, quick reg service, special invites on deals, etc. For some reason in this industry, many LDS owners take it personally.

Offering cash was not a good idea, business owners want your business not your charity or bribe. How does he invoice that, Customer Guilt? Better would have been to take that $40 and apply to a purchase, say if you got fins for $60 that would have cost $100 at his store.

 

[pwscottiv]

I can tell you what his feelings will be in the future, unfortunately he is going to harbor ill feelings for a long long time. He may show them openly or hide them well behind a smile, but they will be there. You can forget about special favors, quick reg service, special invites on deals, etc. For some reason in this industry, many LDS owners take it personally.

Offering cash was not a good idea, business owners want your business not your charity or bribe. How does he invoice that, Customer Guilt? Better would have been to take that $40 and apply to a purchase, say if you got fins for $60 that would have cost $100 at his store.

I totally see your point, especially now that it happened. I just didn't see it going down like that. I'm sure being a small local business owner he's probably fed up with people buying all of their gear online. But honestly, that's his effing problem. We ARE living in a country that embraces CAPITALISM. Capitalism lives and dies based on adapting to the market... Well, the way I see it, the "market" is now primarily the internet. If he decided to get on the internet "band wagon" he could be a whole lot more in charge of his fate. If he expended his customer base to be the whole world (online) AND kept his local store active, he would be able to push enough volume to get much better quantity discounts from the manufacturer's and therefore make better margins. Furthermore, the customers who are internet savy would still be able to get a good deal online by purchasing from his website. He could make it work... Not that it wouldn't be without effort, but honestly anyone who knows about business knows that if you're not adapting to the changing marketplace, then you're on a sinking ship.

NOW, that said, I also understand that the situation is not going to change just because I think things should be a certain way. I have no illusions about my inability to get him to change his business practices, his attitude, his anything. AND, I know that the state of my relationship with him is going to effect both of us in the future... Whether it be him holding animosity towards me, or me feeling uncomfortable around him... Which both are a complete waste of energy for both of us. I still think back about what happened and wonder why he couldn't understand that my offering him money was not charity, nor a handout, nor for pity, a bribe, guilt, or anything like that... It was solely PAYMENT for services rendered. By assisting me in choosing dive gear he did HIS JOB (and as far as I can tell so far he gave me good recommendations). Typically, and rightfully, he makes money by doing so... So, I felt compelled to make sure I did what I could to make that happen... I'm a student and I don't have $1000 extra to pay him for spending a couple hours helping me, so buying all of my gear at the shop wasn't an option if I wanted to buy the components that I wanted (and being the person who's paying for and using my gear, I should be the one who chooses what I buy, right?). Hopefully he'll eventually see that I'm actually a really thoughtful and honest person, and that I was just trying to do what I thought was the right thing.

 

[SNorman]

What I'm going to do, since I already bought used regs/computer, is to buy something new from the LDS next, probably the BC. Then at least you are supporting them and they know you are buying stuff there. I'll probably still do a mix of used/online/LDS purchases. It's not like I have to buy every single piece of scuba gear from them.

 

[pwscottiv]

What I'm going to do, since I already bought used regs/computer, is to buy something new from the LDS next, probably the BC. Then at least you are supporting them and they know you are buying stuff there. I'll probably still do a mix of used/online/LDS purchases. It's not like I have to buy every single piece of scuba gear from them.

Yeah, I'm actually planning on doing the same thing... I still need booties, gloves, a weight belt, and lead, so I'm sure he'll be able to profit $40 or more from that.