Comparison of the buying online vs local LDS argument

[Photo Girl]

When you add shipping, my LDS costs basically the same as Leisure Pro. And they've been in business since 1954.

 

[Pyro_]

I have no problem buying from the shop i consider my LDS if the price is reasonably close however being up in Canada i dont find that often happens. Last time i was in i was looking for some XS scuba quick disconnects, and was flat out told by my LDS to get them from the US after we looked up the price because his cost price was almost double than i could get them shipped to my door from a US shop and i needed a few of them.

 

[Geobound]

I have no problem buying from the shop i consider my LDS if the price is reasonably close however being up in Canada i dont find that often happens. Last time i was in i was looking for some XS scuba quick disconnects, and was flat out told by my LDS to get them from the US after we looked up the price because his cost price was almost double than i could get them shipped to my door from a US shop and i needed a few of them.

At least you gave your LDS first kick at the can.

My guys claim to be able to meet or beet any price, all they ask is that you give them a shot.

 

[txgoose]

Then buy from Amazon and dont complain when you cant find a place to get an airfill

This is a classic emotional abuse tactic. “You’re no good without me.” “You can’t do this on your own.” “Nobody will love you like I do.” “You walk out that door, don’t come back.”

Any time I rent tanks, I do it with my LDS. Even when I am going to a place that rents them. Why? Loyalty. I like them. I want to like them. That said, out of my 70-ish dives two of them were done at a place that didn’t have tanks and/or fills. And I’m not only a vacation diver. Our lake and quarries generally have fills. If I ever had your comment said to me from my LDS, it would likely be a cold day in hades before I ever went back.

 

[rjack321]

The sooner my LDS goes out of business and is replaced by a shop that doesn't hassle me over my choices the better.
They are the only hydro shop on the west side of Puget Sound and get a ton of Navy business so I suspect they will be around awhile.

But these monkeys are the same ones that I had to educate on what a REE is on my LP cylinders. Since the shop's inception in the 1990s they had never + rated a LP cylinder, even those where the yes/no REE is stamped right on the crown. They ran after me about how I was going to die from contaminated gas because my VIP stickers don't have a shop address on them - until I turned the al6 I had given them to hydro over and showed them the "ARGON - DO NOT BREATH" sticker on the other side... The same knuckleheads who think 32% is voodoo magic gas and take 48hrs to make it. The list on BS goes on and on. God help me if I bring in a CCR tank.

Even on my most sympathetic days I won't step foot in my LDS.

 

[fullytek]

Yes some clubs are able to maintain their own fill station but many struggle to cordanate a simple weekend of diving

Who's house does the full station live at?

Dose every club member have unlimited access to the compressor or are there only a few hrs a week that its available.
What about liability insurance for the club or person housing the system?
What happens when the banks are low can any one run the compressor.

What happens when you want a mix or want to fill a cylinder that dosnt conform with the club commanders philosophy?

What happens when (not if) the 4th stage shits the bed?

Yes you can get fills at many destinations but not on a Saturday morning before all the boats leave the dock.

 

[rjack321]

What happens when you want a mix or want to fill a cylinder that dosnt conform with the club commanders philosophy?

You make it sound like this doesn't happen day after day at cranky LDS' that think they are entitled to divers' business.

Yes you can get fills at many destinations but not on a Saturday morning before all the boats leave the dock.

Short notice fills doesn't happen via many LDS' either.

The sooner we stop parroting the entitled privileged talk about how diver's "need" their poorly performing LDS the better. Some dinosaurs just need to die.​

 

[TrimixToo]

Yes some clubs are able to maintain their own fill station but many struggle to cordanate a simple weekend of diving

Who's house does the full station live at?

Dose every club member have unlimited access to the compressor or are there only a few hrs a week that its available.
What about liability insurance for the club or person housing the system?
What happens when the banks are low can any one run the compressor.

What happens when you want a mix or want to fill a cylinder that dosnt conform with the club commanders philosophy?

What happens when (not if) the 4th stage shits the bed?

Yes you can get fills at many destinations but not on a Saturday morning before all the boats leave the dock.

Jeez Louise. Lemme tell you about our dive club. The (K15 size) compressor and bank of 12 4500 PSI tanks are in leased space secured by a combination lock. Members have the combination. Any member can get a fill at any time of day or night, or sign out one of the club tanks to use and return. Nobody is watching if what you happen to be filling tops a mix you started at home. The club's savings balance could buy a new compressor, but since we own a spare low-hour Bauer K15 pump that will fit the existing chassis, the need to do that any time soon is pretty unlikely. Air is tested quarterly to the OCA standard. The club carries liability insurance. Dues are a staggering $24 a year or so and annual work hours are 12 per member. Most of those are fully satisfied by working the annual fundraiser, which is a good time.

But even without that a small number of active divers could easily afford a reasonable bank, a reasonable compressor, leased space, and repairs, so long as a couple of them have the necessary mechanical skills to effect repairs. Or, if one of them is amenable, it could be in someone's garage with a combo lock or a realtor's box on the doorknob with the key inside.

(I don't happen to use the club's compressor, because I have my own.)

 

[noj3333]

Jeez Louise. Lemme tell you about our dive club. The (K15 size) compressor and bank of 12 4500 PSI tanks are in leased space secured by a combination lock. Members have the combination. Any member can get a fill at any time of day or night, or sign out one of the club tanks to use and return. Nobody is watching if what you happen to be filling tops a mix you started at home. The club's savings balance could buy a new compressor, but since we own a spare low-hour Bauer K15 pump that will fit the existing chassis, the need to do that any time soon is pretty unlikely. Air is tested quarterly to the OCA standard. The club carries liability insurance. Dues are a staggering $24 a year or so and annual work hours are 12 per member. Most of those are fully satisfied by working the annual fundraiser, which is a good time.

But even without that a small number of active divers could easily afford a reasonable bank, a reasonable compressor, leased space, and repairs, so long as a couple of them have the necessary mechanical skills to effect repairs. Or, if one of them is amenable, it could be in someone's garage with a combo lock or a realtor's box on the doorknob with the key inside.

(I don't happen to use the club's compressor, because I have my own.)

What part of the state are you from... asking for a friend

 

[TrimixToo]

What part of the state are you from... asking for a friend

About 90 minutes from you.