do you ever notice negativity between dive shops?

[k ellis]

I was curious because an area I have been too has a 2 brick and morter stores and a couple of free lance instructors within say 40 miles of where I was at. When I asked around I noticed there was a lot of like professional jealousy for some reason ( I never pried out of respect ) but its like you go to shop A and they tell you shop B is not a good shop because ..... (There excuse here). You goto Shop B and they tell you there excuse as to why Shop A is bad.

the freelance instructors seem to be totally against the shops citing their own personal reasons as well and vise versa.

Now that I probably got you confused Ill get to the question I have. This sport is a simple one in which really requires a larger clientel then whats in this area as it is so why not instead of bashing the competition try speaking in positive lite?

One place even disowned me because I arranged with Shop A a great Christmas Tree Trimming and it was open to everyone at no cost to participate. The free lance instructors just did not even ask me any questions of what happend or anything they just disowned me all together.

I know shops will have beef with each other but why do they do it publicly and tear each other down to the point that would be divers get turned away from the sport all together?

Its like internet sales as another example. One thing is obvious in this day and age and that is that people are going to buy things off the net and will from here on continue to do so. I have noticed shops just flat out turn customers away who come to them willing to pay them to service an item. When they are willing to pay them why do the shops treat them like dirt simply because they spent money else where? And my biggest gripe about this internet versus dive shop is also that while people are wanting to save money they also value how they are treated. When a person buys off the net and comes to a shop to look around they get crucified and treated horrible at times.

Instead of the terrible treatment they give these customers why dont they try to support the customers needs with good old fashioned service? You know when a customer walks in just to window shop sit and talk with them kindly and ask them about there diving adventures. Get them in the "your a potential future customer and we would be honored to have you here" mentality. Dont act like a car sales man and follow them to the bathroom trying to get them to buy now today but just you know show them they are welcomed like family.

I will say one shop in Oklahoma City really amazed me too. I went to Blue Water Divers and even when customers bash another dive shop they dont participate with "Those guys are idiots etc....." They just polietly go on to the positive about what brings you to the store. Amazingly there positive your family attitude promotes drivers to drive often 2 to 3 hours just to buy from their store and that amazes me in itself.

Anyway this is my rant about why shops dont promote more positive notes and promote divers to have a choice in where they shop without crucifying them.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's a cut-throat industry. Also, some instructors may have worked with the competitors previously and there is bad blood.

Also...there's lots of strong personalities in scuba diving..

 

[aquaregia]

The LDSs in my area all seem to be fairly friendly towards each other, which is something I appreciate. If one of them was trash talking another, I'd probably start frequenting the other exclusively on basic principle.

 

[herman]

It seems to be common in the industry. I have heard stories of one semi local shop that really talks trash about another one but then again some of the BS that was on their web site it does not surprize me. Locally I am very lucky, not only are the LDS's civil to each other, they actually work together. It's not uncommon for them to hold joint events, fill each others tanks when the other one's compressor dies and I have actually witnessed 2 of the major shop owners calling the other shop looking for a specific item for a customer. Not all shops act like spoiled brats but it seems a lot do.

 

[DevonDiver]

From my experience, these things tend to stem from personality and personal history.

For example, a member of staff works for Dive Shop A, there is a bust-up, so he goes and works at (or even starts) Dive Shop B. From that point onwards, the staff at each dive center get influenced by the strong personality and regurgitate nonsense about the other.

I've worked in some very good dive shops and, without exception, the ones which are responsibly managed will have a policy of preventing bad-mouthing with competitors. The best shops will actually work hand-in-hand with their neighbours...as there are many advantages to this.

 

[Quero]

I see quite a lot of back stabbing here. We even see it reflected on the local SB sub-forum in my area. It's true that for such a small place (with a total population of perhaps 300,000 in the entire province) we have an abundance of dive operators, each trying to survive. The biggest wholesaler here once told me that they deal with 80 registered trade shops on the island, and that's not counting the shops so small they don't make the minimum sales cut off or the independents. So you can sort of see that everybody is trying to get or keep customers, and some are even trying to poach them.

I have always contended, and run my business under the principle, that if we all collaborate and make nice, our customers will see this place as one of happiness and good times. They're on vacation, and our island should be a magical place where they can forget all that crap. Negativity, even when it's not expressed openly, poisons the atmosphere, and customers pick up on it. I've actually had customers tell me that they chose me because of my upbeat approach as contrasted with some of my colleagues' negativity.

Anyway, being more than halfway through my life, I don't have time to waste on negativity or gossip or envy. I'd rather put the energy those things take to work making my customers' visits enjoyable.

 

[Rhone Man]

Maybe it is a small island thing, but the shops all get on reasonably well with each other here (except for one, but that is because the owner is generally a dick, not related to professional activities). They compete, but they don't fight.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Not all dive shops participate in this nonsense ... but many do. We have one dive shop owner in our area who has been known to tell people to never come back into his shop if he finds out they purchased something on the Internet.

As an independent instructor, I try to develop relationships with dive shops ... because I don't sell gear and I want to encourage my students to support their local dive businesses. But some make it difficult. I found out that one shop was badmouthing me to the very students I was sending in there ... and offering them "deals" on continuing education classes. While I've never objected to my students choosing to take classes with other instructors ... it doesn't make sense for me to send them to a shop who's actively trying to put me out of business. So I'm pretty selective about which shops I'll recommend at this point.

Many dive shop owners look at each other as "competitors". They've got it wrong. Their competitors are all the other recreational activities that people could choose to spend their discretionary dollars on. Diving's supposed to be fun ... and very few people look at negativity as fun. The dive shops I choose to do business with are the ones who believe it's in their best interest to keep the whole industry healthy ... not those whose objective is to put every other dive shop in the area out of business. The latter might be able to build a successful business temporarily ... but eventually they'll end up downsizing or going out of business, because a significant portion of their clientelle don't want to deal with their negativity, and will eventually find someplace else to do business.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Scott L]

Also...there's lots of strong personalities in scuba diving..

One needs a flak jacket whilst posting on the Deco Stop...

 

[The Chairman]

It's absolutely amazing how prevalent this is and especially so the further south you go.