Does Peggy work at your LDS?

[knowone]

Just folk flexing their recently exposed muscle
exercising their ability to throw weight around

 

[redacted]

I can't afford to go to DEMA! LOL Just kidding, someone had to stay at the shop. I have F'd up before and admit to a customer when I have. I have had F ups, like my hydro guy didn't pick up for a week, really hit me in the I will have it back by..did I blame the hydro guy? no I gave the customer a discount and apologized to LA and back and then reamed my hydro guy and asked him WTFO and this better be it. The real limit to a dive shop and pricing is more focused on the manufacturers not really wanting to assist the small shops. Buy large they will help you with alot, buy small because that is all you can afford... they ignore you instead of helping you to build. I get that ...to a point. The customer service angle is truly what the brick and mortar biz has to offer to the diver. I had a commercial diver who is working locally on a job bring in his bailouts for fills, all 3 had vis dates that go way beyond the annual, I was able to get his stuff vis'd and even replace a dip tube that had dropped out ( different post there...woo.) Still had him out the door in less than an hour. When I fill a tank, you better be patient because it will be a bit, I fill slow and to the marked service pressure, let her cool and top off. Prefer to have them overnight... if you are in a hurry, they will be a lil below service psi the next day, but not by much, and I tell you that. I wish I could sell gear at a lower price and can compete with some online prices, but the bills must be paid. I cannot compete with the large online retailers that order in and then deliver, I cannot hit that volume. Try getting air from them. I wish I could compete on prices, so instead I must give you the service and the feeling that you are a dive buddy when you come in, and I will dive with most of my customers... there are a few... I also understand that some are mostly self sufficient, we have a few customers like that and still invite them to come dive with us when we get the chance to play.
Are we perfect? hell no. Plenty of room to improve. Are we trying? Hell yes. and I learn from every one of these situations and attempt to apply the lessons learned in our shop.
Thanks Netdoc for this post.

Sounds like a better than average shop but you do bring up a couple warts.

Many shops can provide a good fill in no more than 30 minutes. Why can't you do it???? One of my local shops had a similar approach to filling tanks as you seem to have. It was notorious for short fills and lost customers over it. Now they work very hard to get fills right on the money but the tanks are still warm. The fill specification applies at 70 degrees F. There is no harm in filling to a couple hundre3d pounds over so it will cool to the spec capacity and get the job done while the customer waits.

Also, some price constraints are based on dealer agreements but you can't hide behind the dealer agreement for all your prices and expect customers to be satisfied. After all, the dive shop does have options and chose to sign that agreement. And then there are a bunch of odds and ends that have no such constraints. My wife went to an LDS recently to buy a book I wanted for my birthday. The shop sticker on the front listed it as $39.95 (+ tax) which she paid. On the back cover, the book shows an MSRP of $34.95. (Or $27 delivered from LeisurePro) And the shop wonders why folks look elsewhere.

The business model of most shops is to get new customers into OW training and then sell them a set of gear at top dollar before they discover their other options. It is a model that is dependent on the lack of customer knowledge or the misinformation/indoctrination provided by the shop. Unfortunately for those shops, customers are getting smarter every day. What do you see in your crystal ball?

BTW, my wife knows better now and is unlikely to be making any more surprise purchase at any LDS.

 

[scubafanatic]

OK,

so far the universal constant in most of these posts is to walk away. That's the easy way out. Yes, I know in my heart of hearts that I am doing just that. Its sad, but I still have three tanks that need to be tumbled. How do you get the message across to your LDS so that this doesn't have to end like this? What can you do to ensure success and not failure? The sad part? I still spent more money with them. Now I wish I hadn't.

It's kinda funny how people react....my 'upset' reaction is completely opposite of yours (usually)....I get VERY quiet....silent...withdrawn.....then I vanish and NEVER return! I have no interest in 'educating' someone in common sense, because it can't be done. If you're too stupid to realize how stupid you are, I don't have the patience to 'splain it to a dive shop and quietly move along.

 

[scubafanatic]

Maybe I am slow, but I can't understand why you are not saying.

1) *undi *olm-induced libel paranoia

2) potential/active Scubaboard advertiser

 

[SeaHorse81]

Pete, this sounds like an instance where neither the service ethic nor the friendship was worth much. People like this tend to be really dense and not respond to well-intended efforts to help them understand. If they were likely to understand it, they would have already and your experience would never have happened.

I vote with the "just walk" crowd.

 

[lowviz]

I was staying out of this, just too much up-front reading. Then my LDS came through for me again. Started feeling guilty, read through your whole thread in detail. Pete, let go, you are being way too nice. Drop the guilt. I am well treated, it can be done. -won't say which is my LDS, but the owner rhymes with "Evelyn Dudas".

Pete, I didn't mean to imply you were unreasonable; far from it. ....//....

Way, way, way far from it.

...//..... We live and work in a fish bowl. ....//.....

Uh Huh.

I have yet to have found any dive shop that I look forward to doing business with. ....//....

That is just downright sad.

Stories like this is why I divorced myself from needing dive shops 40 years ago. Anything I need I either have or can get without ever entering a dive shop.

Even sadder.

Pete, this sounds like an instance where neither the service ethic nor the friendship was worth much. ...//.....

Make new friends.

 

[soltari675]

Wow, the shop I go to would never do this. I drop off tanks to be filled and come back in a couple days and it's done every time. If it's something that we're not sure how long it will take, he calls me and tells me when it's done. Or if it may take longer, he calls and lets me know. I rarely call and don't reach someone. And so far he has gone out of his way to make it up to me if something wasn't as originally expected. I couldn't imagine going anywhere else in this area. I'd say find another shop who cares.

 

[theduckguru]

At many an LDS, the staff is paid poverty wages or worse, they work in exchange of store credits for gear or charters and you expect good service? Good luck with that.

 

[Dan G]

Does anyone notice a difference between shop that...

a) ... is just a dive shop with connections to dive charters/ ops?
b) ... is a dive shop connected to their own dive operation?
c) ...is a dive shop that is also a travel agency?

I am sure that, depending on our location, these can look and feel different, as well. Perhaps these various combos effect the shop and our experience there.

 

[RonFrank]

Good Gawd you still don't have your tanks cleaned and you hydro's/vis done? I would not have put up with this for more than a month. It's time to get your tanks DONE.

You also live in the boat diving capital of the USA, so why don't you have these done locally? I get better service in Denver where it would not matter if they dragged their feet. Why you let this drag on for months is beyond me.