Groupons, the good, the bad and the ugly

[SinkFloridaSink]

My girlfriend and I both got our PADI OWs from Dixie Divers with a Groupon deal. We took the certifications separately, but with the same instructor.
We were treated like valued, full-paying guests. I would recommend Dixie to anyone interested in scuba.

They typically charge $350 for OW. We got ours for $169 each (including books).

 

[boulderjohn]

My girlfriend and I both got our PADI OWs from Dixie Divers with a Groupon deal. We took the certifications separately, but with the same instructor.
We were treated like valued, full-paying guests. I would recommend Dixie to anyone interested in scuba.

They typically charge $350 for OW. We got ours for $169 each (including books).

And that is the reaction a dive shop should hope for in using Groupon. If the diver walks out saying, "What a ripoff!", then the shop did not invest wisely.

It appears to me that whether or not Groupon is valuable depends upon the wisdom of the shop using it.

 

[k ellis]

My experience was limited to helping conduct in pool discover scuba classes. It was a blast for me but over all I just dont think it did the shop itself any good. The goal as anyone can imagine is to get people to come in and try out scuba diving. The problem we ran in to though was most people either already want to try to scuba dive and will pay for it (The normal fee of 25.00) or they simply are looking for a cheap thing to do on a weekend. Most of what we had was just that and people who only wanted something to do on the weekend.

Now they did get a handful of people from my understanding who came back and did classes but the whole point of Groupon is to entice people to try new things they may otherwise not spend money on. Think about how many times you may have thought of the steakhouse but did not want to spend 60 dollars on 2 people. 30.00 would be more enticing and motivate them to experiment with the business.

For the business it can be a risky gamble though risking potentially huge losses in profit in hopes that customers will return and spend money on the item/service full price. If they dont return then it can be damaging. It they do then the profits can be rewarding in their self.

 

[boulderjohn]

Ironically, my wife and I had a Groupon-based dinner last night. I was to a well known a fairly expensive restaurant. They had no idea we had a Groupon offer until we paid the bill, so we saw their service and food quality as it really is. I won't bother with the details, but it was not the best dining experience we ever had. We left decidedly underwhelmed, and will probably not be back. Attracting people to your business through deep discount offers only works if your business is such that you make them want to come back again.

 

[nelsonrl]

I suspect those purchasing through groupon, expect and deserve the service purchased. The shop nows how much groupon costs when they sign up for it so why would the owner feel cheated or inclined to provide less of a service?

Just my opinion. That and 5 bucks won't even get you a cup of coffee.

 

[nimoh]

I suspect those purchasing through groupon, expect and deserve the service purchased. The shop nows how much groupon costs when they sign up for it so why would the owner feel cheated or inclined to provide less of a service?

Just my opinion. That and 5 bucks won't even get you a cup of coffee.

from reading some of the other threads on the whole groupon certification thing, it seems that some, less reputable shops may be doing:

- provide shotty instruction, and then when the student fails to do all of the certification requirements, offer them additional instruction for $200 to get them certified. Once a student is in this position, their choices are $350 for OW instruction from a good shop, or $200 from the same shop, and we already know that the student is a bargain hunter.

- the shop attempts to make up the lost profit from the OW course through gear sales, but once they find out the students are buying gear elsewhere, they try to minimize their losses.

- the shops try to hit maximum student-instructor ratios, and in some cases it appears that they may exceed it to try and make the groupon deal worthwhile.


I have also said in other threads (and now this one), I don't believe groupon is the problem, it is only some of the shops using it. However, from the student's perspective, I think a groupon deal should be a red flag.

 

[scubadiver888]

nimoh, I agree. The problem is the shops using Groupon. The intention of Groupon seems obvious to me. It is a marketing tool. It is not a way to generate revenue. If you believe you are going to make money off of Groupon then you are misguided. If you think you can trick or cheat people out of their money you are corrupt. The shop I work for uses Groupon to get DSD students. They understand that DSD, in general, is not going to make money. It will expose a group of people to the world of scuba diving and hopefully get some of the student to get certified and become valued customers. It is an alternative to advertising.

I'm now curious to know how many Groupon customers become certified divers at my shop. I'll have to ask the Course Director.

It is just like my first DSD. It was free for me to do in the pool but if I wanted more I'd have to pay. Got me hooked. Thousands of dollars later and I'm still spending money. But I'm getting value for my dollar. Anyone who tries to trick or cheat me out of my money doesn't get a penny and I never buy anything from them again.

 

[wedivebc]

So is the general consensus that Groupon allows disreputable shops to prey on unsuspecting new customers and those shops that use them as intended can provide a good service with them?

 

[nimoh]

So is the general consensus that Groupon allows disreputable shops to prey on unsuspecting new customers and those shops that use them as intended can provide a good service with them?

I would agree with that but add that disreputable shops can prey on unsuspecting new customers with or without Groupon.

 

[DivingIvan]

I don't know about GroupOn, but I recently bought a LivingSocial deal for my 11 year old son to get his Junior Scuba Diver certification through Sail Fish Scuba in Key Largo and had a great experience. I did not feel like I was short changed at all, especially since a number of shops I called did not even want to accept him as a student until he was 12.