High Retail Prices = Hard to Support LDS

[vladimir]

Leisurepro is fine for some stuff, but I sure wouldnt trust tehm with everything. There are real LDSs on the net, ie Diver right in scuba, or cave adventurers, etc that sell gear at amazingly low prices while still assuring they are in warranty.

Leisurepro warrants everything they sell that the manufacturer doesn't.

Dont feel obliged to get stuff from your LDS, but remember if they go under you wont have an LDS to go to to try stuff on, see stuff in person, and BS about scuba.

You can order multiple wetsuits, BCs, etc, and send the ones that don't fit back. You can BS about scuba here for free, or I can give you my phone number and paypal account if you want to pay for it.

Also consider the implications if something goes wrong with that great piece of gear - service is never more important when it does.

Has anything ever gone wrong with your gear? I have owned about a half-dozen BCs, starting with a vest I bought from Central Skin Divers in 1976, none of which have ever malfunctioned in any way. Same with regulators, beginning with a Dacor Pacer, and all the rest of my gear, with the exception of a computer that malfunctioned well outside its two-year warranty, and another computer that was recalled. In the first case, the computer had been purchased from an authorized dealer, which did me no good; in the second case, the computer had been purchased from a non-authorized dealer, which didn't cause me any inconvenience or expense.

 

[lkgators]

Scuba Board is awash in gear horrow stories, so, yeah, things can go wrong. My Suunto Cobra flooded on it's 10th dive in 10 feet of water. Aqualung is giving me and the LDS a hard time about it - I think everyone should balance cost against service and make your call.

 

[JohnB47]

I have been going to two LDS's in my area, and I also buy online. Last year, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of them could sell me a Worthington HP 100 for about the same price that it would have cost from Leisure Pro, and it included a VIP and air fill. Needless to say, I bought it. However, the other LDS is overpriced, so I mostly get hydros and VIP's, and buy air and small items there. I don't mind paying 15-20% extra at the LDS - it is like a tip at a restaurant. But when the price difference is 50% on a high-ticket item, I buy from Leisure Pro or one of the other online discount warehouses.

By the way, some of the value of authorized dealers is overrated. I have a Scubapro MK5 and an R-190 second stage that was upgraded to a Balanced Adjustable. This was supposed to have a lifetime warranty since I was the original owner. However in the 39 years since I bought it, I have lost the paperwork. Now the authorized dealer tells me that he can't get parts for it (even though they are available on eBay) and Scubapro won't give me any help unless I somehow find my original paperwork. So what good did it do me to buy from an authorized dealer and support Scubapro's price-fixing business model? So I bought a new Scubapro regulator on the online gray market (imported from Europe, where price-fixing is illegal - as it should be here), and saved almost 50%. I don't fault the LDS for Scubapros pricing - Scubapro does it to them by not allowing them to compete fairly.

 

[spectrum]

Has anything ever gone wrong with your gear?

Yes, I can recall 2 incidents in our first year, one BC and one regulator issue where the LDS took the helm and kept us diving without missing a beat.

Pete

 

[ReefHound]

My suggestion, price out the same gear you want to buy from your LDS and see if they'll match the price. If they won't, buy from wherever you get the best deal AS LONG as they are an "authorized dealer" for the gear you're buying. That part is important later on down the road when you need warranty work.

I've been in these sort of debates countless times and I don't really care to give or listen to all the same arguments again but I'll make one point and leave it at that.

It is very rare when scuba gear needs "warranty work" in the traditional sense, as in defective materials or workmanship, e.g. something inexplicably and prematurely malfunctions. I have enough gear to kit up six or seven divers with spares and the only item I can recall that would fit this category was a light, which I shipped directly to Princeton Tec and they replaced.

Most of the "warranty work" is actually free parts during annual service. This mostly pertains to regs and you have to diligently have them serviced annually or you lose this "warranty". Other items like cleaning and inspecting your BC or changing your dive computer battery are easily done by anyone with the skills to change a light bulb.

I'm not telling anyone to not assign value to the "warranty", just keep it in perspective.

 

[ReefHound]

Scuba Board is awash in gear horrow stories, so, yeah, things can go wrong. My Suunto Cobra flooded on it's 10th dive in 10 feet of water. Aqualung is giving me and the LDS a hard time about it - I think everyone should balance cost against service and make your call.

Things go wrong with gear all the time. The question is whether or not it is covered under the warranty. Most of the time, problems are due to pilot error or mishandling.

It may depend on how strongly your LDS will go to bat for you. Some may quickly replace your item and assume the burden of fighting with the manufacturer while others may look for a reason to exclude coverage and wash their hands of it.

 

[SkimFisher]

Perhaps a bad spot for a joke but that is what it was none the less. The "group GOOP" buy was also a joke. One needs only to read a couple recent threads on the topics to know that but in a area frequented by "new members", that might be too much to expect. Consider it withdrawn with this post. My bad.

Whoops. My bad. Didn't catch it.

 

[RU4SKUBA]

Piece of advice... if you ever decide to buy equipment online, don't tell anyone including --and in particular-- your local dive shop. I've never heard of anyone buying bad gear online, but I have definitely heard of LDS owners who love to price gouge.

I once had a dive shop owner actually refuse my business because part of my setup was purchased online and he "couldn't trust my diving under those circumstances" since all online gear must be flawed, damaged, and unmaintained. He's a perfect example of why never to discuss where you purchased equipment.

If any LDS asks where you bought your gear, either ask them to inform you why they're asking about it, tell them you can't recall, or just tell them you bought it while on vacation for half what the LDS charges.

 

[a22shady]

Just buy your gear where you want. Do as I do research the product find the best price go up to your LDS and say, this is what I found what can you do plain and simple if he comes close by it there if he is still way off go online and purchase it. the thing is to give them the oppertunity to help and serve you first. And at that point it's nothing personal just good bussiness. As other's pointed out there are several online shops that also have lower prices

Indian Valley Scuba

Dive Right In Scuba -#1 for Scuba Diving Certification, Training, and Classes in Illinois

Scuba toys

North East Scuba Supply

 

[carrielsal]

I've been in these sort of debates countless times and I don't really care to give or listen to all the same arguments again but I'll make one point and leave it at that.

It is very rare when scuba gear needs "warranty work" in the traditional sense, as in defective materials or workmanship, e.g. something inexplicably and prematurely malfunctions. I have enough gear to kit up six or seven divers with spares and the only item I can recall that would fit this category was a light, which I shipped directly to Princeton Tec and they replaced.

Most of the "warranty work" is actually free parts during annual service. This mostly pertains to regs and you have to diligently have them serviced annually or you lose this "warranty". Other items like cleaning and inspecting your BC or changing your dive computer battery are easily done by anyone with the skills to change a light bulb.

I'm not telling anyone to not assign value to the "warranty", just keep it in perspective.

It may be rare, but it does happen. A few months ago the si-tech valve on my drysuit started leaking water. I took it into the LDS where I purchased it and they swapped it with the valve on the DS on display. Fixed in under 10 minutes with no missed dives! Now that's service. If I had purchased my DS online, I would have had to ship my DS back to them, wait for them to test the valve and order a replacement from the manufacturer, then ship it back to me. It would have been 1-2 weeks minimum to get this fixed, versus 10 minutes.