How much that the LDS tells me can I believe?

[BTravlin]

I have to say my wife and I have been very pleased with our LDS. We bought many things from them and paid a little more than online prices but appreciated his input when we were new divers and knew next to nothing. Now that we know a little more, I can see that he made good recommendations for good quality gear at reasonable prices. We bought our regs from him and ended up going with the Atomic Z1's. I can be a real gearhead at times and was looking at the higher end Atomic models. He asked me to tell him realistically what kind of diving I would be doing, he moved me back down to the Z1 and said that would be plenty good enough for my warm water wuss diving. He took the same approach with many items we bought from him. This is the best but that one is really good for the price and really all you will need. These days I buy a lot online but check with him and buy things where fit is more important.

Just yesterday I had another very positive experience with them. We are going on a week long liveaboard in June. My octo reg was leaking a little last month in Coz so I thought we'll take all of our regs in now for the two year service. I couldn't find the receipts but it seemed like about two years had passed so I dropped all four regs off there a couple of weeks ago. Stopped in yesterday to pick them up and was told there was no charge. Huh? He says the Atomics only need service every two years and we had only had ours since Jan of 2007. I said that's great but my octo was leaking on the last trip. He says he took that apart and cleaned it, works fine now. Still no charge. That type of service ensures I'll be buying many more things from him the future!

 

[redacted]

I have to say my wife and I have been very pleased with our LDS. We bought many things from them and paid a little more than online prices but appreciated his input when we were new divers and knew next to nothing. Now that we know a little more, I can see that he made good recommendations for good quality gear at reasonable prices. We bought our regs from him and ended up going with the Atomic Z1's. I can be a real gearhead at times and was looking at the higher end Atomic models. He asked me to tell him realistically what kind of diving I would be doing, he moved me back down to the Z1 and said that would be plenty good enough for my warm water wuss diving. He took the same approach with many items we bought from him. This is the best but that one is really good for the price and really all you will need. These days I buy a lot online but check with him and buy things where fit is more important.

Just yesterday I had another very positive experience with them. We are going on a week long liveaboard in June. My octo reg was leaking a little last month in Coz so I thought we'll take all of our regs in now for the two year service. I couldn't find the receipts but it seemed like about two years had passed so I dropped all four regs off there a couple of weeks ago. Stopped in yesterday to pick them up and was told there was no charge. Huh? He says the Atomics only need service every two years and we had only had ours since Jan of 2007. I said that's great but my octo was leaking on the last trip. He says he took that apart and cleaned it, works fine now. Still no charge. That type of service ensures I'll be buying many more things from him the future!

This truly sounds like an extraordinary shop and deserves to be called out by name.

Unfortunately, it is a rare breed. Talking customers into less expensive (lower profit) gear is just about unheard of.

 

[BTravlin]

This truly sounds like an extraordinary shop and deserves to be called out by name.

Unfortunately, it is a rare breed. Talking customers into less expensive (lower profit) gear is just about unheard of.

Seaweed Diver, New Albany, IN - Highly recommended

 

[Creed]

My LDS is primarily ebay. My primary technician is yours truly. My air and visuals come from the hydro shop, where the hydro guy knows my name and let's me watch him at work and talk shop.
I make sure to buy some stuff at the nearest shop I trust(like wetsuits and such). But in my experience, people who are unwilling to learn about gear(or have bought into the scare tactics some instructors use) will get taken for a ride by a lot of shops. It doesn't take a certification to get that info, either. Pick up something like "Basic SCUBA" by Fred Roberts and learn the information that is largely hidden away from divers these days. Once you understand the basics of regulator functionality(hint: it has basically been the same for most of a century), you will know the sort of questions to ask. An informed diver is a lot less likely to be fleeced.

 

[dwardtxusa]

A good LDS is a really good asset. I'm in the Dallas Metroplex and there are alot of shops here and even Scubatoys which is a really nice store with a good staff. But I use my local shopbecause he's close, treats me well, is competetive with pricing, will warranty product........and makes me feel like a friend.

I just bought a Sea Quest Pro Qd i3 BCD, Legacy regs and octo, Cobra ai cpu and he beat online prices.

I would recommend Greg at Divers Isle Training Center anytime.