I'm paying retail for equipment from LDS

[shellbackdiver1]

I wasn't aware any of us were compelled to look at any thread. Here's a thought! Don't read any thread you don't want to.

That is a novel idea.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Thas bad business......I have some independents that charge more than double for what I charge....they send me business....We dont talk to their customers about any classes and only equipment....Most of the time the Instructor comes in with them....but either way, I would never bite a hand that feeds me.....

 

[Cheekymonkey]

See Dive Right, thats the right way of doing it though, and then you never know maybe the studnet will come to you for a future class when their private instructor is unavailalbe, but I've had really bad expereinces with sending people elsewhere, it makes me tempted to go get a diversdirect affiliate program set up and make 10% of the gear. I'd be happy sending them to the LDS's if I wasnt have such problems doing that.

 

[jpsexton]

Yawn....I actually breezed through this whine and cheeze thinking that maybe, just maybe there might be something that has not be repeated hundreds of times on this board.

I could not have been more wrong. Why are we compelled to often look at threads that are repeated?

I'm glad this topic gets rehashed every week! Maybe if the LDS's in question read it enough they will begin to change their business model and maybe even stand up to the manufacturers that try to tie their hands.

ScubaBoard is a powerfull influence, just look at the recent thread about PADI's change to promote the online business model.

 

[GA Under Water]

never hand over your Card before hearing the total.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Yea, I gotta say regardless of anything that happened, the first thing you should start with is not paying until you hear how much.

 

[redacted]

Maybe if the LDS's in question read it enough they will begin to change their business model and maybe even stand up to the manufacturers that try to tie their hands.

I suspect that most LDS that chose to carry the gear from mfgrs that exercise such price controls would not welcome the removal of those price restrictions. That would mean they would be forced to compete on a price basis which many would rather not do.

 

[Web Monkey]

What do you think I should do?

That depends on how much the money hurts. Personally, I'd forget about it and go diving, since the most you could have saved from any authorized dealer is 10%.

You could also go back and tell him that you understand about the limits on what he can do on Scubapro pricing, but that you would like a year's free air.

Chances are excellent he'll say "sure", since at a busy shop, the cost of plain air fills for a single customer is pretty much insignificant (if he's filling 40 tanks/day, filling a couple of extra a week won't make any difference).

The best money I ever "wasted" was at my LDS. Any time I need service or help or whatever, it's pretty much instant.

Terry

 

[Cheekymonkey]

The best money I ever "wasted" was at my LDS. Any time I need service or help or whatever, it's pretty much instant.

Monkey, That should be a slogan.

 

[Web Monkey]

The services the LDS supposedly exclusively provide, namely advice and fast delivery are more than adequately provided by forums like this one and fast

Not really.

You can now get advice anywhere, some is even good advice.

However if you can manage to build a good relationship with your dealer, you'll get "Kiss-your-***" service" instead of just "OK" or "good" service.

In the car world, this would be the difference between you taking a day off from work to go screw around at the dealer while they figure out they need a part that takes 2 weeks to come in, or you call them and they say they're sorry and bring you out a nice loaner to use while they're working on yours.

Note than I'm not defending list prices in particular or LDSs in general, and don't really care what anybody does or what they pay, I'm only noting that the value of most SCUBA transactions doesn't even begin to show until years after you get the bill.

Terry