Is leisurepro.com the best place to buy?

[pilot fish]

I was looking at a transpac harness from LP, and they have an excellent price of 169 comapared to scubatoys 318, so I looked at the DiveRite website and found this:

THESE ARE NOT AUTHORIZED DIVE RITE DEALERS. ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) are featuring Dive Rite products and copyright protected images on their web sites and/or catalogs without our consent, they claim to have aquired our products from authorized Dive Rite dealers--third party sales are not authorized and are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection.

Not only are ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) NOT authorized Dive Rite dealers, they used Dive Rite's copyrighted product images without our knowledge or permission.
Obviously, ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) are not authorized Dive Rite dealers. Any products you purchase from them are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection.

BEWARE OF PURCHASING DIVE RITE PRODUCTS ON EBAY. We do not authorize any dealers to sell Dive Rite products on eBay and third party sales are not authorized therefore are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection. The product could be a second or factory defect. There is no manufacturers warranty on products purchased via eBay.

UNAUTHORIZED DIVE RITE RESELLERS The businesses listed below are not authorized Dive Rite dealers. Dive Rite items purchased through such resellers do not qualify for warranty coverage.

• Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com), Middleburg, FL
• ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Texas
• Leisure Pro, New York
• Creative Sports, New York
• Paradise Dive, Inc., New York
• Sunshine Sports, New York
• Park Slope Scuba, New York

Please note that the businesses whose names appear above do not represent the total list of unauthorized Dive Rite resellers -- only those of which we are currently aware. If you are aware of a business you suspect is not an authorized Dive Rite dealer, please let us know

AS A FINAL MEANS of protecting yourself, before you purchase a Dive Rite light system, dive computer or BC, be certain that:

• An up-to-date owner's manual accompanies the product.


Ryan

Very informative post, Ryan. There are some here that refuse to heed caution when buying gear from Leisure Pro and other unauthorized dealers. Hopefully they will finally see that LP tells you one thing but the reality is sonmeting else entirely.

 

[blakh2o]

How long are you planning on having your regulator set?? If you buy a set of regs from a non-authorized dealer then you don't have the priveledge of the factory warranty, as Pilot was explaining... now, for those sets that need to be serviced every year (and with the exception of Atomic, all manufacturers recommend that) your local dive shop, or at least in my case, is going to charge you for parts. I charge on average of $20 per regulator, that's one 1st stage, and 2 second stages, in most cases, for parts kits... most manufacturers are attacking the "Leisure Pro" issue by including the price of parts in their warranties...

Therefore, do the math... if that regulator set lasts you 10 years and you need to have it serviced annually.... is it safe to assume that you're going to lose all benifits of the discount when you've spent about $600 just in parts?? Or, are you going to skip your services in order to save money also??

 

[pilot fish]

How long are you planning on having your regulator set?? If you buy a set of regs from a non-authorized dealer then you don't have the priveledge of the factory warranty, as Pilot was explaining... now, for those sets that need to be serviced every year (and with the exception of Atomic, all manufacturers recommend that) your local dive shop, or at least in my case, is going to charge you for parts. I charge on average of $20 per regulator, that's one 1st stage, and 2 second stages, in most cases, for parts kits... most manufacturers are attacking the "Leisure Pro" issue by including the price of parts in their warranties...

Therefore, do the math... if that regulator set lasts you 10 years and you need to have it serviced annually.... is it safe to assume that you're going to lose all benifits of the discount when you've spent about $600 just in parts?? Or, are you going to skip your services in order to save money also??

Would you post this in the "LDS Point of Pain" thread to help enlighten the few who still don't know this? Thanks

 

[osujamesc]

I was looking at a transpac harness from LP, and they have an excellent price of 169 comapared to scubatoys 318, so I looked at the DiveRite website and found this:

THESE ARE NOT AUTHORIZED DIVE RITE DEALERS. ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) are featuring Dive Rite products and copyright protected images on their web sites and/or catalogs without our consent, they claim to have aquired our products from authorized Dive Rite dealers--third party sales are not authorized and are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection.

Not only are ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) NOT authorized Dive Rite dealers, they used Dive Rite's copyrighted product images without our knowledge or permission.
Obviously, ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Leisure Pro, and Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com) are not authorized Dive Rite dealers. Any products you purchase from them are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection.

BEWARE OF PURCHASING DIVE RITE PRODUCTS ON EBAY. We do not authorize any dealers to sell Dive Rite products on eBay and third party sales are not authorized therefore are not eligible for Dive Rite warranty protection. The product could be a second or factory defect. There is no manufacturers warranty on products purchased via eBay.

UNAUTHORIZED DIVE RITE RESELLERS The businesses listed below are not authorized Dive Rite dealers. Dive Rite items purchased through such resellers do not qualify for warranty coverage.

• Affordable Scuba (www.absolutescubadivingequipment.com), Middleburg, FL
• ScubaDiscount.com (Tech section dacordistributors.com), Texas
• Leisure Pro, New York
• Creative Sports, New York
• Paradise Dive, Inc., New York
• Sunshine Sports, New York
• Park Slope Scuba, New York

Please note that the businesses whose names appear above do not represent the total list of unauthorized Dive Rite resellers -- only those of which we are currently aware. If you are aware of a business you suspect is not an authorized Dive Rite dealer, please let us know

AS A FINAL MEANS of protecting yourself, before you purchase a Dive Rite light system, dive computer or BC, be certain that:

• An up-to-date owner's manual accompanies the product.


Ryan

Is the implecation of this warning from the Dive Rite website that the Dive Rite product that Leisure Pro sells is not actually manufactured by Dive Rite? That it is some kind of a knock-off? With Leisure Pro offering its own warranty that matches any manufacturer's warranty, unless the product is not actually manufactured by Dive-Rite and is a cheap copy, I'm still missing the big problem? Ryan, that was an excellent addition to this thread, I think it helps to gather this kind of information so we can really understand two things. First, why is LeisurePro et al so cheap, and second, why is the local dive shop so expensive.


Thanks,
James

 

[The Kraken]

"First, why is LeisurePro et al so cheap, and second, why is the local dive shop so expensive."

Simple, the LDS can buy just a few units to stock due to cash flow, available capital, sales based upon inventory turns, etc. So, in order to meet their operating costs, they must have a high sales/cost margin built in.

Busniess like L/P et al, have very high inventory turn overs. They will purchase 25 XXX regulators through an authorized dealer to put into their inventory. In order to do this, they will pay the LDS a slight margin over the distributor purchase price of the unit. The LDS would love to make 10% of something opposed to 100% of nothing. So, the LDS orders 25 XXX regulators and ships them to the big on-line house and pockets his nifty little 10%. Good money for just placing an order.

Now, the big on-line store will up the price of the unit he sells by the percentage that has been determined to be the optimum sales price to provide the profit margin needed for the company.

So, for example, let us say the XXX regulator costs, at distributor purchase price, $200. In order to keep his doors open and to make whatever profits he feels necessary, the LDS sells the regulator at $400.

Now keep in mind that that regulator is costing the LDS $$$ for every day it sits on the shelf and is not sold.

Good ole divers like us wander in, look around, pick it up and say, "Wow, how pretty! How much does it cost? $400, eh !!!" and put it back on the shelf.

The on-line business gives him an order for, say, 50 XXX regs and will pay 10% over cost. The LDS has now made a cool $1000 for doing very little.

So the on-line store pays $220 for the reg and then marks it up 35% and sells the same, exact regulator for $297.

Cash flow management, inventory turns, all sorts of neat business stuff !!!!

 

[286571455]

LP is a LDS in New York City I have been in there store.

 

[pilot fish]

"First, why is LeisurePro et al so cheap, and second, why is the local dive shop so expensive."

Simple, the LDS can buy just a few units to stock due to cash flow, available capital, sales based upon inventory turns, etc. So, in order to meet their operating costs, they must have a high sales/cost margin built in.

Busniess like L/P et al, have very high inventory turn overs. They will purchase 25 XXX regulators through an authorized dealer to put into their inventory. In order to do this, they will pay the LDS a slight margin over the distributor purchase price of the unit. The LDS would love to make 10% of something opposed to 100% of nothing. So, the LDS orders 25 XXX regulators and ships them to the big on-line house and pockets his nifty little 10%. Good money for just placing an order.

Now, the big on-line store will up the price of the unit he sells by the percentage that has been determined to be the optimum sales price to provide the profit margin needed for the company.

So, for example, let us say the XXX regulator costs, at distributor purchase price, $200. In order to keep his doors open and to make whatever profits he feels necessary, the LDS sells the regulator at $400.

Now keep in mind that that regulator is costing the LDS $$$ for every day it sits on the shelf and is not sold.

Good ole divers like us wander in, look around, pick it up and say, "Wow, how pretty! How much does it cost? $400, eh !!!" and put it back on the shelf.

The on-line business gives him an order for, say, 50 XXX regs and will pay 10% over cost. The LDS has now made a cool $1000 for doing very little.

So the on-line store pays $220 for the reg and then marks it up 35% and sells the same, exact regulator for $297.

Cash flow management, inventory turns, all sorts of neat business stuff !!!!

At some point after you've pointed out to someone that if they keep doing that they will get hurt and they keep doing it, you have to conclude they must like getting hurt. Your explaination/theory is muddled but if it makes sense to you, fine. Thats' fuzzy math, Kraken. What you might not know, Kraken, is Leisure Pro buys from Europen markets, and other sources, and sells those units in the American market. When they are sent in to be fixed, some of the parts are not interchangable and that adds months, many months to turn around time of gear sent in to be repaired. Add to that they are not warrantied and you have yourself a bit of a mess, and a wait.

But, hey, if this is OK with you and oujamessc be our guest and buy all the dive gear you want from these unauthorized dealers and pray it never needs a repair.

 

[pilot fish]

I called Oceanic today to register my new backup computer that I purchased from an authorized dealer. While speaking to the mfg, they accessed my account and registered my new puter, I told them I had lost the lamented card that is a quick reference on how to access certain fuctions on my older DataMax ProPlus. They said, no problem, we'll mail you out a new one free of charge.? Big deal? No, but good service that is ONLY extended to divers that purchased dive gear from authorized dealers.

 

[RonFrank]

I have a few questions. Since Leisure Pro is not an authorized dealers of Oceanic, ScubaPro and Cressi, to name a few, how do they know how to repair those pieces of equipment? Who trained them?They could not have been trained by the personnel from those companies since they are not authorized, so how do they know? What kind of parts do they use to service the gear they sell, since they cannot get parts from the manufactuer? You would trust that type of repair? Who wants to throw caution to the wind like that?

Why would you think that LP could NOT obtain work from the original manufacture, or an authorized dealer? Who do you think that LP is purchasing from if NOT an authorized dealer? According to sources on this board in the manufacturing lines, LP get's their gear from none other than Authorized dealers. It would follow that they have a VERY good realationship with not just one, but MANY MANY such dealers.

I would bet if a product was in need of repair that was beyond them, they would just replace it, and send the defective unit back to one of their sources for repair, and resale as used, or markdown merchandise.

Why would you assume LP does there own repair on everything, and even if they do, why would you believe that they could not find qualified personal to do said repair. Regardless of how people feel about LP, they are likely the largest scuba equipment dealer in the world. That did NOT happen without some SERIOUS inside connections.

One thing people never question is why if LP is so bad for LDS's then why do the LDS's supply them? The answer may seem obvious, but is that not a bit like the Rabbits in the Book "Watership Down".

Ron

 

[osujamesc]

I called Oceanic today to register my new backup computer that I purchased from an authorized dealer. While speaking to the mfg, they accessed my account and registered my new puter, I told them I had lost the lamented card that is a quick reference on how to access certain fuctions on my older DataMax ProPlus. They said, no problem, we'll mail you out a new one free of charge.? Big deal? No, but good service that is ONLY extended to divers that purchased dive gear from authorized dealers.

I called LeisurePro to ask about the warranty that they provide in place of ScubaPro/Uwatec's manufacturer's warranty that they are not allowed to provide. If you buy a dive computer from a Uwatec authorized dealer, Uwatec will replace the battery and calibrate the computer for free when it needs it. Uwatec's website says that the same service is provided at a cost of $400 for those computer's purchased from an unauthorized dealer. LeisurePro being an openly unauthorized dealer of Uwatec computers also provides the battery replacement and computer calibration service... FREE OF CHARGE. LeisurePro matches any manufacturer's warranty when they cannot provide the actual manufacturer's warranty. That kind of good service is ONLY offered by a good vendor. On a side note, giving you a $0.25 reference card is not a sign of good service, that's what I would consider reasonable service. I am willing to bet that I could get Oceanic to send me the same lamenated quick reference card free of charge as well, and I don't own any Oceanic products period.

My dive computer arrived early from LeisurePro, I'm looking forward to a nice dive this weekend to test it out.

Happy shopping,
James