Is My Scuba Instructor a Former Car Salesman?

[C Dub]

If you are in Long Beach/LA area and looking for other options, LA Scuba is run by Steven Millington, who is a very good instructor. L.A. SCUBA DIVING - LA's Official SCUBA Diving Facility in Los Angeles : SCUBA Classes | Training | Certification - Small Groups, Expert Instruction. Professional Scuba Instruction - Los Angeles, Beverly Hills & Southern California CA
I've only trained with Steve on the tech side, so it might work differently on the PADI side, but as far as I know they are not associated with a shop so they don't have the whole hard sell on gear. (That's also why they don't have a street address on their site).

Steve Millington and his staff also have PADI Open Water classes most weekends. Highly recommended.

 

[Steve_C]

Hang in there. Catalina is worth the hassle. Especially if the kelp is starting to return.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Totally aggravating because you could have purchased while at the show. I know scuba.com had everything from no tax to 30% off many brands. They were also offering free shipping and matching and beating prices from competitors, even online.

I think you got great advice from everyone here. Please let us know what happens!

 

[tbeck3579]

I'm sorry for not responding. For some reason I wasn't getting alerts in this thread? I must have screwed up, or subconsciously I don't want to deal with this right now I should be like my ex -- if you don't open the mail you don't have bills; if you have checks in the checkbook, you have money; lol. The parallel universe in which he resides sounds better by the day

Anyway, I didn't get response after 24 hours so I resent the email stating I wasn't sure he had received it. He did finally email back and simply stated: "I have sent your request to management and they will contact you within the next few days." No biggie, I'm not going anywhere

 

[tbeck3579]

Totally aggravating because you could have purchased while at the show. I know scuba.com had everything from no tax to 30% off many brands. They were also offering free shipping and matching and beating prices from competitors, even online.

I think you got great advice from everyone here. Please let us know what happens!

I'm wondering if I emailed if scuba.com would honor show prices? I thought about going online and buying, but I was torn between looking for a new dive shop or ordering online and saving a couple dollars.

 

[tbeck3579]

Hang in there. Catalina is worth the hassle. Especially if the kelp is starting to return.

That would be cool I would love it.

 

[tbeck3579]

Steve Millington and his staff also have PADI Open Water classes most weekends. Highly recommended.

Thank you very much for the leads! I'm waiting to see what will happen with my request. I don't know if they will.

 

[tbeck3579]

If you are in Long Beach/LA area and looking for other options, LA Scuba is run by Steven Millington, who is a very good instructor. L.A. SCUBA DIVING - LA's Official SCUBA Diving Facility in Los Angeles : SCUBA Classes | Training | Certification - Small Groups, Expert Instruction. Professional Scuba Instruction - Los Angeles, Beverly Hills & Southern California CA
I've only trained with Steve on the tech side, so it might work differently on the PADI side, but as far as I know they are not associated with a shop so they don't have the whole hard sell on gear. (That's also why they don't have a street address on their site).

I replied to a reply and said thank you for the referral, then realized what I had done Once it's in cyberspace I can't take it back.

 

[halocline]

Dive shops typically offer instruction primarily to create a market for their gear sales. This is a totally different situation from an independent instructor who's priorities should be solely on the education of the student. Unless the industry changes the instruction/sales business model, new divers can expect to be the focus of gear sales, usually at less-than-bargain prices. Who else are they going to sell this gear to?

That said, it does sort of work both ways; many students are much more interested in buying new gear than they need to be. Buying a titanium regulator, for example, as an OW student is real overkill. Why not learn to dive with rental gear (many many thousands of students have done so) and then acquire gear slowly as you really need it, with advice from those who are not trying to sell you anything.

 

[DON-PNW]

Beck, I agree with teknitroxdiver, vote with your wallet. I'll just add that the local dive shops are in much need of support. I advocate sending as much business through the LDS as possible as long as, competitive pricing, good/sound advice, failsafe return policy, and honest. Sounds like the LDS you were trying to work off missed the mark. May I suggest you find another LDS to work with that meets your standards. Good luck and thank you for your post!