LDS Bashers

[cold_H2O_diver]

Over the past couple of years I have bought a great deal of equipment from my LDS - fully realizing that I was paying a premium to do so (vs. online). I fully realize that if my LDS ceases to exist I lose my source of tank fills, training, dive site information, diving advice and many other indirect but tangible benefits.

For example, I have received excellent advice on equipment - allowing me to purchase gear that suits my current and future needs. Without this assistance and the ability to wet test some of these items, there is a likelihood I would have purchased equipment that would not grow with my diving - requiring replacement sooner rather than later.

My LDS also stands behind the equipment he sells. If I encounter problems with any equipment he will repair what he can immediately. No lost dive time waiting for shipment to vendor and back. If it does require factory repair, he will send it in for me and keep tabs on its progress. My time is precious, and I appreciate this a great deal.

For those that want to say "the internet has changed the way one has to do business", I will agree - but only up to a point. As a diver you will require both products AND services. The sale of products helps support the offering of critical services - tank fills, training, charters, advice, etc. - without which your diving will be less enjoyable and a lot more difficult. Many of those services simply are not available online.

I recommend all divers, new or otherwise, to quit treating their LDS like the place they buy their gym socks. Your LDS is providing you with life sustaining equipment, training and guidance for an inherently risky activity - and they provide specialty services that you just can't find everywhere. Establish a relationship with them - they need your support and you need theirs.

 

[ghostdiver1957]

Over the past couple of years I have bought a great deal of equipment from my LDS - fully realizing that I was paying a premium to do so (vs. online). I fully realize that if my LDS ceases to exist I lose my source of tank fills, training, dive site information, diving advice and many other indirect but tangible benefits.

For example, I have received excellent advice on equipment - allowing me to purchase gear that suits my current and future needs. Without this assistance and the ability to wet test some of these items, there is a likelihood I would have purchased equipment that would not grow with my diving - requiring replacement sooner rather than later.

My LDS also stands behind the equipment he sells. If I encounter problems with any equipment he will repair what he can immediately. No lost dive time waiting for shipment to vendor and back. If it does require factory repair, he will send it in for me and keep tabs on its progress. My time is precious, and I appreciate this a great deal.

For those that want to say "the internet has changed the way one has to do business", I will agree - but only up to a point. As a diver you will require both products AND services. The sale of products helps support the offering of critical services - tank fills, training, charters, advice, etc. - without which your diving will be less enjoyable and a lot more difficult. Many of those services simply are not available online.

I recommend all divers, new or otherwise, to quit treating their LDS like the place they buy their gym socks. Your LDS is providing you with life sustaining equipment, training and guidance for an inherently risky activity - and they provide specialty services that you just can't find everywhere. Establish a relationship with them - they need your support and you need theirs.

This is another poor guy who's been brainwashed by his LDS... May I ask... did they hypnotize you? bombard you with anti-internet propaganda or simply schmoooze you with lavish praise and soft sale tactics? I do have 1 good LDS out of 7 near my house... and I do buy some equipment from them... but the other 7 scheisters I keep hoping will run out of money and close their doors... the problem is they've got a bunch of guys brainwashed... and it's sad.

 

[redacted]

This is another poor guy who's been brainwashed by his LDS... May I ask... did they hypnotize you? bombard you with anti-internet propaganda or simply schmoooze you with lavish praise and soft sale tactics? I do have 1 good LDS out of 7 near my house... and I do buy some equipment from them... but the other 7 scheisters I keep hoping will run out of money and close their doors... the problem is they've got a bunch of guys brainwashed... and it's sad.

Or he is another member of the borg.

 

[MikeFerrara]

This is another poor guy who's been brainwashed by his LDS... May I ask... did they hypnotize you? bombard you with anti-internet propaganda or simply schmoooze you with lavish praise and soft sale tactics? I do have 1 good LDS out of 7 near my house... and I do buy some equipment from them... but the other 7 scheisters I keep hoping will run out of money and close their doors... the problem is they've got a bunch of guys brainwashed... and it's sad.

Yes, I find that both the advice and training that many shops offer are often misleading and of little value. The two shops that I deal with most, in the rare instances that I deal with a shop, are in Florida and I'm in Indiana.

I've mentioned this before but not in this thread...A while back my wife and I were in the Chicago areaq and had an afternoon to kill. There are tons of dive shops in the area and just for kicks we took a phone book and went on a dive shop tour. It was fun walking into shops where no one knew us but it was also a little discouraging. You would not believe the BS we heard in a single afternoon. It was Saterday and we got to witness classes being sold and divers being counseled on equipment selection and even had some sales pitches bounced off of us. If these people represent the primary knowledge base available to divers especially new divers, it's no wonder things are such a mess (especially the vis!).

I did run into one, and only one, person who could intellegently talk diving without insulting the intellegence of the one he was talking to if they weren't toally new to the planet. As it turned out he was just sitting in for the afternoon to help out a friend. He was a former student of my own former trimix instructor and though we had never met we had been in and out of some of the same circles. Go figure.

After some of the training I've witnessed I even thought it would be fun to go around taking classes and write some reviews to publish. After all, the agencies won't check up on these jokers. Well, maybe the agencies just don't know what to check. I just don't know that my acting is good enough or that it would be worth the money. LOL but if I could pull it off it sure would be fun!

 

[novicediver]

Same argument different packaging, give it a rest. The internet is here to stay, the LDS isn't going to disappear, and the sky isn't going to fall. To be honest, I wish there were fewer divers.

 

[tlawler]

Same argument different packaging, give it a rest. The internet is here to stay, the LDS isn't going to disappear, and the sky isn't going to fall. To be honest, I wish there were fewer divers.

I'll put that wish on my list right after "I wish people would quit moving to Florida" and see which happens first.

 

[abitton]

Have a look at these pics and you'll understand why you may never get your wish...

Alex

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

This is another poor guy who's been brainwashed by his LDS... May I ask... did they hypnotize you? bombard you with anti-internet propaganda or simply schmoooze you with lavish praise and soft sale tactics? I do have 1 good LDS out of 7 near my house... and I do buy some equipment from them... but the other 7 scheisters I keep hoping will run out of money and close their doors... the problem is they've got a bunch of guys brainwashed... and it's sad.

And this is another guy who thinks he understands what value is, but obviously doesn't, how sad.

 

[Wayward Son]

Al, I've been on both sides of this. I had a great LDS, then a lousy one & now a great one.

The lousy one was in Nashville, TN. The last time I was in that shop was 21 years ago, in 1984, and just thinking about this ******* is enough to enrage me. I still owe him an *** kicking, at minimum. A bullet & a beatdown sounds more appealing to me.

My current LDS is great, I can't speak highly enough of them. But if I'd been stuck with the other guy I would have eith quit diving or gone mail order, but no way in hell was he ever getting another dime from me.

Unless you've been there it may be impossible to understand just how strongly people feel about this & why.

 

[mdb]

Same argument different packaging, give it a rest. The internet is here to stay, the LDS isn't going to disappear, and the sky isn't going to fall. To be honest, I wish there were fewer divers.

There are fewer divers. In the US, with a population that is almost 300 million, we still have a new diver base of 250-270 thousand per annum; less than 1/10th of 1% of the general population.