Ok LOL It seems like I should just go back and copy my other post from previous debates but Ill give it a new lease on life here
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With my area there are 2 great dive shops and a handful of free lance dive instruction agencies out there. With this in mind they are to a small degree offset from one another by the fact they sale mostly entirely diffrent lines then each other (Some exceptions to this may apply). I have been good about finding great things that I need at either one shop or the other.
Now with the internet I have to agree with previous post that we all want Walmart prices but expect to get CEO income off of our services. An example of this may be Brand A has a pair of fins I want. It retails at an example of 250 dollars per pair (Its only an example guys) I arm myself with this knowledge and go to the LDS and see that low and behold its 250 dollars and they wont budge on it because the manufacture has price fixed the sale in advance.
I then go online to anysite. com and find that same pair in a grey market for 125.00. Thats 50 percent cheaper and means I can actually buy my fins and put gas in the tank too for the same price as just the fins at an LDS. Many LDS will complain about grey market and warranty. The fact is that while things can sometimes go awry with fins how often is this going to be an issue? Also when you factor in that these suppliers will have their own inhouse warranty which is sometimes equal to the manufactures warranty except that you have to send it back to them.
Now on the upside of an LDS I am currently enrolled in a dive master class at my LDS. Though as any one can imagine he like any other shop has his followers and he has his anti him crowd. Often times he can not compete with Online purchases but he does do little extras for his students. He allows me almost unlimited use of the pool (Except certain events and all classes as we can imagine) and he has sit down with me when I had problems I could not solve on my own.
In the end an LDS can survive but the problem with LDS is they first have to recognize they cant sale merchandise at a cost that pays for a 300,000 dollar home, 12 week long vacations a year to an island location they own a condo on. They have to understand as bad as they want to make money the consumer wants to save that money.
Hospitality makes all the diffrence in the world. Run a clean shop that does not look like a typical mans garage (No pun intended some guys have awesome garages). I want to walk in and smell things that just naturally go with a dive shop. (Neoprene) I dont want to smell a musty old attic smell. though huge inventories may not be practical for a small shop at least attempt to have a small amount of merchandise on display and also a small amount in stock for sale.
I want to come to a shop and not see some old grumpy bearded guy that looks like hes from the back woods running the store and presenting himself as we are a burden on him having to leave his office. I instead would rather see a person who if he does have facial hair keeps it neatly trimmed or maintained. I would rather see someone wearing respectible clothes not tshirts with vulgarity or encourageing illegal activities on them. When I ask about classes or gear I would like to speak to someone who is knowledgeable about your concerns. If they dont know they answer then be able to get someone who is able to help with my concerns.
I would also say honesty is a big plus. In this day and age a customer is demanding and wants his gear serviced yesterday but the reality is it can not be done that way most of the time. I want a shop to tell me something like "We can try to have it ready by Friday" Not "It will be ready by 5 pm friday" It sets a bad mood when you come in Friday and its not ready.
A LDS can also use Internet sales to their advantage too. Just because a customer bought something off line does not mean they wont need it serviced. Just be up front and honest and no matter how painful dont bash them for buying online but instead quote them a reasonable price for service and go from there. You may be surprised how that one pleasant experience may make a customer want to come to you more often.
LDS should also remember while alot of online sites offer training it just is not feasable for people like me to fly to Florida for the sole pupose of getting certified. An LDS can do it localy and should remember that people come to them to learn. In most cases there was not a salesman sitting outside the shop with a big mouse trap that snapped peoples feet and drug them into the pool. People who want to learn to dive are usually Excited about their prospects. This is a plus for a dive shop because right off the bat people are pumped up and excited. Instructors and dive master inevitably will have a bad day but should remember to always smile to the customer like life is the greatest its ever been. This in itself adds to the dive world because students see a happy instructor it means that hes having the time of his life while diving or he would not be there happy!
Online May be able to beat the LDS all day long price wise. But it doesnt mean a LDS cant win out with just good customer service skills!
