LDS's on a Positive Note...

[JustAddWater]

Kudos to successful small business and their patrons! I understand that it is difficult for them to compete in price and stock with larger chains and online shopping, yet IMO they offer services that their competition doesn't provide, and for that they have my support.

 

[H2o Man]

i'm still waiting to do my opw in may.
But i believe i found the lds which i'll be purchasing most if not all of my scuba equipment from.
I have a good friend who's into diving and he took me to his lds today.
The owner was a great straightforward guy.
It's also a big plus that he's good friends with my friend who took me there.

 

[peter]

Nine times out of ten we will meet at the fav dive shop before a dive and I find it's a great way to start the dive day. Paul (LDS owner) will tell us what conditions are like and we can stock up on any last minute things we may need making it a more comphy dive. He has no worries about letting you come back after the dive for a shower and a gear clean up which saves you having to do it all after a long drive home. It is the little things that don't cost much that makes it so much better.

 

[Butch103]

Slap me in the head...i forgot and was privately chastized for forgetting........Dive Source in Whitby, Ontario.....they also sold some fantastic Suunto Vypers, and the interface (?) cables.....................

My apologies to y'all..............

 

[GeekDiver]

As being new to diving and dealing with DS's and looking for EQ armed with $3200 and intent to buy. Heres my experiance.

One shop I visited carried the gear I was looking for and was friendly seamed to know and understand the gear I was looking at and was below MSRP and offered what I still belive to be a fair price. He never once question any of the gear or How I intend to dive. It was going to be $2500 and I wasn't going to get a wetsuite or the Computer I wanted and didn't even think about the smaller stuff Light, Knife etc.

I went to another store to compair. When I started talking about the gear this store Mgr asked me why I was looking at the gear and what type of Diving I intended to do or was intrested in. He showed me the gear and pointed out the features then showed me products in equal quality and price range. He hook up several reg and let me try them out.

The thing that impressed me was that the adv he was giving me was just like some of the Adv I have been getting and reading from this board. Now he did tell me that he would sell me the high priced stuff but that for req diving I didn't need to spend all the money on the higher priced items. He broke out some of the lower priced regs and let me breath off all of them both High and low priced. I tried the ATX200, Zeagle, USD etc. In the end He had talked me out of buying the higher priced reg but I still bought the higher priced BC dispite his sug on the lower priced BC's. I spent $2400 on EQ, OW and AOW. He stayed open after hours to let me try out everything and ensure that I had good eq, fit and would last. This Mgr has earned my loyalty and I will shop there for future needs.

For those that want to know, this is what I bought:
USD SEA4 and Octo (was going to Buy ATX200/tx40)
Seaquest Raider
Suunto Viper, SPG and Compus (was Going to buy the Data Max Pro Plus)
Henderson 3mil
USD blades and Boots (forgot the type)
Plus Misc. Light, Knife, slate etc.

Regards,
GD

 

[DivingGal]

Just doing some 'phone shopping' ('cause believe or not I hate shopping), and finding out prices for Nitrox ready tanks. I called three of the local LDS.. here's what happened:

#1 - have them, cleaned, cap, boot, 1 fill $300 Cdn ($195 USD)

#2 - have them, cleaned, cap, boot, 20 fills $300 Cdn

#3 - have them, clean, cap, boot, 50 fills $250 Cdn ($125)

gee I wonder who I went with? Not only did #3 have the best price, but their whole attitude was "I want your business, how can I help YOU"

 

[MNScuba]

Just goes to show that not all shops are the same, and just like anything else... it pays to shop around a little.