Leisure Pro bait and switch still happening - warning.

[k ellis]

Companies like LP are a total life saver if (like me) you live in a part of the world where there is very little available by way of over the counter purchasing for dive gear. I used to have it on my sig line, but I'll say it again for the record: in my opinion Leisurepro have done more to encourage recreational diving than PADI ever has!

From time to time things do go wonky -- as they will do with any online retailer that stocks huge numbers of items. But I have always found that if you pick up the telephone you can usually work out what has gone wrong pretty quickly with one of the guys up there.

Im not ashamed to say it but I have thousands of dollars worth of gear. Because of leisurepro and other online retailers who sale deep discounted items I have probably saved well over 3000 dollars. Now an LDS will argue how you should not buy from the interenet because its bad for local buisness but I know a lot of people who only make around 12 thousand a year. That means thanks to scubatoys, leisurepro, scuba.com and the other online retailers I have saved almost a third as much as alot of people make in 1 year. While many (yes I say many) LDS shops use unfair or down right underhanded tactics to punish people who purchase online (Things I have seen include a 25 dollar try out fee for wet suits all the way to just kicking people out of the store)

The bottom line is LDS are mad because people found a cheaper way to buy the exact same gear and they are loosing money but they never consider the fact that we the little man who loves and enjoys to dive also have electric bills to pay, car insurance to buy, water bills, groceries to purchase and we need gas for our cars too. With the savings of nearly 3000 dollars how much do you think I was able to pay on my bills? Thanks to Leisurepro and several other online dealers I can afford to dive and enjoy it.

 

[simskiscuba]

The computer you order should be the one you receive. It appears as though this model (and perhaps a few other random items here and there) have been impacted by a bug in the system that is being fixed.

I just got off the phone with LP. I ordered one of these this weekend because it had all the features I want at a great price. I then went to find reviews of the computer and saw this thread so I called LP this morning hoping to hear that they have it in stock (like it says on their website as of Jan. 9, 2012-also, their e-bay listing says they have 4 units in stock) and will be sending it out.
I was politely informed by customer service that they have none and don't know when they'll be getting more so they would be happy to cancel my order and sell me another computer. When I told the rep that this was unacceptable and fraudulent he offered to have a manager get back to me as there wasn't anybody currently available. He also told me that despite working there for 2 years he was completely unaware of this issue ever having occurred in the past. I was additionally informed that there is no way I can contact Eugene Mendel, the President of LP.
What a load of fraudulent nonsense. How is it that they are able to continue this unethical and (probably) illegal behavior?

 

[mike_s]

Interesting that they put the Tusa IQ-700 back on the LP web page after they took it down because of this thread.


and it's showing IN STOCK on their webpage. go figure.



Maybe they got a few in stock from "some source".




Not sure how this is fraudulent though. They offered another computer at a discount price. Bait and switch maybe, but you still get a deal off a computer.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

simski ya should have bought a used one they last for ever, there not like a condom where it can cost you an astronomical amount of money for the rest of your life.

Ask for brett when you call and tell him you will forward all the forum post on this exact problem before.

 

[scubamarketing]

I just got off the phone with LP. I ordered one of these this weekend because it had all the features I want at a great price. I then went to find reviews of the computer and saw this thread so I called LP this morning hoping to hear that they have it in stock (like it says on their website as of Jan. 9, 2012-also, their e-bay listing says they have 4 units in stock) and will be sending it out.
I was politely informed by customer service that they have none and don't know when they'll be getting more so they would be happy to cancel my order and sell me another computer. When I told the rep that this was unacceptable and fraudulent he offered to have a manager get back to me as there wasn't anybody currently available. He also told me that despite working there for 2 years he was completely unaware of this issue ever having occurred in the past. I was additionally informed that there is no way I can contact Eugene Mendel, the President of LP.
What a load of fraudulent nonsense. How is it that they are able to continue this unethical and (probably) illegal behavior?

I've notified my manager so I can find out what's going on here. I've also replied to your private message both via ScubaBoard and via email. I'll post back when I have more information as to what's going on.

 

[bhubb]

Same thing happened to me. Order 2 items and both showed IN STOCK.. sure enough a day later, I got an email saying the item is not available but they will "upgrade" me to a new item. Will be doing business with other dealers online or LDS

 

[redacted]

Same thing happened to me. Order 2 items and both showed IN STOCK.. sure enough a day later, I got an email saying the item is not available but they will "upgrade" me to a new item. Will be doing business with other dealers online or LDS

What were the items ordered and what was offered as an "upgrade". It just seems to me that makes all the difference between a bait and switch at the customers expense and good customer service (after a retailers error) at the retailers expense.

 

[k ellis]

Okay, after talking to the right people, here's what I found out:

"We have 2 of the IQ-700 in stock, however it's not in "brand new" condition, but somehow our computer has been taking it out from the "USED" file and putting it in the "new" file, so every time when the warehouse gets an order for it, the picker sees that it's in USED condition, it gets "upgraded" to next version up for the same lower price. Bait and switch means you advertise an item and then switch the customer to more "expensive" item for higher charge, upgrading a customer to a more expensive item "free of charge" is not bait and switch.

Regardless we have prioritized this bug, and our IT guys are getting it fixed as we speak."

The ebay listing has been pulled as well.

Please, if anyone runs into any issues like this again, don't hesitate to contact me directly at nickb@leisurepro.com and I can investigate further. Between a physical store, the main web site, phone/email sales, ebay and Amazon, there are a lot of systems in place and just like any computer system, there can be bugs that need to get worked out.

Thank you for the information so I could get the right people to investigate.

Ok this is several months old but I will say. I have had nothing but good luck with you getting things done (Except the old cell phone internet bug you got fixed LOL). Anyway just wanted to put my 2 cents in and say its hard to find people who go out of their way to make things right with people. Thank you!

 

[scubasam1212]

Leisurepro has been doing this for awhile and not only on computers. Its a game they play. if you dont want any games check out www.thescubaprostore.com

 

[mike_s]

Leisurepro has been doing this for awhile and not only on computers. Its a game they play. if you dont want any games check out www.thescubaprostore.com

Lemme guess.... you work for that store in the URL ?


not a big deal. but if you say "go here" and you work there, you should openly disclose it. Or at least say. "come to my shop and I won't give you those games". It'll do better for you in the long run.