Leisurepro Gift Certificates - Shame on them

[Gilligan]

I buy my scuba gear from Leisurepro. Their prices and service have been great.

That having been stated, now for what I consider to be a "rip off" part of their operation.

My daughter wanted to give me a gift certificate for Father's Day. What she encountered was a $25.50 charge for UPS 2nd day air or a $40.50 charge for UPS next day air to send me the certificate to Hawaii. No US Mail options were available. She scrapped the idea.

I checked the Leisurepro website myself and found this to be the case. I checked on a California zip code for comparison and the options for UPS ranged from $6.45 to $33.50. No US Mail options were available.

Leisurepro does not send E Mail notices to the receipients of their gift certificates. One has to pay to have it shipped. They not only profit from the product(s) resulting from the gift certificates but find it necessary to "gouge" the gift giver.

Shame on you Leisurepro for this practice.

 

[armyscuba]

Good Info...Thanks

 

[Clutchcargo]

If you call them direct, they wave the shipping charges. Not sure about next day or 2 day delivery though.
They really should have that system completely paperless.

 

[RIDIVER501]

How do you think LP makes thier money?
They charge dirt cheap prices but then Whack you with the delivery charges.

A customer in our shop was dead sure they would get a better deal from LP on a BCD. there was a $60 diff in our prices vs LP so then went with LP and got hit with $65 shipping fee. so ultimately they ended up with a bc for $5 more then they would have paid with us and no warranty on it too boot.

 

[Clutchcargo]

RIDiver, Next-day shipping on a $399 BC that retails locally for $639 for is $41. Everything that I've ordered from them has arrived within 2 days if not the next day using ground shipping which would have been $13.

 

[love2godeep]

Well, we've had a few Leisure-Pro rants, and I'm sure I'd rant, too, if those things happened to me; but I've had good experiences with them so far.

I've ordered a number of items. LP shipped promptly, had good prices, and gave quick refunds on items I returned.

I understand about the dilemma with the LDS; but my "local" dive shops are two hours away, the selection is so limited, and prices are much higher. If there was only a $60 difference on a BC, I'd go with the LDS. When it's hundreds of dollars difference, I get online.

I wonder if there's a solution. I'd rather stay local, but my nondiving hubby already is incredulous at the prices for gear.

 

[Deep Blue]

I guess in any business that involves servicing customers, there will always be occassions when things don't go as planned and customers end up getting a bad taste in their mouth... how you respond to those problems is the difference between good and bad business ... but mailing gift certificates from an online store??? I'm still scratching my head on that one.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Why call it a gouge? You have a choice. If it's too much, don't buy it. There are folks who are willing to pay for the convienence of shopping at home. Same as paying $12 for a fill at a site I was at once. It was the only game in town, and I needed a fill. I gladly paid it so I could dive.

Companies charge what the market will bear. If the market will pay $40 then more power to them. If they price themselves out of the market, they go out of business.

My free market rant aside, have you tried calling them to ask? That does seem high to me. Maybe there's an error on the site?

Marc

 

[Gilligan]

Perhaps I wasn't clear on my post.

I'm not complaining about the shipping charges of their goods. I buy from them regularly. Even with the shipping charges their prices are better than those of any LDS.

I'm complaining about their shipping charges on the gift certificate itself. They won't E Mail them.

There is no reason for that in this day and age other than to make additional money off the gift certificate purchaser.

That's a bad business practice.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

No, I understood your post. They're shipping a piece a paper, which you object paying for. You'd rather they have the capability to send the certificate via email as some other e-tailers do.

UPS Next Day Air ®
Guaranteed by: By End of Day
Tuesday June 22, 2004
26.57*

UPS 2nd Day Air ®
Guaranteed by: By End of Day
Wednesday June 23, 2004
20.90*

Here's what UPS charges off their site. I used 96701 as the zip, the charges do flucuate within $5 using other Maui zip's. I guessed they would use UPS letter packaging, and insurance varies based on the contents value. Two day seems in line, next day is out of whack. Living in Hawaii doesn't seem to help either - it was $9.75 to send it to my zip in Florida, though was via ground, not air.

Again, I would suggest calling LP. I did see their shipping costs jump up based on the amount of the certificate, not the actual piece of paper that is the same regardless of amount. Maybe the website is out of whack.

Marc