leisurepro worth it?

[grouchyturtle]

Ok,

I knew what FTC was, but couldn't figure out what AG was.

Maybe someone should post a list of the billions of abbreviations used on this board!

 

[MikeFerrara]

zboss once bubbled...

Also - why do you think PADI or your LDS makes you "tear our your quiz pages"? It's so you can't give your book to someone else to use... or sell it on e-bay.

We keep the quiz pages from the text for the same reason we keep your test answer sheets. We keep it so we have documentation of the training you recieved.

 

[ivansie]

I am new to diving but not new to business and negotiations with a good income but that does not mean I dont care for my hard earned money. I am a very online oriented person and always looking for the right price, not the cheapest, but the right price for the overall package.

I have bought both online from LP (very good experience quick delivery and low price) I got from them me and my wife's personal gear (in my case since we both dive its double the expenditure) and got awesome prices saving more than 50% from MSRP and 30% from the lowest I could get locally. Fortunately for me here in south florida there are multiple shops to buy from some better than others.... Some deal, some dont....

Now, I had also bought from a store locally, DD, not because I have the duty as a local diver to support anybody and all the BS about airfills, warranties, repairs, etc, are just that BS.... Just think with the money you save buying online asumme you have the worst luck and everything gets damaged probably you can buy it over again. There are advantages to buy locally but it has a price for each of us for some it will be +50%, for me if I accept that I will have to kill myself so probably is 10-15%.
So a message with all the honesty and good wishes for LDS that still havent realize that the power has shifted dramatically to the consumer and not only on diving equipment but in all instances of business.... we are not idiots, we dont have to and we have other choices 24/7/365 and also Fedex,UPS and DHL are more global than ever, to get something from Europe it takes 3 days only!!

This specific local store worked with me on the price, matched all the lowest prices I had gotten from authorized dealers on the same items, even went on the internet with me to check it out (they will match diveinn and simplyscuba which are authorized dealers of some of the brands in Europe) but will not match LP, they also honored the price on the 2 BCs I got that they had on sale 3 weeks before my purchase and that helped me save $200. At the end to make the story short the difference between buying local including taxes and buying online including shipping was about $130 on a total purchase of over $1,500. Certainly I bought locally because my peace of mind (not that I was thinking something was going to happen with my online purchase) is worth the $130 and besides that the guys at the store did a great job with the negotiation and delivery of everything so they basically won the business. I will probably support them as long as they keep acting that way but I will always keep looking for the best deal.

Bottom line, if you compare apples to apples (always make a fair comparisson) and the difference is not significant, in my case I am willing to lay down 10% more local versus online then no doubt buy local....

those are just my 2 cents....:doctor:

 

[sdexcalibur]

bought online from leisure pro three times. hood, 2 boots and gloves.
Everthing shipped quick and was happy with the products.
Their not really quick with responses to e-mail, but that can be over looked.
Had a return once. phone person was really nice(need shipping number to send it back)I ended up reselling it so I don't know how they are in processing your refunds.

 

[taat2d]

I live in NY and have made some very small item purchases from LP. They offer decent prices but every time I went to my LDS and told the the LP, they met it or beat it. LP isn't bad, BUT, when you're going diving on a Saturday ( they are religious Jews and are closed), and you need something done in a pinch that you can't do yourself see how much you're gonna pay at your LDS especially when they know you didn't buy it from them. Lastly I have a friend who used to own a LDS in my area, he warned me not to buy any kind of life support equipmet from LP (regs, BC's, etc), as he told me that they have noone there with tech training to service their goods. They send all broken, or items needing service back to the stores where THEY BOUGHT them. This usually means that the items needing service take along time to get back since the stores when LP makes their purchases don't work on LP's items in a timely fashion nor do they really care if the items are serviced or fixed properly. Oh and one more thing, LP has a tendency to lie, I was at the store and looking to by some OMS products, when I asked them if they were an OMS dealer they went into a whole sphiel about how they offer better waranntees than the original manufacturer and blah,blah,blah, and when I stopped him and told him all I wanted to know was if they were an authorized OMS dealer I was told I don't know I think so. This is just my opinion and I don't wish to offend anyone on this board or anyone who purchases online or from LP. Just be aware that alot of busisness and workers like to PRETEND they know what they're seeling and talking about. Remember this "stuff" is our link to survival underwater......

 

[MikeFerrara]

LP is selling a certain regulator for within $10 of what I pay for it.

 

[Genesis]

they're getting it from overseas.

Where the EU actually enforces anti-trust law.
They're NOT buying it from the manufacturer directly.

See, there's competition over there Mike. Even with import duty and shipping costs, they are STILL within $10 of your cost!

What does this say?

One of two things:

1. You and the other LDSs have to deal with this by raising cain with the government so that they enforce the VERY SAME LAWS over here.

OR

2. Deal with the fact that you and the rest of the LDS' will have zero equipment sales in the very near future.

Those really are the only two choices; the scare tactic game that taat and others on this thread are running is being proven time and time again to be pure fantasy (or self-interest by a dive-shop owner who sees his sales evaporating!)

 

[taat2d]

I have no idea what you're talking about as far as scare tactics. I'm talking about my own experiences with my LDS and with LP. 99.9% of my gear I bought from my LDS, and I have nothing to do with the industry. I was strictly talking about my OWN experiences with LP, and what a friend who used to own a dive store told me about LP.

 

[Genesis]

has a vested interest in seeing people not use LP, of course.

I, on the other hand, have bought regs from both LP and a LDS, and a friend of mine bought a complete reg setup, including computer, from LP.

In none of the cases that I am personally aware of were there any problems or concerns with LP's products. My reg works perfectly, as did my friend's. All were just fine out of the box without a hint of trouble.

LDS' who wish to give me a hard time about service if I don't buy there will simply lose that too - I'll fix my own reg, thank you very much, and deny them that business too.

The proper response to the kind of nonsense that I see LDS owners post and threaten in response to people buying the same product from the least expensive source is to blow off the LDS entirely and, if it comes to it, pool your resources with some friends and buy yourself a compressor.

If you dive often the economics, particularly if you dive Nitrox, work out quite well. A Nitrox fill costs perhaps an extra dollar for the O2 enrichment (the cost of the gas) and yet it is typically sold for twice that of an air fill.....

 

[taat2d]

You know Genesis you're right. I should have also stated that I have many friends who made major purchases from LP. Computers,regs, and the like. And they, like you have had no problem with any of their gear. Me, I'm a little skeptical and the having the reassurance that my purchase from my LDS brings with it the manufaturers warranty and so on. OF my friends that have bought major gear from LP they have had no problems. Me and buying from my LDS gives me peace of mind. Also my friend that used to own a dive shop has been totally out of the business for about 3 years, I was just passing along info from him that was passed on to me. So I apologize for any confusion that I may have caused.