Must gear be purchased from the LDS you are getting Open Water certified at?

[redacted]

It is at least remotely possible that the liability insurance contract they have requires that open water students dive in gear the dive shop owns or has sold (although I doubt it). They should have informed you of this when you were looking at gear there. But I suspect this is far more a shop "policy", not required by anybody except the shop owner, who looks to maximize the profit from each student. (Classes are loss leaders for dive shops; where they make money on OW students is by selling them equipment, so if you buy your equipment elsewhere, the shop has lost money on training you.) It is an all too common and quite detestable behavior on the part of shops.

While I agree that OW training is probably a loss leader for a dive shop, I doubt if many shops ever lose any money on training. Remember, "loss leader" does not mean it is actually sold at a loss (although it could be). It means that it is sold with a reduced profit margin with the idea that it will draw customers into other purchases at with full profit margins. The training agency gets paid. The instructors get paid. The shop does not lose money.

 

[phoenix31tt]

I to have always been under the assumption that all gear is provided as part of the training, but maybe you got a reduced cost for the training.

That being said i'm with everyone that says find another shop, this behavior is totally unacceptable... and the shop DOES NOT deserve your business

 

[Some X Dry]

Walk away..

 

[Doubler]

This seemed very strange to me as well. I did not understand the logic here. The shop name is Hatts Diving Headquarters here in Melbourne FL. Just off 192 & US1. The owners name is Mike. And is now trying to work out a deal with us to get a BCD through his shop. The divemaster / instructor in her first class last night is who told us this information. He seemed upset that this was not discussed with me prior to signing up for classes with them. As apparently this sort of thing happens quite frequently with them. At this point I didnt mind sending back the other BCD as it had never seen any water. However the loyalty of this shop is somewhat in question to me now. The instructor came out and spoke with "Mike" (Owner) and expressed his concern. Which in turn was told to my wife that they will try to find a loaner Zeagle Zena for the classes and that I can work out payments with them sense it was their fault. Just does not seem logical In my opinion.

So according to this post you returned the BC? Wife trained in the Zeagle and they set up payments. Sounds like the BS worked. What the guy basically told you was that ALL scuba gear sold at other sources is substandard and their insurance company will not cover any courses taught with sub standard equipment. What a bunch of hooey.

 

[abyss_scuba]

As an ethical dive shop owner I am mad at this dive shop. They make the rest of us look bad. When you train with me, BC, reg, tanks and weights are included in the price. You are required to have your own mask, snorkel fins and weight belt. In order to get you to buy this from us we offer a student discount of 10% (as a small shop my profit margins are no where near what the big box or internet shop get) but I will never turn anyone away for buying their gear somewhere else. There are too many people who are giving their children hand me down gear which is still functional. Am I happy to see someone come in with gear bought somewhere else, no. Are you happy to se a customer go to your competitor in whatever field you are in, no. But we move on I will ask the person why they chose to purchase somewhere else and use it as a lesson to learn from. I never would have thought I would have said this but they are not a shop to do any business with.

 

[flots am]

. . .

 

[rhwestfall]

actually its: · · · – – – · · ·

 

[hroark2112]

If my LDS lied to me like that, I'd never trust then to teach me!!

 

[eelnoraa]

This just sounds ridiculous. And what do you mean by having a loaner Zeagle and payment plan?? If it is loaner, why not just use it to finish OW before buying anything.

From the sounds of the whole thing, you and you wife probably won't enjoy the class, and probably won't enjoy diving afterward. Buying a loaner zeagle at payment plan will just make you feel worse. Really, look for another shop.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Bunch of lying no good egg sucking dogs. The insurance thing is total crap. Tell them that you will not return the bc. That your wife likes it and it is what she will be using after the classes. If they don't like it demand a full refund. Also tell them you want her taught to RSTC standards and that she will be able to plan, conduct, and safely return from a dive without professional at the end of her OW dives. She will have all the knowledge and skills as well as be comfortable doing it or they will be reported to their certifying agency for insufficient training. Also tell them you will be her buddy for the checkout dives or they can give you your money back now. Most of all tell them you named them and described what they told you here on this site. Hell give em a link to this thread.
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