My LDS an authorized aqualung dealer has said things about the legend series that kind of breaks my trust with them. Is this information accurate?

[pauldw]

Maybe try actually reading several of the response posts right on the first page of this thread that speak to this.

Yup, reread it, and they do not speak to what I was asking. Which was for "details" (a couple of sentences are not details, you see) on this part of the industry's history, the--as I said--part where manufacturers were supposedly in bed with Leisure Pro to the detriment of local dive shops.

 

[Belzelbub]

Yup, reread it, and they do not speak to what I was asking. Which was for "details" (a couple of sentences are not details, you see) on this part of the industry's history, the--as I said--part where manufacturers were supposedly in bed with Leisure Pro to the detriment of local dive shops.

Maybe I missed it, but I’m not sure I saw where anyone stated that the manufacturers were in bed with LP. What is more likely is that some may have turned a blind eye as the volumes that LP was moving should have been hard to go unnoticed. I don’t find that too hard to believe. The manufacturer is making money on those sales, a distributor is most likely in the middle, so the OEM has plausible deniability.

Without a doubt, LP used to deal in gray market items. As I mentioned, they were up front about it. If the manufacturers warranty wouldn’t apply, they offered their own. I’ve purchased a few items from LP, I’ve also used LP prices to purchase from LDSes that had a price matching policy. Some figured out ways to try to compete, some complained.

All of that is in the past, though. Pretty sure that LP/Scuba.com is now authorized for everything they sell, which means that MSRP or MAP rules with the manufacturer apply, so any discounts should also be available from your LDS.

 

[Joneill]

Maybe I missed it, but I’m not sure I saw where anyone stated that the manufacturers were in bed with LP. What is more likely is that some may have turned a blind eye as the volumes that LP was moving should have been hard to go unnoticed. I don’t find that too hard to believe. The manufacturer is making money on those sales, a distributor is most likely in the middle, so the OEM has plausible deniability.

Without a doubt, LP used to deal in gray market items. As I mentioned, they were up front about it. If the manufacturers warranty wouldn’t apply, they offered their own. I’ve purchased a few items from LP, I’ve also used LP prices to purchase from LDSes that had a price matching policy. Some figured out ways to try to compete, some complained.

All of that is in the past, though. Pretty sure that LP/Scuba.com is now authorized for everything they sell, which means that MSRP or MAP rules with the manufacturer apply, so any discounts should also be available from your LDS.

Scuba.com is a great vendor, in my experience. I buy almost everything from them as I no longer have a conveniently located local dive shop (~1.5 hours away). They have good prices and a great return policy - esp. with wetsuits where you may go through quite a few before you get the right fit.

I've also found them to be a standup, hassle-free outfit. For example, when the new Atomic TFX regulator launched, they had initially posted it on their site at $2,249 (a mistake) and I pulled the trigger. By the next day, the price was corrected to $2,649 - but when it came into stock they shipped it to me at the lower price - no hassle or questions asked.

 

[Salacia2023]

I had a couple less than stellar interactions with LP/scuba.com, but it's bound to happen at that scale. Now, if I order online it's mostly DGX and Paragon. However, I will direct family to scuba.com if they're looking for gifts for me.

Did I miss if the OP named the shop?

 

[rvojr]

The only issue I had with scuba.com is they shipped me the wrong size fins. I had to ship the wrong ones back back for them to confirm before they would ship another set. I ended up buying another set of fins from them for the same size and then got credit for the others when they received them so I would have the fins for a dive in a few days. It all worked out. Plus being in South Jersey makes it very fast delivery.