Rick Inman:
You *are* on to something. I've been toying that idea - I want to take our dive shop kitten diving (not too deep, of course - I think she'll find it hard to do equalize). It'll be perfect on so many levels to have the cat inside the fishbowl, and the fish outside....
Back to the topic at hand - a certain LDS (well, not so L - a 45min drive away - and not our usual store) in Boston used to carry Seaquest for about 40% more than Leisurepro. A recently certified friend wanted a BCD, tried my Pro QD, loved it and wanted one for himself. Called the LDS, did the "we wanna support you but not at 40% - how about a deal" - guy is like "come on down, we'll do something for you". Get there and he says "nope, cant do anything about the price". !@$!$^#. Thanks for wasting our time, donkeyhole. That's the last visit that shop got from us. Two days later, LP had the BC at my bud's door.
They gotsta earn customer faith - and the above aint the way to do it. Northeast Scuba, otoh, was nice enough to rig up my doubles exactly the way I wanted it (Highland mills bands and all), they fixed my Apeks reg that I had from before without a peep, and didnt give me any attitude if I spent my dollars elsewhere. I bought a lot of stuff there, never paid for fills -- win-win for both of us.
Vandit
