My LDS Experience

[Zaffy]

Is that the place on Thousand Oaks Blvd.? next to that chocolate chop? If so I had a sort of questionable experience with them as well. They wanted $160 to service my mares mr12III regulator that I got as a hand me down. I thought to myself "That can't be right" so I left. Sport Chalet did it for about $30 or so. The guy I talked to seemed like I was bothering him just for being in the store as well. I haven't been back there even though my girlfriend works just down the street a block or so.

Today I went to Aloha Dive in Simi Valley, there's also one right next to Campus in Northridge, and one in woodland hills. The guy there seemed much nicer despite me being a poor newbie. I'm interested if anyone else is familiar with them.

edit:
I looked them up and it is the same shop.

Me too. That's why I've learned to use my own bladder as an internal redundant buoyancy control device. I can use my lower intestine too.

That is too funny.

 

[quarry_mermaid]

Off topic: I got two tanks with viz stickers of Jul 05, do I need a viz before July or before the end of July to get em' filled?

The PSI tech at my shop told me the VIPs expire the 1st day of the month. If that's incorrect, please someone let me know.

 

[PerroneFord]

The PSI Tech is right. Same thing I heard when I learned how to do vis from a PSI inspector.

 

[jpcpat]

Move on! They tried to rip you off and gave you a bad attitude to boot!!

 

[scottfiji]

Thanks for sharing the experience Billy, sorry that happened. well, you did the right thing, you shared the story, and hopefully you won't go back.

I've seen two different shops in LA go out of their way to screw over customers they didn't like. Some owners do customer service by emotion instead of what is best for the business. I've seen those 2 owners overcharge some people for some stuff, and give free stuff to other people, depending on who they like. (Luckily the people screwed over wasn't me)

Don't know if that's what happened here or not, but its always good for people to chime in on whether a shop gives good service or not.

and I would expect any new tank to include the vis and air, of course.

Scott

 

[Robert Phillips]

Billy, you should have taken the tank back and told them that you wanted to return the air and the VIP sticker (since that was all they did to the tank) for a refund and "thank you very much but I will be taking this tank to another shop to pay for a VIP and an airfill, cause you guys suck ballz!":mooner:

 

[scjoe]

While I don't condone shops insisting on unnecessary inspections or pushing the buy all of your gear here pitch, we sometimes make a mistake in assuming that spending a lot of money on a purchase has put a lot of money in the shop's pocket. As far as I can tell, the mark up on tanks for small stores that don't carry inventory is often razor thin. It is pretty common to get a free air fill with a tank purchase, although I have never understood this policy. No matter how much you spend on a meal at a restaurant, they still charge you for the coffee at the end of the meal.

I wouldn't expect an air card or anything else in return for a single tank purchase. They are nice if you can get them, but the retail value of the air card may exceed the store's profit on the tank.

The shop you were dealing with clearly has a lot of problems beyond the air fill/lack of air card issue and moving on is the right decision.

By the way, get used to being told by some idiot idiver that your gear or set up will kill you. That seems to be the current level of intelligence in diving.

 

[wetrat]

Hey Billy, about a year ago, I bought a PILE (like four sets) of gear from my dive shop for my family. I've never had to pay for air fills at all. And they ALWAYS give me fat fills. I pay $10 for nitrox but I can get any percent up to 50.

Recently I was in a new shop here in San Diego just checking them out and they said, welcome to San Diego Underwater Adventures, we hope to see you around more often, and they gave me an air card for 10 free fills, just for lookin' around!

Yep, probably time for you to take your $$$ elsewhere...

John

 

[jenazah]

My LDS Experience

Here’s where it all started.

In January, I started my open water certification with Channel Islands Scuba in Thousand Oaks, CA. To start off, both of our pool dives were held in a 4ft pool which from what I ascertain is a PADI violation. ...

Wow, 4ft pool ?? I'd like to sign up for an advanced bouyancy technique class with this LDS.

 

[redacted]

I'm sure the owner will be pleased to return and find his assistant has lost a $400 sale and the prospect of future sales, in addition to a bad rep for a $16.50 fill/viz. I'd definitely have a talk with him when he returns. As a matter of fact you should let him know of this thread so he can throw in his opinion, I'd be eager to hear his/her POV.

I wouldn't be so sure. I suspect that the assistent's behavior pretty much effects the owner's attitude. But it doesn't hurt to try.