Please tell me your personal experiences w/buying ScubaPro regs at LeisurePro?

[rab1412000]

From my understanding it is not the LDS's but ScubaPros policy. From what I have read and been told SP sells their product to the dealer. The dealer must sign and adhere to SP's Minimum price offered to the consumer. The most the dealer can give is 10% off. This 10% off I believe is to give the customer a good warm and fuzzy feeling as the whip out the plastic for an amount that is equal to a car payment or a months rent. If the LDS violates SP's policy they will suffer the wrath?? Now don't get me wrong I do not think for one minute that the LDS are sorry to take your money..after all they are in the business to make money. I do believe however that many if not most would like to offer their loyal customers a break from time to time. They probably would not mind having sales as well to compete for your business.

Unless your LDS gives you a deal on something else in a combined purchase, provides you outstanding service or something else to set them apart from the other shops there really is no reason to show any loyalty if you want to pick up a SP/AL reg. The price is set...!!! If they give you any grief on anything (i.e. no service on regs purchased at LP etc) whatsoever take your biz elsewhere. I don't know about you but I sure do not intend to listen to some sort of guilt trip when I am spending my money...Besides on any reg purchased from LP would either have to go to LP for service or the customer would have to pay for both parts and labor..seems like that would be more money in the LDS coffers.

Bottom line is support your LDS every chance you get...They are the ones supporting you in the field. The fight should be with SP and other manufactures that have set up such an antiquated pricing structure.

i really would not wind buying from my LDS if their prices werent so high. they sell stuff at almost double the price of LP. even with free service and all ( they dont offer he free parts for life warranty here) it doesnt seem worth it for me.

ill pay for service and take my $300 to 400 elsewhere.

 

[JB]

This free parts for life is another rip off. Regs generally don't need that frequent servicing, and if you miss a service you're back to square one. Throw your reg away after 3 years and buy a new one from LP and you'll be ahead of the game. Analysis by offthewall1 puts the case very well. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...keep-up-annual-service-maintain-warranty.html

Secondly, what do you think the percentage of reg returns under warrantee is? I guess that if it was more than 1% the company would go out of business. Do yourself a favour and spend the money on diving, not charity to the LDS. There are a lot of peolple on the board with a vested interest in their own dive shop, who constantly try and mislead purchasers by sowing doubt. "Like if it is a genuine part, maybe it's a reject etc.etc." This debate goes on and on, the whole industry is based on marketing and mystery. There are very few manufacturers, but lots af manupackers, the perceived quality is related to marketing, not real issues. Do you honestly think any manufacturer will sell an inadequate regulator? they generally rely on marketing and hype to justify the higher prices of the "top of the range" reg. Brand fans have been sucked into the hype. Often the most basic reg is the safest, and is more than adequate for recreational diving.

Just my take on it. There are lots of other on-line discount stores in Europe, Canada and America, Leasure Pro is probably the most successful and takes a beating for it, no-one moans incessantly about Lucas dive Store, Scubastore, Scubatoys, Divesports, Dive Imports, Total Diving, and I'm sure there are others.

 

[rab1412000]

exactly jb.

well the great thing is as customers we are given options.
if price is your big issue then go online, if local support is what floats your boat then go to your LDS.

that thing about marketing is also so true. there has never been a major breakthrough in regulator technology in the past 20years. and a cursory look around the boards will show that a lot of pro's actually favor the classic older models because of proven reliability, ease of service, parts, etc.
i find that with regards to regs, newer (models) does not equate to better. for sure there are some great new products out there, but a lot of them are based on the former successful models with minor tweaks. but dive equipment manufacturers and sellers do have to make money...


just my 2cents

 

[Splitlip]

I have purchased all my regs locally form authorized dealers. The customer service and persoanl attention more than makes up for the price difference, Especially considering the fill cards and boat trips they kicked in to off set the price restrictions. Not to mention other discounts they give me as a regular customer. For example, I purchased a pair of Jet Fins at MSRP, but they fitted me for, provide and installed free of charge Manta spring straps. Total package price was less than LP. Then after 6 (now 8 or 9) years of free parts. Priceless.

Scubapro and USD/ Aqualung place the greates restrictions on their retailors. (Atomic now too perhaps. But fact is, anywhere in the world, you can find USD and Scubapro shops and service centers.

 

[ktownhero]

I'm also thinking about this. I would like to purchase a Scubapro Mk17/G250V reg set, and it's $360 @ LP while $632 @ my LDS. How in the world can I justify that? Add in the octo, gauges, and computer, and the price difference is even more astounding. I'm not convinced that having my regulator serviced annually when I may only be doing 50 dives per year is a worthwhile endeavor, and therefore what do I care about a warranty or free parts? For the money it'd cost me to service the thing annually, I could just buy a brand new regulator from LP every 3-5 years.

Luckily for me, I live just outside of Manhattan so I'm going to Leisurepro's storefront tomorrow to see for myself all of the gear they sell. It'll be nice to be in one store that sells everything so I can actually do some comparisons. For example, the two regs I'm considering are the MK17/G50V and the Apeks XTX50 -- yet none of my LDS's sell both brands so I have to drive back and forth and get two different sales people with differing opinions and agendas to try and compare them. Same goes for wetsuits. Leisurepro, so far, makes shopping very convenient to me.

Though I'm a new diver, I've been doing extensive research and as far as I can tell the "official" regulator business is a complete racket. Pay crazy fixed prices, pay for annual service intervals, DON'T TRY TO FIX IT YOURSELF OR YOU'LL DIE!!!... blah blah blah. A little transparency would be greatly appreciated by the industry. It's clearly an artificially inflated market, and that makes me want to support businesses like LP and Scubatoys.

 

[diver 85]

think of it this way--you'll probably never use the manufacturer's warranty anyway-----enjoy the savings---IMO......

 

[dori fish]

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

 

[EastEndDiver]

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

Care to explain that?

 

[deepstops]

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

Okay there 25-49 dives, please point us to some links where regulators purchased at LP killed someone

 

[tridacna]

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

At 14, I think that it's better if you asked your daddy to write your emails. Somehow your credibility just ain't there. Unless you can point to a specific incident in which something bought at LP cost someone their life, please stop talking nonsense.