Huh, funny, I did that exact thing last year when I got certified. I planned on getting certified in LA right before my Maui trip... I went to EcoDive, since it was closest to my work. I did not have a good experience there. There are MILITANT about wanting you to buy gear from them.
I had no idea about the LDS vs chain store vs Online issue at the time. I walked in, inquired about classes, and looked at their gear. The guy helping me was really nice, and spent about 20 minutes with me explaining gear. I said thanks and i'll think about it. He says: "you going to sport chalet after this??" I said:"maybe, i don't know". My intentions were to shop around and save money. He says:" well, if you buy from sport chalet, then you probably should take classes from them", quite curtly, I might add. We get into a little debate, and he was really rude. I wanted to take classes from them cuz it was convenient, and I had good vibes from the instructor. then he says to talk to the manager. The lady comes out, and she very politely explained why it's important to support your LDS. After a 30 minute discussion, I understood her POV and promised to do my best and compromise. She signed me up.
I call my buddy to sign up as well. He calls the next day, and the other owner, who is the chicks husband or bf... "i can help you... blah blah blah... When are you coming in to buy your gear?" Well, my friend already had mask, fins, snorkel and told him so. He says: "naw man, you're sport chalet people, we don't need you". Click. ***???? He calls me, I call back, talk to the lady..."yeah, he's kinda like that, I really can't do anything about it." So to end this long story short, I got a refund on my money, found Reef Seekers in BH. They were reallly cool and I ended up doing the class work thru them. I also ended up buying fins, mask, snorkel, gloves, boots, & a small gear bag from them. Later in the year, I bought a wet suit and went on a couple of boat trips with them. So militant EcoDive, by trying to force me & my friend to by gear, lost alot more in sales. I work in Culver city as a PT, so I meet local residents constantly, and every chance I get I relate my story. I have another story about them as well, if anyone is interested.. PM me.
anyways, back on topic, Reefseekers lost their lease at the end of the year, so they are in limbo and aren't teaching. I ended up doing a referral thru them, and then went to Maui Dive Shop in Lahaina for the dives. It was cool, cuz it was just me, and it was basically a private lesson for the price of a group lesson. We finished all the skills in no time and I was able to just follow him and dive for 30 minutes. We did 4 dives total in 2 days, and other than the skills, it was basically just diving for the majority of the UW time. The class work was $175 plus fins/mask/snorkel/gloves/booties, the maui part was $199.
As for where to do the referral here, I hear nothing but good things about Hollywood Dive.
SOP is to SUPPLY your own mask/fins/snorkel/gloves/boots. But they shouldn't force you to buy from them if you don't want to. Sure it's their right to refuse service, too. But as a new diver, I shouldn't have to buy $1K of gear if I'm not even sure I'll like the sport in the first place. And they could be nice in explaining things, like the lady was. that's just poor customer service.
I can't believe they make you sign an agreement to buy at ecodive... maybe they started that policy after me
