ScubaPro not Allowing Testing of Products

[SB23]

Talking of people being bought out.

F+W Acquires Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine

http://www.divenewswire.com/dive/index.cfm?newsid=701

 

[akscubainst]

This is my first post here but this is what my SP rep told me at DEMA.

Scubapro cut it's advertising budget to 3 magazines. Rodales was not one of them. Apparently shortly there after, Scubapro submitted one of their masks for a review. This mask is identical to a mask sold and submitted by another manufacturer. Rodales apparently reviewed the 2 identical masks and gave Scubapro a lessor score than the other guy.

As a result of this Scubapro asked Rodales not to evaluate their products and quit providing free products for evaluation because they felt that they were being retaliated upon for not advertising with them. Nothing is stopping Rodales from going ahead and evaluating Scubapro gear other than the fact that now they have to buy it first.

Anyway, that's what I was told by Scubapro.

DM

 

[Panama Jack]

http://www.scubapro.com/rodale/letter_to_editor.pdf

Hmmm, interesting, but vague. I'm not sure what review or reviews SP is refering to. Does anyone know?

 

[scubadiverjunkie]

in this month's issue (June '04) in the very front is a response to the SCUBAPRO situation from Joesph Stella (Group VP - Global Diving, Scubapro/ Uwatec) - its semi pissing match sounding.

And people still babbling about adevrtisments in magazines. Does it really ruin the magazine? Does it really make it an unreliable magazine filled with lies and blasphemy because it has ads? Can you name me two national syndicated magazines that don't have advertising?

But that's just my opinion.....

 

[MgicTwnger]

in this month's issue (June '04) in the very front is a response to the SCUBAPRO situation from Joesph Stella (Group VP - Global Diving, Scubapro/ Uwatec) - its semi pissing match sounding.

And people still babbling about adevrtisments in magazines. Does it really ruin the magazine? Does it really make it an unreliable magazine filled with lies and blasphemy because it has ads? Can you name me two national syndicated magazines that don't have advertising?

But that's just my opinion.....

Consumer Reports comes to mind, and there are a lot of other niche publications. You just have to be willing to pay the price.

 

[lairdb]

in this month's issue (June '04) in the very front is a response to the SCUBAPRO situation from Joesph Stella (Group VP - Global Diving, Scubapro/ Uwatec) - its semi pissing match sounding.

And people still babbling about adevrtisments in magazines. Does it really ruin the magazine? Does it really make it an unreliable magazine filled with lies and blasphemy because it has ads? Can you name me two national syndicated magazines that don't have advertising?

But that's just my opinion.....

Depends what you mean by "nationally syndicated", but -- sure, hundreds, in fact. Nearly all of them have subscription rates of several hundred dollars or more, though.

 

[strondbakken]

Ok, heres the deal with Rodales and Scubapro:

Rodales does all their testing at Oceanic's site! Next time you pick up a Rodale's, check how many "great" reviews Oceanic recieved from them. I think we all know that Oceanic is not a bad brand and they make quality gear, but their gear cannot surpass Scubapro's in any way, in my opinion. Oceanic's gear seems to recieve a bit TOO many good reviews from Rodales. Scubapro got wind of this and stated that they would rather not have their product tested than recieve a lesser review due to biased testing. I don't blame them. Why subject your product to tests that are biased? We dont carry Rodales at our Dive shop for this reason and until Rodales offers "fair and unbiased" testing, we won't carry their mag. It is unfair to the divers that depend on fair tests for equipment that their lives depend on. Of course, it goes without saying that Rodales will never admit to the testing bias, but you do the math......

 

[Greg Barlow]

Ok, heres the deal with Rodales and Scubapro:

Rodales does all their testing at Oceanic's site! Next time you pick up a Rodale's, check how many "great" reviews Oceanic recieved from them. I think we all know that Oceanic is not a bad brand and they make quality gear, but their gear cannot surpass Scubapro's in any way, in my opinion. Oceanic's gear seems to recieve a bit TOO many good reviews from Rodales. Scubapro got wind of this and stated that they would rather not have their product tested than recieve a lesser review due to biased testing. I don't blame them. Why subject your product to tests that are biased? We dont carry Rodales at our Dive shop for this reason and until Rodales offers "fair and unbiased" testing, we won't carry their mag. It is unfair to the divers that depend on fair tests for equipment that their lives depend on. Of course, it goes without saying that Rodales will never admit to the testing bias, but you do the math......

First, I worked for Rodale's for a few years as their Science Editor and left on friendly terms for a "real" job.

Your "facts" are completely untrue. ScubaLab testing has never been done at Oceanic facilities. The mag did pay to use ScubaPro's ANSTI machines for reg testing, but hasn't done that for more than 2 years. Those tests were conducted using ScubaPro's machines, but with ScubaLab's staff members. Reg testing is now completed in Panama City.......many miles from Oceanics facilities. I find these types of accusations rather interesting. The UK mag DIVER conducts ANSTI testing of the same nature and prints their results. The results over the last decade are virtually identical to the ones from Rodale's. Furthermore, the German mag UNDERTASSER runs the same simulator testing, and also comes up with virtually the same scores. The entire industry must be corrupt............

Let me guess...Your shop is a ScubaPro dealership?

Greg

 

[murphdivers286]

I Personally use Atomic, Suunto, and Seaquest epuipment, but my agency's dive team uses all Scubapro equipment. As far as I know all of the team members are happy with their equipment. These guys use their gear in some nasty environments, and the gear lasts.

 

[murphdivers286]

Ok, heres the deal with Rodales and Scubapro:

Rodales does all their testing at Oceanic's site! Next time you pick up a Rodale's, check how many "great" reviews Oceanic recieved from them. I think we all know that Oceanic is not a bad brand and they make quality gear, but their gear cannot surpass Scubapro's in any way, in my opinion. Oceanic's gear seems to recieve a bit TOO many good reviews from Rodales. Scubapro got wind of this and stated that they would rather not have their product tested than recieve a lesser review due to biased testing. I don't blame them. Why subject your product to tests that are biased? We dont carry Rodales at our Dive shop for this reason and until Rodales offers "fair and unbiased" testing, we won't carry their mag. It is unfair to the divers that depend on fair tests for equipment that their lives depend on. Of course, it goes without saying that Rodales will never admit to the testing bias, but you do the math......

When I purchased my Gear (see my previous post above), I did an extensive research on all of the gear. The gear I chose received some of the highest ratings. Matter of fact, my reg (Atomic B2) received one of the highest ratings.