The Aqualung Discussion [ Moved ]

[mdb]

One of the things that bothers me about shops like LDS that pretty much serve to one sport; is that they usually can not carry most of the brands. This leads to less options for the consumer; and also a hint of bias from there suggestions on what to buy. However I don't believe it is possible for an LDS to carry all the brands, am I correct?

havnmonkey; In our opinion any legitimate local dive store should be able to help you with what you need. Some companies have very large stocking/minimum orders that put the local store in a bind. The store is under great pressure to commit a large amount of dollars at certain times of the year. The good local dive store is often faced with policies that limit their ability to compete in todays market. It is our opinion that a good local store should be able to help their customer with any product or warranty.
I think that is where we are all heading.

 

[Wayward Son]

My LDS is an authorized distributor for major brands such as: Scubapro, Oceanic, Dacor, Apeks, Sherwood, Genesis, Aqualung (USD), Atomic, Halcyon, Dive Rite, SeaQuest, Contempro, Zeagle, DeepSea, Uwatec, Suunto, Henderson, Bare, Moby, O'Neal, TUSA,
Princeton Tec, IkeLite, Pelican, JBL, A.B. Billier, J.W. Fisher, and many other minor brands (clipped from their web site).

FWIW, they're dropping Halcyon & DACOR has provided such lousy support for some years that while they are authorized dealers & will service DACOR gear, they prefer to not sell it to customers, giving preferance to brands such as Oceanic that provide excellent customer service.

They prolly sell more Scubapro, Oceanic & Atomic & not so much AL & Zeagle, but they can & do sell & service all of the above.

 

[scuba66]

people should be free to choose where they buy their gear. ill buy it where i can find it cheapest. the more dollars i have to spend on gear the more gear ill have . i stretch it as far as it can go. besides the fact i buy alot of gear every year.

 

[havnmonkey]

It just seems like the Dive shops in Central FL are forced to pick only two of the main brands, some carry three.

In terms of service? I have been to many dive shops in central FL, East coast, Orlando, West Coast (mostly to talk to a different opinion) and the one I did my cert class has been the most friendly and overly eager to impart their knowledge; I couldn't ask of them any more.

I continue to go there for fills, and whatever gear I (or my buddy) need to rent; I also have booked my next trip, to Roatan, with them. Are they getting enough money from me-- I mean are they getting enough support from me?

 

[jwdiverdude]

One of the things that bothers me about shops like LDS that pretty much serve to one sport; is that they usually can not carry most of the brands. This leads to less options for the consumer; and also a hint of bias from there suggestions on what to buy.

However I don't believe it is possible for an LDS to carry all the brands, am I correct?

I purchased most of my equipment online, however I continue to use my LDS for travel tips/planning and advice. I couldn't imagine getting that advice from those who I bought my equipment form online. I don't think I'll do much more major online purchases when it comes to replacing my equipment in the future.

1. An LDS has to look at the space they have available to display/store the product lines they carry.
2. Some Manufactures have distance requirements. Shops that carry their product must be X mile apart.
3. Not all Product lines are equal....Why would an LDS waste time marketing gear that they do not feel confident in...in my experience if they carry a line like that they'll just try to steer you into the line they do support.

 

[havnmonkey]

1. An LDS has to look at the space they have available to display/store the product lines they carry.
2. Some Manufactures have distance requirements. Shops that carry their product must be X mile apart.
3. Not all Product lines are equal....Why would an LDS waste time marketing gear that they do not feel confident in...in my experience if they carry a line like that they'll just try to steer you into the line they do support.

True... But for example the LDS's around here carry SP, and a few have SP & AL, the ones in orlando carry Mares, Oceanic, Zeagle, Dacor(used to), and Tusa. I wouldn't be surprised if AL or SP had stringent restrictions that sort of strangles the LDS to heavily support their product. I also understand that a small shop can't have a huge inventory; but I would feel better knowing that the shop chose to only sell one brand because they honestly prefer that brand.

 

[jwdiverdude]

True... But for example the LDS's around here carry SP, and a few have SP & AL, the ones in orlando carry Mares, Oceanic, Zeagle, Dacor(used to), and Tusa. I wouldn't be surprised if AL or SP had stringent restrictions that sort of strangles the LDS to heavily support their product. I also understand that a small shop can't have a huge inventory; but I would feel better knowing that the shop chose to only sell one brand because they honestly prefer that brand.

Of course they do. The shop I used to hang out in wanted to pick up A new line. Needed to place around 15k worth of gear initially and commit to another 10k per quarter to keep it.

Some shops don't get a choice. They are usally the Johnny-come-latelys in an area and because of the distance between deal requirements that exist with some manufacturers they couldn't carry the gear they really wanted to sell. They had to pick something else.

Anyone else notice that the newer manufactuers will let anyone who wants to sell their gear but the older more establish manufactures are the ones with these distance between dealer restrictions

 

[hlsooner]

Sorry I am coming into this discussion late, but I wanted to add my 2 psi. What Phil did was expose the business practices of AL that many were already aware of, but he put a human face on their dirty tactics. Unless there was some sort of confidentiality clause in his agreement with AL, or he made up untrue facts in what he posted, it seems unlikely AL has any substance to their threats of litigation. Truth is always a complete defense to a charge of libel or slander.

The AL termination thread may harm business for Aqualung, but that was the whole point: to inform people not to do business with a company who is flouting price-fixing laws. The fact that this thread has "vanished" is very disturbing to me, and should be to everyone else. Anyone concerned about internet censorship like this should take a look over at http://www.eff.org/. The EFF works to prevent this sort of censorship, and helps defend Internet sites from corporate threats like this all the time.

The whole point of the Internet is so that people can easily share information. Information asymmetries between scuba dealers and customers have been the basis for large markups for years. But the Internet has provided everyone with such easy access to information that these business practices are not sustainable anymore. Keep up the pressure and don't let their threats of spurious litigation censor our free speech.

 

[mike_s]

Since this thread has taken a "life" beyond the original question of "What happened to the Aqualung thread?", should we ask a mod to retitle the subject of it to something like "Aqualung discussion thread" and move it out of "site support" to somewhere like an equipment/manufacturer forum? (inputs anyone?)

 

[The Chairman]

Well hlsooner...

I can sleep better now!