The Great local dive shop vs. online debate

[Bob3]

Hey, get 'em in the door, old tactic.

Happily, the shops I do business with would know better than to do something like that.

 

[WillAbbott]

theres bad people running bad shops in any area. I used to work at a local computer shop (we were the best in town and adjacent towns) It was hillarious to hear horror stories and see items sold from other shops... like the I just bought this computer the guy sold it to me said it was BRAND new... only it had parts (after we opened it) that wre 2+years old... Now of course we had people we ticked off too (some people you just can't make happy even after you've handed them items and lost 100's of dollars trying to please them)... We did our best... which was a HUGE difference when compared to other shops which sold old items, lied, made problems worse, and generally had NO real knowledge of PC's....

Dive shops are no different... theres Good ones who've been around for a long time, and know there stuff, and are helpfull...

Theres ones that are dirt inexpensive with good service...
Theres dirt inexpensive with little or no service... etc....

Out of 6 shops I've been within a 2hour drive of me... theres 3 with good service (some advice from 2 of the 3 left me doubting they were telling me the truth however) 1 of the 3 has insanely good prices for an LDS (they buy from another shop who has 7+ locations so they get GREAT prices for a LDS, some very comparable to online) Ive seen 1 with product selection that could fit in a small bedroom, with ****TY service... and small selection with ok service. and even horrible service ok product selection. It just depends. For me Im lucky I've got 3 shops that have good service/selection/and ok to good prices within 1hr from me. Of thoose 3 I choose to goto the one who hasn't got the best prices but does have excelent service and has been around since the 50's. They staff something like 4 or 6 PADI Course Directors... and theres constantly 4-5 employees in the store. They have told me, no we can't beat that guys price, but if you look at it again we are selling ours with (we think) a few modifications that are nicer, etc... They don't care I've shopped around... they urged me to go check out the other guys dry suit again... but for $100 more I bought from them without having to go look again because the service is THAT good. They also loaned me a dry suit for my OW dives NO charge. Another reason they continue to get my bussiness even if it costs me more.

The dry suit is the First and thus far ONLY item I've payed sticker price for... Every time I go to buy something I goto pay and they run over and knock off some money (typically 20% or so) and theres no way I'm one of thier best customers... I'm too new... That's why they continue to get my business... I have to admit I almost decided to buy my computer off the net... but again for the difference in price I'll support them, get the service, help, and all from them.

 

[cyklon_300]

for the full effect of this particular LDS experience, I should also add:

Not only did the shop primate stiff me on both items I spec'd over the phone, but he allowed me a nice 15-20 min. wait while he gushed over a college co-ed before informing me I was hosed.

And as a final gesture of good service, he dropped a somewhat thinly-veiled dig on my tech instructor and let me know that I should take the courses from him (for a mere $250 more than what I'm paying).

Yikes, where's that voting slip for Employee of the Month?

(BTW, I just received email from the online store I bought from ...thanking me for my business, re-confirming the order, and providing a tracking number for the shipment.)

 

[WillAbbott]

Sorry you had such a bad experience and such a horrid dive shop. People just don't seem to care as much about the quality of work they perform any more... I should know Im 22 and most people my age are BAD workers and make the rest of us in my generation look bad... Course they aren't all limited to my generation... but overall people don't care or put the same quality of work out they used to.

I'm glad I have a great bunch of guys and a GREAT LDS. If they weren't like they are I too would only buy online.

 

[Wreck/Tec]

I realize that you have to shop locally to assure that your shop will be there. I like to look around and was at this place across the city I go to on occasion and had two tanks to be filled and said what the heck. They were very nice! I asked for some hyper air, or clean air, 21%, and they filled a 120 and a 100. We talked a bit , they mentioned the other store because of the vis. stickers and steered me to the check out. Our conversation was about looking for a shop where you can feel comfortable with. Then the shocker.............$ 39.77 for the fills. I asked if there was a mistake, which they replied there wasn't. I paid it , smiled and chalked it up as a lesson learned. Maybe they were sending a message to the other shop? My favorite shop is no more. I now drive half as far again to get air. I won't go to the shop that screwed me no way no how........ Unfortunately this isn't unheard of. However it is unfortunate.
The internet has changed the playing field. The exchange in Canada has changed things as well. You will always need a dive shop. I do have a problem with some of their attitudes though.

 

[Scuba]

Very often the shops that engage in these dishonest practices, also have high prices, bad customer service, or is it "no" cust. serv., whichever is worst, but they are also terrified of the competition and have nothing good to say about them. It all goes hand in hand with the screw everybody mentality they have. The irony is that their greedy selfishness prevents them from seeing how they are srewing themselves over.

Contrast that to the mentality exhibited by the good shop WillAbbott mentioned. They are focused on beating the competition by fullfilling the customers needs as best they can. When you're focused on providing whatever service you can provide better than anyone else, you have no time or need to disparage others, since you can point with confidence to your strengths.

One has found a way to give the customers what they want, so they point to what they have to offer without the need to denigrate the competition, the other has found a way to take from customers, so their only recourse is to denigrate others as worse than them, when comparisons are made.

One knows he has to win and keep the customer's business, the other thinks customer's owe them their business.

 

[cstreu1026]

Well once again I have nothing but praise for a local dive shop. I went in last week to look at Sealife Cameras as a present for fiance from her parents (both of which life out of town). I did just buy my Uwatec Smart Pro and Scuba Pro Mk25/S600 from them. I could have bought the computer $200 cheaper online and the reg was about $100 cheaper online. To me, the $1100+ i spent there was a lot of money, but in the grand sceme of things I am sure that it is not a ton. I did intend to buy the camera from the shop and wanted the best possible price. I also found out that Sealife has authorized online deals including Amazon.com. I printed out the lowest prices I found online to have show that the prices I found were real. The owner looked at the prices and said "wow, how can they do that." He went and checked his cost and came back and agreed to sell the camera at the same price. I really did not expect him to do that but was grateful. He told me that I had spent enough there already that he didn't have a problem matching the price. That means a ton to me and I will continue to shop in his store. In fact I will be there tomorrow to set up and try out my new gear in their pool.

 

[cyklon_300]

I'm more inclined to attribute the treatment I received to complete INEPTNESS rather than outright dishonesty.

Maybe that's charitable, but given the season and all...I just think the guy is clueless on how to do his job (a simple inventory check) and then properly interact with customers when he makes a mistake.

If he would have just been appropriately sorry for the inconvenience and offered me a discount, freebie, or some other preferential nod over the snafu, it could've really eased the friction on the botched transaction.

 

[kcanty]

Never attribute to malice that which can satisfactorily be explained by incompetence.

 

[yknot]

Cyklon, In general has the LDS down the street been fair in the past? Unfortunatly I have some by me that I receive excellent price and service from the owner and poor service from the hired help when the owner's gone. In a sense I suppose I have to fault the owner for employing idiots but try explaining your opinion to a higher authority and see if you get a favorable response. I wouldn't have any sympathy for a shop owner that pulled the stunt you dealt with.