What I don't like about LDS's

[ERP]

Interestingly I was just in my LDS the other day getting my regulator adjusted and while I was there I got a price quote on a DIN conversion for my reg.

Now I was looking to buy two steel tanks aswell and I'm sure that gave them room to move, but the price they quoted me was better than the online places that I'd looked and that included actually fitting the kit.

I guess given the cost of the item I couldn't imagine them doing much more than charging retail for it, unless it was part of a bigger purchase.

 

[SlurrySeal]

The price is not the problem, it’s the implied necessity to haggle over price. It creates an adversarial relationship between you and the owner. I would rather just go into a store and look around and buy what I need. In reality I step into a LDS and I feel like I just stepped onto a car lot. How many people enjoy haggling with car dealers? I'm sure there are a few, but not many.

 

[Jonathan]

fine - tell them you want to pay the MRRP and be done with it! As I said it was not very professional to say what he did, but that's the truth!!

Also scuba I would rather pay a 100% mark up on a small item like DIN conversion kit than say a regulator or computer - it's the little things that keep them afloat! No I am not a shop owner! Next time you go to the pub ask them how much it is a litre to produce the Coke out of the tap then look at the price they charge - well into the 1000% matk up.....

 

[thethumper]

trymixdiver once bubbled...
Thumper

you stated that they pointed out that in the catalog and / or web page it didnt say it was included. But it also didnt say it was. The picture implied it was and the customer is always right

I am glad you got it for nothing even though im sure it was an agravating ordeal to go through.

Andy

Andy... You're gonna laugh.... This is what I told the owner over the phone & my buddy was listening & like to fell over.

"If you go into McDonald's & order a #1 combo (Big Mac, Fires & a Coke), you pay for it & they bring you a Big Mac & Coke & say 'Have a nice day' & you ask for your fries & they tell you 'Fries are not included' but they're in the "Combo" picture.... Wouldn't you have to say 'This is BS, gimme my fries?'" The owner was STRUCK DUMB!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[Ontario Diver]

SlurrySeal once bubbled...
The price is not the problem, it’s the implied necessity to haggle over price. It creates an adversarial relationship between you and the owner. I would rather just go into a store and look around and buy what I need. In reality I step into a LDS and I feel like I just stepped onto a car lot. How many people enjoy haggling with car dealers? I'm sure there are a few, but not many.

If you walk into a car dealership and buy a car, you'll get Price A.

Buy 30 cars and you'll get Price B.

Hang out alot (but don't get in the way!) , buy a couple of cars and keep moving up, wash cars to help out, bring coffee, send your friends over to buy cars.... and you'll get the best price of all.

Works the same way with dive shops, computer shops, pubs, resturants, anytime when you deal with the owner.

But it was VERY tacky to admit it!

 

[thethumper]

Ontario Diver once bubbled...


If you walk into a car dealership and buy a car, you'll get Price A.

Buy 30 cars and you'll get Price B.

Hang out alot (but don't get in the way!) , buy a couple of cars and keep moving up, wash cars to help out, bring coffee, send your friends over to buy cars.... and you'll get the best price of all.

Works the same way with dive shops, computer shops, pubs, resturants, anytime when you deal with the owner.

But it was VERY tacky to admit it!

Goog God You hit that nail on the head w/a Jackhammer!

 

[Scuba]

Hang out alot (but don't get in the way!) , buy a couple of cars and keep moving up, wash cars to help out, bring coffee, send your friends over to buy cars.... and you'll get the best price of all.

Or - shop around. Look in the yellow pages, newspaper ads, make a few phone calls. Browse a few sites online.

Results may very well be better.

 

[redacted]

Scuba once bubbled...


Or - shop around. Look in the yellow pages, newspaper ads, make a few phone calls. Browse a few sites online.

Results may very well be better.

Darn! I guess it would work the same for both if you do it right.

 

[jamiei]

Get this guys... my girlfriend had some problems clearing her mask during her check-off dives so our LDS owner/instructer said we should look at some of his low volume masks. Well anyway, he calls me up a few days later and says that "her mask was in, come pick it up". We'll, we didn't go by for a few weeks because we never ordered one. When we do go by to see it, his price is $70 (which he quoted me $60 for and I called him on it) and she also got a pair of booties for $36. I mentioned the 10% student discount (that he mentioned to me when we first chose his store) and he said ok. We, I walk off as he hands her the reciept. What he ends up doing is charging her the $70 for the mask, $38 for the booties and then takes off the 10%. I saw this after we left and said, well screw it... its not worth fussing about. Now, this is the BS... I take a look at the EXACT SAME MASK (Sherwood Magnum II) at leisure pro and its $26.99. Now I listen to this guy preach about the warranty service I would get from him that leisure pro doesn't offer and all this other crap, but what the @#$% kind of warranty do I really need on a mask? This is outrageous and what really sucks is that I can't really say much to him about it because he's the only PADI guy around here and I don't want to risk getting screwed worse in the future. What should I do? And by the way, if any of you have read any of my other posts, you now know one reason why i want to service my own equipment... i don't trust this nut-job any farther than i can throw his 260 lb @$$!!!

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

jamiei,

I would return the mask, saying your girlfriend didn't like the fit after wearing it for extended period (not while diving though.) Then go to LP and get a brand of low volume mask that your LDS does not carry. If he asks about it in the future, you could just tell him she searched around until you got one with a good fit.