Wayward Son
Contributor
Now, I have had one in the distant past that deserves beating up, too. Over 20 years ago & it still gets me mad just to think about that bunghole. But I thought we might like to talk a bit about the good ones that are out there. Because they're not all lousy.
LDS's have been taking plenty of beatings lately, but not all of us hate every LDS we have. I actually have 2 great ones and one I'd rate pretty good. And that one might be worth a "great" rating, but as it's worked out they don't service Scubapro so I've ended up taking most of my business to the other one. So I just haven't done enough business with them to be able to heap them with praise, though I have no complaints, either.
My primary LDS has proven to be a great shop. They don't push the high ticket crap. In fact, they often advise people to look at items that are substantially less expensive and consider if those will meet their needs. They offer excellent training of all levels. They have affordable fills. Air is $3.50, nitrox runs about $8.00 for an 80cf tank. Nitrox is billed by the actual fill volume. They bank 32% so tanks do not have to be O2 clean, but can and do fills to any mix a diver needs. They also have helium and provide full support for technical divers who need such mixes. In fact, their fill station has been built up over the years with multiple banks, computers & other items, to the point where if they were to simply build one just like it from scratch it would cost at least $50,000. It's NICE!
The service tech & primary classroom instructor is a guy who's been teaching diving for over 40 years. Has prolly forgotten more about diving and gear maintenance than most people will ever know to start with. While sometimes service can be slow, simply due to the amount of gear he mainatins for customers, his work is outstanding and reasonably priced. And if I have a problem, say a 2nd stage starts hissing a bit, or I have an older tank in for a VIP & fill & want the valve serviced, he can usually get it on the bench and take care of the problem while I'm there so I'm still diving. And if my reg set is going to be there long enough that I need one to dive, they'll loan me one. Loan, not rent. Often, minor service issues they don't even charge me for. Such as the hissing 2nd stage, it was stripped, a bit of grit removed, reassembled & returned to me while I waited, for free.
If I need a suit or BC they don't have in stock, they will order one. If it comes in & doesn't fit, they will take care of getting a replacement & I don't eat extra shipping charges for the service. Prices are competitive, in some cases they're cheaper than I can buy on the net. Mostly, they're close enough that even if a bit more I'd rather pay them than some web site in another state. Sometimes they can't come close on the price, and they're practical enough to know that if a customer can save a big enough chunk of cash, they're prolly going to. While they don't want to lose a sale -who does- they don't cop an attitude to their customers about it. If they have the training & parts to service an item, they will do so, and they charge flat rates. There's none of this "Well, it's cheaper if you bought it here, but since you didn't I'm going to stick it to you" nonsense. A 2 stage reg is $35 plus parts, plus a fee for additional stages, consoles, etc. A VIP is $10, including an air fill, no matter where the tank came from. They prorate the air value, so if you want a nitrox fill you only pay the difference.
They know the net is out there & they have to compete with it. They don't blow smoke up my ***, they don't push gear that I don't need. They provide great service & support & don't get upset if I buy something somewhere else. They treat people fair & give good, solid advice when asked. They run a dive boat. And a dive club, and club members get a discount on the dive boat.
Think about Harold 20 years ago, and seeing some of the posts people have made about their shop, I count my blessings to have such a shop available to me.
LDS's have been taking plenty of beatings lately, but not all of us hate every LDS we have. I actually have 2 great ones and one I'd rate pretty good. And that one might be worth a "great" rating, but as it's worked out they don't service Scubapro so I've ended up taking most of my business to the other one. So I just haven't done enough business with them to be able to heap them with praise, though I have no complaints, either.
My primary LDS has proven to be a great shop. They don't push the high ticket crap. In fact, they often advise people to look at items that are substantially less expensive and consider if those will meet their needs. They offer excellent training of all levels. They have affordable fills. Air is $3.50, nitrox runs about $8.00 for an 80cf tank. Nitrox is billed by the actual fill volume. They bank 32% so tanks do not have to be O2 clean, but can and do fills to any mix a diver needs. They also have helium and provide full support for technical divers who need such mixes. In fact, their fill station has been built up over the years with multiple banks, computers & other items, to the point where if they were to simply build one just like it from scratch it would cost at least $50,000. It's NICE!
The service tech & primary classroom instructor is a guy who's been teaching diving for over 40 years. Has prolly forgotten more about diving and gear maintenance than most people will ever know to start with. While sometimes service can be slow, simply due to the amount of gear he mainatins for customers, his work is outstanding and reasonably priced. And if I have a problem, say a 2nd stage starts hissing a bit, or I have an older tank in for a VIP & fill & want the valve serviced, he can usually get it on the bench and take care of the problem while I'm there so I'm still diving. And if my reg set is going to be there long enough that I need one to dive, they'll loan me one. Loan, not rent. Often, minor service issues they don't even charge me for. Such as the hissing 2nd stage, it was stripped, a bit of grit removed, reassembled & returned to me while I waited, for free.
If I need a suit or BC they don't have in stock, they will order one. If it comes in & doesn't fit, they will take care of getting a replacement & I don't eat extra shipping charges for the service. Prices are competitive, in some cases they're cheaper than I can buy on the net. Mostly, they're close enough that even if a bit more I'd rather pay them than some web site in another state. Sometimes they can't come close on the price, and they're practical enough to know that if a customer can save a big enough chunk of cash, they're prolly going to. While they don't want to lose a sale -who does- they don't cop an attitude to their customers about it. If they have the training & parts to service an item, they will do so, and they charge flat rates. There's none of this "Well, it's cheaper if you bought it here, but since you didn't I'm going to stick it to you" nonsense. A 2 stage reg is $35 plus parts, plus a fee for additional stages, consoles, etc. A VIP is $10, including an air fill, no matter where the tank came from. They prorate the air value, so if you want a nitrox fill you only pay the difference.
They know the net is out there & they have to compete with it. They don't blow smoke up my ***, they don't push gear that I don't need. They provide great service & support & don't get upset if I buy something somewhere else. They treat people fair & give good, solid advice when asked. They run a dive boat. And a dive club, and club members get a discount on the dive boat.
Think about Harold 20 years ago, and seeing some of the posts people have made about their shop, I count my blessings to have such a shop available to me.
