Wheedle

[saying]

First I have to vent:

A friend of mine has just started diving and is starting to collect his gear. I sold him my old BC (after making the BP/W move) and a bunch of us chipped in to get him a reg for Christmas. Yes, we got it from LP. Then he goes ahead and orders himself an octo (yes, also from LP) so he'll be ready for a trip to Key Largo next weekend.

I tell him not to worry about a BC hose (I have about 50 of them somehow) and I've got a spare pressure gauge he can use so he doesn't have to drop the bread for one right now. "But," I advise, "See if you can rent a tank and some pool time to just stick the set on a tank, sit in the shallow end, and take a couple of breaths off each second."

"Yeah," he agreed, "I have to go to the shop anyway to get a wetsuit."

So he heads over to the shop he goes to, where the trouble starts.

They start asking pushy questions about the source of the gear and start implying (basically), "Well, if any of that stuff was bought online you're probably going to die if you use it." So, in addition to the wetsuit they've already sold they score themselves a $30 service on brand new equipment AND convince him to buy a pressure gauge and BC hose. These later bits, of course, he was going to need anyway, but not right that second and times are tight all over. They were sold on the pretense of (this is my favorite part):

"You can't just screw that stuff together and go diving. It needs to be proffesionally assembled."

HUH?!?

Now, I don't mean to start a chapter of the ancient LP vs LDS feud. I just needed to vent. So, to turn this to entertainment, instead:


What is the silliest thing ya'll have heard shop-folk tell unsuspecting customers to make a few bucks?

 

[Marek K]

What is the silliest thing ya'll have heard shop-folk tell unsuspecting customers to make a few bucks?

The owner of an LDS here in Warsaw, Poland told me last summer that the Mares HUB was great, and that I should really buy one.

Despite the fact that they cost about 1-1/2 times as much here in this part of Europe.

They're, what a surprise, a Mares dealer.

To be fair, though, I've never run into any prejudice here against equipment bought, um, elsewhere. I think they're used to equipment being bought wherever people can buy it.

Now if I can only find someplace reliable where I can get my Sherwood regulators serviced here...

--Marek

 

[The Kraken]

That the prospective diver needed to buy 2 different snorkles, a rigid one for snorkeling and the flexible type for scuba diving.

 

[Desa]

That the prospective diver needed to buy 2 different snorkles, a rigid one for snorkeling and the flexible type for scuba diving.

You mean I didn't really need to buy both of them??????

 

[Diver0001]

First I have to vent:


What is the silliest thing ya'll have heard shop-folk tell unsuspecting customers to make a few bucks?

Something I've heard too often is:

- That's normal

or

- It's supposed to fit like that


I guess in the silly department the best I can think off off the top of my head is "it's a good idea to buy ankle weights when you get a drysuit, even if you don't use them"

R..

 

[Lead_carrier]

The owner makes you take an eye test to see if you have to buy a mask with special lens. Said it was scuba regulations that if you needed corrective lens to drive you needed corrective lens to dive, and contacts don't count.

 

[sjx]

The owner of an LDS here in Warsaw, Poland told me last summer that the Mares HUB was great, and that I should really buy one.

Despite the fact that they cost about 1-1/2 times as much here in this part of Europe.

They're, what a surprise, a Mares dealer.

--Marek

Off the subject, but
how DO you sell a HUB, anyway? Cost aside...

 

[Diver0001]

Off the subject, but
how DO you sell a HUB, anyway? Cost aside...

Well......assuming it was a serious question..... The only HUB's I've seen the shop sell were sold to divers who go on a lot of boats. The "tidiness" of the package does seem to be worth money to some people but they need a "use" for that tidiness.

R..

 

[Marek K]

Off the subject, but
how DO you sell a HUB, anyway? Cost aside...

By being a Mares dealer, I guess, and therefore having a vested interest in recommending them to customers trusting your objective judgement.

I'm not really blaming the dealer; he's doing what he needs to to get sales, and I'm sure he wasn't recommending a product he knew was bad or unsafe.

That being the first time that I'd ever seen or even heard of the Hub, my reactions were, "Wow, this looks impressive." Then, "Wow, this is expensive." Finally, "Wow, what happens when something goes wrong?"

--Marek

 

[jbisjim]

That the prospective diver needed to buy 2 different snorkles, a rigid one for snorkeling and the flexible type for scuba diving.

Snorkel an Instrument of Satan?