Why I didn't buy from my LDS

[Brandon]

Edit in progress.

 

[Brandon]

If you don't like the grocery store down the street what do you do? If the dry cleaner in your town does'nt do a good job what do you do? You find a place that does do a good job. I really don't know what all the pissing and moaning is all about.

I don't have this option, perhaps I didn't make it clear. There is ONE dive shop in the Fairbanks area. They have no competition. The pissing and moaning is due to the shop taking advantage of their market share at the expense of their customers.

The shop I hang out at in South Jersey is like an extension of my family. If they didn't treat me and all my friends so well we would find another shop. I also realize that without our local shops we will not be diving. We will all loose touch with our buddies, we won't have a place to continue our education, and we won't have a place to service our gear and get air.

I'm glad your shop is awesome, mine isn't. If they were to go under, they would be replaced. One would hope that the new shop learned from the mistakes of the past.

Trying to use poor service some of us are getting, or inflated prices some of us are paying as an excuse to run off to the internet is a big mistake which you will regret latter. Why should your shop have to assemble that new reg or "tweak" it for free when you bought it somewhere else? Get the internet store to fix it for you.

Really? I didn't realize I was making excuses at all. The only mistake I could see making is continuing to support this LDS after my experiences with them. My reg came assembled and tested (thanks Larry!), and I've made previous comments about not abusing my LDS with internet purchases.

Our shops will never survive trying to make money on classes, service, and selling air. They have to have the profits on sales also. I am sorry to hear some of you have had such bad experiences with your shops. My question to you is: Why do you keep going back to the same bad outfit? Find a new LDS and stop making all of them look so bad and encouraging internet sales.

Really sounds like you didn't read my post very carefully... or only skimmed it. We're not complaining about ALL local shops, only mine (and some users have added their experiences). I've said in several places that I will support a GOOD local shop, as soon as I find one. I don't have one now due to a lack of competition, so I use Scubatoys, and recommend it to my friends who are in the same situation.

Some of us have legitimate complaints, and aren't just "whining" Nice post in the Kudos forum btw... really shows how little you understand the situation.

-B.

 

[Dive Junky]

No, I am quit sure I read ALL of your posts on this thread. I am sorry if you don't have another shop to choose from, but internet sales is not the solution to fixing "bad" dive shops. This is only creating new problems. My comment was not directed to you in particular, but to all divers in general. You may have had a good internet purchase, not all of our friends have had the same experience.

So you see I do UNDERSTAND the situation and would like to come up with a real solution not just sit back and WHINE. I guess I just like to fix problems, not make them worse.

 

[Brandon]

My question to you is: Why do you keep going back to the same bad outfit? Find a new LDS and stop making all of them look so bad and encouraging internet sales.

And your comment wasn't directed towards me? That's what you posted in your first reply to this thread.

Just curious, what's the solution for my situation? How would you suggest fixing my LDS? What problems are internet sales causing, exactly? You do understand that there's at least two categories of internet sales? Full factory warranty vs online site warranty? Brick and mortar LDS that happens to sell online with full warranty (Scubatoys and others) vs. shops that are primarily an online shop? (Leisurepro/Diveinn)

You must be a dive shop employee of some form... I don't think you'll truly understand until you break free of the dive industry propaganda... it's getting extremely thick recently. Shops need to learn to deal with competition from other LDS and the internet. The industry is telling them the opposite, and it's hurting both the owners and the consumers.

Writing the internet off as being evil to the LDS greatly oversimplifies the problems the industry is facing.

-B.

 

[farrakhan]

Writing the internet off as being evil to the LDS greatly oversimplifies the problems the industry is facing.

-B.[/QUOTE]


Writing LDS's off as being evil also greatly oversimplifies the problems the industry is facing.

 

[aquaticaggie]

Sorry to hear that you have a scheisty LDS Fairbanks wish yours was like mine. We only have one small dive shop in a Univerisity Town but it is a great shop. They are very customer service oriented and make everyone feel welcome at all times. I am willing to spend a little more because of the service they give me. I have never been chastized for making a purchase online which they know i do on items they can't get. For example, about a week ago i asked one of the guys in there about bcd x and y, he could get x but didn't carry y. He encouraged me to buy y! I thanked him for his services and wisdom. I then got it from scubatoys a few days ago price matched to leisurepro (if your reading i love the bc guys, thanx). Also From the shop i bought a reg set and computer that is a nice set up for no more than change from the net (taking into account shipping) plus they give me two years unlimited service, i can bring the thing in every day if i wanted to. They will even buy back old gear to use as rentals for in store credit, i don't have to hunt someone down to buy my old equipment or ebay it.
I just thought i would chime in to give ya hope that there are extrordinary shops out there to buffer out the "Fast Eddy" shops out there. I think the social environment has a lot to do with comfort level in a shop too. Just my .02

 

[RiverRat]

Writing the internet off as being evil to the LDS greatly oversimplifies the problems the industry is facing.

-B.

I couldn't agree more! The training orgs and manufacturers are the problem. They tell the dive shops that there is nothing they can do about the gray market items but it's a crock. The dive shops are forced to abide by their "price fixing" rules or they'll pull their dealership. They preach no internet sales but their stuff is still finding it's way onto the net through overseas channels. The industry is playing the LDS' big time. So the LDS is getting screwed and the consumer is also. Buy from LDS and pay inflated prices or buy on the net and lose warranty or get whacked by LDS when you go in for service. It aint right and violates the Fair Trade Act. It sucks because the divers are caught in the middle. I know of no other products or services in the US that have this problem.

 

[Brandon]

In response to Farrakhan:
Well... I never did dismiss all local shops as being evil... we're now up to the 4th or 5th reinteration that I'm more then happy to support good shops. My shop is bad for me, we've established that. DiveJunky only took issue with my post because I used the internet as an alternative LDS, without understanding that was the only reasonable option.

The "don't buy from the internet- it hurts your LDS" argument has been tossed about so many times on this board it's ridiculous. This thread wasn't meant to be another battleground for that argument.

This thread can be condensed into the following statement:

My LDS provides very poor customer service, and I no longer wish to do business with them. I will take my business to another dive shop. If my LDS wants or needs my business, it is incumbent upon them to correct their mistakes. I will not tolerate poor customer service from my LDS, nor should I have to.

Adding internet paranoia ANYWHERE into this statement confuses my original intent.

Geodiver: I agree! I'm moving soon, and there's several excellent LDSs where I'm heading (Oregon). If I had a shop like you're talking about, I wouldn't have a problem with paying more for gear.

Riverrat: Yup! That's exactly what I'm talking about.

-Brandon.

 

[Dive Junky]

I didn't say my comment was NOT directed at you, I said it was not directed to only you.

Why I didn't buy from my LDS. Not what I don't like about my shop or The problems I have had with my shop. You posted this thread suggesting you didn't buy gear from your local shop because you don't like them and that the internet is the solution to the problem.

You seem to do most of your diving during the summer. Since you spend the summers in Oregon find a shop there, buy through them and continue your education through them. I seem to remember several of our friends even making some suggestions. Perhaps you could even confront the owner of your Fairbanks shop in a tactful manner about some of you concerns. Or open a shop in Fairbanks and run it the way a dive shop should be run.

As far as dive shops that have increased their revenue through internet sales I have no problem since these items have their factory warranties. Although I would still rather our divers support the shop in their back yard since they are the backbone of the industry and where we get our education, service, and meet fellow divers.

And no I am not employed by a dive shop, but I am a Naui instructor that has seen enough of the industry to see it is taking a bad step. If you have any more questions you need answers for please feel free to ask.

 

[Brandon]

Why I didn't buy from my LDS. Not what I don't like about my shop or The problems I have had with my shop. You posted this thread suggesting you didn't buy gear from your local shop because you don't like them and that the internet is the solution to the problem.

I disagree... I posted nearly 4 pages of information detailing exactly why I thought my LDS was mistreating me, and what I intended to do about it. "Why I didn't buy from my LDS" may as well read "Why my LDS doesn't deserve my business". It means exactly the same thing.

You seem to do most of your diving during the summer. Since you spend the summers in Oregon find a shop there, buy through them and continue your education through them. I seem to remember several of our friends even making some suggestions. Perhaps you could even confront the owner of your Fairbanks shop in a tactful manner about some of you concerns. Or open a shop in Fairbanks and run it the way a dive shop should be run.

I did confront the owner, and his attitude didn't change. It won't change. Even if it had, the issue with replacing the Light Cannon is in itself enough of a reason for me to not buy any major piece of gear from them. Also, I'm not interested in waiting until Summer to buy gear, because I do dive here in Alaska during the winters/spring/summer. Opening a shop in Fairbanks... realistic solution for a college student? I think not.

As far as dive shops that have increased their revenue through internet sales I have no problem since these items have their factory warranties. Although I would still rather our divers support the shop in their back yard since they are the backbone of the industry and where we get our education, service, and meet fellow divers.

Scubatoys is one of these shops. That's who I purchased gear from. You just rendered most of your former arguments invalid.

-B.