Why should I support my LDS?

[Deep South Divers]

Dang, Deep South Divers! I type so slow, or you are a typing Wizard, that you posted alot of what I was trying to state , in my less than eloquent way.

It's great to know that I'm not alone in my thought process.

Sorry for the long post - yeah, I type really fast (years of higher education necessitated it, or I'd have not been able to keep up with the workload), so I have the tendency to sit down and write a book-style post. It only takes me a couple of minutes, and *poof* nobody reads my post.

Lol... Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to keep 'em shorter.

 

[scubafanatic]

Every time this topic comes up I feel so blessed ... I love my LDS. I'm in there at least a couple times a week. Every time I walk in the door it's "Hey Buddy!", warm smiles, and friendly jibing about something I posted on the Internet. I buy a lot of gear online, or from other vendors. I recently purchased a Santi drysuit and undergarment through another local dealer. What did the guys at the shop say? ... "Hey Bob, would you mind bringing it in with you? We'd like to take a look at it".

As for fills ... I pay my local dive shop $100 a month for unlimited nitrox fills. That works out to about $4 per tank over the course of a year. Win-win for us both. But I don't do it because I have to ... I do it because it's convenient, and because I truly LIKE the guys who own and run this place. Going in there is like going to a friend's house.

But if they went out of business, I'd have other options ... this here is Scott's garage ... Scott is vbcoachchris here on ScubaBoard ... that's him in the picture holding his daughter ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

That's awesome that YOU'D have other options, not sure I'm good with throwin' the VAST majority of other, less blessed, divers under the bus though...

 

[krawlings]

I ues my LDS,S (3 IN THE AREA) Because they each have a quality I like or need . One cheep air fills , one good information and a willingness to solve a problem at no cost. And the one I realy like to go to is so friendly . You walk in and they greet you like a old friend Call you by name ,ofer you a cup of coffee,soda , water (no cost) and recall the last conversation you had with them. And you go in and purchase gear they don,t rush you to the register and get your money , And there done with you. A great place to go get gear , If you shop around some time you can get gear cheeper at a LDS than on line . I just bout a new Oceanic GT3 ANS SP5 1st for $249.00 . Checked around on line and other shops they were all at $300.00 and up . ther is GOOD in both WORLDS support them all

 

[scubafanatic]

It's great to know that I'm not alone in my thought process.

Sorry for the long post - yeah, I type really fast (years of higher education necessitated it, or I'd have not been able to keep up with the workload), so I have the tendency to sit down and write a book-style post. It only takes me a couple of minutes, and *poof* nobody reads my post.

Lol... Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to keep 'em shorter.

yeah, I was just about to PM ya to ask ya what voice recognition-typing program you're usin'.

 

[scubafanatic]

I am a firm believer that others (especially new divers) should be loyal to the LDS. The shop needs the influx of cash to keep the doors open. I need those doors open because I need the fills.

As far as me paying retail for gear or maintenance? Don't be absurd.

In a sick sort of way, I agree with ya here, and I've half jokingly made similiar comments here before, that being said, I suspect this will eventually catch up to 'us', which reminds me, the next issue of 'Undercurrent' will feature an article titled 'Why divers are hanging up their fins?" which will be interesting reading, looking into public sentiment on why the sport is in trouble.

 

[Deep South Divers]

With voice recognition, you've got to go back and correct for mistakes... So I find typing it faster in the long run.

I'm up to about 140 wpm now. I would probably be a little faster if I wasn't diving so much. Stupid diving.

I love the picture of the "bottle garage." It's always interesting to see what others have done with their "scuba space."

What's the seafoam-colored device to the right of the workbench? Sandblaster, flanked by a tool box? I'm assuming that the wooden table-looking affair on the left is the fill station/control panel, with the compressor housed underneath. Looks like argon (or possibly helium) and oxygen bottles behind it.

Interesting to mount the fill station/control panel at an angle like that rather than vertically on a wall like I did...

 

[captain]

My wife and I take our boat out locally as often as time and weather conditions allow, but that probably amounts to no more than 25 outings (100 tank fills) per year.

Just out of curiosity I recently looked into the purchase of a small compressor. The cheapest ones I could find run about $3,500 new. Assuming a savings of $5.00 per fill and 100 fills per year, it would take 7 years to pay off the investment.

Operating costs (filters, electricity and maintenance) would make the ROI even worse, but could be partially offset by fuel savings from not having to drive to the LDS for tank fills.

Bottom line is, unless I was going to be filling more than 200-300 tanks per year, buying my own compressor doesn't really pencil out.

I bought my compressor new in 1968 for $900 and I am still using it today. Maintenance and filters cost are greatly over stated. I have said it before and will say it again, if I didn't have a compressor I would have given up diving long ago if I had had to put up with the LDS hassle.

It probably would have been more cost effective to buy a compressor instead of the boat and charter.

I haven't "needed" an LDS in over 30 years, and even less so now with the internet.

 

[SeaHound]

Good post folks! But let me clarify certain things.

I was talking about buying gear and travel packages from the LDS because those are the two areas where we the customers are expected to "support" the LDS. I was not talking about supporting the LDS with tank fills because that is not an area where internet is competing. They do not need your support there. The argument for "supporting" the LDS (with gear and travel packages) states that if you buy cheaper gear online then LDS will go under and who will fill your tanks??? Or how empty and lonely would your world be without that salesman's million dollar smile who greets you when you walk in the LDS? Where would the world be without that million dollar smile right??? Holy I never thought about that!!!! Now that we have understood the important of the million dollar smile, lets buy a mask for 85 dollars instead of 25 dollars and don't feel bad about the 60 dollars extra that you put in the pocket of the LDS! He pays taxes so you are being a good citizen. LDS is happy! God is happy! Pope is happy and you should be too because you got that million dollar smile in return for 60 dollars and also got to meet other over-paying customers.

 

[LMM1967]

I use both online and local retailers. I have no problem supporting a local LDS but only when they can be competitive (and they can if they want to) and if they actually provide the customer service that warrants a slightly higher price.

Example - we spent $6,000 in less than 45 days in a local LDS - 1 item (Oceanic Geo) had a problem. The problem was pretty serious - the computer was telling us we were at elevation 2 when in fact we were near sea level. Only 1 of the 2 we purchased was doing this. I called Oceanic who told me to work with the local shop we bought it at (Yes - they are authorized dealers etc). We went in to the shop - this was within 10 days of the purchase and the computer had NOT been in the water - and the owner of the shop told me we would have to deal with Oceanic and send it to them. The shop had about 40 of these sitting on the shelf and they refused to help us. Again - this was within 10 days of a significant purchase of regulators, computers, wetsuits etc ALL at full MSRP. Needless to say they have yet to see another penny from me - another LDS does see some of our money but so do online retailers. BTW - Oceanic was great and fixed the problem with a replacement and even flashed the other computer to be sure the firmware versions were the same!

Another LDS in our area has recently started on "online" store to compliment their brick and morter location and they are actually very competetive with Scubatoys and LP. This tells me they are paying attention to what I and many other divers want and they will continue to see more and more of my money. They will also still be in business in a few years. Others in the area I fully expect to see "going out of business" sales sometime in the future.

Bottom line - give divers what they want and you will get their business - don't and they will soon find a business that will.

 

[wrybosome]

I am a firm believer that others (especially new divers) should be loyal to the LDS. The shop needs the influx of cash to keep the doors open. I need those doors open because I need the fills.

As far as me paying retail for gear or maintenance? Don't be absurd.

This is exactly how I feel about new years resolution exercisers at my Y. It's really friendly of them to subsidize my workouts the rest of the year.

Re the LDS...I need to get netter at asking them if they'll come somewhere near the online prices. Just not good at negotiating in person. I do give them some of my business because I like the shop. It stiffed with artifacts from the Andrea Doria, they have a friendly dog, they provide a local community. But the prices are much more than 10% high so my larger purchases have been through LP.

@deep south - that was an interesting read.