Wow... Is this Common?

[twitterfox]

It is there job to convince us to spend our money there... not the other way around. This industry just boggles my mind sometimes... what other retail establishment would people go to get so putoff and often mistreated? The Soup "Guy" from Seinfeld maybe (apparently can't use the N_z_ word without asterisks appearing).

Interesting that this attitude of "you owe me" seems to be rather prevalent in the scuba industry. I am very new to this, and thought it was only the owner of my LDS that was majorly shooting himself in the foot. I now drive considerably further to do my shopping. Any idea why this seems to be more common in dive shops than other retailers??

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think this can be said for MANY indistries but an LDS does see a lot of traffic where people will go, ask questions, try things on only to buy it online. There is a cost to that and I can accept that. That is why if I price something online (anything of significant value), I will always go to the local shops and see if they can come close to matching it. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. This is the case with photography, computers, appliances....almost anything you can think of.....but the LDS seems to have cornered the market on the "You owe me" outlook. A lost sale is a lost sale irrespective of where it was lost to. And anybody that argues that just hates the internet. The LDS has rules that seem to be imposed on them from the manufacturers that they see being successfully broken by some of the online retailers so that can be a legitimate sore point. What happens though, is rather than trying to constructively working towards positioning their business so they can somehow compete, the bitch and moan and disappear.

I would be quite happy if the shops that have this "Sense of Entiltement" (you owe me because) all disappeared and forced tme to buy a compressor. Reality dictates that they will disappear and others will open (online or otherwise depending on what is needed). If there is a requirement, someone will be there to fulfill it. If left to move forward now, you will have to hand over your credit card just to get in the door of an LDS.

BTW, not all LDS are bad. There are a lot of good ones that do not carry this approach to business but many do and they run the risk of tainting the waters for the rest.

 

[micklock]

 

[vondo]

Interesting that this attitude of "you owe me" seems to be rather prevalent in the scuba industry. I am very new to this, and thought it was only the owner of my LDS that was majorly shooting himself in the foot. I now drive considerably further to do my shopping. Any idea why this seems to be more common in dive shops than other retailers??

I've always assumed the "you owe me" aspect of this comes because one typically learns to dive with a particular shop, so these shops assume these customers are "theirs" for the rest of their lives. More training, first set of gear, trips, later gear, etc. I can't think of a parallel with other speciality shops shops. One doesn't learn to ride a bike by taking a $300 course at a shop. You don't learn to ski at your local shop, usually.

Sure, the camera shops etc have to deal with people coming in, checking out the product, and going elsewhere. But dive shops are nearly unique, I think, in introducing the person to the sport/hobby.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I've always assumed the "you owe me" aspect of this comes because one typically learns to dive with a particular shop, so these shops assume these customers are "theirs" for the rest of their lives. More training, first set of gear, trips, later gear, etc. I can't think of a parallel with other speciality shops shops. One doesn't learn to ride a bike by taking a $300 course at a shop. You don't learn to ski at your local shop, usually.

Sure, the camera shops etc have to deal with people coming in, checking out the product, and going elsewhere. But dive shops are nearly unique, I think, in introducing the person to the sport/hobby.

The whole point I was making is that each shop feels they are owed the sale because they took the time to answer the questions and "make" the sale. In that way it does parallel other markets but I have never experienced the same attitude in the other markets. The training is a sale so they should be happy they got it. If they do not make money at it, then they should charge accordingly. If they lose business because of the increased cost to the consumer, then they are **** out of luck. I have zero tolerance for the shops with a "sense of entitlement" chip on their shoulders. Win my business if you want it. If you think my wallet will just open to you because you are my LDS, then get used to being disappointed.

And by the way, I did not get my OW certification at my local shop but they still had the chip on their shoulder and it was evident immediately in their sales approach. At that time, I still bought a lot from them because they were close to competing, but they have lost more than they have won. Since then I have done further training with them......so I guess I have to buy from them then? Not if they are not the right choice I will not.

 

[Miller64]

The harley shop here does have a $350 course to learn how to ride a bike,,,but they dont get mad if you go online or to another shop for parts.just because you took their course,they don't think they are owed nothing..I go and look at stuff,,see what the price is,do I like it in person,,,if its way too much at the shop,,i;ll go online,or another shop,,,never been bitched at for it...so,,it can be done and all make money and freinds

 

[vondo]

The whole point I was making is that each shop feels they are owed the sale because they took the time to answer the questions and "make" the sale. In that way it does parallel other markets but I have never experienced the same attitude in the other markets. The training is a sale so they should be happy they got it. If they do not make money at it, then they should charge accordingly. If they lose business because of the increased cost to the consumer, then they are **** out of luck. I have zero tolerance for the shops with a "sense of entitlement" chip on their shoulders. Win my business if you want it. If you think my wallet will just open to you because you are my LDS, then get used to being disappointed.

And by the way, I did not get my OW certification at my local shop but they still had the chip on their shoulder and it was evident immediately in their sales approach. At that time, I still bought a lot from them because they were close to competing, but they have lost more than they have won. Since then I have done further training with them......so I guess I have to buy from them then? Not if they are not the right choice I will not.

To be clear, I was not saying this attitude is OK, just theorizing on how it originated.

Interesting that you get that attitude from shops you didn't train in. I haven't, but then I don't go into shops very much any more. I've been in several shops that are basically indifferent to my presence, but none that have been hostile that I am not their regular costumer. But I've never asked them to match online prices or told them the item they were servicing was bought online. (My regs were bought online, but I've just brought them in and not said where they came from).

I agree that the days of offering an OW class at a loss as a hook for new customers is bound to fail. But I've certainly seen my share of divers in the old model who have bought everything from one shop and have a book full of cert cards.

 

[l0keman]

I have a really simplistic point of view on life. I look at a situation from as many angles as possible to get the best understanding and decide from there. I am neither optimist nor pecimist.... I am a REALIST. The fact of the matter is a LDS should not hate or discreminate on a person b/c he or she got equipment elsewhere. I am active duty military and move quite often, should I have to buy new gear from my LDS everytime I move? I don't believe in a local economy any more than I believe int the toothfairy. If I give money to a local store, who bought the goods from another city or country, and use that money to pay bills to a company located in another city or country and spend the rest of the money to buy items that come from another country or city and so on and so forth and the money never stays in town... It just sounds like a bunch of middle men using the "buy local" card or you are a communist! LOL, I can't believe there are people dumb enough to buy into this.

My local dive shop is not trying to rake everyone over the coals on every purchase. They meet and normally beat all internet prices. And more importantly, they don't treat people like garbage b/c they purchased something from somewhere else. It's no different than anywhere or anything else.... if the service sucks, go get it somewhere else and QQ. If you don't have somewhere else... get a buddy to fill your tanks for you and mail your reg in to get repaired. there are internet companies that do it. They aren't there to put the local guy out of business, they are there to create a fair market and lower the prices and raise the quality of service and items across the industry. Believe me, I have done internet business with some real douches and have been taken for a ride more than once. Same goes for offline transactions. I have seen many internet companies that charge more than my LDS on items... plus you have to wait for your stuff to come. Internet is not killing the LDS... the random, FEW, crappy LDS owners are killing themselves.