Kicked out of OW Class

[TennisCoach]

I already stop trying to give some of the LDS my business. I did sales for many years and I can tell you I do not like how some of the sales people act in the LDS. I as a customer prefer to go to a LDS to buy something and be told that the price is such and such because the store has to make a profit on that product, that to be told something like; well if you buy it from such and such for less than what I am selling it to you is because they are not an authorized dealer and you might lose you warranty, and bla bla bla. I have ST number in my phone and once when I received that answer I called them from the LDS with the sales guy in front of me and in speaker and I asked them if they were and authorized dealer for such and such and of course they said yes. The sales guy turned every color in the rainbow.
I buy everything that I can from ST. I think that the only thing that I won’t buy online is tanks and weights but the rest comes from ST. You cannot beat their Customer Service.
My friend did his Cert with a local dive shop and the guy told him that if he got the equipment from him that he was going to give him a discount on the sale. I have to tell you the guy did give my friend the discount and at the end he he was over for like $50 compare to ST. But this guys was honest and told my friend the truth. That he was not able to move the amount of merchandise that ST did, and that was the best price that he could give him making a little profit was that, and that got him the sale.

[BSea]

Originally Posted by ccameselle

My friend did his Cert with a local dive shop and the guy told him that if he got the equipment from him that he was going to give him a discount on the sale. I have to tell you the guy did give my friend the discount and at the end he he was over for like $50 compare to ST. But this guys was honest and told my friend the truth. That he was not able to move the amount of merchandise that ST did, and that was the best price that he could give him making a little profit was that, and that got him the sale.

That's how my LDS does business. That's why I use them 1st. It's amazing what can be done with a little honesty, and good people skills.

[CODMAN]

Scubatoys never ceases to amaze me! They are one of the very very few Internet shops I know of (in any industry) that not only give rock bottom prices, but also top notch customer service. They genuinely care about helping you out!

It's hard to believe, but they make me want to spend my money there rather than my LDS, which is very good as service and helping out...

Once again, cheers to Joe, Larry and everybody at Scubatoys. If they are always this great, they'll never run out of customers! Oh sorry... Happy customers!

[Travelnsj]

Ditto what Zenagirl says. I called Joe a few months ago to buy a specialzed filter.....he said that it was out dated and he would send me some. I even offered to pay!....No worries.

Joe is a class Act!

[mocepts]

Makes me glad I did my OW cert through some YMCA instructors that weren't associated with any LDS. They weren't worried about the money, just for the love of the sport.

[3rdEye]

frankly, i think what you did was kind of a dick move.

i'm all for dive shops being competitive and don't tolerate the attitude i get when i mention buying somewhere else. However, I think it was somewhat disrespectful to buy your stuff in the middle of taking a class, and basically flaunting the fact that you took your business elsewhere to the shop you're taking a class with. There's a tactful way to do things, and you weren't very tactful. I can't blame the guy for being a little pissed.

you could have quietly bought your gear, and finished your class with their rental gear and no one would have been the wiser.

[bandit6789]

Originally Posted by 3rdEye

frankly, i think what you did was kind of a dick move.

i'm all for dive shops being competitive and don't tolerate the attitude i get when i mention buying somewhere else. However, I think it was somewhat disrespectful to buy your stuff in the middle of taking a class, and basically flaunting the fact that you took your business elsewhere to the shop you're taking a class with. There's a tactful way to do things, and you weren't very tactful. I can't blame the guy for being a little pissed.

you could have quietly bought your gear, and finished your class with their rental gear and no one would have been the wiser.

I actually did think about renting his stuff, then buying my own. But after thinking about it, I decided If I was going to spend a bunch of money buying my own equipment, I didn't really want to spend an extra 50 bucks renting equipment.

Before I did this, I had read several stories where people had a problem with their LDS, which is why I SPECIFICALLY asked him if I bought from somewhere else, would we have a problem. I felt that his answer of "No" was an honest answer.

I don't understand why you would say that was a dick move. I was not 'flaunting my purchase', I did not announce my purchase to the other students in the class, or tell them hey you outta go check out this other guy, or what have you. I was very respectful of him, and told him I would have been glad to buy from him, however, he just wasn't competitive.

I understand that it is upsetting when you lose a purchase, I run a business and lose out to competitors also, too. But you have to be competitive if you want to stay in business.

[mitsuguy]

I think it was a solid move...

can you honestly tell me that if given the opportunity to save $500 and get equivalent or better gear was put in front of you, that you would waste even more money on rental gear????

if the rental gear was free as it is as some dive shops, no problem, keep your mouth shut til the class is over, but if they charge you, and their prices to buy gear aren't even close to competitive, then you have every right...

[3rdEye]

hmm, usually the cost of an OW class includes equipment, being as new divers rarely have their own equipment, so that's a little strange.

I guess what I'm saying is that a business relationship is a bit of a 2 way street, if you are in the middle of taking a class with a shop, I think to show up one day with brand new gear you bought somewhere else is in poor taste even if they coudn't be competitive. Personally, I would have finished out the class, then got my gear somewhere else. If you want to use this shop in the future, you may have jeopardized that, as it's his right to choose to do business with you, or not. Now, maybe you don't want to do business with him anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter, but now you may not have the option.

I also don't think I would have bought gear before actually diving in the first place, but that's a whole other story....

[brandon]

He asked, the shop told him it wouldn't be a problem - how on earth can you consider him the dick?

I think misrepresenting your feelings about an issue and then acting hurt about it later is one of the definitions of a dick, or at least a douchebag.

-B