Local Dive Shop is getting out of hand here

[Hollywood703]

Luclkily I have 3 LDS withing 10 miles of me, I shop at all 3 (fill is cheapest at the closest one so i do all my fills there) I have all my gear serviced at another one as price/work quality is best there, and the third I buy all my accessories from. I do play them against each other now and then, if i need a larger purchase. Can usually work them down to internet pricing W/o telling them.

[pyre24]

must be nice. I have to, one doesnt like its customrs going anywhere else, the other wont price match. Yeah for me

[Divemaster2008]

There are 2 LDS for me. The closest one act like they did not care if you ever came in there shop. Very rude and if you did not buy it from them forget getting it serviced there. I bought most of my gear here when starting out. I bought a Scubapro Air II from the Scubatoys board. It was new but I wanted it checked anyway. I took it in and they asked where I got it. When he found out he told me it would be 4-5 weeks before they could service it. This was Jan. 3, 2008. I looked around a little then was leaving, I asked where the tech was. I was told he wasn't in that day because things were slow.

The other dive shop is 40 miles away. When I go in there they always have a smile, alway ready to help out, but no preasure. They took the Air II and serviced it for me with no questions. He told me it looked brand new, but he serviced anyway. When I tried to pay him, he said don't worry about it i'll catch you next time. At this shop they treat you like friends instead of just someone to make money from. If your just looking around the shop there is no preasure, if you have a question they will answer it, but you can look around without someone looking over your shoulder every moment your there.

[navyhmc]

I used to work for a local LD-sweet deal, get to be around all sorts of dive gear, help with classes, and get my gear at a discount AND got to work for gear. I would say that we were a very good shop. You were more than welcome to bring in what ever you had, no questions asked except for what you needed odne and when do you need it. The laughter that you got if the time frame was undo-able was free of charge.

It was a very friendly atmosphere and we had a very large group of faithful customers. The shop closed and the owners retired to dive the world. I really miss that job.

[desertengineer]

You would think many of the shop owners had figured one of the main reasons divers go to the online stores is because they act like tools. I've dealt with the scubatoys.com sticker inquiry as well. I reply we bought the stuff at the store, but they still give the quiet "huff". I hate getting hassled. I don't want to buy a full new package. I want to dive. Should be pretty simple, huh? LOL!

[rfb3]

If they start asking about purchases, when, where, I jsut tell them I bought it from a friend...

[jmoors]

I have one LDS that is about 30 miles away that I currently use. It is for the most part a very good LDS. One of the things that sold me on them is when I took my better half in to find a new mask. One of the employees took the time to go through most of the masks they had to "fit" one to her. It wasn't the cheapest but it was the best fit. He spent about 30 minutes working with her to make sure that it was the best for her. We bought it and I have also purchased a new mask from them. They go out of there way to help anyway they can. Have never asked about where my gear game from just happy to have a customer and provide a service for them. When it comes to personal items like a mask or wetsuite I always go to an LDS because fit really does matter. As far as regs and other gear I look for the best price, and again customer service. On-line I have found that ST is by far the best I have worked with. I still buy somethings from other on-line retailers but if ST has it they have my money everytime.

John

[jtkkym]

I bought 2 sets of Mares Abyss/Proton Oct from my LDS because I would need service from them. Well...When I did 1st Reg service from LDS, they told me $60 + parts (if they have to replace them). The regs only had about 10 dives and only one year old so I did not think I would need pay for any parts cost. They charged me $160 each! I asked them why so expensive. They changed replaced with new parts. I asked them if they needed to replace and they told me they do for safety for all reg. I was surprised and I thought I could buy cheaper reg for every year if it cost that much. I asked ST and found out that ST does reg service and change parts if they have to. So, I tried ST and it cost me less than half of I paid at LDS. Also, my LDS took about 3 weeks but ST only took less than 2 weeks (include shipping both way). ST is Great! Someone mentioned ST is my LDS. I feel same way!

[LMM1967]

We prefer to have a LDS be our "base" shop and do all of our non-internet business with them. We just chose to leave one shop and start using another because of the extreme lack of customer service. We have spent upwards of $4500 in the last 45 days with the shop and they will not replace one of the Oceanic Geo wrist computers we purchased from them. It has a confirmed issue, Oceanic says it needs to be replaced and that the shop "should" just replace it for us. Instead I am having to go directly to Oceanic, get RMA, ship it out etc etc. I commend Oceanic for this but it was the last straw for the shop and prompted us to take our local business elsewhere.

We use the internet extensively, make some purchases online and actually have an internet automotive parts business so we understand many of the issues being brought up by the local shops, however, if I give a shop over $4,000.00 worth of business in less than a month I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to take care of a problem with a piece of equipment I bought from them.

ST - on the other hand - has only received about $600.00 worth of my business so far and I can't say enough good things about the service I have received from them.

Some LDS need lessons on customer service and general respect - maybe ST should start selling a seminar series to the LDS to help them understand what a customer should expect and receive in the way of service.

[BusDiver]

Buy your own air compressor and forget about your LDS. If you don't want to shell out the bucks for that then try to find a happy medium with your store. If they go out of business then where will you get your air fills. Shops do not make money off of fills. I always believe in giving my shop the first crack at my business. I find that they are usually willing to wheel and deal with me and in the long run my gear has cost a lot less then on the internet. (However my shop believes in customer service and promoting local diving--some shops don't). Now if your shop is that bad, contact the fire dept. to see if they will do your fills. If so then let your shop know that you will no longer be using them.