Is ScubaToys a cult?

[MEL-DC Diver]

As ScubaToys is often venerated in these threads, which of the below definitions apply and why? I am trying to be serious. Well, half-serious.
Enjoy!


CULT Spelled Pronunciation[kuhlt]
–noun
1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

[creggur]

Interesting theory.... My wife did wake me up the other night, I was sitting at the computer with a $5000.00 order in process on ST...I had the Amex in hand ready to complete the order when she stopped me............HHMMMMM

Sleep buying, some sort of ST Jedi mind trick..... As scary as Jim Jones, but a lot more fun than drinkin' cyanide kool-aid..

[Bigg_Budd]

ScubaToys is a cult brand, much like Harley Davidson and Starbuck's. Make no bones about it, these boys are doing it right. I'm in the branding business and you cannot buy the type of devotion and loyalty their customers exhibit.

They've already gone beyond being a mere scuba shop and have partnered with a number of distributors to create their co-branded line of equipment, Brigade. It's only a matter of time before they spin off and create an entire line of ScubaToys equipment.

Mark my words; ScubaToys will be the center of the scuba universe in under a decade.

[Black-Gorrilla]

hmm... a cult? not so much... it's just a place with great service, good morals, and great gear at great prices

[medic001918]

And a great forum loaded with useful information.

Shane

[WaterRat]

Scubatoys revolves around the customer. That's the big difference. By doing this effectively, it has the illusion that we revolve around ST.

Ron

[reservecops]

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but it's worth repeating.

I do more (deeper?) due diligence than 95% of the regular population. I mean, I research the HELL out of something before I make a decision, whether it's a $100 widget or $2K worth of equipment.

I spent a LOT of time researching dive shops before I purchased my gear. Local, Internet, combination, whatever. It boiled down to list of important "must haves" for me:

• Customer Service - first and foremost, this was more important than price, selection, warranty, or anything.
• Price - I can't like, price is important. Then again, price is always important when you're going to drop some serious dollars.
• Reputation - I *always* rely on other people's experiences with a business. Not just reviews in SCUBA magazines, but REAL people's opinions.
• Brand/Selection/Warranty - Very important as well. I didn't just want inexpensive gear, but I didn't necessarily have to pay elevendy-billion dollars for it, either. Regardless of what I spent, I knew it had to be from an AUTHORIZED DEALER who had the manufacturer standing behind the gear, in ADDITION to the dive shop.

I have found that the BEST way to determine the ABSOLUTE TRUTH about the above four items is to get it right from the horse's mouth.

No, not from some diving magazine reviews.
No, not from reviews on shopping.com or pricegrabber.com.
No, not from simply visiting reseller's websites, looking for "cool graphics" or self-proclamations about how great they are or how good their warranty is.

Honestly? I hit the discussion forums.

No where else can you find YEARS and YEARS of unbiased, unsolicited, brutally honest opinions from people who have BOUGHT products, USED those products like you and me, had them SERVICED, and (perhaps) had to deal with returns/exchanges/refunds or some other form of 'customer service oriented' issue.

And based on everything that I read, nobody, I mean NOBODY, came within a million miles of SCUBATOYS.COM when it came to customer service, price, reputation, brand, selection, and warranty. NOBODY!

Larry and Joe must have developed the most KILLER business plan when the decided to open the shop and their online (Internet) presence because, as far as I am concerned, there is no equal.

[creggur]

I'm in the top 5% with you, and when it comes to something as important as life support systems for my wife and me, well I almost drove myself crazy researching this stuff.. I came to the same conclusion as you for the dive shop and the gear that I bought.... I bought Zeagle BC's and Regs from Scubatoys...

I just couldn't find a better combination of quality, customer service or value from the equipment manufacturer or the shop that I bought it from!!!

My sig really say's it all!!

[Centerius]

I have to agree. I research just about anything I do (I guess it's ingrained in me, since I'm in the sciences and do research for a living).

In all the threads I've seen on scubaboard, I have not found one bad review of Scubatoys -- if they've messed up somehow, they've gone above and beyond to resolve the situation and make sure you come out as a pleased customer. Besides my mask/snorkle/fins/dive skin (when I started my dive class, and didn't know better), I've recently just bought every single piece of my dive gear from Scubatoys, and I was not disappointed one bit (I'll be posting a review after my dives in Key Largo).

[ertechsg]

Ok isn't Joe and Larry's heads already big enough? No really it is about the way we are treated and the service they provide for our favorite sport. They do treat us like they want to be treated by corp. america. Yet another pat on the back guys.