Another LDS Experience Gone Sour

[redacted]

It was a stupid move. You tried stuff on, used their time and resources, then bought the same piece of gear off the internet because it saved you money.

You were wrong, and if I were the dive shop guy I would have done the same thing.

Sometimes it's hard to tell when you are kidding. That stupid DS guy probably ran off an order of magnitude more profit than he lost in the BC deal. That is just bad business.

There is a reason for the simplistic saying "The customer is always right." It keeps you from losing business by treating customers poorly.

Baiting customers into your business with free offers and then getting nasty when they don't spend enough money is just another form of bad business.

I have no problem with taking advantage of businesses that have demonstrated their willingness to take advantage of me if I let them.

Legally, no one was wrong. From a business standpoint, the LDS was wrong.

 

[jonnythan]

Sometimes it's hard to tell when you are kidding. That stupid DS guy probably ran off an order of magnitude more profit than he lost in the BC deal. That is just bad business.

There is a reason for the simplistic saying "The customer is always right." It keeps you from losing business by treating customers poorly.

Baiting customers into your business with free offers and then getting nasty when they don't spend enough money is just another form of bad business.

I have no problem with taking advantage of businesses that have demonstrated their willingness to take advantage of me if I let them.

Legally, no one was wrong. From a business standpoint, the LDS was wrong.

I never said that what the LDS did was right or smart.

It's not a zero sum game. Just because one person was wrong does not mean the other was right.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I'll have to chime in on this one. I shop at several local stores, and have good business relationships with all but one in my area. (And that guy has serious issues with many of our local divers.) I also buy from shops in Florida when I am down there on business. Furthermore, I pick up items from time to time on ebay and other online resources.

I visit dive shops often, and rarely leave without buying something. I try on gear, test new equipment, borrow DVDs, hang around the shops, drink beer with the staff and the end of the day, etc. None of these activities creates an obligation, either expressed or implied, that I will buy exclusively from any particular shop. Until I place an order for a piece of gear, I'm still out there in the marketplace, looking for information and a good deal.

Any sales professional knows that the deal isn't done until it's closed and the money and goods have changed hands. A good sales professional knows that it's not over then, as good customer support generates the kind of loyalty that the shop owner in the original post was trying to coerce out of our shopper.

I worked in sales for a large pharmaceutical research company for 4 years. During that time, I made many multimillion dollar sales. Did people take advantage of me from time to time? Of course. I can't tell you how many evenings I entertained potential clients with no tangible results, but I realized very early that you have to always act as a professional. As a result, I had over 85% of my business in my last year from repeat customers. My job became very easy. As for the folks who just wanted those free meals at fancy restaurants, well let's just say that on the third strike they were out. And during the second encounter, I always made it clear that we needed to do some actual business to keep our relationship fair. There's nothing wrong with asking for a sale, but you can't be coercive or rude. It sounds like our LDS owner (and some of our users) have a lot to learn.

The customer owes you nothing. Not now, and not after you give your pitch. It's your job to close the deal and keep the door open for continued business. Do it right, and you've built your market. People will naturally gravitate to your shop. Do it wrong, and you'll find the marketplace to be a very hostile place indeed.

-Grier

 

[sdstahl]

Matt,
Sounds like an experience I recently had at a jersey shop, The son was a most helpful and knowledgable saleperson whom I have done business before. My family wanted me to get a new wetsuit for fathers day which i did at my LDS. I bought a few other things with the bill right around $400. After I went home I relized I forgot to get more weights, so I went back this time i waited for almost 10 minutes for the female co-owner of the shop to help me. I explained that i wanted to buy some lead, she immediately became very condescending as to why i wanted more weight and why lead instead of buying a now soft weight belt. I told i already have lead always have just needed more, more talking down to me and said all her lead was for rentals or classes and could not spare any. Last time I will ever set foot in this shop, my wife and son are interested in diving now also they are 5 minutes down the road from me and would have been convenient. I will drive an hour if I need anything besides going here again. was the shop on route 206?

 

[DrSteve]

On a couple of occaisions I have had great response (in other areas admittedly) when receiving obnoxious service by writing to the General Manager in larger stores (the likes of JC Penny for instance) or to the Manager and also sending a copy to the shops *owner* for smaller shops. In both cases I will often cc the Better Business Bureau if it is appropriate. It's amazing what an owner will do to make things right! Of course if it is an owner manager they pay their own wages and can do what they want!

 

[sdstahl]

Owner manager in my case. Too bad they lost some serious business. Plus that of anybody that asks me for a recomendation.

 

[PhotoTJ]

The way to run a successful diveshop nowadays is starring them in the face, ...*snip!*...

Open a shop, and see how frustrated you get.

Granted, there are ways to run a shop successfuly, we're doing well, but it still sucks when someone comes rolling in bragging how much they saved online. Still, both parties could've handled this situation better, you're not gonna close every deal, that's business. But if they are in your store, you still have a shot at sales that day, and in the future.

And what is starring?

 

[sdstahl]

The internet has changed the way everybody does business. I work in the hotel industry and you don't think Hotels.com or any of the other sites haven't had any affect? How many people on here use a web based travel service instead of their local travel agent?
I believe Larry of ScubaToys had a quote about changing the way you do business to fit the times. I am a firm believer in supporting my local businesses, I use the local hardware store instead of Home Depot or Lowes when ever possible. However I I download music (and pay for it) instead of going to a music store am I wrong for doing that?

 

[DrSteve]

Someone just posted about getting air when everything goes online. Well *someone* will rise up to fill that niche, or people can buy large compressed air tanks from Air Products just like hospitals do, or we can add some money to the thousands we have already spent on equipment and get our own compressor.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I was just thinking about that, DrSteve. I wonder when some enterprising hardware company will make an affordable, reliable home compressor? (There may already be some out there, for all I know, just not marketed to the scuba market.)

Think I'll start a thread on the equipment forum to see if anybody knows about a good one.

-G