Dive concepts Bali

[rexman24]

General input on these shops?

I am encountering a bizarre situation with thier amed/tulamben shop.
They include rental gear in thier price. I am avid diver with my own gear. I asked of course for some relief considering I won't be using thier stuff. They offer a discount to dive pros, but to the avid diver, me, it's screw you. So they take care of the backpacker and the pro, but leave the avid diver in the weeds.
Even more oddly, thier shop in Nusa Lembongan, is offering me the srd 10% off with own gear. Wtf?????? Same ownership.
I am attempting to find out who owns the company to discuss this odd way of doing business with him, if anyone knows him?

Thanks for your help!

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

Hi, are you talking about the Dive Concepts office in Amed specifically? Because the main shop in Tulamben is where the management would be based at, as far as I know, the Amed office is more of a booking outlet than a dive centre, or at least that's how it was pre-COVID

Discounts for having full dive gear is a bit of a grey area after COVID?...I don't know. I was too ashamed to ask initially when travel returned to Indonesia last year, because of the sustained financial hardships dive centres endured. But I've been back several times already, and I got equipment and pro discounts in December when I asked that time around.

I've dived a few times at Tulamben with Dive Concepts and it was good, and the prices were cheap. Maybe the equipment discount depends on how many dives/days you will do, because a single dive is only 350,000rp.

But I prefer to hire my own tanks and solo dive at Tulamben, the last few times I was there.

 

[rexman24]

Hi, are you talking about the Dive Concepts office in Amed specifically? Because the main shop in Tulamben is where the management would be based at, as far as I know, the Amed office is more of a booking outlet than a dive centre, or at least that's how it was pre-COVID

Discounts for having full dive gear is a bit of a grey area after COVID?...I don't know. I was too ashamed to ask initially when travel returned to Indonesia last year, because of the sustained financial hardships dive centres endured. But I've been back several times already, and I got equipment and pro discounts in December when I asked that time around.

I've dived a few times at Tulamben with Dive Concepts and it was good, and the prices were cheap. Maybe the equipment discount depends on how many dives/days you will do, because a single dive is only 350,000rp.

But I prefer to hire my own tanks and solo dive at Tulamben, the last few times I was there.

Yes I know the answers are coming from tulamben. If they can offer it to pros why not to a avid diver? They give up 20$ in exchange for 10 less dives on thier gear. Yes I am doing at least ten. Why risk 2-300 $ worth of business over what is a wash for them anyway with the savings on thier gear. Why is a shop in the same ownership offering the norm on dives in Nusa Lembongan? I just don't get it.
Yes covid has been hard on everyone, me too
Really just poor business practice and bad policy that I have not encountered anywhere that factors the cost of rental gear into thier prices.

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

Yes I know the answers are coming from tulamben. If they can offer it to pros why not to a avid diver? They give up 20$ in exchange for 10 less dives on thier gear. Yes I am doing at least ten. Why risk 2-300 $ worth of business over what is a wash for them anyway with the savings on thier gear. Why is a shop in the same ownership offering the norm on dives in Nusa Lembongan? I just don't get it.
Yes covid has been hard on everyone, me too
Really just poor business practice and bad policy that I have not encountered anywhere that factors the cost of rental gear into thier prices.

That does sound strange with the pro & non-pro difference in gear discounts. There has to be a specific reason, or it's a miscommunication on their end, but I'm sure if you get in touch with management directly that you'd get an answer.

The overwhelming consensus with people in Bali and Indonesia is that they firmly want to put anything and everything to do with COVID behind them. Even I got COVID 2-3 times in Bali during last year, when I told friends that I contracted COVID from them, they were in firm denial and always said it was the "rain & wind" that made them sick, lol . But atm in post-COVID times, I'm trying to find a happy medium in paying for things aside from diving, as I was living there beforehand and in general was paying lokal rates for most things.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We should not underestimate the effect lockdown had on businesses and their staff in Asian countries. I stayed in a well known resort last year and the staff said that, despite being paid for five days per month, many did not have enough money to buy food. And they were the lucky ones getting any income at all.

There are a lot of dive shops in Lembongan, so it may be commercially necessary for the shops there to offer a discount. It’s alot more common on mainland Bali to not get a discount for having your own gear. The prices are so reasonable and the service so good that quibbling about this is just not worth worrying about.

 

[rexman24]

We should not underestimate the effect lockdown had on businesses and their staff in Asian countries. I stayed in a well known resort last year and the staff said that, despite being paid for five days per month, many did not have enough money to buy food. And they were the lucky ones getting any income at all.

There are a lot of dive shops in Lembongan, so it may be commercially necessary for the shops there to offer a discount. It’s alot more common on mainland Bali to not get a discount for having your own gear. The prices are so reasonable and the service so good that quibbling about this is just not worth worrying about.

I am 4 to 5 emails into this with them already, they claim it is coming from the general manager. That's why I'm trying to find the owner. I will dive with someone else there if they don't make this right, plenty of choices. It will be thier loss and make little difference to me. Right is right. And this ain't it.

 

[rexman24]

We should not underestimate the effect lockdown had on businesses and their staff in Asian countries. I stayed in a well known resort last year and the staff said that, despite being paid for five days per month, many did not have enough money to buy food. And they were the lucky ones getting any income at all.

There are a lot of dive shops in Lembongan, so it may be commercially necessary for the shops there to offer a discount. It’s alot more common on mainland Bali to not get a discount for having your own gear. The prices are so reasonable and the service so good that quibbling about this is just not worth worrying about.

There are more dive shops in amed/ tumbalen and I am well on my way to using a different one. I will not accept being treated unfairly.....

 

[rexman24]

There are more dive shops in amed/ tumbalen and I am well on my way to using a different one. I will not accept being treated unfairly.....

Covid has been hard on everyone, not just shops in Asia, me included.

 

[Rock Hopper]

Use a different dive shop?

Some one I dived with that may be aligned to your values (supported local community big time during Covid) - Adventure Divers Bali

Or people on here with shops that you might contact.

 

[rexman24]

Yes I have a lot of options, just trying to get them to wake up to the way they are screwing the serious diver.