Dive Shop Loyalty

[Scared Silly]

I have a good relationship with three of my local shops (i.e the principles know me). There is one other that I will not shop any more. I have most of my gear so anymore I stop in for parts for repairing regs and the occasional new toy. The closest is shop is kind of by the book but seem to have a loyal following. Another that is near by is fun. I can walk in there and give them crap and they just fling it back at me. I have worked for them here and there as a DM. Another shop where more recently I have bought a lot of gear from is a bit of a drive. But they treat me well and are more than happy to order parts for me at anytime. I also buy gear from three internet based shops that are also scubaboard supporters.

So what I am saying here. Go take the class from the other shop and see what they are all about you might find you have two good shops in the hood.

 

[Gil57usa]

I took my open water with one shop because it was nearest to my home and best suited my needs. For my advanced class I used a different shop that was a bit farther away, but again it was the one that best met my needs, scheduling, price, etc. In my capacity as a Public Safety Diver I continue to use both shops for equipment purchases and repair etc. Again, as they meet my current needs. In your case I would recommend that you assess both shops and see which one works best for you. There's no reason that you should feel obligated to use just one shop because you used them once. It's your money.

 

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

As and instructor and dive shop owner I have redesigned the way I schedule training. One thing I have noticed in the last 10 years about my customers is "They are always really freaking busy".

I decided 3 years ago to start offering daytime training as well as regular group training in the evenings. I was absolutely amazed how many customers can come in and take a 3 hour class in the middle of a Tuesday..and actually prefer it that way.

If my customers are going down the street to the other guy, it's not because of scheduling conflicts.

 

[psychocabbage]

hmmm.. Guess I am just anti social.. hahhah

I have 0 desire to be friendly with dive shop owners. What I am finding is that there are not many divers with my snese of humor or outlook on life.. Therefore, I dont play well with others.. haha

The dive shops I have seen, are typically full of people with set in stone opinions and quite frankly, I can search the net better than most and am sure I can read reviews on just about every product.. from those, I still walk away with my own ideas.. then when I see the items in person I can see why pepople said whatever.. I dont need to be buddy buddy with a LDS to do that.. I have 0 issue walking into a store and looking at items then walking out and buying online..
None.

To the OP.. You will hear both good and bad arguments to the PADI vs NAUI training.. its Pepsi and Coke.. Personally I go with NAUI.. Just have been on dives with a PADI people that leave me wondering how they even are still alive..

I say dont worry about any LDS relationshp, and worry about what YOU want out of diving.. For me, its a way to spend time goofing off underwater.. For the wife, she wants to go all the way to instructor level and teach the disabled to dive.. Thats fine too. For her.

I think I will also state that to me any LDS is a business and being "friends" with them doesnt really benefit you much considering they will be looking to keep selling you stuff.. Be it trips or gear or "training".. I am not typically friends with people that constantly want to sell me stuff. What is fun, is watch how your "buddies" talk about those that go in there and look around then leave because they obviously shop online..
HAHHAH

 

[RAWalker]

The point of patronizing a particular LDS is to keep the best LDS in town in business to serve you and other divers. Some areas have an active enough group of divers to support multiple shops even with online competition. If you aren't happy with the prices or service you are getting head to the next shop! If you have tried all the local shops then you know which ones offer the best deals on what items or services. If they aren't happy with you using the competition ask them to price match if they are unwilling ask them if they will be happy with some of your business or none of it? Having choices is a good position to be in and I'd prefer to have a relationship with multiple shops but that said in the end I deal with who presents me with the best deal overall.

 

[NadMat]

I say go with the LDS that suits your needs best, and if that is one lds now, and a different one at another time, then that should be fine. If that was a problem for a particular lds I was using, I would quit using them.

I guess I am lucky here in Austin in that we have many good dive shops to choose from, and I try to stop in to all of them on occasion, but have several at which I routinely spend my money.
My favorite is Macks bunch at Oak Hill Scuba, but they are opposite side of town from me and and not always convienient to get to for last minute before dive items. I also use Scubaland north to get my scubapro regs serviced since Mack at Oak Hill is not Scubapro dealer at this time and shop for other items there as well. Toms Dive and Swim also helps support my diving habits, bought my SeaQuest BC there, Oak Hill Scuba did not sell SQ at the time, although Mack is now a dealer. I also shop other items there when in area. Dive World on 620 usually fills my tanks and provides last minute before dive items because of their proximity to me and to lake.

All these shops are competitive with online prices, especially when you figure shipping costs, on both my SeaQuest Pro QD BC from Toms and my new Tusa Sapience DC from Oak Hill I got a better price at LDS than I was offered online even without figuring shipping costs.

 

[--tom--]

I think I will go back to the OP's original question. I do need to give a couple of disclaimers, 1. I am a PADI Divemaster. 2. I am very loyal to the shop I work out of. Okay, so here goes:

The reason I am loyal to the shop is because of exposure to the other choices. Do you really have a comparison? I think you ought to. Loyalty is earned; it is not an entitlement. I think the loyalty issue is premature. You may have made the right choice, maybe not....

Regarding the other shop & it being NAUI instead of PADI, so what? Admittedly, each certifying agencies "dovetail" courses into each other, so you will end up doing a little more studying to get up to speed on the academics. Damn, you'll just have to know more and be a little better at your skills. (I changed schools between my BS and my MBA specifically for this reason.) You may find that the skills/academics of one agency is a better fit for you. You may like one instructor better than the other (you can talk to the instructor a couple of weeks before the class starts, just to see if you like him/her).

I see a lot of compelling reasons to try the other shop, simply because in your first post, you didn't state any compelling reasons for you to stay with the original shop.

Just my opinion, this and $2 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

--tom--

 

[PhilEllis]

hmmm.. Guess I am just anti social.. hahhah

I have 0 desire to be friendly with dive shop owners. What I am finding is that there are not many divers with my snese of humor or outlook on life.. Therefore, I dont play well with others.. haha

The dive shops I have seen, are typically full of people with set in stone opinions and quite frankly, I can search the net better than most and am sure I can read reviews on just about every product.. from those, I still walk away with my own ideas.. then when I see the items in person I can see why pepople said whatever.. I dont need to be buddy buddy with a LDS to do that.. I have 0 issue walking into a store and looking at items then walking out and buying online..
None.

To the OP.. You will hear both good and bad arguments to the PADI vs NAUI training.. its Pepsi and Coke.. Personally I go with NAUI.. Just have been on dives with a PADI people that leave me wondering how they even are still alive..

I say dont worry about any LDS relationshp, and worry about what YOU want out of diving.. For me, its a way to spend time goofing off underwater.. For the wife, she wants to go all the way to instructor level and teach the disabled to dive.. Thats fine too. For her.

I think I will also state that to me any LDS is a business and being "friends" with them doesnt really benefit you much considering they will be looking to keep selling you stuff.. Be it trips or gear or "training".. I am not typically friends with people that constantly want to sell me stuff. What is fun, is watch how your "buddies" talk about those that go in there and look around then leave because they obviously shop online..
HAHHAH

It is obvious to all of us that YOU don't like your local dive shop.....or dive shops in general.

Phil Ellis

 

[rawls]

hmmm.. Guess I am just anti social.. hahhah

I have 0 desire to be friendly with dive shop owners. What I am finding is that there are not many divers with my snese of humor or outlook on life.. Therefore, I dont play well with others.. haha

The dive shops I have seen, are typically full of people with set in stone opinions and quite frankly, I can search the net better than most and am sure I can read reviews on just about every product.. from those, I still walk away with my own ideas.. then when I see the items in person I can see why pepople said whatever.. I dont need to be buddy buddy with a LDS to do that.. I have 0 issue walking into a store and looking at items then walking out and buying online..
None.

To the OP.. You will hear both good and bad arguments to the PADI vs NAUI training.. its Pepsi and Coke.. Personally I go with NAUI.. Just have been on dives with a PADI people that leave me wondering how they even are still alive..

I say dont worry about any LDS relationshp, and worry about what YOU want out of diving.. For me, its a way to spend time goofing off underwater.. For the wife, she wants to go all the way to instructor level and teach the disabled to dive.. Thats fine too. For her.

I think I will also state that to me any LDS is a business and being "friends" with them doesnt really benefit you much considering they will be looking to keep selling you stuff.. Be it trips or gear or "training".. I am not typically friends with people that constantly want to sell me stuff. What is fun, is watch how your "buddies" talk about those that go in there and look around then leave because they obviously shop online..
HAHHAH

 

[bobcatdiver]

I'm so tired of all the games the LDS's play with people. The last time I checked I was the customer and they should be working to make ME happy not us worrying about upsetting them. I've tried to work with several of the dive shops in my area when purchasing equipment and 99.9% have acted like they could care less. Just give us your money we don't care if it cost 100% more than what you can buy it for on the internet or NO we don't carry the brand of equipment you want our stuff is the best the rest is junk. I have seen them act half mad when we talk about where I got certified, well excuse me for not driving 2 hours each way to come to your shop because only you have the best instructors, if they really cared they would have come to my hometown and held the dive classes for myself and 8 other students like my instructor did, he made the effort for his students and for that reason I have stayed loyal to him. I'm now finishing up my Dive Master training all with the same instructor just because he made an effort to put his customers first not just training me so I would come into the LDS and spend several 1000's of dollars on equipment from their shop. Yes I'm sure my instructor has made money off of me over the past year (not much I think he would make more per hour if he could just learn to say "would you like fries with that order" ) he does it for the LOVE of diving and maybe enough cash to buy a new wetsuit ever once in awhile. The whole point being the dive shops work for me not the other way around.