[
oly5050user;6697828]Its actually 2 o rings..think retail,not wholesale..the lds is there as a business and is allowed to make a profit,right??
A profit????? Why should anyone running a scuba store have any reason to expect to make a profit. Didn't they get into this business because they love diving and helping others get and stay involved?
As for the labor, $5. is about right, as of course that person is being paid to be in the store and available to perform their job during an 8 hour day. I am sure that at your job you do not constantly work 8 hours straight at a task but expect to be paid for an 8 hour day. You also forget there are other costs involved,such as rent,heat.electric,insurance etc..All these costs are involved in the day to day operation of any facility.
Do you mean that someone that has the privledge of working in a dive shop should expect to be paid? Darn, I thought that by gracing them with my presence would be "pay" enough for today. The next thing you know, they will expect to eat meals on a regular schedule.
Sorry, I cannot see where it is considered a "rip off" once knowing all the costs involved.
Perhaps renting a tank for $10. a day (only $3.more than just getting one filled) is a better deal than owning one with the yearly and once every 5 year costs involved.
This is a simple one. The tank is already there. No one else is using it. It is for, you did then inspections yourself. You had to use the compressor to fill some other tanks anyway so it wasn't any real expense or trouble to fill this tank. Just let me borrow it. I swear I'll bring it back in a week or two.
No problem.If customers choose to go online that is the way of things. Gear usually ends up costing about the same over time. Inexpensive maybe online at time of purchase can cost more at service time, due to perhaps no warranty for parts or shipping cost to and from repair shop. Or user discovers it is not the right type of gear for themselves at their level of experience and buys something else..Most LDS look at other LDs as their competition, and they are wrong..The competition is the stores that sell bicycles/tennis/skates/paintball..any activity that competes for the same leisure dollar that the LDS is after.
Hey, I read a number of scuba forums and they all said you sold crap for gear so you would be pleased if I came to your store and used you as a fitting room. I need you to order a 4X 5mil wet suit so I can see if that will fit. I found some great deals online but I don't know for sure if I'm a 3X or 4X and I don't want to make them think I don't know what I want. And could you get it in all the colors? I want to see which matches my eyes best.
The online stores are there, and there is a place for them, but they are NOT the real competitors for the many LDs that are doing their job correctly of providing true customer service
Seriously now, I will partially agree with you on this on Oly, I've been involved in the scuba business for about the last 14 years. I've seen some good dive shops that really tried to be honest and give the best customer service that they could go under. I've also seen shops that have developed their cult following keep right on trucking because their "followers" have drank the kool-aid and for the most part have never looked at another dive shop.
Right now, I have 5 dive shops within 15 miles of my house. I don't fully trust any of them and cannot consider any of them as a LDS. I do associate with a couple of them just to get air but I'd buy myself a compressor if I could justify the cost. I know for a fact that 3 will rip you off so fast you wouldn't have time to realize you got shafted until they smiled offered you a cigarette.
Over the years, I have tried to support my LDS and almost always gave them a chance to match any price I found on anything I was looking for. Most of the time, they got close enough, other times not. No hard feelings because they knew where my loyalty truly was. Now days without a truly honest dive shop around I'll just have to take my chances.
