Have you had a GREAT EXPERIENCE with your LDS?

[Reallydg]

Scuba Tank in Valparaiso, Indiana. Always treated me well. Have become good friends. Our families get together. It's all good.

 

[Nemrod]

When I go to most stores I am solely looking for the product I want. I am kind of a techie so there is nothing that Best Buy can offer me that I don't already know ahead of time. Additionally, when I go grocery shopping I may need some direction (which is something I swear I inherited from my father), but i go for th food, because that is the product. Dive stores are different. Equipment is only half the product, and if you think that is all there is to it then you are missing out.

IMHO SERVICE is actually the other 50% of the product. The chatting about different configurations, the community that can be built around a good LDS, the BSing about stuff most other people dont care to talk about or even understand, and the learning about different experiences and equipment are all crucial to a great LDS. More than just a place to get physical goods, it should be a place to chill--a "club" for divers. Maybe you have amazing stores around you, and so you have never noticed the lack of service that can plague a shop. When I go to shops around me talk is sparse, and service is OK. It makes it hard to build a community of divers, and it makes shopping there less fun. I notice because I dont have it around me save a couple shops with select folks.

I am really happy to hear that there are great shops out there doing amazing things with what they have to offer. They build the community that grows the sport in a positive fashion, and help expand interest in long term diving more than any PADI hyper-advertisement can.

You must be very lucky though, to never have noticed a deficit.

A retail store is not a club.

To bad there is not a structure of non profit diving clubs in the US and other countries, instead retail stores have attempted to co-opt this need and given all the threads like this and others, not with much success.

You don't have a LDS, unless you own it. You are a retail customer from whom they desire to make a profit. It is kind of like borrowing money within the family. Bad idea, just give it to the family member, that way there is no hard feelings, does the LDS give you equipment for free?

Like flies to honey or is it bees?

N

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I love my dive shop. They always remember that the reason why people got into diving is to have fun. When I walk into the place it's like stopping by a friend's house ... and the friends are really interesting people.

I just got an e-mail from them I'd like to share ... because it made me chuckle and it gives you some idea of what kind of people I like dealing with ...

We had planned to have the newsletter out by today, but we have been having far too much fun to get any real work done. So... Here is our schedule for the rest of the week.

Today: We will be closing early to celebrate St Patrick's day. When a guy does something great like chasing all the snakes off an entire island, you just have to celebrate. We'll be down at the Spar in Ruston. We're not completely sure when we'll close the doors, so you better call before coming in.

Tomorrow: We'll be opening late (Noon), because we are celebrating St Patrick's day tonight.

Friday: We will be closing early (4pm) in order to make the last ferry to Friday Harbor. (For those of you going with us, the last ferry leaves Anacortes at 8:55. If you miss it the next one is the next day.)

Saturday: We're closed for diving in Friday Harbor.

Monday: Business as usual (or as close as we ever get)

These guys have their priorities straight ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[CalgaryDF]

Ditto for Tacoma Scuba. The guys there are so friendly and make it so much more than a shop.

One of the other local shops returned my regulators before they were done servicing them right before I was going diving. Wally at Tacoma Scuba looked at my regs, and lent me a rental set free of charge until I could get the situation sorted out.

These guys go above and beyond what I would expect and really know how to have a good time.

I love my dive shop. They always remember that the reason why people got into diving is to have fun. When I walk into the place it's like stopping by a friend's house ... and the friends are really interesting people.

I just got an e-mail from them I'd like to share ... because it made me chuckle and it gives you some idea of what kind of people I like dealing with ...



These guys have their priorities straight ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[metaldector]

Dayo Scuba, next door to Doc Net's Scubaboard shop. Great people, products, service, and friendly to my family too.

 

[njedrn]

A retail store is not a club.

To bad there is not a structure of non profit diving clubs in the US and other countries, instead retail stores have attempted to co-opt this need and given all the threads like this and others, not with much success.

You don't have a LDS, unless you own it. You are a retail customer from whom they desire to make a profit. It is kind of like borrowing money within the family. Bad idea, just give it to the family member, that way there is no hard feelings, does the LDS give you equipment for free?

Like flies to honey or is it bees?

N

That highlights the difference almost exactly. When there are 1000+ dive shops in the country, with more and more internet shops overnight, where do you go to get your gear? Do you find the cheapest available? Or instead, do you listen for advice, make sure that your gear will have everything you need, make sure it has a warranty... etc...

The long and short of it is, how do most people judge a dive shop? The key rests in 2 words - customer service. Personally my LSD is in Ft Lauderdale, Fl. Approximately 1400 miles from my house. They have earned my money (that I willingly pay them so they can provide for their families) because they treat me well, keep me informed, and help me without hesitance. There are plenty of dive shops between here and there, but for me it's all about the service, not the product.

This holds true for most industry btw...

 

[njedrn]

FYI - Scuba School & Dive Center located by the beach in Sunny South East Florida:blessing:

 

[Sas]

To bad there is not a structure of non profit diving clubs in the US and other countries, instead retail stores have attempted to co-opt this need and given all the threads like this and others, not with much success.

In Melbourne, there are a number of independent clubs, one of which I am apart of Bass Strait Aquatic Club (BSAC). I MUCH prefer how independent clubs work than shop based clubs - free training, discounted boat dives, private boat owners so more flexible diving, equipment advice that is not motivated by profit, people loaning each other gear, mentorship and in general a very cruisy atmosphere.

That being said there are some LDSs that I think highly of. The best one in Melbourne imho is Scuba Doctor The Scuba Doctor - Home - Scuba Service and Repair, Dive Shop, Courses and Trips. Very honest advice, no pressure to buy things (I've even been told to buy elsewhere when they think the gear would be more suitable), well priced servicing, very good website so I can check out everything in advance (most shops here you have to go into the store to see all the prices and they may not even be labelled), he supports our club as well and we often meet here (as do the independent photography club) and just hang out between dives. Always had good experiences there.

There are other good shops in Victoria too but I think Scuba Doctor is the best.

 

[tight rope walker]

I should be ashamed of myself for not mentioning Divers Cove/ Seawolf 2 in Essex Connecticut. I have been with that shop since the early ninety's, and since that time, Ed, Chris, and Ed jr have made me feel like one of the family. Once again, most of my drysuit repairs are done while I watch and wait. The more serious repairs have a very quick turn around time. And I NEVER have to second guess their work.

I always leave their shop a better diver than when I walked in.

 

[Diver0001]

It's gratifying to see this thread lasting longer than the "I hate my LDS thread".

My LDS has done a lot for me.

I initially joined the LDS (SubLub PADI duikschool Rotterdam Amstelveen Amsterdam: Start) because of the personality of the owner. He was laid back. He was a free diver and an ex- cave diver and a PADI instructor with considerable experience but with *none* of the "Indiana Jones" BS, which was of primary importance to me.

I worked with them from about 2000. First as a victim for the rescue course, where I got to know a few of their instructors. One of those instuctors was "Hans Waasdorp", a DIR(ish) diver with a sht load of dives in the 100-odd metre range.

Another was Sandra. An expericed PADI instructor with really good theory classes. Yet another was Petra.... Average in the class room but incredibly "tight" in the water and a diver whose skills were completely beyond improvement....

And then there was Marc. Marc was the hippy, happy, instructor whose perma-smile was a front for his incredibly tight teaching style. His students were teh model we all aspired to emulate.... teh quiet, confident, competent ones who came out the OW course looking like they had been doing it forever.

This LDS offered me the opportunity to become a DM. They trained me. They trained me to help out in these tight OW courses and I grew to love them.

After years of being a DM, they literally *paid* for my IDC/IE. That's a big investment but they were willing to shell out the thousands of dollars to have me become an instructor because they believed in me and they believed in what I could bring to the table.

I've invested a lot in this LDS but they've invested a lot in me too! and I believe that we have a clear win/win as a result.

R..