Have you had a GREAT EXPERIENCE with your LDS?

[irishsquid]

Leisure Time Dive and Choo Choo Dive in Chattanooga. Being landlocked in the foothills of the Smokies doesn't make for a lot of competition, so prices obviously aren't as competitive as areas near the oceans or Great Lakes areas. What impresses me about Gary McNabb (LTD), and Steve Newman (CCD) is; I can go to either shop with my gear which was purchased at both shops and online and not get grief about my gear, where I bought it, or any bad mouthing of the other shops. One is PADI and the other is SSI. Both of these owners care more about me getting what works for me, and are always ready with help and advice.

 

[Nemrod]

A retail dive store is a retail store. I don't ask myself if I had a great experience in Kinkos or Best Buy? I just go in, get what I need and leave. What is up with all the love and hate and love an hate on retail dive equipment stores?

It is a store, you go in, you buy something, you go out with it in a plastic bag.

I don't get it. I am not asking them to marry me or anything.

N

 

[nidankempo]

New England Dive in Wallingford CT (New England Wallingford Connecticut CT Scuba Diving Center Dive Classes Lessons) They have treated me like gold since the first day I walked in, always helpful and willing to teach. They also offer a high quality weekend class for OW.

 

[icedrac]

My LDS The Dive Shack(bullhead city, AZ) is a great shop, i love the atmosphere and the people. Jerry Portwood is one of the owners, he has gone out of his way to help me and other customers there. The prices in this store are good and the quality of the work here is awesome. I believe the instructors here are SSI, PADI, and more.

 

[RJP]

A retail dive store is a retail store. I don't ask myself if I had a great experience in Kinkos or Best Buy? I just go in, get what I need and leave. What is up with all the love and hate and love an hate on retail dive equipment stores?

It is a store, you go in, you buy something, you go out with it in a plastic bag.

I don't get it. I am not asking them to marry me or anything.

N

Maybe you need to go to a different shop!

I walked into my LDS (www.DiveSeekers.com) about a year ago with a fistfull of dollars, intent on buying a new 40lb Halcyon Evolve wing for a three-week trip to Truk lagoon. I already had a 60lb Evolve for diving steel doubles here in the Northeast, but didn't want something that would be overkill for double AL80's in Truk, where I planned on doing approx sixty significant, tight penetration dives.

One of the owners, Wayne - who had been on the Truk Odyssey a few months earlier - said "Yeah, that's the way to go. The 60 Evolve will be too much with AL80's and flop all around," as we're walking over to the Halcyon display. "See...this is my Evolve 40, that I dove in Truk. Much more streamlined."

Me: "Cool I'll take one."
He: "Take this one..." handing me his
Me: "Hmm, hadn't thought of buying a used one."
He" "Good, I wasn't thinking of selling you one."
Me: "Huh?"
He: "Just borrow mine."

So, I walked out with my money still in my pocket and the gear that I needed. That's the kind of sales/service I get from my LDS. In fact I also ended up leaving that day with some gear for one of the crew members on the Truk Odyssey. After his trip, Wayne had sent some stuff to this guy, though he had recommended he include a crotch strap, etc. The crew guy emailed Wayne to say "You were right, I should have gone the other way. Oh well, will add it someday." This guy had no-idea I was gonna be onboard a few weeks later; Wayne simply gave me the new bits and pieces, showed me what needed to be done to swap the parts, and sent me on a 9,000mi service call.

So not only did he NOT sell me a $450 piece of gear I walked in for with cash in hand, he also gave me some free gear to bring to a customer he'd never see again.

:cool2:

PS - the guy on the Truk Odyssey almost died when I boarded and said to him "Nice to meet you...Wayne sent me to install this crotch strap for you."

:shocked2:

 

[TSandM]

Nemrod, I crow about extraordinary customer service from ANY kind of business. But I think the reason dive shop service makes such an impact on people is that we often get to KNOW our dive shop folks -- they're generally small businesses with a small staff, and since we are there often for fills, we know them as people. My grocery store, on the other hand, has so many employees I don't recognize any of them.

But, for example, I patronize the small hardware store in town, rather than Home Depot, because ANY time I have gone in there unsure of what I needed to do the job I had in mind, their employees have known a) what would work best and b) whether they had it and c) if so, where. I love that about them.

But nobody asked me in a thread anywhere to sing the praises of my hardware store, whereas somebody gave me an opportunity to say a public thank you to Matt!

 

[BabyDuck]

no, i've never had more than lukewarm service from my lds.

however, dive outpost, cave excursions east, and amigo's deserve loud shout-outs. i love them all. too bad they're 9 hours away.

 

[tomboyy]

A retail dive store is a retail store. I don't ask myself if I had a great experience in Kinkos or Best Buy? I just go in, get what I need and leave. What is up with all the love and hate and love an hate on retail dive equipment stores?

It is a store, you go in, you buy something, you go out with it in a plastic bag.

I don't get it. I am not asking them to marry me or anything.

N

Tell us how you really feel

 

[ScubaFeenD]

A retail dive store is a retail store. I don't ask myself if I had a great experience in Kinkos or Best Buy? I just go in, get what I need and leave. What is up with all the love and hate and love an hate on retail dive equipment stores?

It is a store, you go in, you buy something, you go out with it in a plastic bag.

I don't get it. I am not asking them to marry me or anything.

N

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.

 

[diver 86]

MY LDS is not my closest, but at 25 miles it's my best. I loved my OW class. Bought the gear I was comfortable with, not pushed to buy most expensive. When I went to pick it up at lunch one day, owner says come back and try it in the pool anytime before ong open water. And buy the way, bring your daughter and we'll give her a discover scuba at the same time.

When I had trouble with new computer they just asked what I'd like to have done- they'd make it happen. Great folks. Diver's Depot - Nacogdoches, TX in Nacogdoches, Tx.