Honesty from a LDS -- too much to ask?

[cdiver2]

Hi Mike you are right but I think as a good buriness practice one would point out the difference between A and B ie a has double stiching on the seams, thicker blader or better warenty or again it just sounds like soure grapes. The coustermer may still go with brand B as that is all they can afford but if you have shown them the light they will probably come back to you in the future.
All the best David

 

[5615mike]

the_kuang once bubbled...
Maybe I'm setting my hopes too high . . . but I'm looking forward to the day when I go into a LDS that doesn't tell me the stuff he carries is the best and all other brands are crap. Let me explain:

I'm shopping for a BCD and my LDS told me Seaquest is the best . . . I borrowed a friends Scubapro Glide Plus and my LDS bashed Scubapro. One month later when I returned to the LDS, they had added Scubapro BCD's to their inventory

Anyway, I think the instructors at the store are great, but I feel like I can't trust them on gear recommendations anymore.

So don't trust them. The whole idea behind capitolism is that we have the right to make a choice! If you are spending YOUR hard earned money and don't trust what the SALESMEN tell you, then don't buy from them. It only feeds this ugly monster. I won't say that all DS are this way but the vast majority of them are. They have young, inexperienced, minimum wage staff that will say what they have been told to say.

Do your homework. The internet has a wealth of knowledge as well as many who will gladly provide you with their opinion. But take that at face value, we all think that the gear we bought at the time was the best deal at the time.

just my .02 worth

 

[subdude]

when someone walked in the door and asked the owner if he carried the "Air 2." The shop is not a Scubapro dealer. He said "yes, Air 2 stands for .... Air TUSA!"

subdude

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I guess I'm just lucky. We've got shops in our area that actually cooperate ... if someone wants a particular brand that isn't carried at one shop, they send him to the shop that carries it.

Now, mind you, not all the LDS in this area are like that. But the shop I DM for has done it on many an occasion. And I was initially sent to this shop by another LDS when I was looking to purchase a drysuit, and was interested in checking out a particular brand and model. The shops I'm talking about have some things in common. First, they're small, independent shops. Next, they feel that by referring people, they're not losing business so much as demonstrating that good customer service is more important than the sale of a particular piece of gear. It's amazing how often someone will go purchase that gear, then come back and say Thank You, and continue to patronize your store.

By contrast, there used to be another shop just up the street who liked to badmouth other people's products ... but he went out of business.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[raviepoo]

I was considering buying a smaller size of a harness I already owned because it was becoming painfully evident that the LDS staffer who had sold the thing to me sold me something that was just too damn big. One of the guys on staff at Leisurepro suggested I take my existing harness, cut it, and sew it.

!!!

Score =

LDS staffer 0
Leisurepro 0

There are honest people and dishonest people in all businesses. I do business with a local dive shop that I trust, and avoid other local dive shops that I believe to be in it for the money alone. You kind of have to read people to figure it out.

MikeFerrara once bubbled...

They don't have any opinions because ther're not divers.

 

[ElectricZombie]

Some LDS are dishonest...some just don't know any better.

Most of them typically recommend whatever they can make the most money out of. The LDS pulled this move on me when I started diving, and I wound up with mostly crap gear.

When buying any new piece of gear, I research the product as much as possible and talk to real divers using the gear. If you do this, you can usually avoid all the tricks the LDS plays.