Kicked out of Nitrox Class!!

[scuberd]

so you buy your gear online, so what?
She should have been glad to see your check in her hand. A couple psi short of a full tank.

 

[jonnythan]

I presently work at a store (EMS) that has been in business for a while selling gear.

Pretty much everything we sell can be bought more cheaply at other stores or online for significant discounts.

However, we [as a staff] are extremely knowledgable about the products we sell and the sports and activities we deal with. We love talking to people about kayaking, hiking, biking, climbing, you name it. We love to share our knowledge and honestly make people happy. We don't hesitate to *send* our customers to our competitors if they either offer a much better deal or will simply provide a product we feel the customer needs but we don't sell. Just today I sent one customer to NRS and another to Dick's because we didn't have quite what they were looking for. When they come back next week, they'll remember that, and they'll also remember that we stand by 100% everything we sell, and that they'll get nothing but honesty from us.

People see real value in this sort of service, knowledge, and guarantee. Even die hard internet shoppers and bargain hunters (like myself) buy things from EMS because there is a genuine added value to the products - especially with the 100% ucnonditional warranty on everything we've ever sold. I only started working there a month ago, but I've been a customer (as well as a customer of leisurepro, ebay, campmor, scubastore, scubatoys) for a long time.

If the guys at EMS acted like the current LDS crop, we would have gone out of business a long time ago. We make the customer come back and stave off internet stores by providing an honest to goodness added value that you can't get at those stores. We don't push anyone into gear they won't be happy with. We use and buy this stuff and only sell and recommend what we want.

I have an REI (one of our big competitors) credit card, and I have always gotten laughs and friendly jeers when I use it at the store. The EMS guys realize that you're not going to buy all, or even most, of your gear at our store, and if you don't buy something, it's because *we* failed, not you. We failed to provide you with good enough service for you to spend the extra couple $$.

EMS, as a business, recognizes that you need to lure customers into the store and sell them things they want and will be happy with while providing added value to products.

I've never seen an LDS that does this. Every LDS I've been in and heard about scolds or looks down on you for buying online, plays favorites with "loyal" customers, and sells a severely limited range of gear that they try to pigeonhole you into. If you fail to buy a piece of gear at their store, it's *your* failure, not theirs.

It's absurd, and all of these worthless used car salesmen are going to end up out of business.

Then maybe they'll have to get jobs that play by the rules of capitalism instead of relying on keeping their market cornered by terrifying customers into buying exclusively at their store.

 

[leadweight]

For starters the dive shop owner is wrong. However, I imagine that lots of students come into that shop who bought their gear somewhere else and Judy-somebody does not ask them where they got their gear, even if it is a line they sell.

So what happened here, I suspect, is not completely told or tellable in text. Body language, tone of voice and even prior interactions could have had something to do with the result.

If the computers came from Leisurepro or someplace like that the student should have had the sense to avoid the subject knowing it is a sore spot for dive shops. The "you dont want to know" remark really put the issue right in Judy's face. He might as well have said "Leisurepro you crook." Its a real smart ass remark to give to someone that has any sort of authority. In a class the instructor has that authority. Possibly things escalated after that. Judy should have kept her temper, but could not.

The student should have done what he needed to do to get off the computer topic and if asked where he bought them the answer should have been another dive shop.

Sometimes it is necessary to put yourself in someone else's shoes before shooting one's mouth off.

 

[dugandiving]

This is the sort of rubbish that encourages people to buy equipment over the internet. Usually cheaper, and you don't have to put up with garbage from the dive shop.

 

[ElectricZombie]

Beleive it or not, there is a guy that does the exact same thing where I live. He will also kick you out of class if you buy anything from his local competition. I hate that guy. I've trained people that he has throw out of class so, I know this to be a fact.

LDSs are stupid. They could have had the course fees for a Nitrox class (high profit margins for the store, very little work involved) and a decent amount of future business...they threw it away because they can't control themselves when someone brings up the Internet. The reason people buy off the Internet is because of the very events you described...then they wonder why they have no business...they don't deserve to be in business with that attitude...

The Internet is the way to go...except for training and fills. (Unless you own a compressor and mixing gear!)

Down with the LDS!

 

[wreckchick]

Easy there tigers.....

Although I whole-heartedly disagree with the policy of throwing a student out of class for buying dive gear online, or from another LDS, this example does not mean that we should stop shopping at our local shops.

I love my LDS. The people are great, the perks of being a student/customer are great, and I have never felt any pressure except that which is self-imposed to buy from them. I've spent plenty of time and money in the store and when I need new stuff I weigh the benefit of buying it there vs. buying elsewhere.

I was just there today and one of the staff members lent me a reg to dive with this weekend. I know it's reliable and will work fine. I told her that I wasn't happy with my reg and she not only lent me hers, but put a different mouthpiece on it for me because I didn't like the one she had.

That's service. That's why I keep going back. I will buy any and all smallish gear from them for double what I might get it for online because of that level of service and to maintain a good relationship.

Did I mention that I told them that I bought a new reg set from Leisure Pro? Yes, I did. Was the offer for the loaner reg after that? Yes, it was.

Rachel

 

[MikeFerrara]

dugandiving once bubbled...
This is the sort of rubbish that encourages people to buy equipment over the internet. Usually cheaper, and you don't have to put up with garbage from the dive shop.

No. Low prices encourage people to buy on the net.

Look, you people have a right to buy where you want and a shop has the right to teach who they want. They gave the money back didn't they?

It seems clear they didn't want the business. So go where your wanted. You don't have to put up with anything.

 

[MikeFerrara]

ElectricZombie once bubbled...
Beleive it or not, there is a guy that does the exact same thing where I live. He will also kick you out of class if you buy anything from his local competition. I hate that guy. I've trained people that he has throw out of class so, I know this to be a fact.

LDSs are stupid. They could have had the course fees for a Nitrox class (high profit margins for the store, very little work involved) and a decent amount of future business...they threw it away because they can't control themselves when someone brings up the Internet. The reason people buy off the Internet is because of the very events you described...then they wonder why they have no business...they don't deserve to be in business with that attitude...

The Internet is the way to go...except for training and fills. (Unless you own a compressor and mixing gear!)

Down with the LDS!

You don't know how right you are. People come in for training (only if its cheap and fast though) and fills. The two biggest loss leaders. The way the industry is structured you can't get more for the classes so you can't teach them right. If it isn't going to sell gear of the student isn't a freind or something...why teach it. I agree...Down with the LDS. Close them all.

 

[metridium]

MikeFerrara wrote...
No. Low prices encourage people to buy on the net.

Not just low prices, Mike. Some do it just to avoid dealing with certain LDSs they detest or distrust.

 

[ElectricZombie]

I've taught a Basic class with one person in it. They did not buy 1 piece of gear from the shop where I teach. After I was paid my fee, the shop was in the red by quite a bit. If trends like this continue, the LDSs of the world WILL close down.

People generally distrust the average LDS. If you've been diving long enough, you probably have a couple of stories on how the LDS screwed you over royally...myself included.

Low prices are NOT the only factor. I will gladly pay more to buy locally from a good LDS. But, if the LDS is worthless, you don't have much choice except the Internet.