LDS/Dive Clubs?

[metridium]

Originally posted by Jeblis
Probably they are cold because they know there is a 99% chance that you'll buy your equipment, fills etc. from the shop you took the course at.

An attitude like that quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Neither my girlfriend nor I purchased our gear from our OW certification shops (note the plural). Only one shop was visibly disappointed to find out we were already OW certified, but it was also the shop that was remarkably pricier for the same gear than any of the other shops we surveyed.

 

[ckharlan66]

Dawn,

Great to see another Kentucky diver on the board. Tom Vyles referred to Texas Swamp Diving Team. Several member on the board and I are trying to start a simular group hear in Kentucky. We post our local trips in the group trips section of the board. Keep a look out.

I don't know what part of KY you live in but we dive in LaGrange near louisville pretty often and occationally we head to IL to Mermit Springs or to IN to Blue Springs. We would love to have you dive with us.

I will add you to my list of people to notify when we get another trip up.

Hope Florida was fun. I leave Sunday for Ft. Lauderdale. I wish I was going to have time to dive with some folks from the board while I am down there but it is a business trip so any diving will be on short notice.

Chad

 

[Dawn]

Hi Chad,
Thanks for the note. Florida Keys weather was tough on us the first week but by Sunday the seas calmed down and we were able to dive the Eagle thanks to Lady Cyana Divers. I loved it! Reached 111! It was sooooo cool to feel sooooo small next to that ship! I'm hooked on wrecks. Anyway, we live in Northern Kentucky and we dive LaGrange and Blue Springs also. Please let me know when you plan some trips. I am anxious to take my daughter to Gilboa this summer. She is recently certified but she was able to get 9 dives in while in Florida and the Eagle (w/guide).
Keep in touch,
Dawn

 

[ckharlan66]

Dawn,

Glad your trip went well. I will keep you posted on our trips but also keep an eye on the group trips section because we post alot of our trips there.

Dive safe.

Chad

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Originally posted by scubagatorgal
Dive shop owners will give you the cold shoulder if you take their class and shop down the street or on the internet!

You ain't kidding! When my daughter and I were looking to take lessons, we did a lot of research on the web, read a few books, and generally poked around at some of the big box stores in the area. We ended up buying our lesson equipment from a few different places, including the internet.

When I selected a shop to take lessons from (based on location and class availabilty and schedule), I went on my own to sign us up and to pay. Just as I finished the paperwork, I was asked when my daughter would be coming in to be fitted for her equipment. When I replied that we already had our equipment, the air suddenly got very cold in the store. The manager literally grabbed the forms from the counter and told me we could NOT join the class if we weren't buying equipment from them. After a moment of shocked silence on my part I asked her if she was kidding. No, she was very serious, they only make money on equipment and their lessons were a loss leader. I left the store.

I thought it was rather short sighted on their part - who knows where I would have bought my future equipment. And as an aside, I glad I was forced to look elsewhere. I found another store not much farther that not only owns it's own boat (OW dives were included in the price, not an add on) and are much friendlier, but the original shop where I signed up recently lost a student on their first OW dive!

 

[CohoJoe]

My wife and I have been diving for a couple years now. Our dive shop experience started earlier when we were shopping for snorkeling gear.

Just as products vary, so do the shop owners/salesmen. The shop we did our open water training with was mainly based on our schedules. (We have 4 dive shops that are about the same distance to choose from.) We did the open water while on vacation with a comppany suggested by the instructor of the class.

After that, we new we were hooked and started shopping. Looking for two full sets of gear we thought that a shop would give a guy a break on price. The shop we trained with was the tightest, as in no break at all. We shopped around and found someone that would "work" with us. And still does.

We normally use this shop (like them very much), but still shop around. We found another shop that always makes us feel welcome. Now I feel, because of his service, I want to buy from his store too.

Long story short: The outsider feeling does last at some shops. At others, it's just a matter of becoming a familiar face.

 

[art.chick]

Like I said, I never had to suffer this game-playing since I learned at the YMCA. After 3 years, I just joined a club. It is not totally unaffiliated with shops because it is a special-interest club that requires sponsorship, but it is not a shop-club. It is sad that the way prices are structured can create incentives to treat anyone who buys anywhere else like a total traitor. The system could use some re-structuring (like most institutionalized things), and it most likely won't originate at small, independently owned shops.