How much did you pay?
Question Should new BCD from LDS never seen water?
- Thread starter ChristopherB
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L13
Contributor
Why buy from an LDS? If one of the advantages you see is being able to sometimes demo gear, the you have to be reasonable about the distribution of costs associated with demos.
The LDS can either bump the cost of gear (making it harder to compete with online) to cover the cost of demo only gear, or take the car dealership model and sell demoed gear as new. Or they could just eat the cost, making it harder to stay in business. You could say this is "not your problem", but it is if you want a decent LDS, for the advantages it provides.
The amount of wear in the pictures is about what I would expect from 1 or 2 demo dives. That makes it the equivalent of buying a "new" car with a few hundred demo miles on it.
Personally, I wouldn't expect a $400 discount for that. I actually bought the same BC a few years ago. It was out of the bag new when I demo it. I waited a week to think about it before I actually bough. When I finally bought one, I paid new for a BC that had signs of being demoed. But, I was probably one of the demos, and there wasn't enough wear for there to have been more than 1 other demo at the most (probably I was the only one). They provided free pool time for the demo, and I considered that a fair trade for the slightly not new condition of my new BC.
But it's up to you how much of the cost of demo's you want to shift onto your LDS. In any case, the LDS should be upfront about the history of the "new" BC much as a car dealership discloses the odometer on the car before you buy. I would not trust a store that denied the fact that it had been demoed.
The LDS can either bump the cost of gear (making it harder to compete with online) to cover the cost of demo only gear, or take the car dealership model and sell demoed gear as new. Or they could just eat the cost, making it harder to stay in business. You could say this is "not your problem", but it is if you want a decent LDS, for the advantages it provides.
The amount of wear in the pictures is about what I would expect from 1 or 2 demo dives. That makes it the equivalent of buying a "new" car with a few hundred demo miles on it.
Personally, I wouldn't expect a $400 discount for that. I actually bought the same BC a few years ago. It was out of the bag new when I demo it. I waited a week to think about it before I actually bough. When I finally bought one, I paid new for a BC that had signs of being demoed. But, I was probably one of the demos, and there wasn't enough wear for there to have been more than 1 other demo at the most (probably I was the only one). They provided free pool time for the demo, and I considered that a fair trade for the slightly not new condition of my new BC.
But it's up to you how much of the cost of demo's you want to shift onto your LDS. In any case, the LDS should be upfront about the history of the "new" BC much as a car dealership discloses the odometer on the car before you buy. I would not trust a store that denied the fact that it had been demoed.
I was thinking palm bay, I always get the two mixed up.
I'm not familiar with Palm Bay but there does seem to be (or at least was) a Dixie Divers up there. My guess is that the OP may be referring to the one in Deerfield as there is a larger population down in Broward, but it could be the one in Palm Bay. The one in Palm Bay doesn't seem at a glance to be affiliated with the one in Deerfield. That one (the one in Deerfield Beach), as far as I know, is a reputable shop, just not one I've done business with. I don't really know any locals that use them but I'm sure they have their local fans. I've just always used Force-E and DGX.
Regardless, hopefully the OP will get the situation sorted out today. Be sure to let us know how it turns out!
The one in palm bay is not a good one. They are the ones I had dealings with.
Force e is good from my dealings
Force e is good from my dealings
OP
ChristopherB
Registered
We'll here's an update.
I went to the store today to exchange for the same. At first I felt a little nervous how this would play out as the questioning from the sales guy seemed like I was trying to be blamed, how this isn't possible, etc. Examples of how past customers have done "switcheroos" were brought into conversation, which did not sit well with me.
A woman took over the interaction and quickly gave me options of either retuning, exchanging for new, or a discount. Overall I'm satisfied with the options given and decided to get an exchange. They admitted that an employee took it on some dives and it got mixed in with the new gear.
I went to the store today to exchange for the same. At first I felt a little nervous how this would play out as the questioning from the sales guy seemed like I was trying to be blamed, how this isn't possible, etc. Examples of how past customers have done "switcheroos" were brought into conversation, which did not sit well with me.
A woman took over the interaction and quickly gave me options of either retuning, exchanging for new, or a discount. Overall I'm satisfied with the options given and decided to get an exchange. They admitted that an employee took it on some dives and it got mixed in with the new gear.
Glad it worked out. That is an interily apprioriate response to the situation from the shop. Accidents happen, and the response from the shop is what matters here. Enjoy the BCD and happy diving!
Glad you got everything resolved to your satisfaction. Whether she was telling the truth or not, it does sound plausible. In the future when buying new equipment, there should always still be manufacturer packaging or tags of some sort still on or around the equipment that clearly would not still be there if it had been dived. Something to pay attention to. Brand new gear is usually pretty easy to tell that it has not been dived. The absence of that should always be a red flag before you even leave the store.
So inquiring minds want to know. Is this the Dixie Divers in Deerfield Beach, Palm Bay or some other location? I'm assuming Deerfield since your location is South FL.
I'd love to know how it got there in the first place! I get that an employee took it on a dive or two and returned it to the wrong location in the store and it got mixed up as new, but why the heck put a quarter in the pocket??!! Was it a shore dive and they wanted change for a pay phone??!! Wait, those don't even exist anymore.
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