Sport Chalet....

Sport Chalet has 22 stores, each with its own dive shop. Sport Chalet offer all levels of class all the way up to instructor. They sale great dive gear for the recreational diver at a afforadable price. I hear many complaints about Sportchalet including customer service,air fills, and lack of knowledge of gear. They provide all the services you diver need to get to go diving.....

SO maybe they short your fill by 200psi..that happens,, get over it and go diving,learn how to breathe better.Dont blame every SportChalet because one person did not completley give you a full tank. You should be more happy that he did not overfill fill the scuba tank so it does not decrease the integrity of the tank. There is not one dive shop in california that has not made a mistake on a airfill before. Did you know the majority of tank explosions happen at the fill stations. Anyone that overfills a scuba tank to provide better customer service should not be in the dive industry, For one,,he is putting himself at risk as well as the shop and the customer. [B]When you ask for a overfill you are putting the employee at risk.[/B] Even though the vip and hydro are valid,, we have no idea what you did with the scuba tank, whether it fell off a truck or just fell over. I have worked with many dive companys around the world currently in Hawaii with Captain Bruces Dive Adventures. My point is, Sport Chalet is not a bad place...dont judge all by the fault of one..

SocalAj
IdcStaffInstructor

SoCalAJ:

Did you know the majority of tank explosions happen at the fill stations.

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Ya. All... oh, what, 30 of them?
That's right. There have been only about 30 tank explosions... since 1954. Half of them were the old aluminum alloy causing SLC. The other half were mostly the old steel tanks blowing back in the 60s and 70s before annual inspections were recommended.

And it's not JUST one employee that's the problem. I've done a LOT of business with Sport Chalet, at shops from Redlands to Sylmar.
It's the rare SC employee that is actually good enough to work at a mom and pop dive shop. Most are barely good enough to work at 7-11. I was lucky enough to get good instructors... Fred and Dan from Rancho were top-notch.

I worked at a dive shop (not SC) for about seven years and the number one complaint I heard about other shops was short fills. They are not exclusive to Sport Chalet, but something that seems insignicant as *200psi to some will lead others to seek their business elsewhere. If a customer was willing to wait for a slow fill with a topoff or two to get the rated pressure or higher on LP steel tanks, I was more than willing to give it to them. Most of the business we had was repeat customers. As long as I worked there, we never lost a customer due to short fills. Not only does this little courtesy bring them back, but word-of-mouth brings in more. For shops unwilling to fill tanks properly, word-of-mouth will keep many customers away. You can tell them horror stories about tank explosions and DOT requirments all you want, but if they can get better fills down the street, guess where they will spend their money.

But I will judge the local ones by me and say that theyhave NO clue what they are talking about. They don't fill Nitrox, they don't fill Trimix, they don't fill Argon, I can't run in there real quick and get my reg tuned, I can go on and on but I'll just stop with those.

Also, I have a good friend of mine who is a PADI instructor (and by PADI standards, a very good one) who went from a local shop in my area and taught a couple of classes for Sport Chalet. Well it didn't take him long to figure out they didn't know what they were doing, and after they way they treated him I'll never foot in another Sport Chalet.

If you are in love with Sport Chalet than fine, spend all you time and money there. However, don't jump on here and act like Sport Chalet is God's gift to divers because it is just not so.

For me, I want a shop that knows gear and knows diving and is not afraid to cut me a deal if I find something a bit cheaper somewhere else. I want a dive shop that knows how to handle my life support equipment since I'm putting my neck on the line. If I want a soccer ball or a jock-strap, I may reconsider Sport Chalet...but if I want scuba gear I'll go to a DIVE STORE.

Could it be that some Sport Chalet's are pretty good, and maybe some aren't?

It's like anything else. Some people will have good experiences, and some bad. You don't hear about all the happy customers SC has, just the one or two that had a bad one. Ever try to return anything to a Sport Chalet? They will take pretty much ANYTHING back, no matter how long ago it was sold, or why you are returning. (Your light flooded when you opened it underwater? Have a new one! Your dive bag wore out after 4 years of beach diving? Have a new one! So, you dragged your wetsuit behind a car for 10 miles? Have a new one!)

SC may not be "God's gift to divers", but they do give good value for your buck. They don't fill Nitrox, they don't fill Trimix, they don't fill Argon? Want a hazard a guess as to the percentage of divers that dive all three of those compared to say, air? No, they don't cater to the tech diver. They are aimed purely at the recreational diver. For the VAST majority of divers out there, they will do fine.

PhotoTJ:

They don't fill Nitrox, they don't fill Trimix, they don't fill Argon? Want a hazard a guess as to the percentage of divers that dive all three of those compared to say, air? No, they don't cater to the tech diver. They are aimed purely at the recreational diver. For the VAST majority of divers out there, they will do fine.

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No, but I'd say that at least 25% prefer nitrox, and would buy it if it were available. It'd be closer to 75% of SC customers if SC would get off it's duff and start pushing the class! Equipment specialist? Bahh... IMHO, a diver doesn't belong in the water if they don't have THAT information down... shouldn't need another class to teach them how to thread their cam buckle and attach their reg. Why not offer and promote classes that actually enhance the dive?

However... Even SC doesn't trust their employees to handle nitrox. If they ever begin pumping nitrox again (they did when they were a NAUI shop), the fill station will be in the Montclair warehouse/repair facility. You won't be able to have them filled while you wait, or even drop them off in the morning and pick them up after work. Depending on the time of their truck, it could be between 24 and 72 hours turnaround.
Of course, there will be no in-store top offs if you happen to get a short fill, and if the mix doesn't analyze out to what you requested, it's another 24-72 hours.

The way things are going, it's only a matter of time before visuals are done in Montclair.

It's business, I worked there for 2 years, I know several excellent divers that did, but they don't want to pay a good dive shop employee what he's/she's worth. As a result, you get seriously underqualified bike/skate/snowborders working dive.

They are catering to students/beginners, there is no pay off for catering to true advanced divers.

A lot of companys seem to be following that business model. Consumers say they want quality, but it's just lip service, they want low prices. Wal-Mart is successful for a reason!

There is a saying, "We can be good, fast, and cheap. Pick two."

I'll bet 90% pick fast and cheap.

RichLockyer:

It's the rare SC employee that is actually good enough to work at a mom and pop dive shop. Most are barely good enough to work at 7-11.

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Rick, I happen to resent that. I work at Sport Chalet. I have a college degree and work as a nurse. I choose to work at SC for fun (as my ‘chosen career’ is often stressful, and while satisfying, it is not usually fun). While I readily admit that I don’t know as much as some, I am passionate about diving and enjoy working with and helping other divers. To make a comment such as yours is ignorant and in poor taste, I think you owe past and current SC staff an apology.

Ann Marie, I don't know you and therefore I wouldn't dare say my experience at SC reflects all employees as a whole. But, I did have a poor experience with the staff in the Diving dept. at my local SC, therefore, I have not and will not go back. I was a brand new certified diver and still knew that the information they were feeding me was bogus (I learned all I need to know on Scubaboard!) That was when I finally got the guy to stop chatting with his friend behind the counter. My LDS gets my business even though it's twice as far.