Internet vs. LDS--A conversation I had this morning

[komi hunter]

I can understand that I was refering to the people who by everything offline and then only use the dive shop for airfills and classes. those are the people that I don't get the do that then gripe when the dive shop is not there. I have bought a couple things off line but 99 % of my gear I bought at the LDS.

Hey guys...don't get me wrong here--I've purchased EVERY SINGLE PIECE of my gear from a dive shop, in person, with my hard earned money. When it comes to dive gear, I don't believe that cheaper is better and I will ALWAYS pay for the value added service of advice and personal attention. My point was that I in fact HAD purchased my dive gear from a shop, I didn't go back to the original shop to get some issues that I needed corrected because that shop is 250 miles from my home...I called a LOCAL OKLAHOMA shop to help me out with the issues that I had. They were going to deny me service, or charge me exponentially MORE for a service because they jumped to the conclusion that I had purchased my gear from the internet. I was actively searching for a local dive shop to do my business with because, when I moved here from Texas, I didn't have a local dive shop...and unfortunately because of the way I was treated, I still don't...and haven't been diving since my trip to CSSP over a month ago because I don't feel that I will be treated fairly or honestly by the dive shops that are closest to me. Cutting of my nose to spite my face? Possibly...but I'll be dam*** if I'm going to spend my money at a business that thinks it's their business in the first place where I purchased the equipment that I'm going to PAY them to service. I'll be more than happy to save that money to spend on trips to South Florida, Texas and Mexico to dive ...

Angie

 

[frankc420]

Call back, and have the same conversation again, but this time when they ask where you bought it, tell them a LDS that doesn't sell online, and see what their reaction is. It's possible, unlikely, but possible, that it's the policy. It's possible it was a misunderstanding on your part!? Again, unlikely, but, possible!

My LDS is the leader of the Anti-Online Mob. If you mention the internet, you see insta-redface and badmouthing! It's actually quite funny... Mention Scubatoys in their store, and he'll tell you every reason under the sun why they will get all of their reseller licenses pulled.. What a shame!

Although, I don't buy from my LDS anymore since I'm more educated on pricing etc. My LDS, charges FULL retail for every item in their store, sometimes more! Yes, I know it's a retail store, but com'on, with the internet, there has to be SOME price drops!

IMO, the internet is going to put all of the anti-internet shops out of business, and you'll see fill stations popping up everywhere! I think the dive shops should get their butts into gear and put up an OScommerce site and start populating it! =)

 

[DavidG]

I'm with you. Most of the time I try to deal with my LDS. I have several that I consider Local. At the closest one, prices are at or above MSRP and I RARELY deal with them - only when it's absolutely necessary. The others will match most web prices if you bring in a print of their advertisement/price. Yet others will match or "deal" if I pay cash (not even going to guess what that's about...)

For me, I'm glad they do match, but even if they match, here in my state, sales tax is 9.6% so I still find that the web is attractive. They need to make a profit and I don't want to see them go out of business so I still buy some equipment local.

I use to think ...buy local so that you get valuable equipment advice specific to my dive area. Then I found out that concept was a joke. I've found that almost every shop pushes items they have the best margin on or stuff they bought and cant get moved.

Air is the least of my worries. If push comes to shove, I'll buy my own compressor. I dive NITROX and the idea of mixing my own air gets more and more attractive anyway. And if the dive shop in my area were to go out of business, I know quite a few divers that already have well maintained compressors and would be more than happy to re-coup some of the costs. I think they need to be careful with the "no fills" argument.

Sorry, just my observation and opinion.

 

[DiveSite]

Nothing like beating an almost 2 year old dead horse.