Leisure Pro vs. Other Internet Retailers

[reefmontalvo]

I know I'm late to this whole thread. I recently purchased some equipment from LP. I did my research first and went to all my local dive shops. Some of the shops were very helpful and told me the pros and cons of buying online, one shop owner grew devils horns after I mentioned online shopping. LOL But in the end your the consumer. You spend your hard earned cash to whom ever you wish. I can live with the fact of buying a BC online. I'm an experienced aircraft mechanic and know what to look for if I have a hint of component failure or any other problems. In most cases a shop does not sell BC's or regulators on a constant basis. And I'm sure if you bought something online who is to say when you bring it in to get serviced there not going to ask were you purchased you item? So you tell them it was a gift from a family member. Then it's on them to sell you a warranty or just service the equipment and you go on your merry way.

 

[mictrik]

Well I just made my first ever purchase with Leisurepro. I purchased a Suunto SK7 compass and asked them prior if it was set for our region. The response was "of course it is"! Well upon closer examination I now notice that it is not set for the North American region (region 1). This was purchased at their shop, it was very close to closing time so to open everything and check it would be uncomfortable and a bit rude. After getting it home I noticed and then compared it to another sk7. Sure enough it is for another region. At the time I was also looking for an Atomic frameless mask. I had tried one on in the store and it fit very well; the problem was it looked used and tattered so I choose not to buy it. I will likely buy that from a dive shop but I will expect them to provide some bit of a discount; this should prove fun. Bottom line is that I do not think that Leisurepro plays ethically. They will get away with whatever they can. I bet many people will never notice that their sk7 is not balanced for our region. I had to learn and I am sure that others will too. I shall see now if LP will "make good" on this compass and how. Do they have an absolutely new region 1 version in stock? How will they know if they do as I don’t think it is stated on the compass or box? Will they try to give me a hassle when I wish to return it? Try to sell me something else? (That will annoy me.)

Upon visiting LP I noticed that they were in the same building as Adorama camera a shop that has existed with the likes of B&H photo for a long time and is also known to sell grey market items. I am sure they are all affiliated in some way. B&H for the last 10 years at least states a grey market price and a USA Warranty price for most of their goods. VAT taxes in other countries can be waived by bringing product into the USA as "used" and this can result in a 17.5% reduction in cost from England for example as well as avoid DUTY levies from US Customs. Much of this merchandise may be sold cheaper via manufacturer distribution channels in those nations in order to partially compensate for higher VAT taxes. EDITED BY MANIA Finally, some parts of the world may require less safety testing and have an overall lower cost of doing business. Developing and emerging market nations are examples of these and they could be great sources for low cost product.

Remember high end brands like Aqualung and Scubapro do not Authorize LP to retail their products. Their distribution model is dive shop centric expecting many authorized shops to engage in lower volume high margin sales of their merchandise. Markup on these product can be up to 300% so if LP can get a distributor in another country to sell some product, they can buy at a steep discount and then offer for resale in the states at a good discount while still deriving reasonable margin.
What would bother me is if LP sells merchandise like a compass that they know is engineered for sale in another region but still pedals it to consumers in the USA figuring that only a small percentage will realize there is an issue. This is at best disingenuous and worst diabolical…

 

[ronbeau]

Well I just made my first ever purchase with LeisurePro. I purchased a Suunto SK7 compass and asked them prior if it was set for our region. The response was "of course it is"! Well upon closer examination I now notice that it is not set for the North American region (region 1). This was purchased at their shop, it was very close to closing time so to open everything and check it would be uncomfortable and a bit rude. After getting it home I noticed and then compared it to another SK7. Sure enough it is for another region. At the time I was also looking for an Atomic frame-less mask. I had tried one on in the store and it fit very well; the problem was it looked used and tattered so I choose not to buy it. I will likely buy that from a dive shop but I will expect them to provide some bit of a discount; this should prove fun. Bottom line is that I do not think that LeisurePro plays ethically. They will get away with whatever they can. I bet many people will never notice that their SK7 is not balanced for our region. I had to learn and I am sure that others will too. I shall see now if LP will "make good" on this compass and how. Do they have an absolutely new region 1 version in stock? How will they know if they do as I don’t think it is stated on the compass or box? Will they try to give me a hassle when I wish to return it? Try to sell me something else? (That will annoy me.)

Upon visiting LP I noticed that they were in the same building as Adorama camera a shop that has existed with the likes of B&H photo for a long time and is also known to sell grey market items. I am sure they are all affiliated in some way. B&H for the last 10 years at least states a grey market price and a USA Warranty price for most of their goods.


Remember high end brands like Aqualung and ScubaPro do not Authorize LP to retail their products. Their distribution model is dive shop centric expecting many authorized shops to engage in lower volume high margin sales of their merchandise. Markup on these product can be up to 300% so if LP can get a distributor in another country to sell some product, they can buy at a steep discount and then offer for resale in the states at a good discount while still deriving reasonable margin.
What would bother me is if LP sells merchandise like a compass that they know is engineered for sale in another region but still pedals it to consumers in the USA figuring that only a small percentage will realize there is an issue. This is at best disingenuous and worst diabolical…

I believe the region is marked right on the box. I bought the same compass from them and it was definitely set for North America.

It was wrong for the sales person to just "assume" it was definitely set for the North America region. I would not assume that they intentionally sold you the wrong compass. You have also acknowledged that you failed to check it before leaving the store so you also must accept some of the blame in this case. They have customers all around the world so it makes sense that they have a limited number of compasses that are set for outside North America.

Call them on the phone today (they are open on Sunday) and explain to them that you specifically asked for a North American compass and the sales guy told you it was for North America and you believed him.

I am sure they will exchange it with no questions asked.

I have never been intentionally misled by them and they have never refused to take back unused merchandise that I purchased from them.

 

[mictrik]

I will definately call them and let them know, I will certainly assume it was a mistake. I just wonder a bit because if a compass is bought in another region then it should be for that region and not the usa. I dont see LP listed as an authorized Suunto dealer so I wonder where they sourced the compass. Looking at the box I see a world map with regions on it and can make out a "qty" (I think) over region 3. If this indicates the region then that would place it in the Brazil to central African zone... We shall see, other than this issue the place is very efficient much like B&H.

 

[cmburch]

Well I just made my first ever purchase with Leisurepro. I purchased a Suunto SK7 compass and asked them prior if it was set for our region. The response was "of course it is"! Well upon closer examination I now notice that it is not set for the North American region (region 1). This was purchased at their shop, it was very close to closing time so to open everything and check it would be uncomfortable and a bit rude. After getting it home I noticed and then compared it to another sk7. Sure enough it is for another region. At the time I was also looking for an Atomic frameless mask. I had tried one on in the store and it fit very well; the problem was it looked used and tattered so I choose not to buy it. I will likely buy that from a dive shop but I will expect them to provide some bit of a discount; this should prove fun. Bottom line is that I do not think that Leisurepro plays ethically. They will get away with whatever they can. I bet many people will never notice that their sk7 is not balanced for our region. I had to learn and I am sure that others will too. I shall see now if LP will "make good" on this compass and how. Do they have an absolutely new region 1 version in stock? How will they know if they do as I don’t think it is stated on the compass or box? Will they try to give me a hassle when I wish to return it? Try to sell me something else? (That will annoy me.)

Upon visiting LP I noticed that they were in the same building as Adorama camera a shop that has existed with the likes of B&H photo for a long time and is also known to sell grey market items. I am sure they are all affiliated in some way. B&H for the last 10 years at least states a grey market price and a USA Warranty price for most of their goods. VAT taxes in other countries can be waived by bringing product into the USA as "used" and this can result in a 17.5% reduction in cost from England for example as well as avoid DUTY levies from US Customs. Much of this merchandise may be sold cheaper via manufacturer distribution channels in those nations in order to partially compensate for higher VAT taxes. Finally, some parts of the world may require less safety testing and have an overall lower cost of doing business. Developing and emerging market nations are examples of these and they could be great sources for low cost product.

Remember high end brands like Aqualung and Scubapro do not Authorize LP to retail their products. Their distribution model is dive shop centric expecting many authorized shops to engage in lower volume high margin sales of their merchandise. Markup on these product can be up to 300% so if LP can get a distributor in another country to sell some product, they can buy at a steep discount and then offer for resale in the states at a good discount while still deriving reasonable margin.
What would bother me is if LP sells merchandise like a compass that they know is engineered for sale in another region but still pedals it to consumers in the USA figuring that only a small percentage will realize there is an issue. This is at best disingenuous and worst diabolical…

I hope you get the correct compass. They should have checked it out for you. At least now you have experience to check items before leaving a store and not be worried about being uncomfortable or rude??? You are the customer and it is your money; it would be rude of them not to help and get the right part.

I also have seen the demo masks is shops look somewhat handled probably because people try them on for fit. They again should have only given out new masks not the demo units.

I have been doing business with LP and Adorama since they were a telephone/catalog business before internet sales and have always received new never used/handled products.

Would it not be better to deal directly with LP?

It looks like you actually had an agenda here not related to SCUBA dive equipment.

And it seems like it goes beyond LP as a store and business, but also into classifying groups of people which may be considered racist.

"disingenuous ... diabolical" How do these words get tossed in on the discussion of the sale of a compass and checking out a mask?

 

[HowardE]

Upon visiting LP I noticed that they were in the same building as Adorama camera a shop that has existed with the likes of B&H photo for a long time and is also known to sell grey market items. I am sure they are all affiliated in some way.

I can assure you that there is no affiliation between B&H and Adorama. Just because they're all Jewish doesn't make them affiliated in business.

That's like saying "Every Pizza place in NY is affiliated because they're all Italian. Every bagel place in Brooklyn is affiliated" - Sounds pretty inane doesn't it?

 

[tridacna]

I will definately call them and let them know, I will certainly assume it was a mistake. I just wonder a bit because if a compass is bought in another region then it should be for that region and not the usa. I dont see LP listed as an authorized Suunto dealer so I wonder where they sourced the compass. Looking at the box I see a world map with regions on it and can make out a "qty" (I think) over region 3. If this indicates the region then that would place it in the Brazil to central African zone... We shall see, other than this issue the place is very efficient much like B&H.

Refer to post number nine in this thread.

I'm glad that we've finally established the 'real' reason for this thread.



(What "mictrickster" really needs is not SCUBA gear, but to go back to school to help him improve his atrocious English and spelling).

I wish that a mod would kill this thread. It really has no purpose but to engender hate speech at this point.

 

[DennisS]

Will they try to give me a hassle when I wish to return it? Try to sell me something else? (That will annoy me.)

Upon visiting LP I noticed that they were in the same building as Adorama camera a shop that has existed with the likes of B&H photo for a long time and is also known to sell grey market items. I am sure they are all affiliated in some way. B&H for the last 10 years at least states a grey market price and a USA Warranty price for most of their goods. VAT taxes in other countries can be waived by bringing product into the USA as "used" and this can result in a 17.5% reduction in cost from England for example as well as avoid DUTY levies from US Customs. Much of this merchandise may be sold cheaper via manufacturer distribution channels in those nations in order to partially compensate for higher VAT taxes. Finally, some parts of the world may require less safety testing and have an overall lower cost of doing business. Developing and emerging market nations are examples of these and they could be great sources for low cost product.

What would bother me is if LP sells merchandise like a compass that they know is engineered for sale in another region but still pedals it to consumers in the USA figuring that only a small percentage will realize there is an issue. This is at best disingenuous and worst diabolical…

My guess is that they will cheerfully exchange it for the right compass, a new one, in the box. If the person you are dealing with is a good salesman, he will probably try to sell you something.

 

[Standingbear56]

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Funny thing, I wanted a wrist computer holder and the slim-line one came with a depth guage.

Only went to 6 feet, sent it back, they sent new one instantly (have not tried it yet).

This is the first time I have had any scuba Item not work ever from any where in my whole life of diving.

As I have read of divers having problems with gear and take it to get serviced, still problems when they get it back, Human error is the only way I see it.



Now for LP buying online gear, They are awesome for they are so busy they always want to make sure you get your stuff, so they more than likely hurry to package and send.

I have had better regs in less regs packaging, I have been doing the monkey diving and orderd three backplates, two stuck together now I have four, this has been going on for years, just cause I state this now dose not mean that brett will closely look at every thing mailed out,
Its a mistake weather you win or loose its just a mistake, I spend thousand's a year at LP and have the best luck and they are always helpful on the phone, on the info I need to know on a product, of course I always ask for brett on questions that are my wacked out way's of trying to improve or tweak my gear.

Yet I still support all dive shops in the world when traveling or at home.



Happy Diving