Anyone hear of getting kicked out of BOW?

[midwayman]

The only reason I could see a shop kicking someone out for having "online gear" is if that particular manufacturer does not allow online sales. I know my shop has kicked out one person for having online gear. Upon checking the serial number of the gear with the manufacturer, it was determined that the gear was bogus and the instructor kicked the student out of class. The student was told exactly why they were being kicked out. Perhaps you friend is in a similar situation.

I can understand not allowing someone to use a fake reg or BCD. What led you to going to all the trouble of checking serial numbers? Do you routinely run serial number checks on all outside gear? As far as OW classes go, this would seem to be a non-issue though. I doubt you're going to see much in the way of faked fins. (or them to be a danger enough to worry about)

 

[cyklon_300]

that is doing well enough to turn business away because a customer bought gear somewhere else certainly needs no sympathy.

The only numbers that a shop needs to verify as legitimate are those on my credit card.

 

[markfm]

They do check my reg and BC for their current inspection before I'm allowed to use the pool. I really don't have any alternative in this area unless I want to drive 300 miles to the nearest lake. They have us over a barrel here; if we want to practice in their pool, we have to pay. And the club memebership is $80 per year.

Ouchie! The LDS where I am has their own small pool for training. No fees, pretty much use it any time. A no-fees local scuba club, too.
(I'm a frequent LDS customer, I believe there may be some kind of fee for random walk-ins wanting pool time, but they also do things like come real close to anyone else's price. Based on some of the tales I see, it sounds like I'm really fortunate to simply have a good shop nearby.)

 

[Dan Gibson]

I saw this a couple of years ago. This kid was doing nothing but complaining all class and towards the end of the first night, despite repeated warnings, the instructor had had enough and told the little jerk to get out of his pool, NOW!

The instructor apologized later to all the DMs present for his unprofessional behavior. I assume he did the same later to the kid because the kid came back the next week.

Personally, the kid deserved it and probably learned his annoying behavior from his parents who likely had ADD or whatever politically correct name they are using these days for rude behavior.

Anyone hear of someone getting kicked out of Basic Open Water after only 90min in the pool?

 

[waynne fowler]

If an LDS currently marking up 50% on their gear would drop their markup down to about 25% I can only imagine what that would do to their sales in the local market.

First they would have to hire employees from the salvation army lines and still only be able to pay them beer money. They couldn't pay a decent technician nor could they afford some of the other things we like in an LSD... Stock on hand, fill stations, pools etc...
If a shop can't pull 50 - 60% they will either be limited in what they can provide or out of business. You don't work for free why should they or there employee's whom you depend on for the equipment & training that your life depends on.. Most of the internet those boneheads don't dive and couldn't help you if they wanted... though they can sound good at times. When our kids or grandkids want to learn to dive I wonder if they could learn that over the internet.
Keep the money in your local area, there are things FAR more important then how much you spend.
How much do you think that soda pop or that mocha has been marked up..

 

[redacted]

.. Most of the internet those boneheads don't dive and couldn't help you if they wanted... ..

Why do you feel compelled to make such outrageous statements to make your case. It makes your entire case doubtful.

The problem is not a 100% or 200% markup. It is poor service, unprofessional behavior and business tactics, and lies and deceptions including the lies about the internet sellers who are setting new price standards and forcing others to compete.

 

[fishb0y]

Wow, the lowest prices on the island. Hope it's not the one that I am thinking about over by Pearl because they are very rude and not even close to the best prices on the island.

Also, yes we all know that they dive shops primary income is from gear but also from charters. especially when most of them pay around $30-50 for a seat and charge the customers $65-125 per seat. not a bad markup on the high end, especially when the to the average price is about $90 on island. However, I even the better priced dive shops on the island are not even near losing money on gear (not that you said that) as their markup is still rediculous. I know instructors that get their gear at cost and the difference in price is crazy for all. If dive shops didn't try to make 50-100%+ profit on most of their gear sales then many more would buy from their LDS. The old let's try and make all our profit on two or three sales doesn't work in the world of the internet any more. LDSs need to go back to the model of less markup and ending up with the same profit in the end because they will sell much more gear. If an LDS currently marking up 50% on their gear would drop their markup down to about 25% I can only imagine what that would do to their sales in the local market.

As for this problem with the expulsion. I too feel there is more to the story but if it can be proven that the students where kicked out of class for buying their gear online then that needs to be taken to the overseeing agency for the instructor and the LDS to have them both either put in suspended status or expelled from the agency. I mean the last time I checked none of the agencies was supposed to be in the extortion business. Don't get me wrong, they do love to should push their wares but that is not saying you can't dive with us if you don't buy from us.

Nope, not OC dive shop... You are right about them being rude and overpriced... since they normally work with tourists, they don't really care about the locals and military that dive through them. If you want a dive club that is in the buisness of diving, try Sea Lancers if you are military or DOD on Oahu. As for the old shop I was at, they closed about a year ago.

Any how, back to the dive shop issue, I don't think a shop should push students away for buying gear elsewhere... BUT don't stab them in the back (not sure of another way of saying it.) Having a lot of students with their snorkel gear already was a problem, but they didn't get the lower cost of the class, that simple. As for charging $50 to inspect snorkel gear, thats a crock of poo. I would always tell people that diving is expensive, if you would rather save a couple bucks instead of getting a little extra from your LDS, there's nothing I can do about it.

 

[waynne fowler]

Why do you feel compelled to make such outrageous statements to make your case. It makes your entire case doubtful.

You are absolutely right. I sometimes get a bit aggravated with this subject (the whole LDS/Diveshop issue. Excuse my outburst please, and I will do my best to control my temper.

If I fail again... well... I'm sure I can count on you and others to point it out to me.

 

[JaFord]

Geez a moly! I've thankfully never encountered the kind of business behavior you all have mentioned! My husband is a long-time diver, and I've recently completed my AOW. We have three wonderful dive shops in our area...and we've made several substantial purchases from each of them. Most classes have been through one specific dive shop, but they are well aware that we've made a couple of our equipment purchases through the other 2 shops...no hard feelings, no guilt trips, nothing of the sort. And certainly no insistance that I get all my gear from them in order to take their classes. In fact...the attitude at each of these shops has been "find quality equipment that's right for you...through us, or one of our competitors...the better the fit, the better the feel, the more you'll dive...the more you'll come back to your LDS(s) for equipment, training, service, etc.." I guess I'm lucky to have these 3 dive shops to choose from!

 

[ghostdiver1957]

50% markup?... The LDS's in my area markup 100% - 300%.

They sell a snorkel for $45 that I can buy on line for $17... it costs them about $8
They sell a mask for $110 that I can buy on line for $55... it costs them $30
They sell a Regulator for $550 that I can buy on line for $250... it costs them $180

... you get the idea...

I won't pay exaggerated prices that allow shop owners to buy condos in Maui at my expense. I will pay reasonable prices to local shops... like 10% - 20% higher than online prices... so in the above scenario... the local shop will gain my business if they sell the above three items for.. $21, $66 and $300...

Problem is they won't... they'd rather just complain about the internet... so that's exactly where I'll buy