I live in a small town with one LDS. The next nearest dive shop is about 175 miles away, and it just happens to be Scubatoys. I took all my certification classes with my LDS and bought a lot of my gear there. Since the market is so small here, the LDS does not carry a lot of gear. You might find a couple of reg sets, a few pairs of fins, three masks, and a few bc's and wetsuits to choose from. They are almost exclusively a ScubaPro dealer, which means they can only offer a discount of 10% off SRP. The cert classes are about the same price as any I have seen advertised in larger markets. They do not require you to buy their equipment when going to OW class, but they do push it, and you can expect to see 95% of the OW students wearing Twin Jets, Scubapro booties, ScubaPro masks, and ScubaPro wetsuits. If they choose to purchase regs and bc's, those are going to be ScubaPro as well. Some students go through the class with gear purchased elsewhere, or borrowed from a friend, and the shop does not have a problem with that. You might not get as good of service from them or information on gear, but hey, you get what you pay for.
The lady that runs the shop has been diving 24 years, is a PADI instructor, and knows nothing about dive equipment whatsoever. I wanted an Apeks reg, and when I asked her if she could order one, she said "Apeks, they are the ones that are going out of business, their regs suck, you don't want one". As soon as I heard that, I realized that I needed to be getting my information about equipment from somewhere else. I did get a killer deal on a Aeris Atmos ai computer in there, the price was way below what I have seen advertised on any of the internet sites. When I asked her if Aeris and Oceanic were the same computer, just cosmetically different, she said "NO, Aeris is way better than Oceanic. Oceanic tries to copy some things Aeris does, but their computers aren't nearly as good." So I don't know if she is just trying to sell what she has, or just really doesn't know that much about equipment.
They have a pool and do air fills, and if they go under, I will be hard pressed to get my tanks filled. However, I still buy a lot of stuff online. I give them a chance, and if they carry what I want at a reasonable price, I give them the business, if not, I buy online. Their instructors are ok at best. I felt no real effort on their part to go above and beyond in training. I kind of thought they were just trying to herd as many students through as quickly as possible. I have always felt very comfortable in the water, even doing things I had never done before. I always feel confident and know I can think my way out of any problem I get into. I saw a lot of students going through OW class that weren't that way. They would have trouble with a very simple task and as long as they performed it, they went on to the next thing. No effort to help them build confidence and critical thinking skills, just perform the task and lets move on. I worry about those students. They really got short changed on their training.
In any other business, if your prices are too high or your service is too low, your customers go somewhere else. If this leads to a business going under, so be it. A lot of dive shops try to hold the arguments "You can't buy air on the internet", or "If we go under, where are you going to get your tank filled" over your head in an attempt to force you into doing business with them.
I have ordered a lot of gear from ScubaToys, and have been to their shop once. Their customer service is great, their prices are great, they have vast knowledge of diving and all the products they sell, they have a storefront and an internet site. THEY KNOW HOW TO OPERATE A BUSINESS SUCCESSFULLY. I am not trying to advertise for ScubaToys, just trying to say when you go into a shop to buy something, and come out feeling good about the information you got, the training you received, or the stuff you bought, they chances of you going back there are very high. I am sure there are a lot of other shops out there that are just as successful, but there are more shops out there operating under the other model that does not include good prices, good training, or good service. Anywhere there is a scuba shop, there is obviously some sort of market for their products and services. If the shop goes under because of their business practices, someone will eventually take their place.
The lady that runs the shop has been diving 24 years, is a PADI instructor, and knows nothing about dive equipment whatsoever. I wanted an Apeks reg, and when I asked her if she could order one, she said "Apeks, they are the ones that are going out of business, their regs suck, you don't want one". As soon as I heard that, I realized that I needed to be getting my information about equipment from somewhere else. I did get a killer deal on a Aeris Atmos ai computer in there, the price was way below what I have seen advertised on any of the internet sites. When I asked her if Aeris and Oceanic were the same computer, just cosmetically different, she said "NO, Aeris is way better than Oceanic. Oceanic tries to copy some things Aeris does, but their computers aren't nearly as good." So I don't know if she is just trying to sell what she has, or just really doesn't know that much about equipment.
They have a pool and do air fills, and if they go under, I will be hard pressed to get my tanks filled. However, I still buy a lot of stuff online. I give them a chance, and if they carry what I want at a reasonable price, I give them the business, if not, I buy online. Their instructors are ok at best. I felt no real effort on their part to go above and beyond in training. I kind of thought they were just trying to herd as many students through as quickly as possible. I have always felt very comfortable in the water, even doing things I had never done before. I always feel confident and know I can think my way out of any problem I get into. I saw a lot of students going through OW class that weren't that way. They would have trouble with a very simple task and as long as they performed it, they went on to the next thing. No effort to help them build confidence and critical thinking skills, just perform the task and lets move on. I worry about those students. They really got short changed on their training.
In any other business, if your prices are too high or your service is too low, your customers go somewhere else. If this leads to a business going under, so be it. A lot of dive shops try to hold the arguments "You can't buy air on the internet", or "If we go under, where are you going to get your tank filled" over your head in an attempt to force you into doing business with them.
I have ordered a lot of gear from ScubaToys, and have been to their shop once. Their customer service is great, their prices are great, they have vast knowledge of diving and all the products they sell, they have a storefront and an internet site. THEY KNOW HOW TO OPERATE A BUSINESS SUCCESSFULLY. I am not trying to advertise for ScubaToys, just trying to say when you go into a shop to buy something, and come out feeling good about the information you got, the training you received, or the stuff you bought, they chances of you going back there are very high. I am sure there are a lot of other shops out there that are just as successful, but there are more shops out there operating under the other model that does not include good prices, good training, or good service. Anywhere there is a scuba shop, there is obviously some sort of market for their products and services. If the shop goes under because of their business practices, someone will eventually take their place.
