"buy equipment here" speech in OW first class!

[hudson_hawk]

wow this must be the norm for lds
i all so about 20 mins in to my first class got the buy from us lecture
and i did buy from them they have been great
they carry 3 lines of gear aan i was looking at a bcd that was like the top of the line in that group and they advised me not to get it
they said it was way to much money for what you get
happy diving all

 

[nkydiver]

I will probably have to for on-going training. It depends on how much he balks when I walk in with a few pieces of that Zeagle "crap".

Ben

First Ben, Congratulations on deciding to get certified.

A dive instructor typically uses the gear the shop sells, so naturally they would recommend the gear that the shop has. An instructor usually also has had plenty of diving experience under his belt, with different sets of gear made by different manufacturers. It may be that that instructor has had problems in the past with Zeagle gear, but has had nothing but good experiences with the current setup he's using. He would naturally recommend the gear that he's had the best experience with. I've dove with equipment made by several different manufacturers, and happen to like the Scubapro setup I have now the best and would recommend it to any students who asked, while I've had serious problems with other regulators and computers and would definitely not recommend them to students due to the experiences I've had with them.

One of the deciding factors in my choosing Scubapro for some of my own gear was the availablity of service. You mentioned Zeagle as a possible brand you are interested in. I know they are becoming more popular and make good gear, but as of the last time I checked, the only shop in the Cincinnati area that was servicing Zeagle was Scuba Adventures, and they shut down not too long ago, so it may cause problems with having your gear serviced unless you know of another authorized dealer that's relatively close to you. Just a thought. At some point in the future, the gear will need to be serviced and I may have the best regulator on the market, but if no one can work on it, it's not going to do me much good.

I would agree with the others who have posted here and speak to the shop owner. The instructor may have came off differently than he intended, or it may be his personality, where if you speak to the owner, he may be able to speak to the instructor about your concerns.

J

 

[lord1234]

Its funny, I told my LDS when I first signed up for the class that I was shopping (for pretty much EVERYTHING) online. He was definitely miffed but then I explained myself to him in this way: "I am a college student. If I was to have to pay the prices that you as an LDS needs to charge to make money, I couldn't afford the sport. I promise I will come to you for all service needs/air/etc but I just can't make the major purchases unless you could match up with online outfits like Leisure Pro or ScubaToys." We left it at that and I STILL get discounts off of some of the smaller stuff at the store.

 

[av8er23]

Give the instructor a break. He is doing his best to support the dive shop where he works. If you have an issue with it, descretely take it to his boss and mention the speech. Who knows, maybe the boss told him to give the sales pitch, and he was just doing what his boss told him. As an instructor working for a specific dive shop that sells specific gear, it may even be a requirement to use brands only sold in that shop (my LDS prefers we use the brands they sell, and I have no problem with it, since its quality brands). You may have felt like a captive audience, but businesses are in business to stay in business.

Yea he is doing his best to support the dive shop but that should not include BS customers. I am a flight instructor and do my best to teach people how to safetly operate aircraft. I am not selling anything once they are there but I do my best to share my experiences and knowlage with them. If I get asked a question that I simply do not know the answer to I do not BS them I swallow my pride and ego and tell them I will have an answer tomorrow. These dive shop owners get on my nerves how they down everything on the market except theirs. There is LOTS of dive equipment out there that is suffecent for the job. It all depends on the person (experience) and the plan the person has for the equipment.

 

[Hoosier]

I agree with MB104. The employees on the shop's payroll don't have any powers. They just do what they are asked. When I used to get the same experienced in Mid-West, I have been pissed off. But, I have a pity on them later. Even though you talked with their boss, nothing won't be changed. It is their way of business. If you are annoyed, just leave away from them. That is your power as a customer.

Give the instructor a break. He is doing his best to support the dive shop where he works. If you have an issue with it, descretely take it to his boss and mention the speech. Who knows, maybe the boss told him to give the sales pitch, and he was just doing what his boss told him. As an instructor working for a specific dive shop that sells specific gear, it may even be a requirement to use brands only sold in that shop (my LDS prefers we use the brands they sell, and I have no problem with it, since its quality brands). You may have felt like a captive audience, but businesses are in business to stay in business.

 

[Hoosier]

At least, he has a brain to make you come to his shop again. However, many shop owners don't have that much business mind except one time big/huge profit. I live in the campus town in Mid-West, LDS doesn't care about colleage student. He just thinks that they can bring out all cash from their parents. LOL~~~

Its funny, I told my LDS when I first signed up for the class that I was shopping (for pretty much EVERYTHING) online. He was definitely miffed but then I explained myself to him in this way: "I am a college student. If I was to have to pay the prices that you as an LDS needs to charge to make money, I couldn't afford the sport. I promise I will come to you for all service needs/air/etc but I just can't make the major purchases unless you could match up with online outfits like Leisure Pro or ScubaToys." We left it at that and I STILL get discounts off of some of the smaller stuff at the store.

 

[Lead_carrier]

He said he gets no "kick back" or commission. I asked him to name a piece of gear that he recommends that is *NOT* sold at that LDS. For the life of him he couldn't think of a single piece of gear that he would recommend that wasn't sold at the LDS.

Ben

Go to your local Ford dealership and ask them what type of car they recommend OTHER than a Ford.

Let us know what you are told please. :dazzler1:

 

[Hoosier]

Go to your local Ford dealership and ask them what type of car they recommend OTHER than a Ford.

Let us know what you are told please. :dazzler1:

No, I don't think so. He signed up for the class, not for a gear.

What is your shop name? Your shop name is ScubaPro, Aqua Lung, Mares, Sherwood, Dacor, Poseidon, Suunto, Oceanic, Atomic, etc....... I hope not

Several shops in SoCal have you sign a 'buying commitment' when signing up for classes, (including Sport Chalet), stating you will buy your personal gear from them by the first pool session, (fins,mask, snorkel, gloves, booties, hood), or they will refund your tuition less the book costs, and send you elsewhere.

Why didn't student make a report to the scuba agency? I don't think PADI, NAUI, other agencies will be happy with that kind of business. Each agency has a quality management division. The student should let them know what SC is doing.

 

[RiverRat]

Many shops work like this. It's too bad. I think the first thing on an LDS manager's list should be sales and marketing training to the employees and instructors. When I first got into diving I bought half of my gear online before I took OW courses. In part because I did not know how the business worked (warranty and such) and in part because the LDS did not have the gear I wanted. But I never had anyone tell me my Apeks reg was garbage. But then I found out they sell them. And they wanted me in a jacket BC, I wanted a BP/W. I was told some pretty crappy BS stories on the BP/W which I soon proved to be false. So in the beginning I was quite depressed that the same LDS that was training me, teaching me how to dive and stay alive, was feeding me BS info just to try to make a sale. Then I started dealing with the owner more often and changed my attitude a bit. His whole sales mentality is completely different. No pressure. I've bought many "reasonable" items in the shop. 2 steel tanks, training up to Divemaster, trips, millions of last minute clips, and sea drops, and books, knives and masks etc. etc. So while I have not given the shop 100% business I DO give the shop much repeat business 2 years down the road. I value the "good" stuff and disregard the BS. Now that I'm taking divemaster, I was given a "speech" about what to say to students during OW training though. If you want to be associated with a shop they want you in 90% shop gear to help the sales effort. I can understand that. But what I can't tolerate is giving completely false, disingenuous info about gear to anyone. It's just not right. And it WILL hurt future sales. Once a diver finds out that you fed them a line of crap they'll never trust you again. So what's better, missing ONE sale at 30% profit because you don't push that line or missing FIFTY sales at 10% profit because you lied to someone? Don't give up on the shop just yet, scope out the rest of the operation and see if there is someone better to deal with on things.

 

[neil]

Several shops in SoCal have you sign a 'buying commitment' when signing up for classes, (including Sport Chalet), stating you will buy your personal gear from them by the first pool session, (fins,mask, snorkel, gloves, booties, hood), or they will refund your tuition less the book costs, and send you elsewhere.

I don't know about other shops, but I do some teaching for SC and have never seen that "buying commitment" anywhere. If you have concrete knowledge about this, I'd like to know more. SC is all about numbers (duh) and doubt they would have a policy of sending customers elsewhere for any reason.