Curious: Are you LDS loyal? What do you use them for?

[TMHeimer]

Sorry, can't read all of the posts. Our shop (Torpedo Rays Scuba Adventures) is basically the only one for hundreds of miles (kilometers). I got certified there, work there as a DM. Get paid $300 as a DM for an OW Course. Great owner, great instructors. I'm lucky. I have bought stuff and taken classes elsewhere (especially Emerald Coast Scuba, Destin, Florida). Yes, I have bought stuff online. Nobody cared. To Hell with shops that have problems with what I do.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I am fairly loyal to 3 dive shops. All of them are more an hour or more drive from our place. Two are near our most often dived site. They have all given us good service and support over the years. If I want to be able to get fills, I need to support the bricks and mortar shops. If I want a job in our community I need to support other jobs so the money cycles through and back to me.

I will not play one off against the other or against online purchases. If they want my business they need to earn it but if I want their service I figure I need to earn it too. There just isn't enough money in doing fills and if I want fills I need to ensure the dive shops get enough business to be able to provide them.

 

[scubastingray]

If they want my business they need to earn it but if I want their service I figure I need to earn it too. There just isn't enough money in doing fills and if I want fills I need to ensure the dive shops get enough business to be able to provide them.

Oh brother...
Stop anthropomorphizing businesses. If they want my business they can work for it. If I want theirs the only thing I am willing to do is hand over the plastic, and that should be enough. I'm not going to dictate my actions just to make sure I'm keeping a shop happy. That's absurd.

 

[NWA395]

YES I support my LDS. That does not mean I feel obligated to make all my purchases there, all things being equal or close, they will get my $$$. We have one local LDS about 25 minutes away. The next nearest shop is about an hour ten minutes away. The closest shop has an indoor pool which you can use to test, demo, use gear you are interested in. I have bought both online and at the LDS. On a recent trip about mid week I dropped my regs and rendered the octo unusable (another story but completely my fault) . This was a used reg which I had put about 20 dives on since purchase from the LDS.

Upon returning from the trip, I visited the LDS and explained what had occurred and I needed a repair. The owner not only repaired the regulator, but took his time to educate me on all the internal pieces and showed me exactly what had occurred as well as inquiring about my trip and the different dives He provided some trouble shooting advise on other gear as well.

When he was finished, his reply was "there you go, good as new". I spent some more time looking at gear in the shop and talking to one of the DM's. When I was ready to leave, I went to the counter/register, put the 2nd stage up and asked what I owed for the repair. The owners reply was "nothing, glad I could help".

And my LDS is not open on Sundays in February either.

 

[tplyons]

Yes, I'm loyal to one shop, albeit not exclusive. I will shop other places if my LDS doesn't carry/can't get/is way high on price.

In all fairness, I'm working towards my Divemaster with this shop, so I do have additional forces at work. While working as a DM for them, I am representing the shop and am required to use brands/equipment the shop carries. Yes, I have bought some of it other places, or bought used.

I also buy other stuff, small stuff like O-rings in relative bulk through sites like divegearexpress.com; some of my smaller accessories come from the internet as well, but my big stuff, my BCD, regulators, fins, come from my LDS. MI can get my wetsuits from LeisurePro for less than my LDS can buy them, so it's a no brainer.

I'm personal friends with 90% of the staff and if I'm going to the quarry and not working with one of their classes, I'll set up right next to them so we can socialize after the day is done. I travel with the shop as well, both locally on weekend charters as well as trips that are a flight away. However, I'll book a trip or a weekend charter without them; like I said, I'm not exclusive to the shop.

Most of my training is through them too, but there are a few courses that while they DO teach, they're not experts in, such as Sidemount; I'll go to an outside instructor who dives SM every time they dive. Like I said, I'm loyal, but I'm not exclusive.

Long story short, I'd rather give this shop my money; they've been great to me. The people are great, the selection is great, the atmosphere is great. However, if I can't get it, can't get it fast enough, or can't get it cheap enough, I will do what's best for me. I'd say 80-85% of my business goes through them without a second thought, but I'll go elsewhere if I have to.

 

[Wolfie_47]

Based on the description, I believe that Traijin and I are using the same shop in Columbus and they are great! I am mostly loyal to them but it is a loyalty that has been earned not expected... attitude make a lot of difference!

 

[Dsix36]

When I bought my rebreather from my LDS, I stated that I did not care about the cost but that I wanted it setup to do the deep technical stuff later on. I was happy to spend my money there and support my local business.

When I finally got to the point of needing to carry 2 Alum 80's, I could not get off the bottom of the lake. I went back to see about a bigger wing and the very same person told me (not an exact quote) that of course i would need more lift with that many tanks. I was not offered any discount or apology for the extra expense incurred. I should have had this wing in the first place.

I no longer have any loyalty to that shop and actually prefer to pay more somewhere else just to let my wallet do the talking. This shop also has a large online presence and I will pay shipping rather than pick up locally most times.

 

[CT-Rich]

I will shop online, but I use that to become knowledgeable before I go to the shop. I prefer to buy local, because brick and mortar is key to having air fills and classes. I know the prices are competitive with what I see online, and they will often do things like offer me a cash discount or give me the nice-guy special. I won't go in and shop the store and then buy online, that is really kind of theft of services. Doing sales I always hated doing a informative, comprehensive presentation, educating the consumer so they take my advise and buy elsewhere.

I will buy from ebay or Craig's list, but I have found just as many good deals the LDS when they get used gear in, and they will tell me when they get something in that I might be interested in.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I have no use for the local shops. There's no local diving, so no need for fills. Prices are absurd, likely due to very low sales volume, and forget about getting anything other than very basic open water stuff, and a limited selection of that. I also don't need a shop to book my vacations for me. So I order gear online and get fills and rentals wherever the diving is. Even trying to use their pool is a joke. $40/session and you have to produce receipts of both reg and BC (!) being serviced within the last year. No thanks.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I have one shop about 10 minutes from my house I use. I get airfills mostly. Sometimes a tube of Aquaseal or a can of wetsuit glue.
I bought a wetsuit on the sale rack that I use for shallow beach dives.
I'll get other things like gloves and sometimes booties there. The owner is the type that not many people like. I don't have a problem with him now that I understand where he's coming from, but I used to. I like the other employees because they've been into diving for a long time and when I'm the only one in there and no other cutomers they need to help they like to talk shop.
I think we have an understanding finally, they don't question my DIY reg services and my own VIP's and tank care, and in return I keep going in there for some of the small stuff I need.
The scuba business has slowed down enough over the past few years that I think they realize they need all the business they can get.

There is another shop about 20 mins south that I won't go into anymore. They questioned me a few too many times about why I needed a burst disc setup for a tank I was restoring. The girl there told me she couldn't sell it to me due to liability issues and she'd have to ask her boss. The boss said yeah fine sell it to him. I went in again and the same thing. They are also annoyingly pushy. They also rusted out one of my tanks pretty bad because they don't seem to be able to take care of their compressor.

I never did use either shop for any trips, I always book my own dive trips.

Finally, there is another shop way up on the coast about 2 hours away. When ever I'm up diving in that vicinity I always make a point to go in there and visit and buy something, a shirt, air fills, or anything else I think I need. They are the best shop and group of people I ever met. They deserve to be supported so I always make a point. They are isolated up where they are and a lot of people count on them. They do a hell of a seasonal business during the full onslaught of abalone season, but then die out to almost nothing during the winter. If I can I try and get up there before Christmas to spend a little money in their shop to help them out. They really appreciate it.