Does Leisure Pro ever sell fake stuff?

[ffdiver]

Listen I would love to support my LDS everytime but its just LDS need to be so overpriced to make any sort of profit. LP is great for small things i need, I personally wouldn't buy regulators from them but for mostly everything else non-life support related like a new wing or harness sure why not. My lds can't come close to thier prices and at times have been told by the owner to try to ebay or LP some items I wanted cheap.

 

[h90]

A friend imported mobile phones from China.
First you could switch from chinese to english
Next patch you could install a new firmware
Next patch they put in a chip which is not rewriteable and my friend has still 200 mobile phones which are unsellable in europe (I guess his salesguy went already to all chinese restaurants in Europe to sell a phone)

As one example of LP's "grey market," I recently bought an Oceanic Veo 180 computer for my son through LP. (I'd just bought two Aeris Atmos 2's from ScubaToys, but wanted specifically an Oceanic for my son... and ST didn't offer them.)

The Veo 180 came brand-new in the original box, with all the accessories. But while some of the documentation was in English, the owner's manual was in Spanish. Hmmm... wonder where the source of that was?

I e-mailed LP, and they apologized and are sending an English-language manual right away.

Inconvenient? Maybe... but I think worth it.

Their Oceanic prices now seem to be unfortunately rising quickly, I assume with the rumors that Oceanic is about to make them an authorized dealer. And that means that it's going to be tough to find good Oceanic deals elsewhere, too...

--Marek

 

[rhephburn3900]

No complaints Ever! These guys are Great! Good quality products,
as well as untouchable prices on most items. LP, Keep up the "great"
way that you do business.
R.H.

 

[Stu S.]

The Oceanic regulators I purchased from Leisure Pro are the exact same as those that I bought locally. Same packaging and handbook, too.

 

[scubatoys]

Actually, there was at least one case that I am aware of where LP did sell "fake stuff". It was a case where they had BC's that were exact copies of a legit brand... and someone got hurt diving with it and a lawsuit ensued. When the manufacturer got into the suit, they examined the BC and saw that there were no serial numbers on the jacket, and the power inflator mechanism was not theirs.

In the suit, one side claimed that they did not know they were not original product, that a supplier had switched them on them - and the case settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.

Perhaps this was an isolated incident, and it was about 15 years ago.

The big thing most point out with LP products is that for many of the brands they carry they are not authorized dealers, so there is no manufacturers warranty. An authorized dealer has restraints on them because of the "MAP" policy - (Minimum advertised price). That means if a product has a "MAP" we must show a certain price on our web page. Now, if someone calls us up - we can match any price - and extend a full manufacturers warranty... we just can't advertise it.

Actually the legality of MAP programs is before the Supreme Court now, and a ruling is expected in the fall. Some feel that with a heavy republican appointed court - normally ruling in favor of business instead of the consumer, the MAP policy will be upheld - but it could go either way. Until it gets abolished, we will have to run our business showing the MAP price on products, and folks have to call for additional discounts... but heck... that's ok. We like talking to our customers anyway!

 

[JackSpearo]

scary...wonder how much the settled for...

 

[Scuba-Bill]

I have purchased from LP via the mail and at their Manhattan location and have had no issues. The products were new and functioned flawlessly.

Most of my recent purchases, however, have been with my LDS, Scuba Toys. Their pricing is competative and the people are easy to work with...

Happy shopping!

 

[Web Monkey]

T caught my attention and I wanted to glean from the infinite knowledge that can be found on these forums. He said "LP makes fake stuff" and they get it from the "grey market"! First off, is there any validity to the first comment? If so, how are they able to make fake life support equipment, such as: regulators and BCs?

Chances are slim-to-none that they purchase "fake" regulators, BCs, computers, etc., since it's much cheaper to buy the real thing from scuba shops that are failing, or have old stock, or manufacturers that have stuff they can't move, or from overseas where a dealer or distributor might want to dump some stock.

They're right up front with what they sell, and what they ship is typically exactly what's advertised on the website. The problem, however is that some manufacturers will not provide free parts or service on products purchased though dealers that are not authorized by them.

This isn't a huge deal for things like regs, where you would save a $10 bag of parts every year, but is a show-stopper for things like the Uwatec Smart-Com, which requires a factory-only battery every 5 years or so. If you bought it at LP, you would be holding the bag for a $400 repair on a $1000 computer.

It also may be a problem for something like a reg that typically requires a little tuning after you've used it for a while. From what I hear, they're happy to take care of it, however it means that you're out shipping charges 2 ways and won't be diving for a couple of weeks. If you're buying something that does (or might) require service, you'll need to factor the lost time and money into your decision.

Terry

 

[divad]

He said "LP makes fake stuff"

Yes, everything they sell is made by magic beavers.

 

[redacted]

Such assertions are not new. See http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=2666329&highlight=leisurepro#post2666329

I believe Oly5050user is an LDS owner and somewhat biased against LP, but generally a credible and helpful poster. He has suggested that LP does market counterfit goods. I believe what we are seeing is some mfgr defects and LP supplier fraud, not LP knowingly selling bogus goods.

Bogus good do exist but are quite rare. I saw a "Scubapro" BC on ebay once and noticed that it was missing a right shoulder pull dump. When questioned, the sell removed the offering. The story I heard is that a Scubapro sub continued knocking out SP BCs after they lost the contract. I don't know what it's original source was but I'm sure something like this could easily slip into the LP supply system.

Instances of bogus good at LP are extremely rare, at most, and the potential savings are real and significant. I would not be conserned about such a problem with LP. I would be conserned about any LDS that tries to justify its high prices with such claims