JustinW
Contributor
I understand that it costs money to maintain accounts but it doesn't seem to a very friendly policy to medium to small shops and especially not friendly to divers who live in rural areas or areas without large dive shops for hundreds of miles. What I am referring to is DUI's requirements to become a dealer. DUI supposedly requires an large initial commitment to even become a dealer. I understand wanting dealers to be serious, but wow, the initial commitment is a lot of money for dealers to invest in such a niche product. Furthermore, drysuits are often done as custom orders, not off the shelf purchases with sizes, styles and colors with added options etc. So how in the world is a small shop supposed to make this initial order only to have it rot on the shelves while divers come in and order suits fit to the diver. DUI's policy doesn't just hurt shops, but hurts divers who want to be able to get into a good drysuit and still support their LDS. In my location in California, the closest dealer is 100 miles away to the south, and to the north, its halfway to Washington state!!! Even if I make the pilgrimage to a DUI dealership, I am going to have to get measured, and then wait for my suit to come in, and then make a second pilgrimage to go pick it up, and then pilgrimages over and over whenever a seal needs to be replaced or dealer maintenance has to be done. Is DUI getting too big for their britches? For those of us far away from dealers, are we supposed to forget our LDS's and shop online? I just don't understand the policy. There is bound to be a DUI representative that frequents this site that can explain how this policy helps small dive shops and helps the millions of divers that shop at the small shops that can't justify hanging 6-10 drysuits on the walls as examples of what to order in a custom size.
