I was wondering............

[Mick]

...... why is it that none of the scuba sites have any pricing??? I know that prices change from shop to shop but they could at least give a suggested retail price :bonk:

 

[bio guy]

About a year ago, I picked up some gear from one of my local shops, who also had a website (without prices), they told me, that they were prohibited by some of the manufacturers from advertising prices over the internet.
Things may have changed since then though.
Just my $0.02

Anybody else have any ideas

 

[King_Neptune]

Peeps,

DiveShop 1) "We Sell Item X-Y-Z for $100.00!"

DiveShop 2) "We Sell Item X-Y-Z for $50.00!"

DiveShop 3) "We Sell Item X-Y-Z for $10.00!"

-----------------

DiveShop 1) "We have the lowest Prices around!"

DiveShop 2) "Our Prices can't be beat, guaranteed!"

DiveShop 3) "You won't see this again for only $49.95!"

-----------------

In each spot which are you going to buy from??

In the first, maybe they don't mention that Shop #2 lost their distributorship and your warranty won't be honored ... or that #2 is selling Used or returned gear (ouch!)...

Or even if they are all legit or not lets look at the second situation ... Which do you buy from? Well, one thing they will have effectively done is made you dig deeper and look around for prices and maybe walk in the store, etc ...

They are all just forms of effective marketing. Maybe not for everyone though, for example, I don't have the time or desire to play games and will walk away or ignore those sorts of situation. I will sometimes even pay more for convenience. To each their own ...

=-)

 

[Kilo]

I picked up a new mag today and do you know that the ads had only the names and models.......no price.I will pay more for good service,bad service low price no more will I buy from a store that has bad service..


Shane......

 

[King_Neptune]

kilo,

Agreed, now if everyone else learns to do the same, even if it is a little out of the way for them, then all of the shops and services will be forced to improve ...

=-)

 

[Rick Murchison]

Hate to disappoint you gents, but service is almost always an unrewarded art in the marketplace anymore. Unlike the two of you, most folks will drive across town and burn $2 in gas to save $1 on a product, and service is irrelevant. Indeed, the Wallmart mentality has trained an entire generation of shoppers to expect *nothing* from the staff beyond taking their money or logging in their returns, yet these same folks expect all sorts of service *at the Wallmart price* from the mom & pop stores. In fact, I am constantly amazed at the brazen attempt of many to come to my shop and get hours of education from me on the products they are ostensibly there to buy, only to have 'em do their buying online or at Sam's.
So, what you will see in the future (you heard it here first) is a totally automated vending machine - be it a physical location or an e-store, and a completely separate business area where you have to pay someone for each and every minute of service or information.
Rick

 

[Mick]

Rick, you have hit the nail right on the head.
I have been in customer service for 10 years and can see the way it is going. I must say that I dont like it but I dont think anyone likes it.

The company I work for now is getting rid of me next month and is replacing me with a call centre in a different state, so if you want somebody to show you something or explain something face to face, then bad luck !

If you pay more and get good service, it is worth it.

 

[King_Neptune]

I was following you right along until the end ...

My post was basically saying the same thing you were, but in a sarcastic manner... Until you got to the "Vending Machine" part ...

"Information", via the Internet for example, has only become more and more open in the past few years ... Take this forum as an example.

"a completely separate business" ... That doesn't sound so bad ... It's about time you'd be able to get repairs and service done at one central location instead of having to send your gear to the four corners of the earth. One such example of that would be "DiveTechWest"...

How about an entire agency to regulate and monitor the services of technicians to ensure quality control, instead of what we have now... How do you know the tech working on your stuff is qualified to work on your gear? Just look around the forums at how many people are subject to less than honest shops and/or Instructors, etc. But if we could have a central agency that YOU can use to lookup and verify their credentials, now that would be nice. Someone that has full support of all the Manufacture's so that you can be sure they are getting the full story straight from the horses mouth...

Hmmm, DETA maybe?

As you can see from above, things are changing .. For the BETTER and yes, in some ways, for the WORSE. The beauty of it is that where some fail others will step in and pick up the slack. Don't think so? Well, remember that as far as the Internet is concerned, the Diving Industry is generally ignorant and has yet to use it to its advantage. You've only begun to see what the Internet has to offer the Diving Industry.

Without saying to much, let me just say that we shouldn't be giving up on it just yet. We should all do our part to educate and promote the positives and not just toss in the towel to all the negatives.

attempt of many to come to my shop and get hours of education from me on the products they are ostensibly there to buy, only to have 'em do their buying online or at Sam's.

Well then, offer little training classes or small courses on the usage of different things... A forum such as this one is here to stay. It will provide people with the answers they want or need. The shops are NOT blameless, and I could give you 1000 things they could do better. It's not all the consumers fault. Only in this Industry is the general rule that the "Customer is NOT always right".

All of this could be argued over and over with no end. So I will end it with this ...

"Personally, I would rather be a part of the solution than a part of the problem".

If someone can offer the good prices as well as the best of services, what is stopping them from going to the top? It just takes one, and the rest WILL follow... They wont have any other choice but to ...

=-)

 

[Rick Murchison]

So, KN, when are you opening your store to show us how it's done?
Rick

 

[turnerjd]

I have to disagree with King Neptune here.

If I go into a shop and get the attention of the people working there, and start talking about kit I want to buy, and he spends a long time with me helping me choose kit, then (IMHO) it is exceptionally rude to then take all the advice (s)he has invested, and then take my sale elsewhere where I can save a small ammount.

I have noticed the 'Walmart' effect starting over the last 2 or 3 years in the UK. People want the Wallmart price, but the Harrods service.

To provide the service costs money. Few dive shops can afford to have staff helping people for long periods, who then bugger off and buy online.

Yes there is plenty of information out there. Some information costs money (advice in a dive store), which you have to pay via the slightly higher cost of gear.

I don't mind giving people advice here, but EVERYBODY here gives their advice for free, the same as in a dive club. However, if I was working in a store, I would be employed and payed specifically to give advice and help people, that is the difference, as it is my job.

In a dive store you are almost guaranteed that the person isn't a complete jerk, however, online you can be anyone. Example, I sign off as Jon T. How do you know that my name is Jon? How do you know that I am even male? how do you know (other than I say so) that I am a PADI DM?

All information is worth what you pay for it!

.02

Jon T