Just bought some new gear from Scubatoys

[outlawaggie]

I know one more thing you could ask for. Air fills. Is scubatoys going to fill your tanks?

no, but with amount the money he probably saved over his LDS he can by a compressor. That was intended as a joke but the whole who's gonna fill our tanks arguement over online retailers is absurd.

If an LDS goes out of business its the LDS's fault not mine. If they can't adapt their business model to mee thte needs of the market too bad. Simple economics dictate that if there is a need someone will fill that need. ie there will ALWAYS be a need for air fills, educcation, travel, etc. if the LDS does do it someone else will.

 

[Vic McAlister]

Hello all,

I had the pleasure of dropping in on Larry and the gang this past weekend. I got a tour of there new facility, extremely nice, about 10,000sf worth, I believe.

I live several hours away, but the chance came up for me to be in the Dallas area, so I took advantage of it. I would suggest every that has a means, to do it as well... It will set your mind at ease on those large "internet" purchases.

Not only did Larry take time to show me around he took advantage of teasing me on some recent purchases that I made from my LDS. Sorry no trade in's.... I tried.

I will be completely comfortable with purchases via the interenet and trust there advise.

Thanks again to Larry, Kip, Joe and Joey for spending my money for me.... It didnt even hurt that bad considering I saved about 35% - 45% vs the LDS.

I look forward to seeing your posts on the board.

Restpectfully,

Victor

 

[djac5700]

If you're like me and live 1000+ miles from Dallas, you can also go online and take control of their web cam if you want to see the place.

 

[Vic McAlister]

If you're like me and live 1000+ miles from Dallas, you can also go online and take control of their web cam if you want to see the place.

Yep.... that too.

 

[SHARKBAIT94]

All I can add to this is I have never meet Larry just talk to him over the phone for a good hour and ask a boat load of questions that my girlfriend wanted to know and about the gear she/we picked out cause that’s what her friends dive with. Larry answered all my questions and gave his honest opinion and the facts about the gear we chose and then gave his suggestions of what type of gear I should buy according to what type of diving we were going to be doing and by what I was saying to him. He even figured out why the reg my g/f was using was breathing wet and he did this by just telling some of things to look for when this happens and this first thing was look at the mouth piece (I knew it turned thought that it was ok to turn as long as it don't come off the reg it’s ok. Larry said that was one of the first things to look at on the second stage) Now back to the gear . All gear we had picked out was ok but not really perfect for jersey and the cold water they had some flaws that some divers would no mind BUT being totally new to scuba Larry stated that it might not be the best choice and of course I was thinking like any other person would think he is going to try and sell the top of the line. Larry did not try to at all just the right gear for what we wanted to do and if we wanted to advance our self’s in scuba the gear would work and we would not have to buy another set up to handle nitrox and all that good stuff. The gear she/we picked out was not really a good choice because the reg was not a nitrox reg and pc was not set for nitrox. if we wanted to go deeper in scuba why spend more money on gear when you could already have paid for it the first time and save a lot of money. The gear he suggested was not the most expensive gear and it was not out of my price range I told Larry what I wanted and that I was not buying for one person but also for my g/f and I wanted to keep it in a certain price range but I also wanted gear that I did not have to worry about taking a dump on us while we dive. Larry did all this and with all the gear he suggested and picked out for us Larry came in under my budget and even said that if we did not like it to call and he would exchange it. My lds shop said they would do that to and no online store would do that for you. Now I can not even go to my LDS with out feeling inadequate about scuba, all the “real scuba divers go to them) I/we feel like they don’t want to be bothered by us “newbies” or my questions and all they push/sell is the high end gear that would not fit my budget for one let alone two divers. Now to the who will fill my tanks that’s a good question I wonder that to but being on the fire rescue squad I won’t worry about that . If the lds are made because of online sales they need to get over it. It’s called adapt and over come and deal with it. With business comes new hurdles that any business person has to deal with I did not like inter net sales either with all the hassles and web updating but if you want to compete and stay in business and every one else is reaching out to people all over the world for business why shouldn’t I, its called being a smart business owner. The internet sales to day is almost a must to make money. Yes I have heard that when scuba started to go main stream their was an unwritten agreement that no internet sales were to be done just like no dive shop will sell or fill a tank with out a c-card. If a store is to compete with another local store what better way to get ahead but with internet sales. To get bent by a manufacturer because they decided to allow internet sales so lds drop them well that’s plain poor business and to only carry high end gear that doesn’t fit every persons budget well that again is poor business planning. So to criticize Larry and scuba toys.com for the internet sales is just wrong and plain ignorant. Its my money I work hard for it I should be able to spend it when and how I want and not have to worry about people getting up in arms about it. OH and one other thing if you criticize people for buying scuba gear on line then you criticize every one for doing any online shopping. Like no one on this board has bought stuff online besides scuba gear. You buy anything online you per say take away business from and local store but we do anyway why? cause we all like to save money and this just happens to be about scuba gear.
Thanks no harm/insulting intended just venting about online verse lds shopping

 

[dazzavv]

Just my 2c worth .... I bought gear from Larry earlier this year and had nothing but great service. His replies to my emails (I am in Australia, so didn't phone) were really fast and informative and I secured a deal based solely on our internet conversations. In my opinion I thought he gave us a great deal and we have been really happy with our gear.
:thumbs_up

 

[canuckdiver]

Larry, I think your business model is the way ALL businesses are going to have to be run (not just LDSs) in the 21st century. Let's face it folks, the 'net is here to stay, and it makes even somebody on the other side of the world "local". In any marketplace, you have to maintain competitive pricing in order to remain viable. The idea of charging as much as you can for a product and fixing the prices was also tried in the auto industry, and the major manufacturers that refused to change that practice are no longer with us today.

 

[LazyKevin]

I know one more thing you could ask for. Air fills. Is scubatoys going to fill your tanks?

They just filled the two sets of double 80's I purchased from them. Service was good, price was good.

Lucky I live nearby....

 

[Kestrell]

Scuba Toys (and Larry) totally rock!

That is all.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[DennisS]

Never tried them. I've been a leisure pro customer for years and like their service. They don't rock but they are a good company to deal with.