I dropped Scubadiving a quick email, I would be surprised if they reply however.... I may get a call from my boss
To the Editor,
I was very disappointed with your article Lessons for Life in the June Issue of Scubadiving.
As an Instructor, Course Director and Professional Dive Industry Sales Manager I can not disagree more with the tone and apparent conclusions drawn.
There exists today dozens of Professional Local Dive Stores that have expanded their business model to include the internet. In society today any business that ignores the internet is not realistically and objectively doing market study and consumer buying analysis. To link the unfortunate dive to buying online is disingenuous and contrary to what I am sure the author intended, will have a negative impact on the credibility of your magazine. Divers are educated and computer savvy as industry demographic studies show. This article was a transparent effort to dissuade divers from making purchases online. While it is preferable for a diver to have a local dive shop that can service their needs for various tangible and intangible reason this is not always possible.
The dive example given was more indicative of a lack of training to handle the situation and poor quality control at the manufacturing level than because the diver purchased online.
I suspect this dive never took place and question the motives behind the printing of this article. Consumers and Local Dive Stores would be better served by having the industry encourage local dive stores to adapt to new costumer expectations than continuing to stick by the very misconceptions that have driven our divers to purchase online as opposed to locally.
Best,
Chris Richardson
Oceanic Southeast Regional Sales Manager