Scubapro online sales

[ShakaZulu]

Awesome, now if the rest of us divers support Larry, and not buy SP, then we could make a difference in the diving industry. I dive APEKS anyway......

 

[dherbman]

No, I don't understand. Could you please reply in a more snotty tone or in some way make yourself out to be more of a jackass so that I can understand better?

No, that's about as snotty as I get online.

"Factory" in this case was referring to the warranty Scubapro provides. Any authorized dealer of SP will honor that warranty.

Larry provides his own warranty. I'm not sure how that would work at my LDS for servicing. I suspect I may have to send the reg back to Larry for service, but don't know this to be fact.

 

[mdb]

Larry Dague, owner of www.scubatoys.com is a long time customer of ours. He is one of the smartest guys in the dive industry. He took a land locked Texas store to one of the largest single stores in the country in record time. He is a complete straight shooter who tells it like it is. He buys in large quantity, pays his bills immediately, provides great customer service, and is always available for a phone conversation or e-mail exchange. I only wish we had a few more dealers like Larry. You can take his word to the bank.

 

[redacted]

No, that's about as snotty as I get online.

"Factory" in this case was referring to the warranty Scubapro provides. Any authorized dealer of SP will honor that warranty.

Larry provides his own warranty. I'm not sure how that would work at my LDS for servicing. I suspect I may have to send the reg back to Larry for service, but don't know this to be fact.

Scubatoys provides factory warrenties on all gear they sell. You may be confusing them with leisurepro.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Scubatoys provides factory warrenties on all gear they sell. You may be confusing them with leisurepro.

I think he's confused in a lot of ways...maybe the herb?

Larry provides factory warranties, not some ScubaToys warranty. You're definitely thinking of LeisurePro or...well, who knows what you're thinking. I thought Larry was very clear. You buy SP online from him and you get the SP warranty. ScubaToys is very clear that they are authorized dealers of everything they sell. I doubt they will change that, since they have built a business based on honesty, customer service and reliability, unlike the LeisurePros of the world.

So, now you have called one of the more valued members of this board and the dive community a liar. I think maybe you should quit while you're ahead, lest your ignorance make you look even more foolish.

 

[dherbman]

Scubatoys provides factory warrenties on all gear they sell. You may be confusing them with leisurepro.

Entirely possible, it would not be the first time. My confusion stems from my interpretation of this blip from the SP site:

I was told that my SCUBAPRO UWATEC equipment does not come with a warranty if I purchase it through the mail or over the internet. Is this true?

SCUBAPRO UWATEC equipment purchased from sources other than a SCUBAPRO UWATEC authorized dealer may not carry the specific warranty that the United States, US territories and Canada offers. This equipment is also not covered under the Free Preferred Parts Replacement Program or Batteries For Life Program. Authorized dealers are only allowed to sell SCUBAPRO UWATEC equipment over the counter, at their retail location. If you find a mail order or internet dealer selling SCUBAPRO UWATEC equipment, you should contact us to determine if you are dealing with an authorized dealer.

If you have already purchased from a source other than an authorized SCUBAPRO UWATEC dealer, we would strongly recommend that you take your equipment to an authorized SCUBAPRO UWATEC dealer to have it inspected to be sure that it is in operating condition and that it is performing to correct specifications. We would also advise you to follow the SCUBAPRO UWATEC recommended service and maintenance guidelines for your product. Some retailers will offer their own warranties on our product. You may wish to contact the source from which you obtained your product to see what recourse you have concerning warranty issues.

and Larrys post:

It's really very simple... When I got into the Scubapro line, one of the top execs from Scubapro came out to my store and said while they don't allow internet sales now, they realize the world is changing... and if I wanted to carry the line for local sales, I'd be perfectly positioned for when they changed policies...

Well, they never got around to allowing authorized dealers to sell on the net... but interestingly enough, they never stopped the gray market. I've heard, "We're working on it... but it's just not that easy..." for years now. Somehow, however, you have not been able to buy any atomic regs on LP for years... They don't have any Aeris product to speak of... but SP... No problem.

 

[ScottZeagle]

Larry Dague, owner of www.scubatoys.com is a long time customer of ours. He is one of the smartest guys in the dive industry. He took a land locked Texas store to one of the largest single stores in the country in record time. He is a complete straight shooter who tells it like it is. He buys in large quantity, pays his bills immediately, provides great customer service, and is always available for a phone conversation or e-mail exchange. I only wish we had a few more dealers like Larry. You can take his word to the bank.

Michael, I agree with you 110%.

Scott

 

[ClevelandDiver]

dherbman,

The answer is, as Larry stated, that he does offer the factory warranty on his REMAINING stock of scubapro equipment (which he bought directly from scubapro)

He won't be able to buy anymore scubapro equipment, but they have to honor the warranty on the stuff he bought directly from him, regardless of what their website claims.

If in the future he goes the LP way and buys from someone other than the manufacturer, he can not offer a scubapro manufacturers warranty.

 

[mike_s]

I wonder how much ScubaPro stuff a year he (Scubatoys) sold?

how much of an impact of loosing a volume dealer will impact ScubaPro?


BTW..> you can't even buy ScubaPro in my area. Our local ScubaPro shop
went out of business this summer. They might as well not been a dealer
anyway, because they never stocked anything, sold everything at list price,
and what they have in stock, was several 'years old' stock anyway.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Yes, it's pretty clear, Larry can sell his remaining inventory at whatever price he wants and it will be covered under the normal SP warranty, SP just won't ship him more stuff.

Also, there is no contradiction or conspiracy in the SP online/warranty policy, it just was not written to cover what happens when an SP dealer liquidates stock.

Larry's explanation of the lack of validity of the claims from companies that state they cannot control internet sells is also very compelling. The situation really is not any different now than it was 25 years ago with mail order sales. If you have a serial number, a company should be able to determine when it was made and what dealer it was shipped to. If that dealer cannot explain how it legitimately ended up being sold by Leisure Pro, etc, then they should lose their dealership for that brand.

I do agree with Larry that companies really cannot have it both ways - they either need to re-write agreements to allow LDS's to compete with on-line retailers or they need to act responsibly and ensure no equipment makes it to on-line retailers. It's just a matter of buying a few regulators and busting the dealers they were originally shipped to.

The basic facts are that all dive equipment leaves a production plant and is shipped somewhere by the compnay at some point and that the dive equipment company makes their normal amount on the sale to the dealer regardless of whether it ends up sold on the grey market or not. An unwillingness to stop the grey market trade and in the process lose those on-line sales, does suggest that profit made by those companies are more important than stopping aledgedly unwanted on-line sales.

Awesome, now if the rest of us divers support Larry, and not buy SP, then we could make a difference in the diving industry. I dive APEKS anyway......

As for not buying Scubapro equipment to "support" Larry, that is poorly thought out and implies a harm that is not present. Larry made his own decisions regarding Scubapro and their dealer agreement and whether he wanted to abide by it. There were no unexpected surprises anywhere. If everyone got what they wanted/deserved/agreed from the parting of the ways, then what is the issue?

Given that Apeks also restricts on-line sales, suggesting diving an Apeks reg is some how more "supportive" makes zero sense.