Support my LDS? Really?

[cbm32]

I believe he said that the DM cert will be paid for by the union ONLY if he does it at the dive shop he has been dealing with and being taken advantage of. Now I am not sure why in the world that would be but if that were the case, and IF he believes the training he has already done there was of sufficient quality, why not get the free cert? NOT just to have a free cert but because (again, assuming he believes the training he has already gotten there was quality training....and I assume he does if he did more than just his OW there) the training will make him a better diver and it is FREE DIVING for him while doing the DM course. As far as the guys antics while pleasure diving, dumb dumb dumb but as long as he doesnt pull that crap while doing the training it is a mute point. At this point, it sounds like the OP has enough on the ball to NOT go along with anything dangerous suggested by this guy and so he would not be putting himself in danger.

Someone once said something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth..........

 

[keyshunter]

pThrift.
I live pretty close to you and have heard that there is a Sherwood shop near Chatham. We have some Sherwood gear, but since I usually buy only used gear, do most of my own servicing, and have other sources for parts I have never visited that shop. I assume that that is the shop you are talking about.

If faced with your situation, I would use the rest of my 1 year free air, and then if his price for fills is competitive (considering travel time and expense), would buy air there--but nothing else. I assume that you have only 1 or 2 tanks, and Chatham is much less than an hours drive. But, if he gives you too much static about it, I would move on for everything.

One shop in the area that I like is in Greensboro. It is a small father and son operation, and I have been there and have been on a few trips with them. Over the past 10 years, I have met many of their customers and have never heard a bad word about them. They are really nice folks, are very experienced divers, and are dealers for Aqualung/Apeks, Oceanic, Atomic, Cressi and others. Their prices do not always equal internet pricing, but they do what they can to be competitive.

I really don't see the need for you, or most divers who do not want to dive professionally to take a divemaster course. Consider all of the pluses and minuses before you make that decision.

 

[cyphion]

I have a similar story with my LDS. Long story short, my OW cost me $275+ gear $500 (mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt, gloves and booties), plus another $200 for the open water dives+ plus another $120 for knife and compass.

The straw that broke the camels back, was when he sprung on me that the wet suit rental was $50/ weekend and it was required for the OW. So I went and bought a new suit, and said that's the last $50 that they get from me. So as much as I like local, I hate being nickel and dimed, and to not include the wet suit rental in the pricing, especially when I spent over map on gear was just not right. I'm pretty fair when it comes to pricing, and realize the costs of doing business, but at the same time, don't appreciate being ripped off. I wouldn't even have had an issue if he had given me 10% off, that would have kept my business. But now he gets nothing past air, and possibly not even that.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[pThrift]

How is a dive class a union benefit? And you wonder why so many states are starting to reel them in.

Dive class is a union benefit, because by the time you reach divemaster, you are a "professional" the union benefit goes toward getting you school/training to find other/better jobs outside the factory.

So I could use the same fund to go to the local community college & take courses toward a degree, or any other certification that would be needed by a "professional" of any sort, be it diving, or elsewehre

---------- Post Merged at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:05 AM ----------

pThrift.
I live pretty close to you and have heard that there is a Sherwood shop near Chatham. We have some Sherwood gear, but since I usually buy only used gear, do most of my own servicing, and have other sources for parts I have never visited that shop. I assume that that is the shop you are talking about.

If faced with your situation, I would use the rest of my 1 year free air, and then if his price for fills is competitive (considering travel time and expense), would buy air there--but nothing else. I assume that you have only 1 or 2 tanks, and Chatham is much less than an hours drive. But, if he gives you too much static about it, I would move on for everything.

One shop in the area that I like is in Greensboro. It is a small father and son operation, and I have been there and have been on a few trips with them. Over the past 10 years, I have met many of their customers and have never had a bad word about them. They are really nice folks, are very experienced divers, and are dealers for Aqualung/Apeks, Oceanic, Atomic, Cressi and others. Their prices do not always equal internet pricing, but they do what they can.

I really don't see the need for you, or most divers who do not want to dive professionally to take a divemaster course. Consider all of the pluses and minuses before you make that decision.

Yea, I wasn't going to call out any names or locations of shops, but you have already hit the nail on the head as far as bad shop #1 and good shop #2. And as far as not equaling internet pricing, I'll pay a few bucks more to buy local (if that hasn't already been established, lol)

Do you dive down in Blanch?

---------- Post Merged at 09:09 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:05 AM ----------

I have a similar story with my LDS. Long story short, my OW cost me $275+ gear $500 (mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt, gloves and booties), plus another $200 for the open water dives+ plus another $120 for knife and compass.

The straw that broke the camels back, was when he sprung on me that the wet suit rental was $50/ weekend and it was required for the OW. So I went and bought a new suit, and said that's the last $50 that they get from me. So as much as I like local, I hate being nickel and dimed, and to not include the wet suit rental in the pricing, especially when I spent over map on gear was just not right. I'm pretty fair when it comes to pricing, and realize the costs of doing business, but at the same time, don't appreciate being ripped off. I wouldn't even have had an issue if he had given me 10% off, that would have kept my business. But now he gets nothing past air, and possibly not even that.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Ouch. This seems nearly identical to my story.

---------- Post Merged at 09:12 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:05 AM ----------

I believe he said that the DM cert will be paid for by the union ONLY if he does it at the dive shop he has been dealing with and being taken advantage of. ........ it is FREE DIVING for him while doing the DM course.

Yea, I have to use the local most shop. Some weird stipulation.

Free diving? I'm already diving free. The local quarry has a yearly membership and I already own all my gear, so it's just a matter of making the trip now.

 

[fire_diver]

Support your LDS if they are a good shop. Otherwise, look for a different LDS. ScubaToys.com was my LDS for many years until a good Local shop opened. There are always options.

 

[spectrum]

Both shops 1 and 2 fall into the LDS category in my book, one is just a little farther away.

I certainly would not be bringing your wife's gear business to shop #1. I wouldn't waste effort trying to fix the attitude of #1 either, he is what he is.

The only drawback see to trading at #2 is the proximity to air fills. However I don't know how the locations relate to the dive sites. If #1 is to much of a jerk to provide good fills (once you are non exclusive) you may want a few more cylinders to make trips to #2 more worthwhile. How avid are you two? Compressor ownership is not trivial but makes sense for some.

As for the DM, do you want to be a DM groomed by this jerk? It may be nice to have the card but gainful opportunities are really limited.

Pete

 

[chrpai]

Dive class is a union benefit, because by the time you reach divemaster, you are a "professional" the union benefit goes toward getting you school/training to find other/better jobs outside the factory.

So I could use the same fund to go to the local community college & take courses toward a degree, or any other certification that would be needed by a "professional" of any sort, be it diving, or elsewehre

So have you done your research to find out what kind of income potential becoming a Pro will be?

SCUBA Diving Instructor Salaries | eHow.com

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Leisure Pro and Scubatoys are actually more local than my LDS to me, all I have to do is open my front door and the UPS man hands me my stuff.
First, the LDS owner can run his shop any way he wants. No amount of bitching and complaining on SB is going to change the way they (LDS's) run their businesses. I'll bet 99% of them have never even heard of SB. It's up to us, the diving public and consumer to make smarter choices as far as where we go for gear and service.

If saving money was the key then you can't beat the internet. You could have taken all your classes at the LDS and simply rented everything then once done get what you need online. You would have had to do your homework though and known that going in. If he was pushy and demanded that you buy at least a mask/snorkel and fins from him to start then I would have told him you will sign up for classes, that's it, take it or leave it, do you want my business or not?. Sometimes you have to be assertive.

Sometimes those types need to have some sense slapped into them (figuratively). Some LDS owners can have a real type A personality just from the nature of the sport but if somebody stands up to them it can have a sobering affect. A good start is saying something like "Do you want to do business?", then depending on his response you could follow up with "Then here's how I like things to be, do we have a deal?" That's taking control away from him and making him serve you.
In those tense situations I have one foot out the door already so if things go bad I just say 'later' and I'm gone. No skin off my nose, no more energy wasted, their loss.

Remember this, they need us more than we need them.

 

[divin'dog]

All that being said, there is a really great shop about an hour away. We all visit the same local quarry, which is how I met shop owner #2.

Now I gave shop 2 a chance on the phone initially, without really saying who I was or where I was from or anything. I just made a cold call asking about BCD's. Super helpful over the phone. I caught them at the quarry the next day and talked to them. Again, super helpful. While I was there, they loaned me a BC for my wife to try (apparently they had a class earlier in the day and had one); without charge, without question, without hassle. Just walked over before me & the MRS did our last dive and said "here, try this for her".

No charge, no pressure, nothing. Just a here try this. After asking about price on the BC he let her try, he gave me a price off the hip of $400ish, but wasn't sure without me calling or visiting the shop a couple days later. I called down and he gave me a price of $380, nearly $200 off retail. This wasn't a used BC or one he had sitting around, he had to order it in her size & color of choice. While I had him I also asked about a few other items (soft weights, regulators, general info really) and he was consistently significantly cheaper. Well worth the drive & even better considering we frequent the same quarry & I can just have them bring it next time we are both there.

Now should I really still be supporting my LDS? or Drive an hour out of the way to the nice guys? How about air? The close local guy is going to get 1000x worse about being a jerk when he finds that I've purchased something elsewhere. I heard about it for two weeks when I bought a mares puck for $175 online, but the least expensive computer he could get me was $400. How do I handle him being a jerk? Should I just drive an hour to get air & everything to avoid the situation?

PS--Thru a really really awesome program where I work, I could take my divemaster course from shop 1 (the aggravating one) completely free. Not sure if it's worth it, to deal with the guy. Thoughts? Absolutely could not take it anywhere else. I already looked into that part.

Your story reminds me of mine... When I was first starting out in scuba, I was looking for just a mask, fins, and snorkel package at one particular shop. When I was up in the air about a decision between his mask and another at a different shop, he just handed me the mask and said to compare them together at the other shop so that I would make the right decision. Told me to just bring it back when I was done shopping. I was impressed with his honesty and trust in me. I took the mask and compared them and ended up making the right decision to use this guy's shop and buy his mask (which was the better mask). Best decision I made because he was always honest with his opinions and gained my trust. As a regular customer, he would routinely give me 10%-20% discounts on gear. Always treated me with respect and was never pushy with his sales. His shop was 45 mins from home, yet another shop was only 15 mins away. The extra 1/2 hr drive was worth it over the long run.

If you really like this other shop, use them. Driving 1 hr away is kinda far but in the long run it's worth it. I would do it. It may take some planning to visit them but getting a good relationship with a local dive shop that you trust has its benefits, not to mention not having to deal with a pushy overcharging salesman. The stress alone would make me switch.

As far as doing your DM for free... First I would question why you're doing a DM program (Do you really want to be in a dive professional status? or do you think it will improve your diving skills? If for skill, the cheapest is to just dive. A DM program will not teach you to be a better diver, only how to assist in the teaching program. You should already have the diving skills entering a DM training course). Second, you should try to do your DM program with the shop that you would be working for (I doubt you would want to work for the shop you're trying to get away from).

Anyway, I think you already know what shop you're going to use... Good luck!

 

[CindyMac]

For me, an hour is still pretty local. We have three LDSs in my area. Shop #1 - I bought some gear for my husband and did an initial Discover class there. They are very nice and I feel I got a good price on the gear I bought I would consider going back there. Shop #2 is where I certified and purchased the my personal gear (such that I have - still waiting on a reg - using the hubs since we haven't been in the water together). Sometimes, I feel only tolerated there - like I was wasting their time while spending money. Shop #3 is further away and close to the dive location I will be using most (need to develop my skills). They aren't much into "dickering", but their customer service is great! On a fun dive day they hosted, I got a lot of helpful advice from their instructors and DM candidates that I dove with that day. They will be getting a lot of business from me. I'll probably take more classes from this dive shop, even though the other 2 are closer.