WHY Dive shops make you Feel GUILTY ???

[OE2X]

No, I'm saying that if a person is a diver he is more apt to know how gear works, knows what it's like at depth.I guess I've been lucky in that the divers at my LDS have steered me away from unnecessary gear on a few occassions.

Lets see. If I worked at an LDS then I could tell you about my experiences with Apeks ATX 200's and Scubapro MK25/S600's since I own and use both. Now that leaves out a whole lot of other regs that a typical LDS sells. Most people that work at a shop don't have access or time to try out all the different gear. A sales person will do a clinic on all the other regs. What does a clinic do for a sales person? It allows them to regurgitate the facts put forth by a manufacture. You don't need to be a diver to be able to do that effectively and honestly.

 

[pilot fish]

But very likely true.

Let me give you an example of a few instances at my LDS. I went in a few months ago to buy a shorty and the salesman, who now knows me, said, what do you need that for? He said, you have a 3 mil, a 1 mil and a skin so you don't need a shorty. Stop wasting your money. On another occasion I went in to buy a sub duck alert because of an incidnt I had diving the Spiegel Grove. She said, this was another salesperson, those are a pain in the ***, you don't want to buy that -$75, get a rattle $18 that works just as well. You have to trust people like that. Would I get that kind of treatment from a faceless voice on the phone from an non diving,Internet merchant? I seriously doubt it.

 

[pilot fish]

Lets see. If I worked at an LDS then I could tell you about my experiences with Apeks ATX 200's and Scubapro MK25/S600's since I own and use both. Now that leaves out a whole lot of other regs that a typical LDS sells. Most people that work at a shop don't have access or time to try out all the different gear. A sales person will do a clinic on all the other regs. What does a clinic do for a sales person? It allows them to regurgitate the facts put forth by a manufacture. You don't need to be a diver to be able to do that effectively and honestly.

Scubapro MK25/S600's ? Are you the guy that sold that to me ?That's what I have. Great reg.

 

[jonnythan]

Let me give you an example of a few instances at my LDS. I went in a few months ago to buy a shorty and the salesman, who now knows me, said, what do you need that for? He said, you have a 3 mil, a 1 mil and a skin so you don't need a shorty. Stop wasting your money. On another occasion I went in to buy a sub duck alert because of an incidnt I had diving the Spiegel Grove. She said, this was another salesperson, those are a pain in the ***, you don't want to buy that -$75, get a rattle $18 that works just as well. You have to trust people like that. Would I get that kind of treatment from a faceless voice on the phone from an non diving,Internet merchant? I seriously doubt it.

Well, I must say that if you walk into your shop with cash in hand without knowing about gear or what gear you need, I can see why you need the C-carded salesman to tell you what to do.

Me, I get my information and recommendations from non-biased, knowledgeable, and experienced divers. I just need the salesman to sell. I recommend this approach.

 

[OE2X]

Scubapro MK25/S600's ? Are you the guy that sold that to me ?That's what I have. Great reg.

Not likely unless you bought one used.

 

[M&P+4]

While I don't think that a shop should ever pressure a customer or make them feel guilty about not purchasing from them and I also agree that for a "brick and mortar" store to stay in business these days they are going to have to be in the same price ballpark as the online stores

The one thing that I would ask as shop owner is for customers to mentally keep a tally of some of the non tangible things that a they take from the store during a sale, and factor these into the equation when it comes to the decision on where to buy.


These are all things that we do everyday that cost the shop money but give added value to the customer. I tend to think of it as a simple math equation. If the price is less online and the customer service in the store sucks than buy online, there is no reason to buy in the store. If however the price is $50 less online but the store spends hours with you answering your questions and taking you to the pool to try gear before you buy it, then buy it from the shop.

Paul

Point well made....value is more than dollars and cents. If all you desire or require is a box delivered to your door than price is the only factor.

Most folks expect more than just the 'box delivered on time' service.

I'm sure that there are online options that offer more, but there is only so much that can be accomplished without being face to face.

 

[redacted]

Scubapro MK25/S600's ? Are you the guy that sold that to me ?That's what I have. Great reg.

Not a bad reg at all IMHO. But why did you buy that rather than a Mk25/G250HP or a Mk2/R190 or an Apeks or Aqualung or Diverite or....? Why didn't you save a bunch of cash and go with a used reg like maybe a Mk10/BA?

 

[pilot fish]

Not a bad reg at all IMHO. But why did you buy that rather than a Mk25/G250HP or a Mk2/R190 or an Apeks or Aqualung or Diverite or....? Why didn't you save a bunch of cash and go with a used reg like maybe a Mk10/BA?

MK25/S600 works well in cold water and I liked the weight and fit. I also liked the venturi knob that helps prevent free flow. A lot of divers recommended it too

 

[pilot fish]

Well, I must say that if you walk into your shop with cash in hand without knowing about gear or what gear you need, I can see why you need the C-carded salesman to tell you what to do.

Me, I get my information and recommendations from non-biased, knowledgeable, and experienced divers. I just need the salesman to sell. I recommend this approach.

I think by now we can agree we have a different approach to gear purchase. You must realize that the recommendation you hear from other divers might just be the reg, bc or fins they have?

 

[jonnythan]

I think by now we can agree we have a different approach to gear purchase. You must realize that the recommendation you hear from other divers might just be the reg, bc or fins they have?

Yup.. oftentimes, the recommendations on a pair of fins I've gotten from multiple divers are most likely the fins that these multiple divers have purchased for themselves.

This is markedly similar to the recommendations on a pair of fins I've gotten from a single dive shop employee salesman that this single dive shop has in stock