Why I'm not impressed with LDS

[skippy77]

o.k i have no trading experience but when i buy on line i use a u.k based company called beaver if u can get a few friends that need to oprder stuff this guzs will not onlz help u in the best waz but thez will also sell it to u at whole sale price instead of retail i saved over 100 dollars using them on a new compass knife slate and whistle

 

[kidspot]

I am in the wonderful position of having 5 LDS within walking distance... and all are doing well... How many have a large selection...1 - How many have good customer service ... 3 - How many have friendly staff ... 3 - How many have knowledgable staff... 3 - How many have compressors ... 4 - How many have old dusty equipment for sale ... 3 - How many have diversified ... 4 - How many would I classify as a "Bad LDS" ... 1 - How many complain about internet competition ... 1 (the bad one) - how many are in immediate danger of going out of business ... 0

The 1 "Bad" LDS has very old equipment, lousy service (downright rude is the general consensus) complains about internet sales (refused to sell me things because I buy gear online) and is still doing a lot of business... mostly to first time visitors.

btw - the lds where I get air, fills over 100 tanks/day and they are the cheapest in the state that I've found @ $2/fill - and they still make money on it...

The preceeding is based entirely on local "hearsay", "rumors", and my opinion ... fwiw

In the right market there's room even for the bad shops... But the good ones get referals here on SB [comercial] Like Pacific Dive in Lahaina, and B&B in Kihei... Both with friendly, knowlegable staff, decent prices (for the Hawaii market at least) and work to get your business, not the other way around. [/commercial]

Aloha, Tim

 

[miesemer]

btw - the lds where I get air, fills over 100 tanks/day and they are the cheapest in the state that I've found @ $2/fill - and they still make money on it...

I doubt it.

However, I'd guess they may be making money on residual sales while people are waiting for fills.

 

[kidspot]

no one waits for air here, tanks are dropped off, and picked up the next day - in some cases they pick them up from other shops without compressors and fill for them... 75% of the people never even walk in the door...

 

[dl348]

Why??? It doesn't seem to work that way with anything else. Try buying a good lawn mower on line and see how much money you save. Try to save some bucks on a chain saw, a car or a TV. My experience has been that most of the time the shipping cancels out any advantage you get on line. There are exceptions of course. Some I have found include boat motor parts, pressure washer stuff and unfortunately sometimes scuba stuff.

I expect any retailer to be price competitive and in the end, I suspect they will have to be in order to keep the doors open. The INTERNET is here to stay.

Why do you think it is unfortunate to find scuba stuff cheaper on-line if its from an authorized retailer???????????

 

[jagreschler]

Hi SNaslund,

I'm a noob in Chicago area and will finish the class soon. Can you tell me the names of the bad LDS that you experienced? So I won't waste my time/money on them.



Thank you in advance,
Patrick

Sounds like there should be a section on this site where users can rate LDS's, to make it easy to find a good LDS in your area, and easier to avoid the bad ones. Does such a section exist ?

- Jay

 

[nauidiver2004]

Sounds like there should be a section on this site where users can rate LDS's, to make it easy to find a good LDS in your area, and easier to avoid the bad ones. Does such a section exist ?

- Jay

www.scubaboard.com

 

[mels]

sorry to here about bad lds. all I can say is if you move to boston I can tell you about a great one. when we go there they tell us and show us all of our options,and tell us when new gear is due in. the whole staff is friendly and love talking about diving, gear, or dive sites. plus we get free air. You can get good prices on the net, and a good dive shop knows that, but for good coustomer service and a good price I support my lds. good luck finding one hope you can they are out there.

 

[Mlody11]

My experience has been that most of the time the shipping cancels out any advantage you get on line. There are exceptions of course. Some I have found include boat motor parts, pressure washer stuff and unfortunately sometimes scuba stuff.

How do you figure?? I usually found that the shipping and tax are in the same range? You know you really dont pay tax on out of state items. In fact... I have found that usually over 200 gets you free shipping and you dont need to pay tax (which is 20 on a 200 dollar item) 20 is not alot but when you buy 2000 worth of gear that is 200 dollars.

 

[SNaslund]

A couple of people have contacted me wanting to know the names of the dive shops I had the problems with. I would really rather say that I have purchased some equipment from ScubaToys and they were great. I have also had very positive experiences with Scuba Systems in Skokie IL. I got my certification at Underwater Safaris and the instructors were great, equipment sales was OK, and rental gear sucked.

My best advice would be to go in and talk to the people. I have pretty much determined that if they seem like jerks, they probably do business that way as well.