More stupid LDS tricks

[Grateful Diver]

I just think I'd like to know about trends in shops and that way I can have a better formed decision.... I might do the same in selecting hotels in another city on Orbitz or sidestep.

Because information isn't always reliable, and someone will always use it in ways that are neither fair nor accurate ... and you will have no way of knowing whether what they say actually happened or not. So it's best not to go there.

Back in the day when I was a mod on ScubaBoard we used to allow that. And on one local forum it quickly turned into "shop wars", where loyal (or misguided) customers from one shop ... or in one case, an employee posing as a customer ... would go in and post bad things about the other shops in the area. Retaliation quickly happened. Nothing good, or even accurate, came of it.

Hammering businesses on the internet is just bad juju ... I mentioned my student's case not to complain about the business, but to let people know that they shouldn't just accept everything they hear from a shop employee as gospel ... sometimes shop employees just don't have the training or information that their customers do, and sometimes they will tell you anything to get your business.

And sometimes the business owner isn't even aware that it happened.

If you have an issue with a business, the best thing to do is to contact the owner and discuss your complaint, one-on-one ... there might turn out to be reasons for the decision that you hadn't thought about. I'd rather err on the side of caution than end up hammering someone's business unfairly ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Maverick]

I never said I was entitled to a coupon or free tank.

You sure did here is your Quote

"Do I think I should have got my money back? No... but how about a coupon for a tank next time..."

As for lighting yourself on fire, I have done it many times, if you are going to speak bullshit be ready to get fired upon. I am a master at getting banged up on posts i make. So Buz if you can't take a beating then read your posts before you hit submit.
Mav.

[Diver_C]

As for lighting yourself on fire, I have done it many times, if you are going to speak bullshit be ready to get fired upon. I am a master at getting banged up on posts i make. So Buz if you can't take a beating then read your posts before you hit submit.
Mav.

Oh, you make me laugh BJ. Funny, funny stuff...

[Nwbrewer]

I never said I was entitled to a coupon or free tank.

You sure did here is your Quote

"Do I think I should have got my money back? No... but how about a coupon for a tank next time..."

As for lighting yourself on fire, I have done it many times, if you are going to speak bullshit be ready to get fired upon. I am a master at getting banged up on posts i make. So Buz if you can't take a beating then read your posts before you hit submit.
Mav.

I think we should all take a moment to congatulate BJ on using his internal edit button much more frequently in the last few weeks.

In all reality Buz, I know which particular shop it is you're talking about, and I would go out on a limb and bet that it wasn't so much the message, as the way it was delivered to you. There's a reason I drive past that shop....

I'm not saying you deserved a free tank rental or anything, but I'll bet you wouldn't be as riled if they'd been more polite about how they told you no....

There's plenty of shops in the area, find one you like better.

[Maverick]

I never said I was entitled to a coupon or free tank.

You sure did here is your Quote

"Do I think I should have got my money back? No... but how about a coupon for a tank next time..."

As for lighting yourself on fire, I have done it many times, if you are going to speak bullshit be ready to get fired upon. I am a master at getting banged up on posts i make. So Buz if you can't take a beating then read your posts before you hit submit.
Mav.

I think we should all take a moment to congatulate BJ on using his internal edit button much more frequently in the last few weeks.

[Tangfish]

Let's keep it civil and friendly here folks. BTW, I vote with my dollars and referrals. *Most* dive shops don't survive long if they offer bad customer service. Yeah, maybe they'll squeeze a few extra bucks out of some customers, but as this thread illustrates - word eventually gets around.

[BillZ]

Taken to PM

[scottsax]

A couple bucks here and there is one thing, and I realize it adds up, but I think most shop owners are people that can be reasoned with.

My least favorite trick is not so much specific to shops, but to the industry in general. Most shops are staffed by enthusiastic divers who genuinely want to see new divers succeed and continue to dive, but there's so little unbiased information out there for someone who's completely overwhelmed by the choices available for purchase. I subscribe to several dive magazines, but how can I know for sure that the "review" of the new Scubapro roller bag is unbiased, when it's the free gift for the letter of the month, and the Scubapro ad is the page before the review? And how do I know that the liveaboard one of the author's sailed in Indonesia was fairly reviewed, when another author reviewed the same boat for traveling in Belize, and there's 2 ads in the magazine for that boat? Same goes for fins, regs, suits, cameras, housings, whatever.... It reminds me a lot of the music equipment industry in the 70s & 80s. The glowing review of a product would be followed by the manufacturer's glossy ad on the next page.

And while I have spent THOUSANDS of dollars at events like Diver's Fair (and have been generally happy with my purchases,) the only information that I came armed with was salesperson and manufacturer rep's recommendations. While it all functions just fine, now that I have a couple years of experience under my weight belt, I realize that the choices that were made for me are not necessarily the choices I would make now. The industry's M.O. seems to be: get them gear asap, as cheaply (for dive gear) as possible, then have them upgrade it several times over the years until they're actually diving high-quality gear. And while I'm not opposed to a business making money, particularly a dive business, it seems like a little honest communication about the choices that are available to divers BEFORE they spend (as I did) the last $1500 in their bank accounts on a reg/bc setup might lead to more customer loyalty and larger purchases in the future.

Finally, I'm truly grateful for sites like this one. Actually, I'm only grateful for this one. It's a small enough community that most folks know most folks, and everyone is genuinely interested in helping new divers learn and grow. You all have been more than generous with your time, opinions, and gear, and encourage us newbies to learn from your mistakes, so we don't have to repeat them.
:hello2:

Whew! Enough talking-who's diving this weekend?

[oregondiver]

Excellent points Scott.

I could start a thread/war about Force FIns and the "other" crappy fins my dive shop put me into. They just wanted me to buy the expensive ones that were just so cumbersome and I really didn't have the leg muscle to use well (long board planks if what they felt like on my feet). I asked about FF, but told they weren't good etc.

Once I finally dove FF, I was 100% fully comfortable in the water, propelling myself around (faster than my buddies can keep up at times) I realized that not everyone is made for the LONG PLANK like fins. I actually never tried out the fins while holes in them (the vent thingy's?) only because it seemed everyone was doing those, and my dive shop said they were no good. And I never fit the "norm" anyway, so I didn't even stop to think that my dive shop didn't want me to try them because they didn't sell that fin style.

But meeting dive buddies and checking out their gear....like the mastercard commercial says....PRICELESS.

[Maverick]

My friend dives force fins and he is a tech diver to 315fsw, and won't dive anything else. so to each their own. I like my jets, Nailer likes his Turtles, what ever makes you comfortable in the H2O is what maters.