Posted by brianc on July 11, 2000 at 12:31:37:
In Reply to: weeeeeel, i don't know about it necessarily being unfair... posted by kelphead on July 11, 2000 at 11:56:17:
While the tank has not been used, the shop has lost the ability to rent out the tank to someone else. Yes, there may be other rentals available, but that may not always be the case. The rental policy for a business needs to be consistant.
I'm not exactly making big bucks as a biologist, but I also know that most dive shops are not gold mines either. And yes, I do know how high most mark-ups are on gear - volume of sales also needs to be part of the equation. It's important for divers to support the shops that they consider worthwhile. Where I lived before, I became friends and dive buddies with the shop owners. Sometimes they felt uncomfortable about charging me, but I kept reminding them that friendship and business do not need to be mutually exclusive. Besides, I had a selfish interest in seeing a quality operation stay in business. Now that I am in a new area, I am concious of wanting to give business to the shop that I decided to use as "home base."
The lost money may hurt the diver a bit, but think about the hit that the shop takes from refunds. Their lost income is multiplied by all the divers who request refunds.