Posted by tleemay on July 21, 2000 at 17:29:20:
In Reply to: Discount Brain Surgery posted by Kevin Rottner on July 21, 2000 at 15:19:38:
I have to agree with Jim, Omar, and Kevin also.
I too have been bitten by DDS in the past.
My issue was over a mask that I returned three
times after a total of 11 dives due to a cracking
mask frame. I eventually realized that the
cheaper Ocean Master mask I bought was never
going to perform the way I wanted it to, so the
salesperson at that time tried to sell me an
Apollo mask. I inquired about receiving full
credit for my current mask since it did crack
three times over a 4 week period. At first they
said no. I made a stink about it, even
threatening to call Jim & Melinda at home to let
them know personally I was pissed. The person
behind the counter only then reluctantly agreed
and gave me full credit for the 44.95 for the
Ocean Master towards a $79 Apollo Prestige.
That was over 5 years ago and I still have that
Apollo and use it today as a primary. I am sad
to say I have not bought anything more from DDS
since then. I too try to avoid them unless they
have something I absolutely cannot get from
another shop in town.
Would I ever recommend them to anyone to buy gear,
probably so if the gear they sought was a name
brand with a good reliability and performance
track record - and at a good price. Would I ever
send anyone there who was starting out and wanted
to get into the sport with minimal dollars to
invest? No. Time and money spent in this
sport being what they are, I would urge a new
diver to buy the very best quality they could
afford. If that means someone wants to spend
$200 for tech wannabe BC, I would point out that
the cheaper equipment DDS sells is just that,
cheap. As most of us know, diving requires well
maintained and properly working equipment - life
support and all the periphrials that go along
with it. I have seen some 5 year old well used
BCs of name brand that were in better shape than
an Ocean Quest "Commander" and "Pro" that had 25
dives on them each.
And as to DDS supplying training, I have been
told that DDS no longer uses that one contract
training agency with the bad "puppy mill" attitude
in cranking out divers of suspect skill and
knowlege. I haven't seen this to be true, but I
don't doubt it is given from what I had witnessed
first hand.