Posted by MHK on September 13, 2000 at 18:19:30:
In Reply to: Discount Diver Supply reputation? posted by KZ on September 13, 2000 at 00:12:13:
I strongly believe that you should re-think your position. I liken it to a good auto mechanic. If you frequent a repair store often enough you get to develop a relationship, it's amazing what that type of relationship can be worth. When you go to a dealer a simple tune becomes a major over haul, etc. etc. etc...
By the same token a good dive shop can make all the difference in the world. By pure happenstance my 2 favorite dive shops in the South Bay, the owners are frequent posters to this NG. Ken at Reef Seekers and Jim at Scuba Toys both run top notch shops and as far as I can tell neither one of these guys seem to rip anyone off. So while, admittedly, I haven't done the research in terms of does a mail order save X # of dollars, I feel it is VERY important to have a shop (s) that you can walk into, say hello, talk about local issues, share ideas, get advice. That intangible is invaluable in my view.
The old adage that you get what you pay for makes perfect sense.
Given that I know several dive shop owners, it seems slightly unfair to me that people go into shops, take up hours of the shop employyes time, ask relevant questions and get candid answers then only to go on line and save a few dollars. I would prefer diver's support local dive shops, help keep them in business, recognize they operate on razor thin profit margins and are in a very competitive marketplace, and keep them around.
I know, for me, the last thing I would want is to see these local shops go out of business and then get stuck getting equipment and advise from Wal Mart or K-Mart.
Just my 2 cents..