Posted by Wayne on August 20, 2002 at 11:14:32:
In Reply to: Re: AQUA-SYSTEMS DIVEAQUA.COM IS BAD NEWS. posted by harry on August 20, 2002 at 10:03:20:
You are very wrong. If we transition away from traditional brick & morter stores, we will give up on service. Even though there are trends toward less service, the customer will demand it and it will come back -- I hope.
It is the age old question of whether to choose based on Cost or Price. Price is a one-time payment. Cost is the price plus the other expenses over the life of the product. Let me give an example. A diver buys an offbrand wetsuit from a department store. He gets it for $75 and the dive shops wanted $150 for a similar looking name brand one one. The guy got a better price. But when the seams fail and have to be reworked (at least $30 bucks if he is lucky), when the material compresses and no longer is warm and stretchy, and when he needs to buy a new suit after 50 dives, the cost comes into play. He should have bought that name brand one instead. If the seams had a problem (which they probably would not) the local dive shop would have sent it back for him and gotten it fixed by the manufacturer for free. The materials would probably have been better. And he would have gotten at least 150 - 200 dives from the suit before shopping for another one at his local dive shop. Cheap suit cost $80 for 50 dives or $1.60 per dive compared to about $0.75 per dive for the better suit. This does not even address the aggrevation of dealing with the hidden costs of the cheap suit.
Buying from a good local store removes many of the risks of purchase. You get to talk to a person who knows about the brands they sell. You get custoemr service when you have a problem. Of course there are goignt o be some local shops that are bad, but there are many that are good and earn your business and deserve your loyalty.
Wayne