In Reply to: POLL: Rudest Dive Shops in So Calif posted by neptune on November 09, 2005 at 09:33:30:

I like this question. It seems to me that rudeness is a common thing amongst a lot of dive shops and boats. There is a sense of snobbery that I've felt from a lot of dive shops whose employees just blow you off or treat people in a condescending, uncaring manner. I don't understand why this attitude exists, but I've seen it in shops from North Carolina to Florida to here in SoCal. I don't understand why people selling a recreational experience are souring it for their customers, and I see this in boat captains and divemasters from time to time. I know it's a stressful thing and they have a lot to handle, but if you don't make it fun for your customers, what are you thinking?
I've got a lot of blowoffs from dive shops probably just cause I'm 15-20 years younger then the average diver out there. Being 25 makes them look down on me (and I was told as much when I was working at a dive shop; basically that older, experienced divers would not want to buy anything from some kid, but I never was so arrogant to assume I knew more then them; plus the shop in question was Sport Chalet, and I quickly learned that no self-respecting macho diver would be caught dead there).
I shake my head when I hear stores complaining about customers leaving them to buy products offline, wondering where the loyalty is. I honestly don't think most places are deserving of loyalty. Customers/consumers have a choice and if they don't like your attitude, that's your problem, not theirs. Customers don't owe anything and they're not obliged to buy your stuff just because you might have certified them.
If you don't care for the people who are interested in the sport you are selling, you don't deserve to be in business.

As for the rude dive shops, off the top of my head I'd say the shop near Pico and Overland. I only went there once but the owner didn't even acknowledge me or say a single word as I browsed around. I felt like I was some unwelcome presence and left after a few minutes.
A few Sport Chalets have been like that, too. Or just raised an attitude and been jerks.