In a previous post I stated how I felt and why I felt that way, basically promoting why I felt safe to suggest two dive shops that I have visited. I recieved a comment about being curious on why I did not like other shops Ive visited.
First off, a dive shop is not just a place to get gear or sign up for classes, its a place that helps maintain the adventure of SCUBA , and therefore it is my opinion that a LDS is also a life line, a life line to technology, dive locations, safety, ect ... and because of this I feel that I should recieve more then just mediocre information.
Because choosing a shop is a personal experience and deciding to continue using them is a personal decsion I will refrain from naming the shop / shops I decided were not right for me because that is just it, they werent right for me. However anothers experience may be different and I would be wrong to out a shop based on my perceptions, however I will go into what I do expect and reasons why other shops did not compare.
Dive Organizations ...yes we all know that there are different organizations that one can be certified through and we all have our little ribs about such, however I do not think it is right to insult one group only to build up the group they either promote or are. I am PADI, but in a shop I talked about my daughter becoming NAUI, that was the very first thing I said (I was looking to compare prices for snorkel gear) the next thing I heard was a group of 5 men start laughing and insulting NAUI to a degree that I was embarrassed for the shop. Not only that, but during the course of the insult I heard the fuck word 3 times. I had my 12 year old daughter with me, I understand I can not control how others behave around my children nor the words that they speak, but I should expect that if I am in a place of business people will refrain from such excessive rude language. I am a very strict parent who appreciates being able to expose my children to good experiences such as SCUBA but that does not mean I should also expose them to vulgar conversations at a store. The only small saving grace and why I did not walk out right then and there was a different employee apologized for the behaviours of them and was more professional.
Gear knowledge... I expect a store to have a vast knowledge of all the gear they carry. Not only that but I expect them to help guide me based upon my needs that I express and maybe since Im new the needs I may not be aware of. At one shop, although they carried a variety of brands continued to steer me to one perticular brand, even though I stated many times I did not want that brand. I didnt state such though until after asking several times why they promoted that brand so much the only answer was "The warranty" which is not the most important part in my opinion when buying gear. Yes its a part of it, but its not the end all be all. However the shop felt it was enough to where I had a hard time being exposed to the other stuff they had. I felt uncomfortable asking about anything because they seemed more about the sale then what the gear can do for me. If I am to spend sometimes hundreds on a piece of gear I expect to walk out feeling comfortable with the gear.
I think the biggest aspect in why I dont choose to continue with a shop would be my feelings on why they have that shop. Do they really care about the divers? Do they really care about my needs? One of the biggest no nos for me is insulting anything or anyone else to beef yourself or your service up, if that happens I think of two men in the locker room with a ruler, either way , if you have to do that , to me no matter what , you will never measure up to my expectations.
Hence the biggest reasons I love Oak Hill Scuba http://www.oakhillscuba.com/ and Royal Scuba http://shop.royalscuba.com/main.sc . Both shops know I go to the other, and at first I was nervous to hurt eithers feelings because I hear so much about loyality to one shop but I soon learned that I have loyality to diving, I visit and spend money at the shops I feel bring something to this sport and its those shops I care continue doing so. It would be bad in my opinion for either Oak Hill or Royal Scuba to go out of business because they have brought so much to my life by way of scuba that I know they have what it takes to make better divers in the today, tomorrow and for a long time to come and I want more to experience this sport and feel how I do and I know that if they go to some shops over the others they have a better chance at such.
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