Quote:
| Originally Posted by balbrigganbloke Fourteen of us went away to the red sea last year with our lds
We paid well over the odds for the trip i thought(and so it proved) there were lots of little extras that we hadnt been told about , so this year we prganised it ourselves and we are paying exactly half the money we paid and this year we are going on a better itinerary ,the lds has organised another trip this year but up to now hes the only one going on his one cos hes too dear
I would go to my lds and pay a bit over the odds for gear i needed but like i say to him if pay him more money for gear that means theres less money for diving so he either gets it on the gear or i dont dive so i know what would rather do
On a related(ish) point would all the people who 'support' their local dive shop and shop there also feel the same about their local shop.Do you do your weekly shopping in your local corner shop as opposed to Tesco Safeways etc. |
I would imagine that the cost you paid would be based on the fact that given the number (14?) the cost to you would have included an amount to allow someone (the LDS owner perhaps) to go for 'free'. That person is there to smooth out all the things that need sorting out, takes the flack from the divers when the itinery gets changed and takes the flack from the boat crew/dive centre when the divers aren't where they should be and generally spends the week with about half the relaxation that the paying guests have. In other words, they sort out your problems.
Analigiously, if you book a flight, hotel, taxi from the airport you may pay less for your holiday than a person who books a package holiday with a tour operater. However, those with the operator would usually have a rep they can raise issues with. That rep has a job to do.
If you are prepared to individually resolve issues which may arise, fine, no problem. However, many people like the support of someone who has (probably) been there before, knows the ropes and will work reasonably hard to ensure you have a great holiday.
My nearest shop is Sainsbury's.
