It seems if your in the north-east region the dive shops mostly run on the attitude of, well we don’t have much competition, who else are they going to go to. It’s a shame, but you’re absolutely right, I haven’t went on a single trip with them and bought all my gear online(I mean, i’m willing to pay an extra few bucks for local service, but I bought my BC for darn near half their price online); but I am doing training certifications with them, and insanely enough driving 45 minutes one way just to get tanks filled. With a competition range being small "hobby" dive shops normally 1.5hr+ apart, it’s easy to see why they get away with it in my neck of the woods.