thin_air,
To explain your confusion (to the best of my knowledge), Roger does not represent Picasso as a global company but rather just as the N. American sales rep. While Picasso still has the sales and profits from the deeperblue store (diveinn.com), Roger does not. As such, he is not pleased to lose business.
As has been noted many times in these forums, Roger provides tremendous customer support. In my case, about two years ago, he was able to track down the only BT fins in my size in N. America (a dive shop in Hawaii). Long story but he went the extra mile and I got my fins in time for a trip and for a good price ($99).
Now, in my opinion, Roger is wrong to "blacklist" deeperblue. He, of course, deserves to be compensated for his services and should set those services to such a level that people gladly pay his premium. If you know exactly what type of third mask you need, buy it from deeperblue. If you are buying a wetsuit and don't know what size you need, what type for your diving climate, and have many questions, Roger will walk you through all of them and insure you end up with what you are looking for. For a well-deserved price. But let the buyer decide the option they want (not that deeperblue doesn't offer good support, but they may not return your call at home at 9:00 PM to follow-up like Roger does).
In short, Roger should not stifle competition but welcome it and find his differential advantage to make his prices worth the extra. As for the buyer, they should have the chioce. And since my next mask with be my sixth, I'm buying it from deeperblue.
Scott
