Aldora Divers Review: Two Tank Solo New Diver Experience Coming off a Cruise Ship

[Jayfarmlaw]

4 more pages and we can call this "the DED Thread" forevermore....I'm all tingly just thinking about it!! Somebody post something offensive so we can beat this dead horse some more!!! When The Chairman was called a power mad satrap, that was pretty good....anybody know any Chairman jokes??

Post away!!
Jay

 

[tridacna]

It was slmost dead until Netdoc resuscitated it. To be honest, I’m not sure that that’s doing Dave any favors. I’m certain that Dave is not doing Dave any favors.

 

[Efka76]

Now I am really confused.... OP was positive, pointed out few small things. All situation really simple, easily manageable. After 10 pages or various posts (many of them actually not relevant ant trying to make OP guilty, calling him babycry and etc.) i thought that this is going to end. Then comes The Chairman. English is my second language but at least for me, the whole situation is pretty clear. However, with all due respect I do not understand such people as The Chairman who comes at the end of discussion, does not read all OP explanations and starts telling not relevant things to this topic. Sorry, but the whole idea of this post was "poor customer relationship management". Accordingly, chairman's posts and discussion about what could go wrong when you are running a dive shop are not relevant. Also, all further discussions seems to me as "beating a dead horse"

I guess some very experienced divers / dive shop owners do not like to admit their mistakes, try to find various justifications instead of politely say "sorry, my mistake". That's it.

 

[BDSC]

Dave's reaction was not quite what I was looking for as a customer and according to so many of you, it's uncharacteristic.

Well, not really.

I believe it was last year when someone came on SB and posted about booking a night dive with Aldora and when he showed up at the shop for the dive the shop told him they would not be going out. It is supposed to be their policy that they will go out with even one diver. He had booked the dive in advance and even confirmed it with emails. So when he didn't get the dive he had been guaranteed, he posted about the experience and expressed his disappointment.

What was Dave's response on here? He blamed the diver and claimed that the guy had never signed up for the dive. No way his shop could have made that mistake. But low and behold the guy had his emails with the shop and posted those emails on the thread and they confirmed he had booked the night dive with the shop. So Dave blaming the customer is not uncharacteristic.

 

[guruboy]

Dave throws a good party though.

 

[The Chairman]

Be honest,

Please show me where I haven't been honest. You're inferring that I am somehow trying to hoodwink everyone on the internet into believing a lie. I resent that as it's not even remotely true. Perhaps you should practice being honest before you demand that of others?

it’s just as easy if not easier for a dive op to hang themselves on your site as it is for them to promote their business positively

It's also just as easy for someone to hurt themselves diving if they haven't gotten the requisite training. I thought I made that point abundantly clear. Don't assume you can wing this: get the training from someone who knows what they're doing. Why is this so hard to comprehend? Your life may not depend on it, but your business does. The dive industry has always been against the internet. They've been hoping that it will just go away and yet here is ScubaBoard. Ignore us at your peril.

Again, putting your head in the sand because you don't understand something is not a good strategy. It's like launching a boat without a rudder or a sail. Who knows where you'll end up or what you'll look like by the time you reach shore? Whether you like it or not, your business is on the internet and someone somewhere is talking about it. You may not approve. You may think it's unfair. In reality, the internet doesn't care about your feelings towards it. You either get in there and control the conversation or you're at the mercy of chance.

When The Chairman was called a power mad satrap, that was pretty good....anybody know any Chairman jokes??

That was phreakin phunni.

To be honest, I’m not sure that that’s doing Dave any favors.

What's worse than bad press?

Spoiler

No press!

 

[tridacna]

What's worse than bad press?

Spoiler

No press!

Harumph. I'd be willing to make a wee wager that Dave would be more than happy with no press on this one.

Say what you like about SB but it sure figures high in search results about dive stuff.

Perhaps you should offer to provide Dave with some of that training you're talking about because right now, he's pulling his left foot out to make way for his right..

 

[The Chairman]

Say what you like about SB but it sure figures high in search results about dive stuff.

This is what the industry has missed: It's GTS and not FTS. When you want to research anything, you don't Facebook that sh1t, you Google it. The industry has poured tens of millions of dollars into their Facebook presence because that's what DEMA and the others want them to do. They are wasting their time and money making others rich. Yes, Facebook is a tad bit bigger than SB. But Facebook is not Googlieyezed like ScubaBoard is. Just this last month it got even worse. Facebook, in trying to reduce the impact of fake news has all but severed a shop's ability to promote itself to the people that have liked it. You're going to have to pay big bucks to advertise on there now. Unfortunately, the industry wants to blame me and the 'interwebz' for all of its troubles. So the players continue to stick their collective heads in the sand and avoid me in favor of places like Facebook. It's dunderheaded and when I read people suggesting that shops should stay off of ScubaBoard, all I can see is the misinformation it's spreading and it irks me that it's happening HERE! ScubaBoard is a great tool. Certainly, you should learn to use the tool correctly but don't blame the tool for the user's lack of skill.

Perhaps you should offer to provide Dave with some of that training you're talking about because right now

I have. The offer is for anyone wanting to learn how to use the tool efficiently and safely. Anyone. Not to toot my own horn (aoooga!), but I have handled more internet blowups successfully than anyone else in this industry... maybe even than all of them combined. I am always available for a consult: no charge. I would love to teach anyone's shop if I'm in the area. I'll be in Cozumel sometime in June or July if they want me to come give them some insight on how to approach the interwebz and SB in particular. What have you got to lose but an evening?

 

[Altamira]

@The Chairman. No charge? Man, you should at least ask for a margarita or your favorite beer.

 

[The Chairman]

@The Chairman. No charge? Man, you should at least ask for a margarita or your favorite beer.

You know, it would be fun to make this an island-wide event. Maybe a shop or shops can host it and provide pizza and beer. They can bring as many staff as they want, or think need this, and we can make an entire evening of it. Cozumel is one of our more 'hostile' forums and it just doesn't have to be. If all the shops banded together to do this right, the acrimony can go way down, the fun way up and that would result in an increase in traffic for everyone. Tuesday would be the night I would choose. What say ye, Cozu-DiveOps?

EDIT=> OK, OK, I know that American Dive Ops thrive on pizza and beer. I have no idea what our Mexican amigos go for. I'm open for anything.