The story goes something like this:
Last fall we (the SCUBA Club at the University of Florida) decided to take a trip down to the Keys, the sole reason being to dive the Grove. Unfortunately, my favorite op (Horizon Divers) wasn't going to the Grove during our stay, so booked with someone else. I grabbed the first ad I saw in Florida SCUBA News and called Kelly's. I clearly identified myself, saying that I was the President of the Gator SCUBA Club from the University of Florida and that we were interested in booking a dive on the Grove and gave them our available dates, they replied tersely and took my information (once again, Gator SCUBA Club) and offered us a club discount after I asked. Sounds all fine and good. We get down to the Keys, do our first dive with Horizon which we thought would be reef dives, but we were the only ones on the boat so we got to do the Grove. The second day we drive up to Kelly's, walk inside and end up waiting for someone to talk to us for a solid ten minutes. Finally, we talk to someone, I explain who I am and that we have a reservation on the boat. Well, they don't have our reservation. After some searching they find that they had booked us with the Gulf Coast SCUBA Club, no big deal, whatever, as long as we get on the boat. So we all start the process of paperwork and such then start to pay. Well they want us to pay the normal price, substantially more than they quoted on the phone because we're not part of the club that we were booked under, however, I kindly pointed out to them, that it was THEIR fault I was booked wrong, not mine, since I clearly identified myself on the phone, twice. At this point, I'm not very happy, as far as I'm concerned this is problem number three within 20 minutes of walking in the door. We finally agree on a price, the rest of the club heads out to load up while I'm paying. Before they ring everything up I tell them that we are a state sponsored club, so our charter fees are tax exempt then I hand them our tax exemption letter. They respond that they won't do it tax free, regardless of the paperwork we have. With that, I turned and left, without a word actually.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it was really the attitude that was displayed that made the biggest impression. One of the people behind the counter, who seemed to be doing the most work, didn't seem to quite know what they were doing or where to look for what, scatter-brained is not a desireable quality in an operator. The other had close to the foulest attitude I have ever run into, another thing I don't want in an operator. First impressions are very important, this one did not foster any kind of amicable feelings.
I think the more advice people get about operators, the better, but every post should be taken with a grain of salt, they should investigate for themselves. On the topic of "bad days", that excuse doesn't fly with me, you're not doing your job if you're being rude to customers and hassling them, you're not "having a bad day".
Kelly's is definitely not even near being the worst operator in the Keys, however there are MUCH better ones, including Horizon Divers, Paradise Charters, Quiescense and Divers City.
Ben
(one of the ones that lead to the recent Ocean recall), and they not only loaned me one, they let me move the hoses around so I could have my console and computer.
