Bonaire Wannadive- is it just me?

[DiveMaven]

I really appreciate diverbart standing up and admitting that they made a mistake and dropped the ball initally. Its really sad that the OP felt like he had to send a rude and abusive e-mail without ever giving Wannadive an opportunity to try to make things right. Sure, there was likely little they could do since it was a cruise ship stop, but an apology and admitting they were wrong, along with information about disciplinary procedures can go a long way to making a wronged customer feel better. Heck, they might have even thrown a Bonaire t-shirt into the mix....but the OP never gave them the opportunity to respond without blasting them. Pathetic.

 

[helimvee]

Another vote for the OP - Yes it is just you.

We were in Bonaire in Feb 2009 (our second trip diving with WD) and the young guy at the diveshop was more than willing to fill my pony tank. As you know the shop is across the beach from the tank fill station but he ran right over and filled it up. He even brought it over to the restaurant after it was filled. Later in the week he topped it up and did it with a great big smile.

WannaDive - You could not ask for better group of people!

 

[Tom Smedley]

Not only Bart and Bob but Jeff and Rob and Marlen and so many others make Wannadive the primo place. Last year one of my divers brought an incomplete BCD and they let her use one of theirs. This year a leaky second stage, "no need for field expediant repairs, just use one of ours!" A popped O ring - Rob brought a replacement right down to the waterline. Rum punch party - you bet. There is no end to the ways these wonderful folks have helped me out. They get my vote every time. For all the good they do a minor screwup is forgivable (especially with a POD diver.) On my immigration form where it says "Have you ever visited Bonaire on a cruise ship? I not only mark it no I write in large letters NO!!!

 

[highlandfarmwv]

There is no "rule" against solo shore diving in Bonaire. Perhaps from a dive op using their boat or dock.

 

[dpaustex]

Been to Bonaire. I've got to agree w/ ian. He with the boat makes the rules.

But, the shore diving there is awesome. Forget the boat altogether, as there are 90+ shore dive sites, from one end of the island to the other.

It's a hassle to take a pony on a plane, I would assume.

But there isn't an island "rule", that I"m aware of.

 

[Wiley1]

This morning (monday ofcourse ) I received a very rude and threatening e-mail from Mr Cummings. It was the first time I had heard from anything going wrong. I I invite Mr Cummings to post his e-mails including the one to me. Even if we screwed up, that is not called for, and my first reaction was not to follow up at all. However curiosity kills the cat and so I went to ask my crew. It appears we did screw up. One of my crew members simply did not follow several of my instructions and Mr Cummings bumped his nose because of it. Disciplinary action has been taken immidiately. I would have apologized profusely, after all it sucks the large one, if one arrives and finds his arrangements even slightly messed up. Because of his approach however, I cannot, will not, and shall not apologize. Mr Cummings, I am happy you found our island such a great experience and my collegues at Dive Friends such wonderful people. I agree with you and invite you to stick with them for your next trip.
Mr Snelder

Bart:

I agree with some of the posters here that this matter should have been handled at the time it happened or shortly after. Had we been able to meet when I was on the island, or if you had chosen to return my email message, I'm sure we both could have gained a better understanding of what happened.

Please try to understand why I was upset:
1. I started planning in January for a cruise in mid-March. Kim booked me on a 2:00 boat dive by email for March 18th followed by a shore dive. She never mentioned that there was a possibility that either dive might be canceled.
2. When and if the boat dive was canceled, nobody bothered to call me, even though my cell phone was included in all my email correspondence.
2. When the cruise ship docked, I got a cab and arrived in plenty of time. When I got to your shop at Eden Beach there was only one person there and she was totally clueless. Although she apologized for the boat that didn't exist, she made no effort to help me make other arrangements or explain what had gone wrong. Basically, she treated my wife and I like an inconvenience and an interruption in her day.
3. We had no choice but to walk to another shop, a mile away in the hot sun, carrying all my dive gear. Your staff member refused to even call a cab for us.
4. When I got back from my cruise, I emailed a simple "what happened?" message and the casual "oops" reply made me wonder whether the owner had any idea what was going on in his shop and how his customers were being treated.
5. I emailed the message quoted below, asking for the owner's email address, and I'm still waiting for a response.

----------------
"Exactly when did you know that the boat dive would be canceled? You could have at least arranged for me to do two shore dive but you couldn't even be bothered with that. It nearly ruined my vacation and it was very unprofessional to leave me hanging.
When I plan my week-long vacation to Bonaire, I will be sure to use anybody other than WannaDive. You people just don't care.
What is the owner's email address? I'd like to fill him in on my miserable experience."
--------------------

It now appears that your staff forwarded my message to you rather than answering it. I wanted you to know about my experience because, from what I had heard from others, this is not the typical way that people are treated at WannaDive Bonaire. Just thought you would like to know. I suppose I could have been more gracious but I was exhausted after an otherwise great cruise.

I did not mean to be rude and I definitely did not threaten anyone. I just wanted to help you correct a problem so that another cruise ship diver didn't have the same miserable experience that I did. I left Bonaire wondering how two shops could be so vastly different in the way they welcome customers. I understand that mistakes happen, I just couldn't understand why nobody at Wannadive seemed interested in fixing the problems.

Admittedly, I have only met one person at Wannadive and exchanged email with only one or two others. But, E-mail is not a particularly great way to convey feelings and often our actual intentions are misunderstood. I remain ready to discuss my experience with you if you will give me the courtesy of a phone call, or reply with a time that I can call you at my own expense.

 

[diverbart]

Mr Cummings,
You are again not being honest. Your first actions were to post (read trash us) on this board and the second was to send me a mail thru this board that contained such language and tone of language that I felt compelled to forward the message to the board moderators and did so, for their consideration. That was the first time I heard of anything going wrong, never mind the method. Words such as, and I quote, "unless you have a reasonable explanation for what happened to me, I will continue to trash Wannadive with everyone I come in contact with".. Since you already did so, for example on this board, again before I had even heard of anything going wrong, further follow up was useless, to put it mildly. Words like that are not to be "misunderstood" I assure you.
However, the above seems to me as a meek apology for how you handled the mishap you endured. It is accepted. My crew has already apologized to you, IE case closed. I will now go look at fishies.

MR. Snelder