Chris Sawyer Diving St. Saint Thomas - Review

[fpsndiver]

I will make this promise to you, I will make 2 phone calls to try and reach Chris personally. If I cannot reach him then that will be 4 times total I have been in contact with his shop and he has not been around his own shop.

That is really cool. I know that he always harped on my brother about keeping the customers happy, and taking care of them. When I was diving with them, the mates were trying to help me with my fins and crap, and I was shocked, like leave me alone, I am ok. Because I was used to NC no handhold diving. So I was pretty surprised to see that some d/m, probably a disgruntled rock dweller gave you a bad experience.

There are a lot of "dive bumbs" aka "rock dwellers" in the islands that hop from outfit to outfit hoping for better pay. Most of them are trying to eek a living, and could care less whether or not you have a good dive. Maybe Chris inadvertantly hired a "rock dweller", and I am sure that if someone brings that to his attention that he would remedy the situation. I'm not saying that all d/ms and instructors in the islands are "rock hounds", but I have definitely run into a couple of them down there....and I understand about being angry over a ruined dive. I spent $1,000.00 bucks in airfaire to get down there, and the room, and food, and when I go diving, I want to get good dives in, and be treated in a decent manner.......with that I agree with you 100%.

Hope it all works out for you.

Tom

 

[scubachris]

That email I would write would NEVER make it to Chris Sawyer and you know that. … I know that if an email was sent, one of the employees would read it and "accidentally" delete it or "forget" to tell Chris about it. Thats how it works with common ground employees.They watch out for each other, it turns into an "owed" favor for when they have messed up. The one who signs the paychecks never finds out.

Brandon, maybe you should step off you soap box for a minute and evaluate your posts. I don’t know about the business/company where you work but it’s pretty degrading to post and assume that any email you send will get “accidentally” deleted or forgotten about. Now you’re slandering everyone at Chris Sawyer. (well maybe slandering is a bit strong but it’s an insult).

I also know that is not true. If you send an email asking it go to Chris Sawyer it will, whether the content is good or bad. Also I was wrong on Wayne reading this, he’s at Cocos Island on vacation, yes a dive vacation for someone who dives for a living.

So about your calling, hey that’s great you’re going to call twice but he may not be in the shop as he has two boats (yes he dives and Captains the boats) and other business that may take him out of the office. Perhaps you could leave a message asking him to call you. If you really, really, think the employees will sabotage the message just leave your name and number for him.

By the way you won't get him on a Friday as 99.9% of the time he goes to the Rhone on their Friday Rhone Trip

Let’s look at your facts. Did you alert anyone after your 30 minute wait about your unhappiness? Did you talk to Wayne or Staci, whom it seemed were ok to you about your problem? Did you stop in the shop afterwards and speak to someone or even ask to speak with Chris?

Yes you have every right to post your opinion but in my opinion all this slagging makes you look bad. Sure you have every right to never dive them again but what’s the harm in backing it down a notch and letting them make it right.

In an earlier post you said it would

...take them giving me 2 uncharged dives to make up for the 2 I paid for a few weeks ago.

What if they offered that up. I had a bad experience at a restaurant and talked to the manager before leaving. She comped the meal and invite my wife and I back. We gave them a chance and have been going there regularly for five years now

My advice for what it’s worth. Take your complaint directly to the shop, unless you get satisfaction from airing your grievance out online and not actually giving them a chance to fix it.

Chris

-The only easy day was yesterday-

 

[rpodos]

While I am not quite as cynical about emails (good owners of ANY business have these auto-copied to their own mailbox, or a special one for this purpose), I think your current plan to be quite reasonable.

 

[pdutcher]

When you email the address on the website, it goes to the reservations person. Not that big of a deal anymore to me. I just wont be diving with them, nor recomending them. Not like I'm going to actively seek out potential customers, but when people ask I will tell.

hi brandon,
if it is a big enough deal for you to post the bad stuff two or three times, perhaps you could take a moment to see what Chris would say?
the people who answer the e-mails are probably not in a cave and out of the loop.
give it a shot.
p

 

[Bosundorry]

The dive leader I had was a 24 karat a-hole. His name is Larry. This guy has no business leading real divers. He should stick to snorkeling.

We have looked at this site for awhile but didn’t message until we heard a friend was talked about so we read the messages and had to take the time to sign up.

Brandon you don’t have much dive experience from what you write. When you learned to dive didn’t you read or didn’t your instructors tell you that boat water is in short supply. Rinse tanks on the docks are for washing your gear. Nobody on the boat wants to work late to refill the water tank because somebody was ignorant about rinse tanks. We would have told you not to use our boat water for washing your gear and all the other captains we know would tell you the same. Being mad at the boat crew because somebody told you to be there at 9 and the boat didn’t leave until 9.30 is normal operating procedure and the owners and captains set the meet times not the crew. We tell our divers to be here earlier to give us time to get them organized and grab extra gear to make up for what they forget. We also take credit card numbers and we tell our divers that they will be charged if they don’t show up because they are taking a seat away from another diver when they don’t show up.

As captains and instructors for a long time we can say that Larry is not a dive bum or a rock dweller. We know Larry and he was on our boats many times over years with students and certified divers. He is the most safe and dependable and reliable instructor we have ever had on our boats. Today when his certified divers come to dive with us we know they will be good divers and they always talk about how much fun they had with him. He does not dive for the money. He dives because he enjoys it and he teaches because he likes meeting people and teaching them what he loves. If one of his students couldn’t finish Larry came back on his time and helped them until they got over their fears and could dive.

The guy 'fpsndiver' who left a message that Larry is a dive bum and a rock dweller should apologize. He insulted an excellent instructor and diver who is someone he doesn’t know based on a message from someone else he doesn’t know and this is too often the case in these message boards. Larry would never do that to him and he would find that Brandon’s message is not who Larry is if he ever gets the chance to dive with him.

Brandon you will never have the experience and hours underwater that Larry has and since no one told you that boat water is not for washing gear or that divers meet sometime before the boat leaves we think they also did not tell you that diving is what you make it. It is clear that you did not check out what kind of diving is available in St. thomas or you would know that it is shallow diving and the dive operators down there cater to new divers. You like to leave complaint messages but you don’t read trip reports or do your research on what to expect for depth and other factors. Because you didn’t do your research is no excuse to insult and smear someone. Learn to be a good diver and a good boat passenger before you make a fool of yourself again and try to cover up it up by insulting someone else.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Welcome to Scubaboard.

 

[fpsndiver]

The guy 'fpsndiver' who left a message that Larry is a dive bum and a rock dweller should apologize. He insulted an excellent instructor and diver who is someone he doesn’t know based on a message from someone else he doesn’t know and this is too often the case in these message boards.

:lol3:

Bosundorry,

Did you really read what I said? I never said larry was a "rock dweller".....what I said was: "Maybe Chris inadvertantly hired a 'rock dweller', and I am sure that if someone brings that to his attention that he would remedy the situation. I'm not saying that all d/ms and instructors in the islands are 'rock hounds', but I have definitely run into a couple of them down there."

Do you have any idea what "maybe" means? Here is what a Webster's Thesaurus says:.....(pehaps, could be, might be, possibly be)

I know how scarce water is in the Islands, "Here in the land of fun and sun we don't flush for number one". They capture rain water for drinking.....so on a boat it is even more scarce! But what kind of example did "Larry" set by spraying other customers with the hose......(Playing around and wasting water), and then reportedly yelling at this poster in front of the other passengers?

Look Bosundurry, I mate/dm on diveboats here in NC (so don't attempt to bestow your wisdom upon me about what takes place on diveboats). What I told this poster in short over several posts was that he should have addressed his complaint about Larry to Chris Sawyer via email/letter/in person, and that posting defamatory remarks about Chris Sawyer Dive Center is not cool until he does that. If.....that is if Larry yelled at this poster in front of other customers.....that is certainly unacceptable. What the D/M should have done is told Brandon..."Hang on a sec before you do that" and then took him aside and said, "Look, I shouldn't have been playing around with the water, and we aren't supposed to rinse gear with this water, however, there is water at the docks for rinsing gear. Did you have a killer dive or what?" Maybe Larry did that, I don't know, but if Larry did what this poster said, embarrassing him in front of other customers, that is UNACCEPTABLE!

My brother used to work at Chris Sawyer Dive Center (Mike Tilmon), and I wasn't necessarily taking this poster's side, and you must not have read all that I had to say.

So, no, I won't apologize!

Welcome to the scubaboards!

Tom

 

[scubabrandon]

We have looked at this site for awhile but didn’t message until we heard a friend was talked about so we read the messages and had to take the time to sign up.

Glad to have you as an active part of the forums.

Nobody on the boat wants to work late to refill the water tank because somebody was ignorant about rinse tanks.

So I guess it is ok for Larry to use it to squirt people onboard like a water gun huh? If it was that important then why would he have done that? hmmm...Doesnt make sense to me. I was also trying to make up for lateness of meeting my wife on the other side of the island. I only had 9 hours on St Thomas, so yes getting something done early helps me.

Being mad at the boat crew because somebody told you to be there at 9 and the boat didn’t leave until 9.30 is normal operating procedure and the owners and captains set the meet times not the crew.

Maybe I can direct you to my title of the post called "Chris Sawyer Diving Review", in other words my review is about my WHOLE experience. Say what you want and try to spin it however you want, but late is late. FACT.

It is clear that you did not check out what kind of diving is available in St. thomas or you would know that it is shallow diving and the dive operators down there cater to new divers.

I read what Chris Sawyers site had and and what the lady on the phone told me. Which was not what I dove. The information seems to be "colored" up a few notches.

Learn to be a good diver and a good boat passenger before you make a fool of yourself again and try to cover up it up by insulting someone else.

Again, I was not the only one who was disapproving of this dive. Dont be mad at me because your friend was a jerk to me and a couple others and he got called on it.
I have spoken with 3 instructors in my area, they were given the same info as you read in my first post. ALL agree it should not be acceptable for this to happen to customers. Bosundorry, you live in Florida and spend your life diving. That is so cool and fun. I get to dive the oceans when I pay alot of money to go on vacation. That is why this situation hits me hard. I dont know when I will be able to dive the ocean again.
I have written my review and thats what happened. Like it or not those were the events of the day. Forums are for the good and bad of diving.

 

[scubabrandon]

Chris-
If you are reading this, my phone service is going in and out. I will call you as soon as it comes back up to continue the conversation. Vonage would be a good thing right now.

 

[scubabrandon]

Also just a quick update while I am waiting on phone service. Chris and I have talked about why the 2 dive sites were chosen. I completely agree with why they were chosen. They were based on the ability of the experience of the most inexperienced diver as they should have been. Doesnt change that these were not all that great for me and that these sites didnt really showcase how pretty St Thomas is.. But its like he said, "better to have done that, than to have 9 happy divers and 1 dead one". 100% agreed on this end.