Dive ops: pimping vs legitimate info

[ggunn]

Do you all have selective reading or was "unfounded" the wrong word to use!?!?! How does "unsubstantiated" work? Before anyone else misinterprets my posts, I urge you to reread it carefully.

I think that the crux of the biscuit lies in how one would determine if material posted in such a thread is or is not substantiated and who would be saddled with making that determination. If there is funding for the position of a resident on site evaluator of dive ops on Cozumel, however, I'd like to apply for that job.

 

[mstevens]

I think that the crux of the biscuit lies in how one would determine if material posted in such a thread is or is not substantiated and who would be saddled with making that determination.

I like my biscuits nice and cruxy.

 

[Travler108]

This thread is a hoot! It has morphed from the original, seemingly innocuous statement about reviews to a revamp of the system, with a sidetrip about us lurkers. I have read reviews of dive shops, restaurants, and hotels on this Board for several years and benefitted greatly. Thank you for those posting their reviews and comments, whatever their bias or level of diving experience.

I believe a forum should allow all to give their views on a dive operators performance and let the reader sort out the cheerleaders, fakers, and decide for themselves. Those of us that lurk here know those that have something valuable to say and those that just like to hear (or see) themselves in writing. I like the idea of seeing an authors experiece is their own format and words, both good experiences and bad and wouldn't like to see a formatted review section.

Again, thanks to those that have inspired us with good suggestions!

 

[Divingdogdr]

I agree that the trip reports written in an unformatted form are of great value and should not be changed or eliminated, however I believe that there would also be great value in the addition of a formatted review. I can understand why some do not want a rating system but to just be able to find out which dive ops will pick you up at the hotel you are staying in or which ones have small boats vs big cattle boats and who has oxygen on board etc. etc.
There is a lot of very basic information that can take a long time to find out by sifting through all the old posts using the search function.
Yes I could just post a question about which dive op I should use if I am staying at a given hotel and then wait for a reply. I have seen many of these types of posts and often they get great and useful replies from those knowledgeable and frequent posters here in the Cozumel forum but sometimes the replies they get are cheerleading and is not always easy to tell which is which. Its true that those of you who read this forum and post to it regularly can easily discern between those that are pimping and those who are not but for those of us who come here to reseach while planning a trip it can take hours of reading old posts to glean off little tidbits of useful info here and there.

 

[AZdiver1279]

Well here's another 2 cents.

Would it be possible to have a survey template? Perhaps a format that would allow a diver to simply check off responses to questions. Each question could rate a dive op in a specific area from 1-5 or 1-10 or address questions about the type of boat and condition of equipment. There could be a few different sections of the survey rating safty, equipment, staff freindliness/helpfulness. There could even be a section for notes or other opinions.

I think the forum in general is good, I think doing your own research is also good, but I also think having a statistical type survey would just be another useful tool for divers who are going into an area for the first time or 100th time.

I've been to CZM several times and will be back several more but I think the survey apporach would be good for all destinations, it allows for a quick rating of dive ops and doesn't take the constant effort of updating that a sticky does. Divers could just record their experiance and leave it at that. One could then judge for themselves by trends whether a shop would fit their needs or not.

Any business concerned with providing good service is always interested in customer opinion, I would think that this would be the case with all dive ops everywhere. In the business I'm in I use surveys effectivily to learn what others are doing as well as how I'm doing, all with a view to improving my services. I think asurvey is way for the opinions to be recorded but without a huge burden on moderators or editing of a sticky.

sorry..that's my two cents from a diver whos loves CZM.

 

[ggunn]

 

[DandyDon]

deadhorse

Yeah, but this is not a bad idea....

Well here's another 2 cents.

Would it be possible to have a survey template? Perhaps a format that would allow a diver to simply check off responses to questions. Each question could rate a dive op in a specific area from 1-5 or 1-10 or address questions about the type of boat and condition of equipment. There could be a few different sections of the survey rating safty, equipment, staff freindliness/helpfulness. There could even be a section for notes or other opinions.

I think the forum in general is good, I think doing your own research is also good, but I also think having a statistical type survey would just be another useful tool for divers who are going into an area for the first time or 100th time.

I've been to CZM several times and will be back several more but I think the survey apporach would be good for all destinations, it allows for a quick rating of dive ops and doesn't take the constant effort of updating that a sticky does. Divers could just record their experiance and leave it at that. One could then judge for themselves by trends whether a shop would fit their needs or not.

Any business concerned with providing good service is always interested in customer opinion, I would think that this would be the case with all dive ops everywhere. In the business I'm in I use surveys effectivily to learn what others are doing as well as how I'm doing, all with a view to improving my services. I think asurvey is way for the opinions to be recorded but without a huge burden on moderators or editing of a sticky.

sorry..that's my two cents from a diver whos loves CZM.

I kinda like the idea. I guess the cheerleading will still take affect, but when does it not...?

 

[AZdiver1279]

Obviously each diver still has to do their own homework and come up with their own conclusions and then make a decision based on their conclusion.

If I see 100 surveys and 98 of them report that a dive staff was friendly, courteous and safety conscience and then I see 2 surveys that rip the dive op for those same areas I can form a reasonable conclusion that the problem was with the diver and or/attitude or that perhaps a DM had a bad day. The overall data would strongly suggest the dive op as a good choice and would just be another available tool.

If someone lives in CZM or travels their frequently a survey on CZM may not be of much use to them but what about the dive op? What if they make a trip to Figi, Tahiti, Fl Keys or somewhere else? My thought was a standard template that could replace the sticky notes that get outdated so quickly. I wasn't suggesting replacing anything, just adding to.

I've went by word of mouth and it's worked out good and bad, I've listened to posts on this board and it's worked out bad and good and I've found some dive ops with the best websites the worst to dive with (not just speaking of CZM).

AS one who lives in the middle of the desert and has to travel great distance to find any ocean to dive in I would welcome as many sources to consult as possible. I guess you would have to assume that most of us on this board are interested in helping others and any responses to surveys would be honest.

No intentions on beating a dead horse, just thought to add two cent to a forum I thought was still open for opinion and was trying to be constructive. I thank the individual who started the thread.

'Good night Gracie!

 

[DandyDon]

So suggest the idea is Suggestions sub forum.

 

[AZdiver1279]

So suggest the idea is Suggestions sub forum.

Will do.

Thanks for the link.

It's been posted to Suggestions sub forum.