Dumb covert dive operation of the day

[divezonescuba]

We just had the owner of a competing dive shop call us up today. He pretented to be a father who wanted his son certified. He came up with some elaborate scenario as to why he needed to have his son certified in a very short period of time. We told him that we wouldn't certifiy his son in two days like he wanted. We don't know if he just wanted to know how much we charge or how we do the classes.

What makes this funny is that he used his home phone.

His name and telephone number came up on our caller ID. We immediately recognized his name. When confronted, he actually admitted to doing this saying that all dive shop do this including ourselves.

Well guess what, we have better things to do with our time than that.

 

[nimoh]

busted!

 

[rhwestfall]

dooh!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And just think that someone with this level of smarts may be training your next instabuddy!

 

[Wookie]

When confronted, he actually admitted to doing this saying that all dive shop do this including ourselves.

Actually, I've found that if you call a competitor and are up front about your question, it will usually be answered honestly and with enthusiasm, since we all (somewhere down deep) think we do a better job than our competition, otherwise, we'd just shop there and forget all this silliness we call the dive business.

I don't know if you remember Harold and Christine who used to own the Sea Searcher II to the Flower Gardens, but I sure do. We were friendly and had a friendly rivalry. They didn't offer the same trip we did, and quite frankly, we had enough business for 3 boats running the same trip. Here in Florida I am friendly with both the owner of the Ultimate Getaway as well as the manager of the Playmate. We don't compete for the same customer, so we have nothing to whine about each other.

Your competitor is what is wrong with the dive business. His competitor is not you, or any of the other dozen dive shops in the greater Houston area, but Golf, bike riding, and any of the other myriads of distractions available to occupy the valuable leisure time of the client. Some dive shop owners, however, never get that. Be self assured, they don't usually last too long.

 

[redacted]

We just had the owner of a competing dive shop call us up today. He pretented to be a father who wanted his son certified. He came up with some elaborate scenario as to why he needed to have his son certified in a very short period of time. We told him that we wouldn't certifiy his son in two days like he wanted. We don't know if he just wanted to know how much we charge or how we do the classes.

What makes this funny is that he used his home phone.

His name and telephone number came up on our caller ID. We immediately recognized his name. When confronted, he actually admitted to doing this saying that all dive shop do this including ourselves.

Well guess what, we have better things to do with our time than that.

Sounds to me like you guys missed an opportunity for some real fun.

 

[Debraw]

I had a dive shop that called me to ask prices over the phone and I would not give them prices. When they pressed I gave them above retail pricing. They pretended to be "shocked" and went as far as to say they would just go to the other dive shop to buy it ( their own! Ha ha!!!) . I said, " they are a great shop, the best in the DFW metroplex, I don't even know why I stay in business they are so great"! I proceeded to sing their praises for another few minutes, quickly went to their website and recommended several items they should purchase there because no one in the metroplex could compete with them. Once I started to to go into the class schedule, I think they started to figure out that I had caller ID. It was quite amusing to me at the time. Now I kind of look back on that experience, and wish I had just hung up.

 

[Mike]

This happens all the time in every type of business in America. It's not a big deal is it? Do you have secret information that the public only gets after they are your customer for 10 years or is everything he wanted to know the same information you would give to any customer who enters your shop?

If you were really smart, you might have avoided the instant gratification in busting him and kept the knowledge of what he was doing to yourself and used knowing what he's about to your advantage. Remember to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. What they don't know you know about them is much more powerful than the one time thrill of busting him.

 

[Guba]

I was extremely impressed with the dive operators in the Fort Walton/Destin Florida area a couple of years ago. Oh, it wasn't their level of expertise or special services, but their attitudes toward each other. I visited one dive shop and dived with them shortly after the BP blowout. Virtually ALL of the shops were suffering terribly since the media had the whole nation convinced the area was one big sludge pit.
The operators actually "pooled" their clients. Instead of all the operators taking out just a couple of divers, they took turns sending them to ONE charter. I think that showed remarkable savvy and cooperation and allowed them all a better chance of surviving the crisis.

 

[divezonescuba]

I think it is one thing to call up another shop and ask about prices, etc.

The issue that we have is it was done in a dishonest way with his elaborate story to try to get us to agree to certify his son in a manner which we think is not necessarily appropriate, not in the best interest of a real student, as well as, possibly violating certification standards.

FWIW, there is also the PADI professional membership committment item 12 involving common honesty. That's how the owner of a five star PADI dive shop should be conducting themselves.