bellabubbles
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Hi there! I'm new to the site, but was drawn to it due to some really awesome (and really awful) experiences upon entering the dive community here in Southern California.
I thought I would share my experience with Eco Dive Center in Los Angeles, California on Sepulveda Boulevard for anybody else that may be tentative about scuba diving (like myself) and expects fair treatment.
I'll try to make a long few stories short.
I signed up for my Open Water with Eco Dive Center. I was immediately put off because the prices that we were quoted on the phone when I spoke with Beth, one of the owners, were quite different than when I arrived in the shop, suddently we needed almost $300 more for our initial OW class than quoted on her "exhaustive" list on the phone. Keep in mind we asked several times if there were any other items necessary to begin the process. We are not low on money, but wanted a realistic expectation of the cost of the OW class. I felt that she was just trying to get us in the door. Everytime, we encountered Beth there was another unexpected, undisclosed charge that just added to the overall unprofessional vibe of the shop.
Anywho, we pick up the gear and I studied my book and the video thoroughly and completely the week leading up to the class that began on Saturday. The class was instructed by Ron, apparently another co-owner. I did not take naturally to the first class in water for various reasons and he continuously degraded me in front of the class accusing me of not studying and not doing my homework. It was so embarrassing that I had to pull him above water and explain to him that I had in fact done everything and he was being inappropriate. Of course, the exam section of the course reflected my assertation that I had completed all prerequisite work. I can't imagine that I'm the first person that didn't take to their first underwater experiences 100% naturally; however, to be degraded by the owner in front of the rest of the class to the point that I felt it was contributing to my nervousness, seemed extremely unprofessional on Ron's part. Frankly, he was a real jerk.
To make matters worse, during our classwork section Ron told us about his experiences intentionally inducing nitrogen narcosis and dealing with agressive sharks in the open water while high from nitrogen. It was during this class that I learned about his days of taking certain hard drugs and what "narcing" was. Completely unprofessional if you ask me, in the context of a first time divers class. Especially as he intermittently lectured on safety.
Matters just got worse. Every interaction I had with this shop going forward including misrepresentation of prices and scheduling. All in all, I wasted hours: dealing with these people not being in the store when they said they would, excess monies on equipment that was misrepresented, feeling taken advantage of, and being hit-on by the instructor and business owner (I'm not even going to elaborate on that), and unappreciated overall as a customer.
If you are tentative at all about your first scuba experiences. I suggest you go elsewhere. Most of you will be happy to know that I am advancing in my scuba career quite nicely and have experienced a couple of other very positive, supportive shops that I wish I had encountered earlier. I suspect they lost what could have been a lifetime customer.
I thought I would share my experience with Eco Dive Center in Los Angeles, California on Sepulveda Boulevard for anybody else that may be tentative about scuba diving (like myself) and expects fair treatment.
I'll try to make a long few stories short.
I signed up for my Open Water with Eco Dive Center. I was immediately put off because the prices that we were quoted on the phone when I spoke with Beth, one of the owners, were quite different than when I arrived in the shop, suddently we needed almost $300 more for our initial OW class than quoted on her "exhaustive" list on the phone. Keep in mind we asked several times if there were any other items necessary to begin the process. We are not low on money, but wanted a realistic expectation of the cost of the OW class. I felt that she was just trying to get us in the door. Everytime, we encountered Beth there was another unexpected, undisclosed charge that just added to the overall unprofessional vibe of the shop.
Anywho, we pick up the gear and I studied my book and the video thoroughly and completely the week leading up to the class that began on Saturday. The class was instructed by Ron, apparently another co-owner. I did not take naturally to the first class in water for various reasons and he continuously degraded me in front of the class accusing me of not studying and not doing my homework. It was so embarrassing that I had to pull him above water and explain to him that I had in fact done everything and he was being inappropriate. Of course, the exam section of the course reflected my assertation that I had completed all prerequisite work. I can't imagine that I'm the first person that didn't take to their first underwater experiences 100% naturally; however, to be degraded by the owner in front of the rest of the class to the point that I felt it was contributing to my nervousness, seemed extremely unprofessional on Ron's part. Frankly, he was a real jerk.
To make matters worse, during our classwork section Ron told us about his experiences intentionally inducing nitrogen narcosis and dealing with agressive sharks in the open water while high from nitrogen. It was during this class that I learned about his days of taking certain hard drugs and what "narcing" was. Completely unprofessional if you ask me, in the context of a first time divers class. Especially as he intermittently lectured on safety.
Matters just got worse. Every interaction I had with this shop going forward including misrepresentation of prices and scheduling. All in all, I wasted hours: dealing with these people not being in the store when they said they would, excess monies on equipment that was misrepresented, feeling taken advantage of, and being hit-on by the instructor and business owner (I'm not even going to elaborate on that), and unappreciated overall as a customer.
If you are tentative at all about your first scuba experiences. I suggest you go elsewhere. Most of you will be happy to know that I am advancing in my scuba career quite nicely and have experienced a couple of other very positive, supportive shops that I wish I had encountered earlier. I suspect they lost what could have been a lifetime customer.
