ArcticDiver
Contributor
This shop was recommended as a good shop that had good customer service. Boy was that wrong in this case!
I went into their shop to arrange a dive charter for the next day. By the brands of gear on the walls and general demeanor I thought this would be a good experience. My experience is that shops that sell such brands as Halcyon, DiveRite, Zeagle, etc and display standard BCs, BPs, etc are generally pretty good one's to do business with.
I asked if they had room on the next day's charter? Answer: Are you a safe diver?
Me: Yep. ID Person: Yes we do. We'll pick you up at your hotel at 7:15 in the morning. We took care of how much weight I'd need, etc.
Later that day I received a phone call from another person "confirming" that I wanted to dive with them and again asking how much weight I'd need and if I would be diving Independent Doubles as I'd said at the shop? I gave the answers and again was told I'd be picked up in the morning.
Next morning I was picked up on schedule. Then things went downhill. The pickup truck smelled so strongly of urine that although it was raining we had to drive with the windows fully down. Great customer service using a vehicle that smells like the urinal in a public toilet.
After I was in the truck the ID Person said: "I'll be your instructor today". I thought that was just a figure of speech and didn't think too much about it; until later. This was the same person I'd made reservations with and with whom I'd explained my purpose was to see the wreck and try out my new gear configuration. As far as I knew there was no instructor relationship asked for or granted.
At the boat there was no effort to assist in carrying my gear or putting it on the hand truck with the tanks and weights to move it from the parking area to the boat. Really no big deal except that it fills out the pattern of poor customer service.
On the boat the ID Person suddenly discovered there weren't enough tanks and that no weights had been brought for me. Tanks and weights were found and brought to the boat. Since the boat was on a schedule this meant the second dive had to be cut short to make up for this delay.
At the first dive site there was no pre-dive briefing other than to tell the other two divers and I the name of the site and the maximum depth. I had specifically asked for someone to do a bubble check after entering the water and wanted to know about buddy proceedures. Nothing. Instead, once in the water we were instructed to "Put your regulators in your mouth and follow the line down". That is when I fully realized that this person was in fact treating three certified divers, two of whom were experienced, as students.
While under water the ID Person at one point asked for air pressure. I gave mine but wasn't believed. The ID Person came to me; Grabbed the SPG for my left tank and looked at it. When it was full then the ID Person started looking for the other SPG by groping me. The person never did figure out that the right tank was air integrated and that when I was pointing to my computer was trying to show the air pressure. (Remember Independent Doubles).
During ascent from 100' I did my normal slow ascent with stops followed by a Safety Stop to clear the timer in my DiveRite. The ID Person kept motioning me to speed up my ascent. I refused as slow ascents and calculated stops are The Way. Of course this entire thing could have been avoided had there been the pre-dive briefing I'd asked for.
Once back on board the first words out of the ID Person's mouth were to one of the other divers. "You are sitting out the next dive." I asked him why? He said he had 500# at the bottom of the line and the ID Person didn't like that. Mind you I was next to him with in effect a full AL80. Then I was chastised for not coming up fast enough. After I explained the ID Person said they hadn't heard of that and anyway I should have told someone what I was doing since that was not standard. I didn't bother replying as it was clear that would be a waste of breath.
On the second dive the ID Person and the other diver just went off and left me. As those who dive with me will testify I am a slow swimmer. But, in this case it was the ID Person's obligation to keep the three person group together as to be mutual buddies. That was not done. Several times both the other diver and the ID Person were out of sight in vis that was nearly 100' visibility. I knew where they were by their bubbles. But, no buddy assistance would have been available if I'd needed it.
The second dive was called on time to meet the schedule.
On the trip back to the dock it was explained to me that long hose gear with BP and Wing was "crap" that shouldn't be used unless training for "real dives".
Then the self gear schlepping and the trip back to the hotel in the urinal truck.
By my experience this day I'd have to rate Island Divers Hawaii - Oahu as one of the worst in customer service and an unsafe operation. Certainly employing people who are so lacking in knowledge and concern for their role is the fault of management, not the person.
I went into their shop to arrange a dive charter for the next day. By the brands of gear on the walls and general demeanor I thought this would be a good experience. My experience is that shops that sell such brands as Halcyon, DiveRite, Zeagle, etc and display standard BCs, BPs, etc are generally pretty good one's to do business with.
I asked if they had room on the next day's charter? Answer: Are you a safe diver?
Me: Yep. ID Person: Yes we do. We'll pick you up at your hotel at 7:15 in the morning. We took care of how much weight I'd need, etc.
Later that day I received a phone call from another person "confirming" that I wanted to dive with them and again asking how much weight I'd need and if I would be diving Independent Doubles as I'd said at the shop? I gave the answers and again was told I'd be picked up in the morning.
Next morning I was picked up on schedule. Then things went downhill. The pickup truck smelled so strongly of urine that although it was raining we had to drive with the windows fully down. Great customer service using a vehicle that smells like the urinal in a public toilet.
After I was in the truck the ID Person said: "I'll be your instructor today". I thought that was just a figure of speech and didn't think too much about it; until later. This was the same person I'd made reservations with and with whom I'd explained my purpose was to see the wreck and try out my new gear configuration. As far as I knew there was no instructor relationship asked for or granted.
At the boat there was no effort to assist in carrying my gear or putting it on the hand truck with the tanks and weights to move it from the parking area to the boat. Really no big deal except that it fills out the pattern of poor customer service.
On the boat the ID Person suddenly discovered there weren't enough tanks and that no weights had been brought for me. Tanks and weights were found and brought to the boat. Since the boat was on a schedule this meant the second dive had to be cut short to make up for this delay.
At the first dive site there was no pre-dive briefing other than to tell the other two divers and I the name of the site and the maximum depth. I had specifically asked for someone to do a bubble check after entering the water and wanted to know about buddy proceedures. Nothing. Instead, once in the water we were instructed to "Put your regulators in your mouth and follow the line down". That is when I fully realized that this person was in fact treating three certified divers, two of whom were experienced, as students.
While under water the ID Person at one point asked for air pressure. I gave mine but wasn't believed. The ID Person came to me; Grabbed the SPG for my left tank and looked at it. When it was full then the ID Person started looking for the other SPG by groping me. The person never did figure out that the right tank was air integrated and that when I was pointing to my computer was trying to show the air pressure. (Remember Independent Doubles).
During ascent from 100' I did my normal slow ascent with stops followed by a Safety Stop to clear the timer in my DiveRite. The ID Person kept motioning me to speed up my ascent. I refused as slow ascents and calculated stops are The Way. Of course this entire thing could have been avoided had there been the pre-dive briefing I'd asked for.
Once back on board the first words out of the ID Person's mouth were to one of the other divers. "You are sitting out the next dive." I asked him why? He said he had 500# at the bottom of the line and the ID Person didn't like that. Mind you I was next to him with in effect a full AL80. Then I was chastised for not coming up fast enough. After I explained the ID Person said they hadn't heard of that and anyway I should have told someone what I was doing since that was not standard. I didn't bother replying as it was clear that would be a waste of breath.
On the second dive the ID Person and the other diver just went off and left me. As those who dive with me will testify I am a slow swimmer. But, in this case it was the ID Person's obligation to keep the three person group together as to be mutual buddies. That was not done. Several times both the other diver and the ID Person were out of sight in vis that was nearly 100' visibility. I knew where they were by their bubbles. But, no buddy assistance would have been available if I'd needed it.
The second dive was called on time to meet the schedule.
On the trip back to the dock it was explained to me that long hose gear with BP and Wing was "crap" that shouldn't be used unless training for "real dives".
Then the self gear schlepping and the trip back to the hotel in the urinal truck.
By my experience this day I'd have to rate Island Divers Hawaii - Oahu as one of the worst in customer service and an unsafe operation. Certainly employing people who are so lacking in knowledge and concern for their role is the fault of management, not the person.
