If you look at the thread I originally posted in their defense. Then randomly when I went there I ended up on the receiving end of what others were talking about, and posted my experiences.
I have also seen people who seemed to think because they had driven a ways to visit that they shouldn't have to stand in line and wait their turns for fills, or check ins.
This wasn't our case. There was no one else in the shop. Period.
think on any given BUSY Saturday or Sunday he puts up with way more than most of us individually would tolerate!
If he is overworked then they need to hire more people. In our experience there was no other people in the shop, both instances. We were giving them money for service, nothing out of the ordinary.
No que of tanks, no people, just us.
Short fills on tanks seem to be an expected thing when attempting to fill tanks (especially HP) while customer waits in 2-3 minutes. Tanks will heat up and read one pressure hot and then somewhat less after cooling with time or when immersed in cooler Lake Water.
Agreed. It's a quarry. I never get worked up if the PSI is 2700 or 3400. Both are fine with me for a quarry dive. Zero complaints.
I think that a shop that verifies a Diver's C-Card (Nitrox in this case) is a commendable thing these days vs. a fault.
As I stated, I had the card and he rejected it. I wasn't getting a Nitrox fill, I was getting a standard air fill but the tank originally had Nitrox. I didn't get worked up over this. The reason my SSI sticker was on my PADI card is because *HE* said it had to be the year before. The SSI OW card took a few weeks to come in but you get the stickers immediately for the card upon completing the course (I was originally PADI OW, then got SSI Nitrox, partially completed the PADI AOW (need to finish). Then it's on to Advanced Nitrox followed by SDI Inspiration CCR. I put the SSI sticker on the PADI card, but carry the SSI card as well. I'll confront Lynnhaven about it when I'm in there (got blown out from the trip on Sunday!)
I thought it was poor taste to snap at the other guys who were there, with standard steel HP tanks, no Nitrox decal, and basically accuse them of having a Nitrox fill... 23% or something. There wasn't enough time to calibrate the analyzer to even get a good reading. Their fill was a standard air fill done by Dive Quarters in Virginia Beach. I in no way believe Dive Quarters did anything wrong. It's hard to describe how it went down. It's confusing and odd. Seemed like being confrontational for the sake of being confrontational.
Long story short, I think Lake Rawlings is somewhat getting bad rap here online for some issues. I am not real thrilled about recent rate increases after the Bath House going and the thought of charging 50 cents a shower on top of that but . . . I don't ever expect to take a (HOT) shower there either and prices on everything else tend to rise so . . .
I never complained about rate increases or the showers. I specifically recalled my original support for them after experiencing what other of the people complained about.
I like the actual lake. I was certified there. I've been there probably 16 times over the past 3 years, probably more. I meet friends there often.
But it comes down to treatment of customers. SCUBA diving stands out to me. It seems like the only business where I've experienced such odd customer service from companies to employees.
Paying to get crapped on isn't my expectations. I thought the thread was interesting but originally supported the quarry knowing how customer service goes. Then I experienced it myself.
I want them to stay in business. I'm okay with giving them my money, but I don't expect to get crapped on. I've never broken their rules. I do my best to dive safe. I read the open circuit and closed circuit accident and mishap forums on here and RBW often. I see what happens. I like the lake for gaining experience, and trying out random configurations and sometimes "antique" equipment.
I am sure then prices will continue to rise!
Prices will rise to what the market will bear. I expect continued pullback in consumer spending as the excesses of the past 10 years fueled by the credit bubble catches up. Wages have been stagnant since 2001 (adj for inflation) in most cases, and most employment gains since 2001 were fueled by the housing mania. Everything from the housing mania, all the gains, are unwarranted and will have to be given back. The gov't can't save it, since the gains weren't based on real productivity of people. It was based upon debt.
It is my suspicion that this will have a negative impact on the hobby of diving, as I believe a portion of the spending was probably fueled by equity extraction (for vacations), and wonder if some equipment purchased (rebreathers and other high ticket items) were funded by similar sources. The lack of wealth effect euphoria (no more huge house value gains that do nothing for the productivity of the nation) will cause consumers to cut back.
ALL A GREAT reason why you should treat paying customers well, and with respect. If you have personal problems, don't shove it on random customers. I've worked in customer service, And I've been crapped on by the customer. I worked customer service for an internet provider with 100,000 customers when I was younger (I now work for the founders of that company as a sr. systems engineer, very ironic). I remember customers flat out telling me that they are better than me, that they make 4 times my salary and other garbage without cause or reason. I guess they were offended they had to ask for help and their psychological defense was to berate me. And they didn't seem to know what they were doing. You just chuckle, and save it for war stories at the bar with friends. I didn't care. My job was to make my company look good to the customer. They can yell all they want, but we were there to fix their issues and that is what we did. Everyone would get their problem solved if they wished.
I brought the matters to the attention of the owner of Rawlings, and he can do what he wants with it. I'm not going to fight wars for them. I learned quite a bit over the thread. I don't even remember what the original post was about.
In the end, if something is wrong with your business and is causing employees to act inappropriately towards customers (and it isn't a case of employee enjoying being a jerk), then perhaps it's time to re-analyze business models. As an academic one would think the owner of the quarry would know it's 2008. It's all about working smarter, not harder!!
