LONG post about a dispute with my LDS
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Originally posted by SubMariner
This Instructor don't pay no stinkin full price! It's "Key Man" or nothin'!
~SubMariner~
The benifits of being a instructor :mean:
Gotta love it... haha
Ryan Stone
IDCS
Yes, the owner was supposed to get back to me on Wednesday. He didn't, which is pretty much par for the course with this company.
Didn't call me Thursday either.
I havn't gotten too cranky about it yet because I'm confident that if all else fails, my credit card company will settle the dispute for me. I know that solution will be more costly for the dive shop, which is the main reason that I've persisted these last 3 weeks in trying to resolve the situation with them directly - so much for trying to be helpful
I'm hoping he'll call today and at least give me an update - I haven't decided yet if I'll go through the trouble of trying to reach him today, or just let it lie for the weekend and call with a vengeance on Monday afternoon if he hasn't contacted me by then.
Hoping it won't come to that.
Didn't call me Thursday either.
I havn't gotten too cranky about it yet because I'm confident that if all else fails, my credit card company will settle the dispute for me. I know that solution will be more costly for the dive shop, which is the main reason that I've persisted these last 3 weeks in trying to resolve the situation with them directly - so much for trying to be helpful
I'm hoping he'll call today and at least give me an update - I haven't decided yet if I'll go through the trouble of trying to reach him today, or just let it lie for the weekend and call with a vengeance on Monday afternoon if he hasn't contacted me by then.
Hoping it won't come to that.
Part of customer service is convenience and adapting to the customers needs. But when the service is dive instruction part of the service is teaching people to take on the responsabilities of a diver. My students are expected to pick up and drop off equipment at the prearranged time. Once in a while for the right reason and with enough notice we make special arrangements for people. But you see I want the student to take the responsability of making sure all their equipment is there and squared away for the dive. Why? Because thats what divers must do. Just because they had things come up does not mean that our agreement has changed. The prearranged schedule must be changed by mutual agreement or it don't count. I can hold their hands and make everything easy for them but I won't always be there, will I? The fact is lagistics is one of the more important issued in diving. Every class I have at least one student tell me on Sunday (when they are done diving) that they will not be able to clean the equipment and return it on Monday and ask me to do it. My response is that, for the daily rental fee, they may keep it as long as they like. As long as everyone knows what is expected, the one who defaults is the one responsible.The reason for the default doesn't matter. If a person is too sick, too tierd, too far away or whatever to do what they agreed to do the resonsability is theirs.
I'm not sure if this is meant to be a criticism of me or not, but just in case, I'll repeat:
The LDS said our equipment would be ready on Monday and that we should pick it up ASAP.
We tried to pick it up on Wednesday and Thursday. It wasn't ready.
We told them we would not be in the area on Friday.
They spoke with me on Friday night at 4:30 pm and demanded that I go pick the equipment up then.
They refused to keep the shop open if traffic made me late.
They refused to open the shop early so I could get in on Saturday morning.
They refused to ask the other student in the class if he would mind picking it up for me.
They refused to help me make arrangements to get equipment elsewhere.
They refused to give the equipment to the dive master.
And, yes, I refused to fight through hours of rush hour traffic due to their poor planning.
The LDS said our equipment would be ready on Monday and that we should pick it up ASAP.
We tried to pick it up on Wednesday and Thursday. It wasn't ready.
We told them we would not be in the area on Friday.
They spoke with me on Friday night at 4:30 pm and demanded that I go pick the equipment up then.
They refused to keep the shop open if traffic made me late.
They refused to open the shop early so I could get in on Saturday morning.
They refused to ask the other student in the class if he would mind picking it up for me.
They refused to help me make arrangements to get equipment elsewhere.
They refused to give the equipment to the dive master.
And, yes, I refused to fight through hours of rush hour traffic due to their poor planning.
Not directed toward anyone just a point of veiw. It is difficult and of no help for board members to try to assign blame. However, some of our related thoughts may give you some ideas.
danceswithoctopus
Guest
Poor customer service, there's no doubt about that. Fire the shop. They keep their rental gear in a nearby self-storage? They don't have their own compressor? What do they have?
I'm one to fight back when I feel I've been wronged. I think there's a certain amount of comparitive neglegence here, but your analysis of the situation seems pretty reasonable to me. The shop did not incur the full cost of your certification and you should expect a refund. $130 does sound a bit low for two people though.
I really liked the suggestion that perhaps the shop could give you a greater refund in the form of in-store credit. That way you could get your 'full' refund and the shop wouldn't have to fork it all out (they would only fork out the wholesale cost of your refund). You'll be wanting regs, bcs, and wet or dry suits, right? You might try negotiating for something like that. It's win/win. And from the shop's perspective, if they can get you back in they might make more money off you. The $300 won't cover the cost of outfitting two divers, so there's the opportunity to get back into your pocket.
Stay Wet
I'm one to fight back when I feel I've been wronged. I think there's a certain amount of comparitive neglegence here, but your analysis of the situation seems pretty reasonable to me. The shop did not incur the full cost of your certification and you should expect a refund. $130 does sound a bit low for two people though.
I really liked the suggestion that perhaps the shop could give you a greater refund in the form of in-store credit. That way you could get your 'full' refund and the shop wouldn't have to fork it all out (they would only fork out the wholesale cost of your refund). You'll be wanting regs, bcs, and wet or dry suits, right? You might try negotiating for something like that. It's win/win. And from the shop's perspective, if they can get you back in they might make more money off you. The $300 won't cover the cost of outfitting two divers, so there's the opportunity to get back into your pocket.
Stay Wet
This is a good example of why a written learning agreement is a good idea. then everyone has, in writting, just what is expected of them. I keep giving a shops point of view because thats the angle I know. For every class of six there will be a couple that don't finish with the class and take up space in one or more other classes. We are starting to charge for this when arrangements have not been made ahead of time. Maybe the student who didn't show didn't get a class but I promised other people a class along with this person. If I am unable to reschedule the others I will be there to teach the class as promised. The no-shows took a spot in the class even though they chose not to use it. I was there teaching and therefore fulfilled my obligation. Fees earned. These situations make for bad feelings all around. The student didn't get certified and the shop did incure costs. They lost a weekend of training time. There are not enough weekends to go around and this alone is a significant loss. With a written learning agreement some of these situation might be avoided.
danceswithoctopus
Guest
I agree in principle, MF. But if a student does show and choses to abort for whatever reason, do you charge for a make-up fee? And what if, as in the original case here, the student calls in and says s/he can't make it due to illness? If you're charging additional fees for these situations, you are encouraging students to dive under potentially dangerous circumstances.
I just want to clarify. Pardon the digression.
I just want to clarify. Pardon the digression.
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