Recommendations for divemaster course in Thailand

[katdiver]

So LK, maybe you've seen that many other dive centres meet or exceed your expectations. I set my values myself. The complaints and excellence I encountered as a customer I use as a reference in my business. If you still think my operation should still be avoided by yourself, you will not be missed.

Easy to say I know, but people who know me would have seen me asking the skipper to turn around and put me back ashore if I had been in your situation. Then again, did you read all the small print for the service that you bought? Does it cover your situation? You have some sympathy here, but there's a limit! Go diving and enjoy yourself!

 

[Bowmouth]

Go diving and enjoy yourself!

Well said Kat Diver,
That's exactly what I think!

 

[lord khram]

Lordy,
I don't think you understand what I wrote in my previous post. I'll try again:

If a tank that has been "failed" or "condemned" after a visual or hydrostatic test is being used again by a dive operator the main danger is in filling it to its working pressure. If for example the tank neck thread is worn excessively the whole valve may "explode" from the tank. Or if the tank neck has cracks or the tank itself excessive pitting the whole tank may explode.

Contaminated air comes mostly from poorly maintained compressors and not corrosion. Steel tanks are hardly used here in Thailand and may indeed corrode and in extreme cases (if not cleaned and inspected properly) cause clogging of the tank valve and the sintered filters of the first stage of a diver's regulator.

Aluminum tanks corrode too but the particles are so small that this hardly causes problems as with steel tanks. The main concern with aluminum tanks is so-called pitting and wearing of the tank neck threads.

Again I am sorry to not agree,
what determines the size af the particles of aluminium oxide? and why do you think this is relevant.
Indeed the size of particles may be irrelevant to the valve as you have stated, but depending on what has come into contact with the aluminium to cause it to oxidise, in some cases the oxide can become toxic.
Now you state the main problem with aluminium tanks it pitting (oxidisation), before you stated that the biggest problem was that of tanks exploding????
Like I said before, I work as a NDT tester and am fully conversant with testing procedures and metalurgy far beyond the scope of testing scuba cylinders, so I do know what I am talking about.

 

[lord khram]

So LK, maybe you've seen that many other dive centres meet or exceed your expectations. I set my values myself. The complaints and excellence I encountered as a customer I use as a reference in my business. If you still think my operation should still be avoided by yourself, you will not be missed.

Easy to say I know, but people who know me would have seen me asking the skipper to turn around and put me back ashore if I had been in your situation. Then again, did you read all the small print for the service that you bought? Does it cover your situation? You have some sympathy here, but there's a limit! Go diving and enjoy yourself!

I totally agree and yes I do fully enjoy my diving, and as you suggest I have indeed dived at many places around the world and must say that all shops have their own different approaches and in their individual ways generally offer an excellent service. And yes Sometimes people get things wrong, but it is the manner that mistakes are rectified that matters. Mistakes I can live with, that is life, but constant poor service I will not accept.
The only location that I have generally had reason to complain is indeed as you may have already realised, the pattaya area. And unfortunately all the shops I have dived with in Pattaya operate on the same sort of theme.
I do find it so frustrating particularly when I see shops on this forum pitching at people telling them what a great job they are doing when my experiences over the last number of years are completely different.
I must say its easy to make a statement about asking a skipper to turn a boat around, actually getting them to do it is another thing.

 

[Bowmouth]

Now you state the main problem with aluminium tanks it pitting (oxidisation), before you stated that the biggest problem was that of tanks exploding????

LK,
Please read this slowly and carefully:

1: Every 6 months or 12 months (depending on frequency of use) aluminum scuba cylinders are being visually inspected.
2: If during that test a tank is being "condemned" or "failed' by the tester it should never be used again.
3: If a tank owner is foolish enough to re-use that tank again (which is highly unlikely) the following may happen:
3a: The tank-valve may blow off the tank during filling if the tank was failed because of worn tank-neck valve threads.
3b: The tank may explode if the tank was failed because of excessive pitting.
3c: Nothing happens when filling the tank and the tank can be used for diving (but of course should not).

You are probably still going to say that you will not agree and that is fine with me.
I wouldn't expect anything different from a Lord...

 

[limbo]

I totally agree and yes I do fully enjoy my diving, and as you suggest I have indeed dived at many places around the world and must say that all shops have their own different approaches and in their individual ways generally offer an excellent service. And yes Sometimes people get things wrong, but it is the manner that mistakes are rectified that matters. Mistakes I can live with, that is life, but constant poor service I will not accept.
The only location that I have generally had reason to complain is indeed as you may have already realised, the pattaya area. And unfortunately all the shops I have dived with in Pattaya operate on the same sort of theme.
I do find it so frustrating particularly when I see shops on this forum pitching at people telling them what a great job they are doing when my experiences over the last number of years are completely different.
I must say its easy to make a statement about asking a skipper to turn a boat around, actually getting them to do it is another thing.

LK,

If you booked for a dive trip with destination 'A' and they take you to destination 'B' without further notice and only tell you about the cahnge when under steam and well on your way, it's just bad customer service. In my humble opinion a refund would be in place in this particular situation.
What they should have done from the beginning is to let you know before you board the boat that the destination has changed and than you can decide what to do, either join and that's it or refuse and get either a refund or wait for the appropiate day to go to destination 'A'. Ideally, if they knew the previous day/evening about the change of destination, they should've made an attempt to contact you at that very moment, by phone or email or message at the reception desk of your hotel.

Not rocket science and as you mentioned, once under way, it'll be VERY difficult to make the captain or trip organiser turn around.

 

[lord khram]

LK,

If you booked for a dive trip with destination 'A' and they take you to destination 'B' without further notice and only tell you about the cahnge when under steam and well on your way, it's just bad customer service. In my humble opinion a refund would be in place in this particular situation.
What they should have done from the beginning is to let you know before you board the boat that the destination has changed and than you can decide what to do, either join and that's it or refuse and get either a refund or wait for the appropiate day to go to destination 'A'. Ideally, if they knew the previous day/evening about the change of destination, they should've made an attempt to contact you at that very moment, by phone or email or message at the reception desk of your hotel.

Not rocket science and as you mentioned, once under way, it'll be VERY difficult to make the captain or trip organiser turn around.

At last some one actually agrees with my old fashioned (it seems) values on customer service. I find it difficult even in this modern greedy world that we live in now that any retailer can not supply their customer with what they have sold them and not expect complaints and requests for recompense.
But unfortunately this type of thing has happened to me and many others on numerous occasions in the Pattaya area by a number of shops over a long period of time, and all shops seem to dogmatically adopt this policy of 'NO REFUNDS' even when they are clearly at fault.
Also I must add that this type of thing has happened to me in other areas when someone is responsible for taking a decision based on safety, even if I disagreed I would not question that decision and would take the dives that were on offer.
But the Pattaya shops constantly seem to do this without valid reasons other than to boost their income from their already over priced trips.
Sounds very impressive though doesn't it when people make statements about making boats turn round?? And at the end of the day All I ask is to get what I have paid for and am unable to agree that I should recieve something else despite the flippant comments.

 

[Dive-SEA]

That unfortunately seems to be the policy of all the dive shops in Pattaya 'NO REFUNDS'.
In my experience even when the shop is at fault refunds are out of the question, I have experienced this on a number of occasions, and given the high cost of diving in Pattaya, I think service from most shops should be greatly improved.

eg.1) Albeit a few years ago I went with Aquanauts for my first experience of diving in Pattaya, the on board compressor broke down at Koh Rin, I declined to take up the second dive at Hat Nuan as I was offered a cylinder containing little over 100 bar. I was later told 'NO REFUNDS' you had the chance to do a second dive.

eg.2) I booked with Mermaids on the promise of diving Koh Rin and another coral dive. once on the boat I was told 'sorry we are doing 2 dives on the Khram today'. having been out of the water for nearly a year I considered this to be not a suitable dive for me and declined to dive. Again 'NO REFUNDS'.

eg.3) Last year I booked a multi day dive package with Dive south East Asia, pay for 4 days up front and get the 5th free on the promise of different dive sites every day, after 3 days of doing 10 metre / 30 minute dives at Koh Sak and Koh Khrok ending most dives with about 140 bar in my cylinder???? I complained and was told they had to cater for snorkelling customers. That night I went to the shop and asked the extremely drunk owner when do you go to Koh rin? 'Why do you want to go there it's crap'. Well how about the Khram? I asked. If you want to go there you must pay extra!!! I then asked where are you going tomorrow, 'we havent got a trip tomorrow, no customers', in his drunken stupour he obviously forgot that I had already paid for 5 days diving. To then be told very agressively 'NO REFUNDS'. How surprising.

You are not telling the truth are you lordkhram?

We don't dive Koh Rin because there is unexploded ordnance in the water, and it is company policy NOT to send our customers to dive in a firing range, not because it is crap!
And,
Our buy 4 days of diving and get one free day, is on an existing dive trip only and that is always stated by our staff when booking, you get a free dive on any existing dive trip, you could have gone to the Khram on a following day without extra charge, it was simply as it was only YOU that wanted to visit the Khram on a day we not planning to dive it that you were asked to pay more, but that was not good enough for you, and what would you expect from someone that calls themselves "lord" and complains that one dive centre wanted to dive the Khram too much and the other not enough LOL

No one asked you to come to Pattaya or to go diving here, why can't you get over it and move on with your life there must be more too life than hanging around web forums just to bag on pattaya dive centres especially one like mine, that is only trying to make an honest living and keep our customers safe in the process?

 

[lord khram]

You are not telling the truth are you lordkhram?

We don't dive Koh Rin because there is unexploded ordnance in the water, and it is company policy NOT to send our customers to dive in a firing range, not because it is crap!
And,
Our buy 4 days of diving and get one free day, is on an existing dive trip only and that is always stated by our staff when booking, you get a free dive on any existing dive trip, you could have gone to the Khram on a following day without extra charge, it was simply as it was only YOU that wanted to visit the Khram on a day we not planning to dive it that you were asked to pay more, but that was not good enough for you, and what would you expect from someone that calls themselves "lord" and complains that one dive centre wanted to dive the Khram too much and the other not enough LOL

No one asked you to come to Pattaya or to go diving here, why can't you get over it and move on with your life there must be more too life than hanging around web forums just to bag on pattaya dive centres especially one like mine, that is only trying to make an honest living and keep our customers safe in the process?

You have not answered the criticism. What about the prommise of different dive sites every day, and the first 3 of the 4 days I paid for was taken to the same crap dive site.
If you are the guy I complained to at the shop you were quite clearly in the same drunken stupour when you wrote this nonsence as you were the night I met you.

 

[Dive-SEA]

You have not answered the criticism. What about the prommise of different dive sites every day, and the first 3 of the 4 days I paid for was taken to the same crap dive site.
If you are the guy I complained to at the shop you were quite clearly in the same drunken stupour when you wrote this nonsence as you were the night I met you.

We can not make those kind of promises, that we go to different dive sites every day, you would never have been told that by me or my staff as it is just not possible to guarantee, we go where the weather permits and is appropriate for the group as a whole.

Who and when did you book you dive package?
I instruct the staff to never guarantee any particular dive site as sods law always plays its part at sea, the weather or tides usually make the sites the customers want to dive the least practical.

We do not give false information to our customers.
Do you really think that we think you would not notice you visiting the same site every day after we told you other wise?
Sometimes the wind will only allow us to dive in Turtle Bay at Koh Sak, sometime the wind blows hard for weeks at a time and we can only have access to one particular site.

And we do give refunds on dive trips cancelled before the day but not after that is stated on the wall of the shop.

Do you think you could spare the personal digs for just one comment?

Or if you really want to have something to say to me come here to the shop or bar and say it to my face and stop hiding behind your anonymous user-name