Silent World Key Largo, Not everything you could ask for

[Stratusphere02]

Was that $50 in addition to the charter charge ?

Yes the $50 was in addition to the charter charge.

Total was $324.65 which included the charter fee for 3, wreck medallions for 3, wreck surcharges for 3 and the additional $50 charge.


-Ryan

 

[MsParamedic]

Yep, it was I that made the reservation. When Ryan called he stated that he and friends were traveling to the Keys to complete a deep dive for one of divers (Im not sure if he identified which party member it was) and wanted to book a guide that was also an instructor. When he called to confirm, I was once again in the shop and confirmed that a request was made for an instructor to accompany this person. Unfortunately--this is where my involvement ends, and I'd rather not get into he said/she said things.

Since it was suggested by her home shop and/or her instructor to travel to the Keys to complete the dives and she had already completed 3 of the required 5 dives--her knowledge reviews should have been completed (just like she had to complete on her previous 3 dives) to present them to her instructor in order to get the "Adventure Deep Dive" signed off. It is my understanding, that her log book was signed--but the adventure dive wasn't since she hadn't completed the knowledge reviews. Perhaps her home instructor will be willing to sign off the "Adventure Deep Dive" once she has completed the knowledge review and shows him her log book.

Like I said before...I'm not going to get into he said/she said, finger pointing or stating facts that I got second hand.

Pat

 

[SteveC]

Right or wrong, one things for sure, Silent World will lose a lot more than $50 over this.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Right or wrong, one things for sure, Silent World will lose a lot more than $50 over this.

Maybe not they have a excellent rep and usually that prevails

 

[divad]

Chris refused to refund the $50 and tried to suggest that we should have been charged more because only the 3 of us were on the boat and that could be considered a private charter, even though we never requested a private charter.
-Ryan

I've never gone with Silent World under the new owner, but I frequently used to be one of only two or three divers on the their boat. The refusal to refund $50.00 seems odd, but may indicate that the new owner was sure he was right.

 

[100days-a-year]

Florida Keys Boat Rentals - Islamorada Sport Fishing Online

This is one solution.Before we had a boat big enough for us to dive off of we would rent one.Since we normally have 4-6 in the group it was pretty cost effective.

 

[Thalassamania]

Maybe not they have a excellent rep and usually that prevails

I'm sure that it already has cost Silent World $50. Most people speak highly of Silent World, but I suspect that this is one of those "pay the $50" situations that have nothing to do with right or wrong.

 

[LiteHedded]

Yep, it was I that made the reservation. When Ryan called he stated that his girlfriend was working on her AOW and her instructor suggested they travel to the Keys to get her deep dive "signed off". With this information and a brief discussion (sorry, this was sometime ago and I don't remember the details of our talk) I put in the schedule book "Instructor/Guide". When he called to confirm, I was once again in the shop and confirmed that a request was made for an instructor to accompany her. Unfortunately--this is where my involvement ends, and I'd rather not get into he said/she said things.

Since it was suggested by her home shop and/or her instructor to travel to the Keys to complete the dives and she had already completed 3 of the required 5 dives--her knowledge reviews should have been completed (just like she had to complete on her previous 3 dives) to present them to her instructor in order to get the "Adventure Deep Dive" signed off. It is my understanding, that her log book was signed--but the adventure dive wasn't since she hadn't completed the knowledge reviews. Perhaps her home instructor will be willing to sign off the "Adventure Deep Dive" once she has completed the knowledge review and shows him her log book.

Like I said before...I'm not going to get into he said/she said, finger pointing or stating facts that I got second hand.

Pat

seems like she asked for something she didn't get to me.
odd they didn't refund the 50

 

[Kamchatka]

I've also read both sides of the story, and my vote goes for the diver. I'll also vote with my wallet and dive elsewhere. After a somewhat less than wonderful trip to the Keys last weekend at Amoray, I was looking for another operator too. Can someone give me the name of a third choice to these two? Sorry, but $50.00 is way too little to hold back to keep a happy customer. I'm in sales, and nothing but nothing is more important to business as customer service. Word of mouth is awfully powerful.

Well said, divematt.
Try Ocean Divers (big boats, published schedule, nice folks), HMS Minnow (great 6-pack), Quiescence (good rep, 3 6-packs), Scuba Do (34', 10 divers max), Conch Republic (good people, middle and bigger boats) or Cristal Clear (small & big boats).

 

[divematt]

Well said, divematt.
Try Ocean Divers (big boats, published schedule, nice folks), HMS Minnow (great 6-pack), Quiescence (good rep, 3 6-packs), Scuba Do (34', 10 divers max), Conch Republic (good people, middle and bigger boats) or Cristal Clear (small & big boats).

I will be trying Conch Republic. Capt. Gary seems like a very customer oriented guy as he has done an excellent job at responding to my PM's. You know, that's all we ask for out there as divers.

This diver on this thread was upset that he didn't get what he thought he was supposed to get. Right or wrong on either of their side (diver or operator), I'd have refunded the 50 bucks and said sorry you're going home tomorrow and can't go with us, but here's your 50 bucks to come back next time. Can you imagine how happy that might have made the diver feel even they still didn't get their completion? I mean, they came down thinking that one of them was getting certified. They didn't, and whether it was totally anybodys fault, they left unhappy, the op lost a few future divers, and the op still got all of their money. It wasn't worth the 50 bucks. They got $324.65, would $274.65 shut them down? Probably not, but could you imagine how the thread might have sounded if they got the refund? The op would have been praised for going out of their way to keep a customer happy. Word of mouth, way powerful!

If I have a good time with Conch Republic, and I know nothing much about them yet, I'm going to be telling everybody about them, starting at our next Daytona Beach dive club meeting. Maybe the business at the other dive operation is so busy that they don't need any extra divers. If so, good for them and may they keep up the good work except for this one event.