Silent World Key Largo, Not everything you could ask for

[sarita75]

I have been reading this thread for the past few days watching the disagreements, edits, etc. I have to admit that I am more in the "JimLap" pool as I think what's happened is a simple miscommunication. At the end of the day, the OP's girlfriend was not qualified to make the dive (being OW-cert only) and so to make the dive she had to have a guide. She got it. $50 for the guide.

What she didn't get and what appears to be the miscommunication is that she wanted a checkout dive. Didn't get it. I understand the frustration but it appears to be simply a miscommunication - not malicious.

What I see as unfortunate, however, is the fact that businesses can get embroiled in this need to defend themselves publicly because of something as simple as a miscommunication (albeit a disappointing one). I feel badly for businesses these days since anyone is a critic online and something simple can result in lost business - and a substantial part of it. Years ago I worked for Marriott who, in their training, showed how word of mouth could effect business- resulting in hundreds of lost customers/$ in business. I can't imagine what that #/$ is nowadays with the internet.

At the end of the day - I understand the OP's disappointment and frustration. But, IMHO, she dove the wreck with a guide b/c they would not take her otherwise. A $50 value.

I also see Silent World's involvement in the boards and have had the fortune of speaking to them on the phone regarding diving and they were very helpful and candid with me regarding their policies (this was prior to this thread being started). If I were diving in Key Largo I would definitely use them.

 

[divad]

Me too

 

[DebbyDiver]

Maybe they were trying to get away with a cheap sign-off.

That was my thought all along.

Come on, if you traveled from some cold place all the way to the Fabulous Florida Keys, wouldn't you be bubbling over at check-in? I know I'd be saying "wow, I am so excited, I came here to do the dives for my AOW, wow, this is sooooooo awesome!"

I think the OP is making a cheap shot because of his and his girlfriend's failure to make it clear what they wanted. GROWNUPS make sure that they are getting what they paid for, they ask questions, they observe, they PAY ATTENTION and ASK QUESTIONS. Immature people make stupid threats.

I've never dived with Silent World, but I feel pretty certain about this: they have no mind readers on staff.

Sooooo, Brian, can I be your buddy when you dive with them?

 

[DMdoogie]

Conch Republic is my choice for diving in the upper Keys. A class act all the way.

 

[divad]

After rereading the OP, it seems that the miscommunication was on the OP's part. Their lack of reqisit paperwork clearly indicates that they had no idea what they were even asking for.

 

[kuma1720]

I have utilized SW on numerous occasions and find their OP very reputable.
They have some of the best deals on trips around. The only thing I find odd is why didn't Stratus take the time to clarify matters in the morning while signing off their waivers. He should have explained his concerns with Chris or Alison to avoid future problems. This would have avoided all this bickering in the first place.
I just wanted to give my insight and feed on SW. They still remain to be very reputable and at least Stratus took the time to acknowledge this fact.

 

[divad]

Actually, that SW offered to give them, for free, what they eventually found out was what they wanted (and failed to ask for) is outstanding. Trying to get out of a guide fee for for a diver that had to have one to make the dive is pretty cheesy. Fighting the good fight and not being bullied into a refund for a service that was rendered is stand-up. Hopefully it won't backfire.

 

[Stratusphere02]

It has been said that I am being cheap, when in fact I am just going off of the notion that when you ask for a specific service as I stated in my original post and as confirmed by Pat in her original (un-edited) post (on post #28)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MsParamedic
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

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that the service I requested, the AOW deep dive instruction, is expected to be provided.
It has been recognized that we did not receive what we requested and therefore should be handled in that manner.

It was not the customer’s job to handle all of the details, when we asked Pat from the beginning what would be required and only $50 was mentioned. This was confirmed over the phone twice by Pat. Beyond confirming the plans for the dive and asking what else was needed, there is nothing further I could do to get more information during those two conversations with Pat.

There was no red flag sent up because, as said by many posters in this thread, the cost for the dive should have been around $125. This was essentially the cost; the total for my girlfriend was $120, $70 for the charter and $50 for the instructor. $50 in addition to the charter fee seemed to be a reasonable charge for an instructor to complete the AOW deep dive. Is completing 1 of the 5 AOW dives supposed to cost $125 in addition to the charter fee?

This was in fact a miscommunication, which was not recognized by Chris while we were in the shop; Chris verbally offered to have my girlfriend back the next day to complete the AOW deep dive. We told Chris that we would not be able to come the next day and he did not offer to complete the dive at any other time. He then asked us how we wanted to resolve this issue and I replied that I wanted the $50 refunded because we were charged that $50 for Silent World booking a service different than the one we requested.

Wanting the $50 back, is not about being cheap. Wanting the $50 back was about not getting what we requested and was confirmed by the dive shop, not about a “cheap off”. My girlfriend wants the AOW dives done as required by PADI and would pay for this with no hesitation if it had been provided. Why should we pay for something we did not ask for? As stated in my original post, we were content with doing two shallow dives if instruction for the AOW deep dive could not be provided. If it was about being cheap we would not have tipped our Captain AJ $40 for the two dives. We have no problem paying for quality service, as long as it is the service we request.

Finally I think it is important to recognize that there has been no name calling except the accusation that we threatened Chris in the store. These accusations are serious and since they are towards me it needs to be known that those accusations are false. At no point in time did I ever threaten anyone!

I feel the best summary to the entire situation was provided in post #32

It seems the O.P., Ryan, made (his GF’s) arrangements to complete the AOW requirements. He was assured by Silent World Pat that this was doable. Then he reconfirmed this with another call a week before the scheduled dive. Then he checked in with the shop, paid for the dives and they dove. Afterwards, he was told that his GF couldn’t get signed off because she and the instructor/guide(?), essentially, hadn’t completed the required tasks.
Silent World Chris responded that the student hadn’t completed various forms and didn’t have some other documents with her. He blames Ryan and his brother for not knowing better and picking up on this and implies that they should have led the shop personnel through the required procedures, monitored the conversations, briefing, instructions, etc. I don’t agree with that.
As far as being offered “the dive free of charge on another day,” that was a reasonable and appropriate response. However, when Ryan asked for the $50 refund due to his flight schedule he should have received it. After flying in, anticipating the AOW completion and not being able to get it because of the way things transpired, I’d be upset.
One other thing:“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. Allison also suggested that we should be charged an additional $25 because my brother and myself were probably in the "vicinity" of the "guide" on the dives.”Ryan, are you sure this is an accurate account of what they said? I can’t imagine responsible people in a service industry being that impudent.

I understand that this entire thread is difficult for some to follow, but what it comes down to is that we the customer's left Silent World unhappy because of how we were treated by ownership. It has been a week since this entire situation occurred and it is still not resolved to the satisfaction of the customer.

I also appreciate the offers from other dive operators to complete this instruction for my girlfriend. That is very generous but this is not your mess to clean up. She plans to just complete it next spring at the lake she received her OW in. In the future we will just handle instruction through or LDS to help alleviate any miscommunication. But when we do come and visit the Keys in a year or so I will remember your generosity when choosing a dive operator.

I have told this story in its entirety and the topic has been exhausted. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

-Ryan

 

[John_B]

Ryan, what's at issue here is that you threatened the dive op with a "give me the $50 refund or I'll slander your name all across the internet" threat. And then you carried out that threat, in post #1 of this very thread. For $50, over a misunderstanding, after you admit they otherwise took wonderful care of you. None of that at least seems to be in question.

As far as I'm concerned that's the behavior of a lowlife scumbag. You can try to pretty up the rest of it all you want but it seems -- just from your own posts -- like you are carrying through on some sort of internet extortion threat gone wild.

I can't imagine what other dive op or instructor would want to have anything to do with you.

John

 

[John_B]

Satisfying a customer is one thing, but there is a greater issue at hand here-- adhering to standards. It seems that they offered this diver the free, correct dive the next day. That was the only realistic option. Had they offered the $50 back, it sounds like said diver would have made a big deal about "how they spent $xxx on airfare, hotel, etc" just for this trip to get AOW. Should the shop be on the hook for that? Of course not. It's idiotic to even suggest that.

Not to mention that someone who shows up to Key Largo in October with one day to get a dive in shows a patent lack of understanding of Keys weather and how the wind affects wave height and frequency.

John