Thumbs Down to Adventure Scuba at CSSP Today

[Kunk35]

Karma - he probably drowned

Dude, bad form...... Not cool......

 

[divealotdiver]

Well said and right on. Marking, not marking, underwater, on top of water. That really isn't the underlying issue, although it might help to curtail any of these issues in the future. The underlying issue is one that plagues us everywhere. All too often the most basic of emotions driving us are crappy at best. Treating each other like friends and caring for one another is what needs to happen more, but that unfortunatly eludes some.

One more thing, it was said that the OP was unprofessional. I totally disagree with that statement. The only unprofessional here was the jerk that dropped onto another class with a group of people that I'm sure were made nervous by this action, all the time knowing he was doing this. It is absolutely inexcusable and should be investigated and dealt with. The OP was simply there and the wrong place and the wrong time and tried to be human about it.



I agree that the shop should be contacted and the issue looked into. But I do think this sort of open forum discussion is exactly what needs to happen and does accomplish alot. Mainly, it enables people to have a voice against businesses that treat customers, or potential customers with poor service, and in this case, unprofessional instructors. This isn't the first unprofessional story that I have been witness to with this shop, and the stories and accounts certaintly influence my buying decisions.

**whew**....I'm finished....

I think you all need to grow up a little bit and stop bashing people and shops that you do not know. If you were not there then you really know nothing about the incident. All you are doing is making a bad situation for all that are involved. If you have a beef with any of the AS instructors or staff or shop, take it to them. Stop acting like a little child. If something happened, then the ones involved need to get together to solve any issues they have.

 

[YellowfinKunkfish]

I think you all need to grow up a little bit and stop bashing people and shops that you do not know. If you were not there then you really know nothing about the incident. All you are doing is making a bad situation for all that are involved. If you have a beef with any of the AS instructors or staff or shop, take it to them. Stop acting like a little child. If something happened, then the ones involved need to get together to solve any issues they have.

LOL, unfortunately Kunk35 and I DO know this particular shop very well. In case you hadn't noticed, this is a discussion board. The OP posts about a subject, and then the rest of us discuss it! We didn't cause any "bad situation" this particular instructor did that all by himself. As far as our "beef" with the shop goes...

To quote you "If you were not there then you really know nothing about the incident."

Acting like a little child? Oh gee, we've been scolded.

Welcome to the board!
Rhonda

 

[Joe-Diver]

LOL @ divealotdiver...but welcome to the board anyway. GREAT first post...attack folks. Nice.

I think you all need to grow up a little bit and stop bashing people and shops that you do not know. If you were not there then you really know nothing about the incident.

As Rhonda said, this is a discussion board. Post it and we'll talk about it. You don't get to make the rules.

All you are doing is making a bad situation for all that are involved.

I think you overestimate the "power" of Scubaboard.

If you have a beef with any of the AS instructors or staff or shop, take it to them.

PM's have already been exchanged, not that it's any of your business.

Stop acting like a little child.

LOL...really....LOL.....

If something happened, then the ones involved need to get together to solve any issues they have.

The only valid point you've made. But you're too late because it's already been said and it's already been communicated to the parties in question. But thanks anyway.

 

[redacted]

I think you all need to grow up a little bit and stop bashing people and shops that you do not know. If you were not there then you really know nothing about the incident. All you are doing is making a bad situation for all that are involved. If you have a beef with any of the AS instructors or staff or shop, take it to them. Stop acting like a little child. If something happened, then the ones involved need to get together to solve any issues they have.

Welcome to the board.

Sounds like you must have been there (or you too are just bashing folks over something you know nothing about).

Why don't you tell us your side of the story.

 

[Kunk35]

I apologize in advance to all my friends and fellow forumites for the following rant....

I think you all need to grow up a little bit and stop bashing people and shops that you do not know

I'll ignore the "grow up" part, since that is just an attempt to belittle.

As far as bashing the shop, that is what they get for providing the kinds of services and attitudes that I have personally been witness to in the three years and thousands of dollars spent in that shop. I have attempted many times to take my "beef" to the owner of the shop, and it went nowhere. So now I turn to the more powerful and fullfilling way of expressing my experiences with Adventure Scuba. What is it they say, a satisfied customer will tell 3 people, but an unsatisfied customer will tell as many as they meet! How exactly would you suggest I handle situations that come up, other than talking to the owner for satisfaction, or sharing my experiences with others so they won't make the same mistakes I did? If you have another suggestion, by all means share it with me. By the way, I've already taken my business elsewhere, so that isn't a solution either.

All you are doing is making a bad situation for all that are involved

I think the Adventure Scuba instructor involved made the situation bad, not the people discussing that situation. The OP shared an experience he had first hand with a member of Adventure Scuba. As stated in his original post, he tried to work it out like any civilized person would, by talking it out and trying to rely on common sense and courtesy. That didn't work and a dangerous situation occurred. From dealing with the people I have dealt with there, it is not a stretch to believe the OP's version of the events, so I feel that I have information relevant to this thread. If I can influence even one new diver to look around and check out other shops before they make their decision before getting into scuba, then I've done my job as a very unhappy consumer of Adventure Scuba.

Now, for my final thought, signing up on Scuababoard, and with your first post belittle others by saying we're acting like children, is probably not the best way to make friends. A good suggestion, (which is similiar to what you suggested we do with complaints to the shop), would be to use the private message function to air out your issues with another poster in private, rather than on the open forum.

 

[dartref]

:As far as bashing the shop, that is what they get for providing the kinds of services and attitudes that I have personally been witness to in the three years and thousands of dollars spent in that shop. I have attempted many times to take my "beef" to the owner of the shop, and it went nowhere. So now I turn to the more powerful and fullfilling way of expressing my experiences with Adventure Scuba. What is it they say, a satisfied customer will tell 3 people, but an unsatisfied customer will tell as many as they meet! How exactly would you suggest I handle situations that come up, other than talking to the owner for satisfaction, or sharing my experiences with others so they won't make the same mistakes I did? If you have another suggestion, by all means share it with me. By the way, I've already taken my business elsewhere, so that isn't a solution either.

Since your intent seems to be to promote the bad service you've "personally been witness to in the three years and thousands of dollars spent in that shop", I'd question why you spent three years and thousands of dollars there if you weren't happy the entire time? I don't want to know what happened, I don't care as that is a personal thing for you. I will admit that I too have had differences of opinions with retail establishments and will no longer give my business to those locations (although I've never found a dive shop I don't like, or the staff of which consistantly met with my disapproval). Having said that, I have frequented AS for over four years now and have not had the issues you apparently have had. While I'm sure whatever happened was not good to you personally, not everyone who shops there has the same issues. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Meg and Richard who have ALWAYS been very good to myself and my family, and have ALWAYS been open and honest anytime I felt like I needed to talk to them about anything. In your case, I hope you have been fortunate enough to have found a shop that now treats you the way I have always been treated at Adventure Scuba.

 

[jchapman3]

Since your intent seems to be to promote the bad service you've "personally been witness to in the three years and thousands of dollars spent in that shop", I'd question why you spent three years and thousands of dollars there if you weren't happy the entire time? .

I can answer that one... that's easy.. it wasn't always bad...

 

[jchapman3]

At the bequest of my dive buddy to "catch up on the do'ns at CSSP", I read this entire thread, and I'm sorry to say, that's 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

<soapbox=off>
This thread has gotten SO FAR off track from where it started.

The last thing this thread needs is 2 more cents, but I'm tossing it in as revenge for reading everything so far...

Here's the net-net as I see it: This whole thing started with a report on the conduct of two instructors and a platform full of uncertified students...

First A shop is neither good nor bad... it's the PEOPLE that control that. It is the PEOPLE's ability to a) know what the right thing to do is, and b) able to act up on what is right, that make a store worthy of our business and time.

That's the point. Instructor A tried to do the right thing (after perhaps being in the wrong place) and Instructor B was obviously reading from a different set of rules, and IMHO did the most wrong thing he could possibly do, and put HIS students as well as a group of strangers in harms way. Period.

I am personally aware of 3 instances where instructors/staff at AS made what I believe was a "not the right thing to do" decision. And in one instance, I'm glad that me and my dive buddy weren't hurt; although I learned far more on that weekend dive trip than I bargained for. Assuming all is as advertised on this thread, I would consider this "not that suprising" for an instructor from AS. I don't think everyone at AS has bad judgement, but a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link...and there are a couple of weak one's that the owners at AS KNOW about, and have yet to do anything about it; so the judgement question goes all the way up.

I hope someone DOES report the incident to PADI and let them sort it out. It's not a question of whether or not students can trust their instructors, it's IMPLIED that as instructors they are trustable and will not endanger their students. When judgment fails, people get hurt. I wish I had known reporting the incident to PADI was an option after my incident and had not listened to my instructors request to keep those events quiet.

As to the lengthy discussion about who owns what, and who has what at what times... a clipboard with a pencil on a string, and some cleverly pre-printed forms with dates and times, attached to the pavilions and a post outside the platforms would solve everyone's questions. (Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance, my father always used to tell me). If a shop has events planned every weekend from June to Sept, then put a laminated sheet up with those dates and times blocked out...maybe even include contact information. If a shop that "owns" a pavilion or a platform wants blocks of times set aside, then I'm sure a quick call to Robert would get entries placed on the aforementioned pieces of paper; if Robert doesn't want the responsibility for "scheduling", or the subsequent bickering from shops and instructors, then the shops need to make sure someone is there to get their names on the list. Tada. Problem solved for shops, students, AND the customers of CSSP.

If the platforms are that crowded, white boards standing on easles outside the platforms with time blocks on them would aid in multiple groups getting the most out of the water; surely those highly experienced instructors could plan their dives such that they were in and out of the water in 60-90 minute intervals. (This would also help inform those of us that are just there to dive, as to what times to AVOID the platforms).

So... to the instructor that started this thread... Report the incident to PADI; he put his students and yours in harms way over a stupid pissing contest. The scenario was (theoretically) clearly communicated and alternatives DID exist, and yet he chose the wrong thing to do.

To the shops that consume the lake: Work out a mechanism to let the rest of us know what's going on and when... and then no one needs to kick anyone in the head, or confuse the newbies that are just trying to learn like we did once upon a time.

<soapbox=off>

 

[FIXXERVI6]

..........Ok, last point... to the diver that questioned whether or not students should be working from platforms... How many times have you dove on CSSP? The bottom is 6-12" of muck and mud. Can you imagine encouraging a class of 12 (or even 2!) students to not only "touch" the bottom, but kneel in it? Are you NUTS!?.............
<soapbox=off>

who said anything about kneeling?

Do you stop and kneel on a reef when your mask needs cleared?

I wasn't totally serious about the comment hence the smiley at the end, with the express instruction students receive these days I wouldn't expect even one of them to be able to hover off the bottom and clear their masks but thats a discussion already beat to death on many other threads, use the search feature as I will not comment any further on it in this thread due to it being off topic and a beat to death subject.

If you'd like to discuss it further with me PM on it.