Underwhelmed by Oahu Dive Op

[aascubagirl]

I have to jump in and say that I am super-impressed w/DHD's response. I, too, was expecting a sort of "blame the diver" response but instead, they took full responsibility. Wow! You don't find that too often these days. All of us have bad days occasionally (although we work really hard to keep that from ever happening at all) and all of us have been misunderstood at one time or another by someone who didn't get our joke, our personality, etc.

Prior to their post, I would have written them off as an operation to avoid. But the fact that DHD would straight up take blame, make no excuses, apologize and overall just respond so professionally tells me that they are a company who cares and who strives to offer a great product and service but happened to goof up this one time. This puts them at the top of my list of dive companies to try when I make it back to Oahu. I look forward to finding out for myself what kind of operation they run!

 

[DiamondHeadDiver]

it's kind of odd that the bubble_girl hasn't been back to make any comments, dont'cha think? Were that me, I'd be following this thing like a baby duck following mom.

I'm quacking after this comment.

 

[Randy43068]

Captian Mike, you're a stand up guy! I appreciate your honest immediate response. The OP probably did you a favor because now we all see how good you really are.

Thanks! I wish all business owners treated complaints as you did. Thank you for it!!

 

[Captain Walt]

Captain Mike, you did a good job with your responce. It is hard to make everyone happy on a trip. Very admerable to humble yourself. What happend on the trip, it is what it is. But The divers all came back safely. 100%!! But guys don't question bubble_girl and her silence. If she follows this or not makes no difference. As we all know, what she did was a service to DHD and the rest of us. I thank her for that. She allowed Captain Mike (DHD) the opertunity to see that she was not satisfied, and he did a good job with his response. I think he has turned a negative into a positive. The operation is better for it. Her expiriance was hers. All of this is good and improves our diving comunity as a hole. I will take from this as I am sure you all will. This sort of thing brings me back to reality and tells me we need them. (the diver)

Diving is way to much fun. Y'all take care.

 

[scubadrewvideo]

I love diving off the Enzo with Capt. Mike! He is one of only a handful of Capt.'s that I would trust with my life if the situation called for it. Thats what matters to me!
I have seen him personally go the extra distance with "difficult customers" to try and meet their needs. Sounds to me like that day was an anomaly.
With so many different groups on any given day, all with different Instructors and DM's, I don't blame Mike one bit for keeping us safe and trying to staying out of the way. He is one of the only Capt.'s I know that does a roll call by name after each dive. No remakes of bad movies on Mikes boat!

Looks like Mike might pick up some business from this thread too
ScubaDrew

 

[Universal Diver]

It is hard to make everyone happy on a trip.

Isn't that the truth! You might guide only 4 divers but that could be 4 different personalities with 4 different interests. Imagine guiding 8 divers!

Also, my two cents, it is very important 'HOW' you say things, not exactly 'WHAT' you say.

I am very impressed by Capt. Mike's response and I hope he can fix the problem. I've been on his boat several times and have enjoyed my experiences with his boat.

We ALL represent Oahu and have to give our best everyday. If anyone has employees that don't represent your company nor this island well, then tell them to find a new career. I know the pay is not that great here for diving, or I'd be working in this profession, but it is still a job and we as professionals should respect that. If customers don't come, then we don't need the dive boats, the DM's etc.

 

[DiamondHeadDiver]

What happend on the trip, it is what it is. But The divers all came back safely. 100%!! But guys don't question bubble_girl and her silence. If she follows this or not makes no difference. As we all know, what she did was a service to DHD and the rest of us. I thank her for that.

Ditto on that Captain Walt, I shoulda clipped the quote as I was only responding to the duck comment. It actually made me laugh ...picturing myself as the baby duck that is.

Mahalo,

 

[bubblin_girl]

I would very much like to thank everyone for taking the time to make this a most interesting thread. I've been able to take away quite a bit from all of the various perspectives and 'insider' information.

Capt. Mike - Thank you for your gracious response. I do very much appreciate your acknowledgement of the situation. It is refreshing to find a business owner (in any industry these days!) who is willing to take the time to analyze such a situation and try to put that information to use in their daily business operations.

And to Randy43068.... Quack! I may not respond immediately but i'm always reading up on the latest posts!

 

[MeiLing]

Wow, that's pretty harsh.

I have to agree with Capt Scotty on this one. I have been on that boat for many dives, and have never seen that while diving with them. I wasn't there that day, (I don't think), but Capt Mike's apology and explanation are all he can do now.
I will continue to dive with them, and plan on being there Saturday.

You might think it’s harsh, but guess what, in business you never get a second chance in business to make a first impression. Furthermore, people who are reasonably satisfied with a retail experience usually don’t walk around talking about what a great experience they had. On the other hand, when a customer is dissatisfied, they will tell, on average, nine other people or at least that was the average some 25 years ago when I entered the business world. With the advent of the internet, I would venture to say that average number has expanded exponentially!

Ask Jack’s how they do it?

In my experience there are mundane and repetitive aspects of all employment but I’ve found those outside in recreation the easiest to tolerate, and put on a happy face.
Of course it could just be I chose the jobs and it was not the only one I could get or there for the money or benefits.

Is Oahu starved for employees? I think last I saw HI had the lowest unemployment rate. What are the Oahu dive ops wages?

Oahu is not starved for employees and the fact that we ALWAYS have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation is misleading. If you work 40 hours a week or make over $475 weekly, you don’t qualify for unemployment. Doesn’t mean that folks here are able to pay their bills with a single job. In the weeks following 9/11, between 3K and 5K people a week filed for unemployment in this state. Most of them didn’t qualify for the aforementioned reasons. This is a state where many people, including a lot of professionals, work two jobs to make ends meet.

Yes, dive ops as well as many other businesses here don’t pay very well. But just because an employee doesn’t think he/she isn’t getting paid enough, isn’t a reason that anyone should use to justify an employee’s bad behavior! Furthermore, if it is a justification by an employer, then they’re shooting off their nose to spite their face! In addition, all or a portion of a DM’s wages here are earned from tips. Tips are not a given. And certainly not something I am going to hand out to someone with a poor attitude.

As a customer, I really don’t want to hear about the problems folks have running their businesses. I’m paying for a service or good to be provided. I’m not there to listen to someone’s sob stories about how tough it is to be in their business!

If you can’t put on a happy face to do your job or run your business, find another! From someone who spent twenty years in a service industry putting on that happy face while I worked my a$$ off, I’m not inclined to give anyone a pass.

It is a good first step that the owner of the business did make in coming here with a public apology to the customer in question and to begin to repair his company's reputation from that customer's experience. But the fact that he had to do so in the first place, puts the business in a poor position.

 

[Randy43068]

I would very much like to thank everyone for taking the time to make this a most interesting thread. I've been able to take away quite a bit from all of the various perspectives and 'insider' information.

Capt. Mike - Thank you for your gracious response. I do very much appreciate your acknowledgement of the situation. It is refreshing to find a business owner (in any industry these days!) who is willing to take the time to analyze such a situation and try to put that information to use in their daily business operations.

And to Randy43068.... Quack! I may not respond immediately but i'm always reading up on the latest posts!

Sorry. I was hoping you weren't the type of poster who slams a business then runs away. Good on ya! Mike handled it in a most professional way. All in all, it's good you pointed it out so he can get the issue fixed so it doesn't happen again.


Thanks for following and replying.