What is the line you draw for patronage of a shop?

[Bratface]

I was fortunate to have a wonderful dive shop take a personal interest in me when I was a new diver. The owner sat down and talked to me about diving, explained dive equipment and courses. He even let me try out gear in the pool and personally fitted me with gear that fit me and my budget. When I was ready for more gear, he gave me a generous trade in allowance. The staff there is the best and I consider them my dive family. Those experiences set the bar in what I look for in a dive shop.

 

[drdaddy]

I draw the line at rudeness. I won't shop or rent at Glenn's Aquarius II, even though it's by far the most convenient dive shop in Monterey, because Glenn is an ass. I'd rented a reg from the shop and I had trouble getting sand out of it, so I brought it back to the shop. I rinsed it out in the barrel and asked Glenn if he could look at it. He asked if I'd cleaned it, I said "Yes, I tried rinsing it out in the barrel," and then he replied in a high-pitched voice, "Mnn, I tried rinsing it out, myeh mnn mnn!" He said it like a schoolyard bully. It was weird as well as insulting.

He fixed the reg, but wow, I do not need that kind of bull**** from a dive shop. I'm never going there again.

I really liked the AQUARIUS DIVE SHOP (2040 Del Monte Ave., Monterey, CA 93940) when I visited there. They treated me very well. I'm from Oregon and my friend is a grad student at UC-Davis - both of us are experienced divers. When I got rolled at Monastery Beach, they laughed with me, not at me - and shared their own "rolled at Monastery Beach" experiences. And then they helped me get the sand/small round rocks out of my regs and bcd - rinsing it out in the barrel !!! !!!