Exceptional Service

[cascbagrl]

I have one that has both good and bad

My husband and I had been using a certain LDS and were starting to become a bit annoyed with the service we were receiving. We had used this LDS for a while now and felt our selves to be good clients who maybe deserved a little extra attention well I dropped off our regulators, we had a trip coming up and they were aware of this and 2 weeks later still hadn't heard anything about our regs so I stopped by and found out that they hadn't even been looked at. So another 2 weeks went by and "oh we just got to them today" well our trip was in a week and a half..so we did end up getting them in time for our trip but it soured me to that LDS. So I had seen a dive flag blowing in the wind on my drive home a few times and decided to stop. The LDS is Advanced Diving Technologies in Pittsburg, California. From the second I stepped in the door I was happy.. We have been using, diving and training with them every since. Les is an amazing instructor, his wife Sharon is one of the kindest people I have ever met and Gary who is retired and works at the store makes every trip in an absolute pleasure.

 

[mtg]

Well I'll throw my hat in...

I recently needed to get my tanks filled (nitrox 110s) and decided last minute to prefill before we hit the road. I called a new (to me) shop and asked when they closed and if they had enough time to fill four tanks. I was squeaking in at just under an hour to closing on a Friday, but they told me to bring 'em in. Got down there and to my embarassment, the tanks I mistakenly thought my hubby had taken in for inspection the month before were overdue:shakehead . The shop owner was there, and said that he would be happy to purge, inspect and fill all 4 tanks. This ended up taking them past closing by almost 45 minutes, and never once did they make me feel like an idiot or a time waster. In fact, I got a tour of the store, service center, compressor, etc. from a guy who was obviously very proud of his shop and the quality of his work/equipment/service.

The shop? Atlantis Divers, Richmond, VA

 

[Tanker299]

My 2 Pesos ...

1
While getting back into diving, I researched many a LDS in my area. We are fortunate to have several LDS within a 75 mile radius.
I visited several before I found Divers Two in Avon by the Sea, NJ.
The first thing that caught my attention was how attentive and dedicated to the sport these guys were. Only after my third time in the shop, and after a barrage of questions did the topic about a purchase came up, and I brought it up.

2
While visiting the local quarry in PA (local = 75 miles away) the "help" in charge of hot filling tanks at this place fell asleep at the wheel while filling my tank :shakehead , mind you, there must have been 1000 divers in this place and my tank ..., I digress, they blew the over-pressure safety on my tank, tank dropped and the valve was busted. I bought the tank exactly 2 weeks before this incident, first tank purchase ever, lovely steel LP85 ...
Anyways, I called the shop and explained the issue ... their response: "Don't worry about it too much bud, bring the tank over and we'll get it taken care of for ya"

These guys are always ready to help and make sure they make a good diver out of you.

That's that ...

 

[cdiver2]

First the +. Walindi Plantation PNG. The moment we set foot in the bar the owner and all staff introduced themselves and new our names. Later in the week after coming back from diving I was not feeling to well and hit the sack for the night, a little later there was a knock on our bungalow door, one of the dinning room staff asking if everything was ok as we had not come for dinner. After explaining I did not feel to good she said she would bring our meals to the bungalow, after saying "no that's ok" she insisted saying I must try to eat at least a little bit.

The - Diversety liveaboard out of Port Douglas. It turned out my wife and I were the only experienced divers on this trip. On every dive we were put at the back of our group and had to play follow the leader (at a fast pace). On a number of occasions the DM told me " I don't mind you taking photos but you must keep up with the group" !.
After talking with the Capt he told me he would speak to the DM and let us do our own thing. This conversation took place at least four times.
On our last dive it was just the DM one other diver and my wife and I. As we were about to do the giant stride the DM told me to look for a land mark so we could find the boat again !. Half way through the dive he came to me and asks were the other diver was !, we spent the next few minutes looking for her. And I had paid good money for this trip.
And we were the only ones to tip (small) at the end of the trip.

 

[dive_lover88]

The exceptional service i received started from the time i stepped into the LDS that i always frequent ,Waikiki Dive,Singapore. The staff were all very nice and i have since got to know them well. Bunch of good people,very professional. The one thing that stands out was that of when i was planning a long trip to Sipadan. John,the dude that owns the shop was very helpful in my planning. He would also answer my text messages even though it was way past the working hours.That what i call good service. That's an A+ in my books, even though i changed my destination to Manado instead.They also were very helpful in my decision on a new B/p rig. They gave me alot of advices,there are alot of good things that i have say about them. But i'd just list this for this time.

 

[Scuba Brad]

Wow excellent comments one and all.

Darren great story! Don't we all wish we had a LDS like that. The dive community has some really wonderful people.

Happy Diving

 

[snhrph]

I took my son to the Beaches in Turks and Caicos for his 10th Birthday. The main event planned was that on his Birthday he would go diving (resort course). He was all excited, so the Birthday morning we went to the dive shop for his lesson and pool orientation dive; he did really well in both and was anxiously awaiting his first "ocean" dive in the afternoon. As the boat departure time neared, I brought my gear to the boat only to find out that the afternoon boat is for the "resort course" divers only. My wife would only let my son go if I went.
I contacted the guest relations and the dive shop manager contacted the GM. After a short while the red tape was cleared and we went on the dive. We saw a variety of tropical fish, a lobster, and a barracuda. Imagine the bragging right this kid got...
That dive was the highlight of the trip. I'm sure that it left a long-lasting impression in my son since he wants to get certified as a gift for his next Birthday.

Thanks to the great crew at Beaches Turks and Caicos.

 

[Walt1957]

We selected the LDS that we use because after asking around we found that they have a really good rep overall, but especially for their training. Last night I had the classroom and pool portion of the Stress and Rescue class. There were only three of us, so we could have been done early and out of there and nobody would have had any reason to complain. But instead the instructor spent the extra time working on additional situations and skills beyond the required minimum. He also did a great job of doing "public" critiques of the individual skills in a way that let everybody learn from the sucesses and failures without making anybody look or feel like an idiot. In a shop that has a number of really good instructors he manages to stand out as above average, and just happens to be a member here - Scubasw - great job Steve!

 

[billtodive]

I rented from the closest LDS for about 20-30 dives after cert. When I mentioned how much I liked the SP glide plus (weight-int stab) I had been renting, she suggested I try a back-inflate. Since she didn't have any in rental, she lent me one....one kudo.

I called weeks later, just asking if she knew if anyone was diving in the area during the week; she said no, but was off wed and we went diving! I mentioned the shop to a diving friend. When he stopped there to inquire about local diving, she got on the phone and within 10 minutes told him " there are 4 people diving cormorant lake at 6 and you are welcome to join them"; and didn't try to sell anything other than the air he stopped in for. kudo2. My SP regs and used bc came from there.

Next nearest shop. Knowledgeble guy will visit all day (commercial diver and instructor). He offered to buy my AL 80's (3 years old) for what I paid for them if I wanted steel's instead. Kudo 3. I bought a boat bag and some save a dive kit things.

 

[Mike126]

Simimlar to Don's experience with ScubaToys I have a similar experience. I have been AGONIZING over which BC to buy over the past month. Yeah I posted alot... :shakehead

Well it came down to the Brigade or Ranger with a Stiltetto bladder. The Brigade was about $125 less than the Ranger/Stiletto. I had ordered both from ScubaToys so I could do a side by side comparison. The other day I called Rick at ST and he recommended not spending the extra cash. Taking into consideration the typ eof diving I do etc. I told him that I was impressed that he did not got for the larger sale. His response was that he felt that honesty was the better policy.

I might have to move to Dallas so ScubaToys can be my LDS!

I also have had incredible customer service with Zeagle. I spoke to Scott on the phone a couple of times (his invitation) to discuss my selection. For the head of the company to talk with a customer like this is MAJOR KUDOS in my book. Also, Scott could have easily recommended a full Ranger but he too said a smaller bladder would be perfectly fine for me.