deeper thoughts
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Interesting
This kinda disturbs me...
- Thread starter releck97
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divesergeant
Contributor
I'd never heard of Cayman Islands Diving Forum. So I just went there for about five minutes; more than enough time to know it isn't worth going back!
Cheers!
Cheers!
I use both Scubaboard and Tripadvisor extensively for planning trips. Both sites have given me valuable information. I do some filtering based on factors such as depth, substance, and number of messages per poster. With Scubaboard there are some people I tend to "follow" and my trust of those particular posters increases over time. Conversely, there are some people I totally ignore (and I am probably ignored by others as well).
billinwilliamston
Contributor
The site reads like 3 guys get together at the bar once on a while and make stuff up. Very sophomoric in it's approach and execution. I doubt that Joe @ CAG is behind it. He would do a better job of making it look real.
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Not having read the mentioned site yet, I can comment on a couple points.
Yes, I have, rarely, called out dive operators shilling on this board without disclosing their connections to the promoted op. That includes Ocean Frontiers. Once. And another op, something like JJ Divers?? (I forget the exact name). Once.
I often see glowing reviews of certain operators, Ocean Frontiers and DiveTech among them. But I have noticed a certain defensiveness when people offer criticism. Even the best operator will handle something badly some day.
So my two cents worth on the particularly mentioned operators...
A DiveTech staffer tried to cave fill my twin-set for a normoxic course and blew out the burst disk. Hell of a noise when it went off but much better than someone getting injured. He failed to adjust the cutoff pressure for the compressor. A bad day. In my other interactions with DiveTech for shore diving they have been just fine. Nothing outstanding, but nothing to write home about.
In dealing with Ocean Frontiers, my only criticism is not from a customer's perspective. They seem to cut it uncomfortably close with securing boats prior to a tropical storm. This has resulted in their staff moving boats after the seas have already started to pick up. Dive staff are people too and need time to finish the tasks at work prior to going home and securing their homes. On the other hand they have worked very hard with the local community and dive sector in promoting tourism and the East End in particular. They set a high standard and other operators would be well advised to take notes.
As for who I am...
For those without long memory, several years ago I worked at Tortuga Divers in East End, which is owned by Red Sail Sports. I repeatedly disclosed this fact. billinwilliamston knows exactly who I am and I dove with him and his family several times. I have not worked there for more than 7 years now.
Dive operators and their staff are very welcome to post on these boards in my experience. We just need to disclose connections so the readers can make up their own minds.
Yes, I have, rarely, called out dive operators shilling on this board without disclosing their connections to the promoted op. That includes Ocean Frontiers. Once. And another op, something like JJ Divers?? (I forget the exact name). Once.
I often see glowing reviews of certain operators, Ocean Frontiers and DiveTech among them. But I have noticed a certain defensiveness when people offer criticism. Even the best operator will handle something badly some day.
So my two cents worth on the particularly mentioned operators...
A DiveTech staffer tried to cave fill my twin-set for a normoxic course and blew out the burst disk. Hell of a noise when it went off but much better than someone getting injured. He failed to adjust the cutoff pressure for the compressor. A bad day. In my other interactions with DiveTech for shore diving they have been just fine. Nothing outstanding, but nothing to write home about.
In dealing with Ocean Frontiers, my only criticism is not from a customer's perspective. They seem to cut it uncomfortably close with securing boats prior to a tropical storm. This has resulted in their staff moving boats after the seas have already started to pick up. Dive staff are people too and need time to finish the tasks at work prior to going home and securing their homes. On the other hand they have worked very hard with the local community and dive sector in promoting tourism and the East End in particular. They set a high standard and other operators would be well advised to take notes.
As for who I am...
For those without long memory, several years ago I worked at Tortuga Divers in East End, which is owned by Red Sail Sports. I repeatedly disclosed this fact. billinwilliamston knows exactly who I am and I dove with him and his family several times. I have not worked there for more than 7 years now.
Dive operators and their staff are very welcome to post on these boards in my experience. We just need to disclose connections so the readers can make up their own minds.
Pavao
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Here's a funny one from tripadvisor.
She starts with...
She continues...
So after commenting that it really got her to "sign up" for the class, comes my favorite part...
This bright reviewer here, forgot that her tripadvisor account was linked to her facebook, so it was posted with her real name and her fb photo, which was a picture of the couple hugging, LOL, priceless!
Aside from that type of thing, I have learned that operators can hire companies to "help" with their business online reviews.
They'll just periodically post bogus reviews to boost the operators ratings, specially when a negative review is posted, they'll counter it with a bunch of positive ones, basically just outnumbering the negative and tipping the scale way over to one side.
It is easy to spot those reviews in cases like scuba diving, a specialized activity, there's only so many vague statements one can make.
She starts with...
She has been living and married to THE photographer for about 10 years.
She continues...
Of course, this new found place she is referring to is the place her husband has been working for the last 6 MONTHS. And the "amazing underwater pictures" she tries to promote, claiming later that it was what really got her "inspired" to take the class, are of course his own pictures being "showcased" in the shop.
So after commenting that it really got her to "sign up" for the class, comes my favorite part...
xxxxx being her own husband
This bright reviewer here, forgot that her tripadvisor account was linked to her facebook, so it was posted with her real name and her fb photo, which was a picture of the couple hugging, LOL, priceless!
Aside from that type of thing, I have learned that operators can hire companies to "help" with their business online reviews.
They'll just periodically post bogus reviews to boost the operators ratings, specially when a negative review is posted, they'll counter it with a bunch of positive ones, basically just outnumbering the negative and tipping the scale way over to one side.
It is easy to spot those reviews in cases like scuba diving, a specialized activity, there's only so many vague statements one can make.
- Messages
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- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I've seen sites that moderate all offered posts before allowing any, but this one really wants to control Cayman shopping - bashing Red Sail and other big ops. They like to steer divers away from Divetech , and their favorite op seems to be Living The Dream - from scanning a few pages. Hard to devote much reading time to the rag site.
Here's a funny one from tripadvisor.
She starts with...
She has been living and married to THE photographer for about 10 years.
She continues...
Of course, this new found place she is referring to is the place her husband has been working for the last 6 MONTHS. And the "amazing underwater pictures" she tries to promote, claiming later that it was what really got her "inspired" to take the class, are of course his own pictures being "showcased" in the shop.
So after commenting that it really got her to "sign up" for the class, comes my favorite part...
xxxxx being her own husband
This bright reviewer here, forgot that her tripadvisor account was linked to her facebook, so it was posted with her real name and her fb photo, which was a picture of the couple hugging, LOL, priceless!
Aside from that type of thing, I have learned that operators can hire companies to "help" with their business online reviews.
They'll just periodically post bogus reviews to boost the operators ratings, specially when a negative review is posted, they'll counter it with a bunch of positive ones, basically just outnumbering the negative and tipping the scale way over to one side.
It is easy to spot those reviews in cases like scuba diving, a specialized activity, there's only so many vague statements one can make.
Funny / sad. Did you report this to TripAdvisor? If so, what was their reaction?
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