There are customers who wine about everything, change their mind every 15 minutes and before you finish trying to make them happy your exhausted and lost money on top of it. Of course its worth a few bucks to get these folks to go away.
There are wealthy students who refuse to learn dive tables because they say that's what dive masters are for.
Then there was the guy and his girlfriend. they were two of the slowest learners I ever had. I think they were on something but I couldn't prove it. I kept offering to do extra dives with them but they were always too busy. From one day to the next they would forget everything. Half the time they didn't show up. Neither remembered anything about dive tables when it came time to log their first dive. The guy threw the book down and said he didn't have a clue and he didn't know why he needed to do it because he already took the test. Finally the guy calls the shop one day and tells my wife (I mean store manager) that according to his book he did everything he is supposed to and if he doesn't get a card he's going to complain to PADI. This continued and was bordering on harassment. He would only call when I wasn't there and he knew when that was. Finally he called when I was there and I explained just why I wouldn't/couldn't certify him which of course was because he still couldn't dive worth crap. Well...he finally came out and did some more diving (without the gf) and he did ok. I though I was finally rid of him. No. He comes in asking about equipment and telling me what all the other shops told him. He had already tried a bp/wing but I let him dive for another day in my stuff. I let him try other stuff too. He thought the bp/wing was far superior but he didn't buy. He still comes in once in a while to ask things like...If the bp/wing is so good, why didn't the other shops ever hear of them? I tell him to buy what he likes. He says he likes the bp/wing but he doesn't understand why nobody else ever heard of them. It just keeps going and going. I wish some shop would make this guy happy so I could live out my life without him.
Then there was the paint ball shop owner from down the street. He demanded lower prices for air or he was going to drive me out of business by getting a compressor and undercutting me on air. BTW he would buy an al80 fill from me and then fill those little tiny paintball bottles for like three bucks each. He is the only guy who ever made money off my compressor. I almost had to result to a call to the police or physical means to get him to leave the shop. BTW he bought a compressor and is now out of business. Hehehe
Then there is the guy who wanted a bp/wing. I had to order what he needed and Halcyon was way behind. We couldnt get anything from them and we had tons of stuff back ordered. I gave him a real good price too. About a day later he was on the board here writing about what a bummer it was I didnt have his stuff. I called all over trying to get my hands on what he wanted. I found out that another customer who had just picked up his new outfit, which was the exact same thing, wasnt going to be able to dive for a while. I called him up and asked for the stuff back. I proudly contacted the other guy to tell him I had his stuff. He said he would pick it up. He repeatedly called to say he was coming but he never showed. After a couple of months of holding the stuff he calls and asks if I will buy it back. Well I did and you know what else? He never got on the board to tell everyone how hard I worked for him.
A couple of weeks ago a young man brings in a tank to get filled for the air rifle club at the college. The tank was out of visual, it was late in the afternoon and my wife was getting equipment ready for a class and couldnt do it on the spot. The next day Im in the back room while my wife is out on the floor talking on the phone. It sounded like she was crying so I went out to see what was going on. She gave me the phone and this guy is yelling. He insisted that a tank doesnt need visual every time you fill it. Of course he would be correct if you were getting it filled more than once per year. Then he called me a crook because I charge $10 for a visual. He insisted that even if I was telling the truth about the need for a visual that it shouldnt cost anything because all I did was pull the valve and look inside. I tried to explain what we do but he wouldnt stop yelling long enough. I offered to show him the checklist we go through and the tools we used but he just yelled and insisted I was lying and that he had seen it done and he didnt need it. I tried to explain that it was a safety measure and if he wanted me to fill the tank he did need it. He disagreed that it was a safety issue and insisted that he had stood next to scuba tanks when they failed and it wasnt a big deal. I told him to pick up the tank and there was no charge but he didnt get to keep the sticker and the tank would be empty. After making it clear that he was going to tell everyone what a crook I was he sent the kid back to pick up the tank. I took the new visual sticker off the tank and never did get paid for any of it.
There have been many others so maybe more later.
There are wealthy students who refuse to learn dive tables because they say that's what dive masters are for.
Then there was the guy and his girlfriend. they were two of the slowest learners I ever had. I think they were on something but I couldn't prove it. I kept offering to do extra dives with them but they were always too busy. From one day to the next they would forget everything. Half the time they didn't show up. Neither remembered anything about dive tables when it came time to log their first dive. The guy threw the book down and said he didn't have a clue and he didn't know why he needed to do it because he already took the test. Finally the guy calls the shop one day and tells my wife (I mean store manager) that according to his book he did everything he is supposed to and if he doesn't get a card he's going to complain to PADI. This continued and was bordering on harassment. He would only call when I wasn't there and he knew when that was. Finally he called when I was there and I explained just why I wouldn't/couldn't certify him which of course was because he still couldn't dive worth crap. Well...he finally came out and did some more diving (without the gf) and he did ok. I though I was finally rid of him. No. He comes in asking about equipment and telling me what all the other shops told him. He had already tried a bp/wing but I let him dive for another day in my stuff. I let him try other stuff too. He thought the bp/wing was far superior but he didn't buy. He still comes in once in a while to ask things like...If the bp/wing is so good, why didn't the other shops ever hear of them? I tell him to buy what he likes. He says he likes the bp/wing but he doesn't understand why nobody else ever heard of them. It just keeps going and going. I wish some shop would make this guy happy so I could live out my life without him.
Then there was the paint ball shop owner from down the street. He demanded lower prices for air or he was going to drive me out of business by getting a compressor and undercutting me on air. BTW he would buy an al80 fill from me and then fill those little tiny paintball bottles for like three bucks each. He is the only guy who ever made money off my compressor. I almost had to result to a call to the police or physical means to get him to leave the shop. BTW he bought a compressor and is now out of business. Hehehe
Then there is the guy who wanted a bp/wing. I had to order what he needed and Halcyon was way behind. We couldnt get anything from them and we had tons of stuff back ordered. I gave him a real good price too. About a day later he was on the board here writing about what a bummer it was I didnt have his stuff. I called all over trying to get my hands on what he wanted. I found out that another customer who had just picked up his new outfit, which was the exact same thing, wasnt going to be able to dive for a while. I called him up and asked for the stuff back. I proudly contacted the other guy to tell him I had his stuff. He said he would pick it up. He repeatedly called to say he was coming but he never showed. After a couple of months of holding the stuff he calls and asks if I will buy it back. Well I did and you know what else? He never got on the board to tell everyone how hard I worked for him.
A couple of weeks ago a young man brings in a tank to get filled for the air rifle club at the college. The tank was out of visual, it was late in the afternoon and my wife was getting equipment ready for a class and couldnt do it on the spot. The next day Im in the back room while my wife is out on the floor talking on the phone. It sounded like she was crying so I went out to see what was going on. She gave me the phone and this guy is yelling. He insisted that a tank doesnt need visual every time you fill it. Of course he would be correct if you were getting it filled more than once per year. Then he called me a crook because I charge $10 for a visual. He insisted that even if I was telling the truth about the need for a visual that it shouldnt cost anything because all I did was pull the valve and look inside. I tried to explain what we do but he wouldnt stop yelling long enough. I offered to show him the checklist we go through and the tools we used but he just yelled and insisted I was lying and that he had seen it done and he didnt need it. I tried to explain that it was a safety measure and if he wanted me to fill the tank he did need it. He disagreed that it was a safety issue and insisted that he had stood next to scuba tanks when they failed and it wasnt a big deal. I told him to pick up the tank and there was no charge but he didnt get to keep the sticker and the tank would be empty. After making it clear that he was going to tell everyone what a crook I was he sent the kid back to pick up the tank. I took the new visual sticker off the tank and never did get paid for any of it.
There have been many others so maybe more later.
