Stood up by Pacific Star Dive boat - Resolved.

My GF and I were scheduled on the Pacific Star dive boat this past Sunday, she is a newly certified diver and was very much looking forward to her first dive trip. I have been diving for a few years. We had confirmed with them that all was ready to go. Since my GF does not have gear yet we went down to Sport Chalet and rented everything for her and I got myself a tank and weights like I normally do.

After taking the trouble to wake my butt off at 4am and heading down to 22nd landing in San Pedro I located the Pacific Star but there was not a soul in sight there, I waited around until 7:30am (1 hour), called them on their cell etc. and nobody returned any calls nor was anyone on the boat. I tried to check their website but there was no further information.

I am pretty upset about this, does anyone know what is going on with this dive boat? I have taken numerous trips on other boats such as the Great Escape, Bottom Scratcher, Magician etc. and never had even a single problem, this is the very first time this is happening to me and frankly I am shocked that an operator can even continue to be in business with this kind of attitude to their customers.

PS - I decided to hold off posting this hoping they would call back but we have tried contacting them several times since the day and have still not heard back.

Wow sorry to hear that. terrible way to start her first dives.
Did you get to dive? I would have driven down to Laguna Beach for some shore diving since you had rented all the gear already or headed over to Catalina on the express and dove the park.
I've never used the PS, but like you have used the Magician, Bottom Sc., sundiver, and great escape, which have all been good for me.

Wow, that's horrible, and I'm sorry to hear this! I was on Pacific Star just a couple weeks ago, and had a really positive experience so I was planning on using them again. I'm definitely curious what the deal was - I do hope they contact you with at least an explanation. Did they charge you in advance? If so, did you get a refund?

Please do come back and report to us if you ever find out what the story was.

That does suck but don't let it get you to upset. Just know there are a number of other good dive operations to choose from.

I went on the Pacific Star twice and hadn't returned. The crew was surly and unhelpful.

I usually would give an outfit two opportunities to bring me back. They had their two.

Teamcasa:

That does suck but don't let it get you to upset. Just know there are a number of other good dive operations to choose from.

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Thanks! yeah, I have been on a lot of the other boats and have always had a good time. I know the drill so I knew something was amiss the moment I didn't see any other divers around.

Their calendar shows May 6 as an open boat event and doesn't have any notice of cancellation. Nor have they called back! So, I am still awaiting an explanation from their side.

Okay, I really wanted to know what the deal was too. I even sent them an e-mail reference this post requesting they give an explanation, further mentioning that I take reviews via Scubaboards.com very seriously.

I don't know what happened in this circumstance.

But I got stood up by a charter once, and it was horribly embarrassing. I had two visitors from California, plus me and my husband and a dive buddy, and another friend who had driven almost two hours to the dock. The boat wasn't there, and the captain didn't answer his phone. We waited two hours and gave up, and tried to find a shore dive we could do that would be good for our California friends.

Turned out the captain's daughter was hospitalized in the early hours of the morning with meningitis. Although I still think he ought to have had his phone with him, my anger was certainly largely defused when I got that message later in the day.

Wait until you hear what happened. For all you know, the guy who owns the boat is in an ICU somewhere.

fnfalman:

I went on the Pacific Star twice and hadn't returned. The crew was surly and unhelpful.

I usually would give an outfit two opportunities to bring me back. They had their two.

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That's unfortunate that you had that experience. I've only been on them once, but I had the opposite experience - the whole crew were extremely helpful and friendly. I had no complaints whatsoever about the service on that boat. I was even surprised at how they went above and beyond at lunchtime, fixing us plates exactly as we wanted and bringing them directly to us wherever we were sitting, asking us if we wanted something to drink, bringing seconds if we wanted. That was actually better lunch service than most (although the food was only so-so). And they were always great with helping me back on the boat.

I'm with Lynne - let's not jump to conclusions. Keep in mind that no dive operator WANTS to walk away from paying customers, especially since running a dive boat is not the easiest way to make a living.

I will wait until this pans out before deciding whether to book the PS again or not. In the past they have been a good operator.