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I've been home from my dive vacation and have had a chance to simmer down on this one....
I flew to Florida to dive, and my parents booked me in to do two dives and a manatee snorkel with American Pro Divers. We were up and on the road at 5am to get there, and we ended up late. I admit this is our fault, no arguments there.
We get into the dive shop, the group we are diving with are all watching the manatee video, the guy behind the counter informs us that we are late, to which we all agree and apologize for, he then tells us that we are not welcome to dive because we are late. We are somewhat surprised at this because we have our own gear with us and all we need to do is drive down to the dock (which everyone else needs to do) and we are ready to go, except we need tanks. The guy then gets angry and says that now he has to put tanks on the boat for us and that will make everyone late.
To make a long story short, we calmly argued the point and were told that because we pulled into the parking lot and "got out of the car and stretched" rather than coming into the shop directly we were too late to dive and were not welcome to come. The guy had nothing polite to say, was insulting, rude, and not really making alot of sense with his arguments. We payed for our seats, griping amongst ourselves that this person was being uncommonly rude, he then angrily tells us we can pay for afternoon seats and not dive then as well. We walked out at this point.
I had read some negative reports on this dive shop, but we went anyways. Now I know to listen to Scubaboard members! Yes we were late and I agree that if policy says we don't dive, then we don't dive. As a store manager myself, I do however realize that there is no excuse for talking to customers in a rude and beligerant manner!
I will never ever go to that shop again! That kind of behaviour was disgusting, I have never seen anyone speak to my mother that way, and hope to never witness it again!
Wow, sounds like pure BS to me. You paid, you were there before they left, how rude!
Did you get a refund?
I'd contact the BBB, CNN, NBC, and Bill Gates and complain! Seriously, I would contact the BBB, and I'd also contact the manager, or owners if at all possible and tell them how rudely you were treated.
SB also works well, but maybe not as much so for an outfit that likely caters more to snorkelers vs. divers. In any event, you traveled a LONG way to do this, booked it in advance, and they SHOULD understand that sometimes people can not help being late when traveling.
Did you get the name of the guy that was such a jerk, cause I'd report them by name.
This really sounds so unlike American Pro but this isn't the first time it's been reported. Perhaps they are getting too big for their britches or they have one bad apple that spoiling the lot. Shame too.
Dave I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson
Thanks for the posting!! I was getting ready to make reservations this morning for myself and my daughter. Guess where I won't be taking my business!!!
here comes my Violent side , Why in Gods name didn't you knock the jerk out? I know violence doesn't solve anything butt:mooner: sometimes it does make one feel a little better. Especially when it's a dim wit like that guy sounds to have been.
Diving is what sane people do to keep from going insane. I can spend $2,000.00 dollars on dive gear and get all the therapy I need while under water when others spend 10's of thousands on a therapist and they have nothing to show for it.
If the guy was being that much of a jerk, and Stine hit him, he would have certainly called the cops. Instead of diving (or griping about not diving), Stine would have spent the night in the pokey.... There are smarter ways to be violent...
Originally Posted by HarleyDiver_FL
here comes my Violent side , Why in Gods name didn't you knock the jerk out? I know violence doesn't solve anything butt:mooner: sometimes it does make one feel a little better. Especially when it's a dim wit like that guy sounds to have been.
Gee, this sounds terrible. I have used American Pro a few times and had everything go great. However we have always been early and not late. You should also think of the other people and be on time.
I would have asked to speak to the manager and cut the rude person off. I would write a letter of complaint and name the rude person, he is not helping their business and this may not be the first time.
Last edited by 427Dave; May 3rd, 2007 at 05:05 PM.
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American Pro Divers? GRRR!
, Why in Gods name didn't you knock the jerk out? I know violence doesn't solve anything butt:mooner: sometimes it does make one feel a little better. Especially when it's a dim wit like that guy sounds to have been.
water
when others spend 10's of thousands on a therapist 
and they have nothing to show for it. 
Originally Posted by HarleyDiver_FL
