Eco Dive Center customer (don't) care????

[Humongous]

I recently did a one day trip to Catalina aboard the Mr. C through Eco Dive Center. The reason I booked this trip was the advertised price of $65. on there internet schedule. What a deal! Now this does not include air fills or food but stilla great deal!! The boat trip was fine. There were two classes onboard and we ended up diving some easier sights but neither I or my buddy minded.
Now to my gripe.....
When I received my credit card bill for this trip they had charged me $75 instead of the advertised $65. I called Eco Dive Center to request that they refund me the $10. I was told that they "are not a big corporation" and they wanted to know what I expected them to do? I was told that the advertised price was a mistake and that the rest of the trips were advertised as $75. I said I wanted a refund for the $10 and they refused and acted as if I was being rediculous asking for a refund. I asked him if $10 was worth losing a customer over and possibly other customers? His reply was that "if it is a cutomer like you" than he had no problem with it.
Now, I know it is only $10 but it is the principal of the whole thing and the way that this person handled my request. I was not aggresive or beligerant all I wanted was to be charged what was advertised. I guess "a customer like me" will be sure to dive with company's that are interested in keeping customers.

 

[Empty V]

Wow, that's insane. I'd file a fraud claim with the bank, technically it is fraud. This sounds like another POS LDS to add to the list. If you would like to read others poor experiences with dive shops check out this thread.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=148200

There is so much to be said for purpose.

I feel for you my friend. I highly recommend any of Aloha Dive's shops in Simi Valley, Northridge or Woodland Hills, and Hollywood Divers in Studio City. Both have oustanding service and great prices.

Billy

 

[miket]

I was on the same trip as Humongous and also saw the ad for $65. I have not called yet to ask for my $10 refund. From what it sounds like, I would get the same treatment.

It's rediculous. They even admitted it was a misprint at $65! If they intended to charge $75 and not $65 they should have told us on the phone when we booked. When things like this happen the company has to eat their mistake, not tell off a customer.

I was trying out the Mr C. again as I had used it a few years ago booked thru Pacific Wilderness, and I was trying Eco Divers for the first time as an experiment (since the price was so good). The result - Looks like Eco-Divers lost a customer for life...

In addition, the boat was run very, very badly. I do not blame the Mr C. crew, the Eco-Divers DMs were not very clear in the briefings and didn't set any "be back" or "gate" times. This caused lots of frustration on the boat as some divers would get in the water late, then do a 1.5 hour shallow dive while everyone else was on the boat waiting for them. This resulted in the last dive of the day being waaaaay to short and there were lots of PO'd divers, we were the first in the water at the last spot and they told us to be back in 30 minutes !

Other gripes about the way the boat was run...
- Boat was way overcrowded. 20-22 divers would be the max for this boat (it's pretty small), but they had almost 30. It was a mess when it was time to try and get in the water.
- No camera rinse tank, they just had a 5 gallon bucket (my video camera wouldn't of fit in it even if there werern't already 4 or 5 point and shoot cameras in there. Forget a system with strobes.
- No rope to lower larger cameras down to the divers after jumping in.
- The way they do fills on this boat is weird... You have to bungee your tank around the fill station (maybe holds 8 BCs and tanks) and after it is filled a crewmember would move your rig back to the sides of the boat, but not your original spot. So after fills you had to "find" your tank and BC on an already overcrouded boat.

I don't think i will be recommending Eco-Divers to anyone any day soon.

- MikeT

 

[CompuDude]

If you paid for a trip in response to an ad for a set price, and they accepted your booking and did not notify you of the mistake AT THE TIME OF THE BOOKING, and you went on the boat, you are perfectly justified in calling your credit card company and disputing the charge, IMO.

I have heard good reports from a friend who lives near Eco and has good things to say about them, so this is surprising. If they booked a trip and undercharged by a whopping $10 because THEY screwed up, they are not being bright to lose a boatload of customers in a market as big as L.A., where there are many other options for dive shops.

 

[ChrisM]

I've been there a couple times and gotten good service. They seem to run a good shop. If you didn't talk to Ron, call them back, if you talked to Ron, well then......

As far as the boat, the DMs brief the dive stuff. But for other procedures (max pax, fills, etc.), it's up to the boat, not the shop. WHich is why I only ever went on the Mr. C once

 

[JMdiver]

Well it looks like I won't be going to Eco Dive or on Mr. C.

Happy Diving
John

 

[Taxgeek]

I've had mixed experiences. I went in their store once, and all of the 4 or 5 employees studiously ignored me, so I left. But then I went on the Spectre this spring (booked direct) on a day when they had a charter or half charter or something, and they ran the boat well and were really nice.

Maybe the guy you talked to had just had a bad day?

 

[slingshot]

Having a bad day is no excuse for poor service...

 

[jk47]

That's weird and not so cool. I have been diving with them pretty exclusively since February and had absolutely nothing but positive experiences. When purchasing things over the phone they have confirmed price for me before charging me. Of course I usually ask places for a total if they don't offer one.

Anyway I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience there.

 

[nzdiver]

Having a business make a mistake in advertising, refuse to honor the deal,
then add to the insult by saying they don't want you as a customer after
they've already got your money. :furious:

I would go with the suggestion of disputing the charges on the card. The person
already said the price was a misprint and said screw it I'll charge everyone extra.

sooo.... lets see. How many people where on the boat? By their shady business
dealings they were able to pocket at least $200/20 divers.....

It's sad that a small place like this would do that to a customer.. don't they realize
that word will get around?

eco dive center - screw em... I'll go some where else, thanks.