Aldora Divers Review: Two Tank Solo New Diver Experience Coming off a Cruise Ship

[drrich2]

It has historically been obvious on this forum that Dillehay cares about and takes pride in his business, Aldora, and I suspect that might affect the tone of his response as perceived by others?

However, without question they failed some aspect of my experience which has nothing to do with me being a new diver or coming off a cruise ship.

Cruise ship divers often can't 'make the boat' until later than some boats prefer to head out (speaking broadly, not specifically about Cozumel); does this impact scheduling and complicate operations to the point it could contribute to a customer service breakdown? I took Dave's post to suggest something that was a potential factor, so they might restrict their offering to prevent your problem recurring in the future.

As I mentioned, Aldora Divers is a great dive operation, but now I add in the fact that it doesn't seem they care about their customers concerns and are dismissive of any issues.

Given the original poster's account as written, the sentiment is understandable from that perspective. From the broader perspective of watching forum threads over a longer time, however, caring has been shown. It wasn't all that long ago I seem to recall trip report where a diver with complaints into with Dave inquired, and Dave subsequently posted that the staff member in question was no longer working at Aldora.

Most dive op.s don't maintain a visible presence on Scuba Board and put themselves at risk for airing customer disputes publicly. Aldora and Blue X-stacy do. I've never dove with either but I've got to respect that.

Richard.

 

[bmorescuba]

Seems like Aldora could have let the customer know a previously-booked guide was sick. Or at least responded to an email with that explanation. Or at least something besides a snarky response to a very reasonable and factual piece of customer feedback. Other shops have big tanks and long dives. I'll make sure and use them next time I'm in Coz.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

Drrich2: I am happy to hear that generally the dive operator does care about their customers. People make mistakes and often times intent is difficult to understand in a message.

I also am in full support of why many dive operators don't take cruise ship divers and actually reached out to quite a few in Cozumel to ensure they did before going with Aldora. That said, my post had nothing to do with the cruise ship. I was, in fact, more than on time. In fact we had to wait for one straggler from the resort for about 5 minutes. I even checked in with them from the cruise ship by confirming 24 hours ahead, stating I understood they would leave me if my boat failed to dock on time and confirming my private DM, full equipment rental and two tank dive for the dive day.

Aldora Divers is welcome to not accept cruise ship divers as any dive operator is, but that's not the point of the message. His reply of not accepting cruise ship divers in response to my message literally makes no sense for the context given. Because of a service failure on Aldora Divers and because I happened to come off a cruise ship he decided the two must be connected.

Multiple people have said his response was uncharacteristic. Fair enough. We all have uncharacteristic days.

The reason I went with Aldora is because of so many wonderful and great reviews. I felt safe when diving. Their equipment (minus a leaky o-ring...not a big deal Dave) is in top notch shape. They are still a top notch dive center in Cozumel in my book, but where I was just slightly disappointed before I am understandably much more so now.

 

[ReefHound]

Most dive op.s don't maintain a visible presence on Scuba Board and put themselves at risk for airing customer disputes publicly. Aldora and Blue X-stacy do. I've never dove with either but I've got to respect that.

True, but the best way to avoid airing out a customer dispute in public is to handle it in private. It's a shame a customer has to resort to taking it public because they couldn't even get a response much less a resolution in private.

 

[Wookie]

True, but the best way to avoid airing out a customer dispute in public is to handle it in private. It's a shame a customer has to resort to taking it public because they couldn't even get a response much less a resolution in private.

I did not see this as a critique of Aldora as much as a "I had great dives, here is what would have made my experience better". I think Dave took this personally, and it wasn't meant that way. It does not alter my perception of Dave, and Aldora is who I dive with when I'm (rarely) in Cozumel. I expect the person at the dive shop who answers emails has explained why s/he didn't respond to the OP, and that will not be an issue in the future.

OTOH, Dave has done this longer than I did. I was tired, cranky, and had had all of the divers I ever wanted to when I had the opportunity to sell. Dave (and indeed Cozumel) has been blasted with bad news in the past week with a State Department warning. I survived the Macondo blowout even though not a drop of oil came ashore in the Florida Keys. So I know where Dave is coming from.

Time to take a deep breath and have a vacation, Dave.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Someone, please, hand Dave a margarita.

 

[ReadyTo Dive]

My (unrequested) $0.02:

I have used Aldora two separate times by cruise ship and also have a Villa stay booked for 60 days+/- from now. Both times my group had to wait 30 or so minutes at the shop for other divers to arrive (once for other cruise ship divers, once for other divers staying on the island but not staying at the A.V.’s). Neither time was a problem for me/my group but I do understand why it could be an issue for any shop if it was a constant problem they faced day-after-day. Clearly that was not part of the OP’s issue today though.

With the exception of 1 bad/random rental regulator experience everything else (including all communications) has always been flawless for us. The second time we were there Memo came out to the front and asked us if all was well and thanked us for our business personally. While I don’t have tons of dives I have used about 15-20 different op’s in about 10 different countries/islands (including the Fling @ReefHound, loved it) and Aldora has always ranked near the top of my list for most categories. Because of that (coupled with Dave’s normal SB attentiveness to all things Aldora) I’m also thinking this was an unfortunate “one-off” with not the best/kindest response. Possibly the real disconnect came from the OP thinking he was booking a “personal 1-on-1 DM” and Aldoras’ communicator thinking the OP meant “personal DM” as in a standard guide for the dives/day? Just a guess on my part.

Anyways, as I said these are just my personal experiences and thoughts BUT for $75k/year or so (plus free diving of course) I’d be happy to take over all communication and promotional responsibilities for the company to ensure this absolutely never happens again

 

[cvchief]

Someone, please, hand Dave a margarita.

I have done that and he accused me of trying to kill him.

 

[ReefHound]

Anyways, as I said these are just my personal experiences and thoughts BUT for $75k/year or so (plus free diving of course) I’d be happy to take over all communication and promotional responsibilities for the company to ensure this absolutely never happens again

I'll do it for 60K.

And the bidding war begins... (but I think we all know where it ends. )

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I'll do it for 60K.

And the bidding war begins... (but I think we all know where it ends. )

We've never had any major issues with Aldora in 4 years of diving 2 to 3 times per year with them. Any minor issues were quickly resolved in our favor. I believe Dave has even posted his cell number on this site for a customer that was having issues. That being said....

I'm in for 50k, free diving, a room at the villa, use of Dave's jeep.....and open tab at The Thirsty Cougar or The Pub....... we are talking US dollars...right?

Jay