PalmettoDiver0215
Registered
I really hesitated to post this question. I consider myself relatively new to diving, I have 18 dives under my belt and have been certified for 2 years. In that time I've encountered three different dive shops for certifications/gear and about that many for dives. While the shops I've dived with have been fine, the others have a lot to be desired.
Dive shop X is local to me and is an SSI shop. I did my explore scuba with them. However, as I was considering my OW certification the SDI shop near me was $200 cheaper. Since I wasn't sure how much I'd realistically dive, I did make the choice to go with the less expensive option. My wife recently went to dive shop X to buy me some fins and they all but berated her because I chose to get my certifications elsewhere. They kind of mocked my choice in fins to her as well (no they weren't split fins, lol).
Dive Shop D is where I got my OW. I had a great experience and feel I got a very good training with them. However, when I went for an SDI specialty class I was jammed in with the SDI Adventure Diver class and didn't feel like I got a very good bang for my buck (both financially and training-wise). I decided to seek out another SDI shop to continue my training.
Dive Shop J is where I took 3 SDI specialty classes and also took my daughter to get her OW certification. The shop is about a 90 minute drive for me. I completed my checkout dives with them in Florida, not near their shop so I left without my cert cards knowing that Dive Shop J would send them to me. The classes and the dive training seemed adequate but now I can't seem to get them to mail me my cert cards. I've been messaging the shop for a month now. I had even offered to drive down to get them and they said they were already mailed. Well obviously not, I'd have them by now. I could have crawled with the cards in my mouth and gotten here faster. Yes, I have the digital certs, but I also want the physical cards. All told, I've spent $1500 with that shop this year and don't feel I'm being unreasonable in expecting the cards to be mailed to me in a timely fashion.
It just appears to me that these shops may know how to dive, but really don't understand how to run a business. I know that these are small businesses. I know they have families to feed. I don't feel like being the jerky customer who escalates complaints. But I also feel like there's no reason for a customer to be treated this way.
Am I doing something wrong here? I'm just feeling very frustrated.
Dive shop X is local to me and is an SSI shop. I did my explore scuba with them. However, as I was considering my OW certification the SDI shop near me was $200 cheaper. Since I wasn't sure how much I'd realistically dive, I did make the choice to go with the less expensive option. My wife recently went to dive shop X to buy me some fins and they all but berated her because I chose to get my certifications elsewhere. They kind of mocked my choice in fins to her as well (no they weren't split fins, lol).
Dive Shop D is where I got my OW. I had a great experience and feel I got a very good training with them. However, when I went for an SDI specialty class I was jammed in with the SDI Adventure Diver class and didn't feel like I got a very good bang for my buck (both financially and training-wise). I decided to seek out another SDI shop to continue my training.
Dive Shop J is where I took 3 SDI specialty classes and also took my daughter to get her OW certification. The shop is about a 90 minute drive for me. I completed my checkout dives with them in Florida, not near their shop so I left without my cert cards knowing that Dive Shop J would send them to me. The classes and the dive training seemed adequate but now I can't seem to get them to mail me my cert cards. I've been messaging the shop for a month now. I had even offered to drive down to get them and they said they were already mailed. Well obviously not, I'd have them by now. I could have crawled with the cards in my mouth and gotten here faster. Yes, I have the digital certs, but I also want the physical cards. All told, I've spent $1500 with that shop this year and don't feel I'm being unreasonable in expecting the cards to be mailed to me in a timely fashion.
It just appears to me that these shops may know how to dive, but really don't understand how to run a business. I know that these are small businesses. I know they have families to feed. I don't feel like being the jerky customer who escalates complaints. But I also feel like there's no reason for a customer to be treated this way.
Am I doing something wrong here? I'm just feeling very frustrated.