No matter what level of training, experience, or interests we have as divers, the one thing that unites us is that most of us are customers of dive shops and resorts.
I've been both a customer and employee for the last 37 years. I have lots of stories, good and bad, of experiences when walking through dive center doors.
Sometimes, our experiences buying gear, getting fills, or just stopping in to talk diving aren't exactly enjoyable. Other times, visiting a dive shop or resort can make our day. Owners are often very hands on and can control not only their shops, but the atmosphere of the diving in their area. I'm interested in hearing about some of your best and worst experiences dealing with a dive shop or resort.
Not the most notable, but off the top of my head ...
I was a die hard supporter and visitor of Stuart Cove's in the Bahamas. I started diving with them when their shop was in Lyford Cay. One trip, my student was a doctor and also my fiancée. She started her class and pool training at PDIC HQ in Pennsylvania at the time. We did her open water training at Ginnie Springs in Florida then headed to New Providence Island for a vacation. I discovered there was no temporary certification card included in her student kit. Stuart Cove's would not let her dive without the temporary card even though I had her student training record which included an exact score given for each skill from Pool 1 to Open Water 5. They could actually view her progression scored skill by skill, class by class, week by week, until she earned her PDIC Open Water Diver certification. What's crazy is that they also had PDIC materials in the shop since Stuart, himself, was a PDIC instructor. They wouldn't let me buy a temporary C-card from them nor buy a student kit -- and I was an instructor who worked at PDIC HQ itself! They wouldn't even call PDIC HQ to verify that if there was one instructor who was teaching the PDIC system to the standards expected from the agency and beyond, it was me. I grew up there. I first walked into PDIC HQ at age 13 and rose through the ranks and was practically part of the family that owned the agency. Anyway, they wanted her to pay for an instructor to do her checkout dives (which had already been done). She was young, smart, fit, etc., and nothing would indicate she wasn't qualified to go diving.
We walked out of Stuart Cove's and called Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre. Frasier Nivens had once been an instructor and manager at Stuart Cove's, but went on to run Nassau Scuba Centre. Dive Dive Dive couldn't believe the stupidity of Stuart Cove's over that and gave me blanket free charters since I'd be babysitting my fiancée anyway on her first ocean dives. I've never been back to Stuart Cove's since. I supported Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre. In fact, I haven't been back to New Providence since Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre closed their doors. I don't know if I'd ever dive with Stuart Cove's again.
What are your horror/hero dive center stories?
I've been both a customer and employee for the last 37 years. I have lots of stories, good and bad, of experiences when walking through dive center doors.
Sometimes, our experiences buying gear, getting fills, or just stopping in to talk diving aren't exactly enjoyable. Other times, visiting a dive shop or resort can make our day. Owners are often very hands on and can control not only their shops, but the atmosphere of the diving in their area. I'm interested in hearing about some of your best and worst experiences dealing with a dive shop or resort.
Not the most notable, but off the top of my head ...
I was a die hard supporter and visitor of Stuart Cove's in the Bahamas. I started diving with them when their shop was in Lyford Cay. One trip, my student was a doctor and also my fiancée. She started her class and pool training at PDIC HQ in Pennsylvania at the time. We did her open water training at Ginnie Springs in Florida then headed to New Providence Island for a vacation. I discovered there was no temporary certification card included in her student kit. Stuart Cove's would not let her dive without the temporary card even though I had her student training record which included an exact score given for each skill from Pool 1 to Open Water 5. They could actually view her progression scored skill by skill, class by class, week by week, until she earned her PDIC Open Water Diver certification. What's crazy is that they also had PDIC materials in the shop since Stuart, himself, was a PDIC instructor. They wouldn't let me buy a temporary C-card from them nor buy a student kit -- and I was an instructor who worked at PDIC HQ itself! They wouldn't even call PDIC HQ to verify that if there was one instructor who was teaching the PDIC system to the standards expected from the agency and beyond, it was me. I grew up there. I first walked into PDIC HQ at age 13 and rose through the ranks and was practically part of the family that owned the agency. Anyway, they wanted her to pay for an instructor to do her checkout dives (which had already been done). She was young, smart, fit, etc., and nothing would indicate she wasn't qualified to go diving.
We walked out of Stuart Cove's and called Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre. Frasier Nivens had once been an instructor and manager at Stuart Cove's, but went on to run Nassau Scuba Centre. Dive Dive Dive couldn't believe the stupidity of Stuart Cove's over that and gave me blanket free charters since I'd be babysitting my fiancée anyway on her first ocean dives. I've never been back to Stuart Cove's since. I supported Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre. In fact, I haven't been back to New Providence since Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Centre closed their doors. I don't know if I'd ever dive with Stuart Cove's again.
What are your horror/hero dive center stories?