Sorry for the long post but wanted to give an in depth review.
Our experience with MBT Divers in Pensacola Florida.
In preparation for the Open Water SCUBA training (SDI) we had signed up for we (my wife and I) arrived at MBT Divers shop at 9:00am on Friday October 22, 2010 to get a mask, fins and to have a BC that we bought used looked at (inflator valve was sticking.) The gentleman behind the counter was very rude during the entire visit. He told me that they do not service Dacor BCs as there were no parts available. He did not even ask what was wrong with it. I have since taken it apart and there was just a little corrosion on the bolt. I cleaned it up and it works fine now.
I told him we would be attending the class that evening wanted to get my fins and mask. He said the gear would be covered in the class that night and seemed to want us to come back then. I declined and wanted to go ahead and get them (I have rather large feet and if they did not have fins that fit I would need to go somewhere else to buy them.) I had called ahead to make sure they would have fins and rental gear that fit and they assured me they would. I got the last and only pair of fins that fit me. I was very satisfied with them but not with the color. The mask I purchased fit very well and I was satisfied with it as well. The display model was the only one they had left and it was quite dirty. I asked for a discount which he refused.
While I was trying on fins he asked my wife if she was in the class. She told him she was and he said You are not diving are you?. This struck us both as odd and after asking a couple times what he meant I put down the fins and asked directly Why would you ask that kind of question? He replied that women cannot dive when pregnant
My wife is not pregnant. He embarrassed my wife by assuming she was pregnant. The first question on the medical form asks if you are pregnant so this could have been covered at a more appropriate time. There was a female employee there also who apologized to my wife for him but he never did.
After purchasing my fins, mask, regulator mouthpiece and paying for the remainder of the course fees we left and returned at 3:30pm (class started at 4:00pm.)
The classroom portion of the training was conducted by a male instructor but I do not remember his name (he is a deputy sheriff on the dive team.) The 2 hour session consisted of filling out paperwork, a review of the online training material, gear review and gear assembly. The gear assembly portion was very rushed as the dive shop was hosting some kind of fish fry for an upcoming tournament of some sort. The instructor was more interested in the happenings with the gathering than spending time with us to assemble gear. When we were finished assembling our gear and picking out our wetsuits I went to the instructor and told him I would need the mouthpiece I had purchased earlier installed on the rental regulator. He did not seem like he wanted to get this done for me and asked Is it that important to you? I told him it was and he took it and had it put on. He did not even ask me why I needed a different mouthpiece.
The instructor for the rest of the course would be Cathy. The confined water portion was supposed to start at 6:00pm. Cathy was 45 minutes late and there were 11(ELEVEN) students to get all their gear together and we were given directions to the pool. I had hoped they would have their own pool but sadly they did not. We used the Pensacola Athletic Centers 6 foot deep pool.
We assembled at the Pensacola Athletic Center around 7:30pm. We were able to change in the centers locker rooms but as the center was closing we were not able to change back into street cloths after the pool session. We had to leave in wet swim gear on a windy and chilly night.
When we started the pool session there were 11(ELEVEN) students and one instructor. There was also a very nice young lady who was working on her divemaster certification but was not yet a divemaster. This ratio (11-1) is according to my research WAY out of line. The regulations I have seen are 6 students max per instructor. An instructor can add 2 more students per certified divemaster or certified assistant instructor.
During the entire pool session the instructor (Cathy) would show how to perform a skill and then the class would in turn perform the skills. There was one student who was having anxiety issues from the beginning and spent the majority of the class with the assistant. No personal instruction was given to any student that I could tell.
My wife misunderstood the instructor on the proper technique of clearing her mask. She was lifting the mask out of the bottom too much and letting more water in than she was able to expel. The instructor had her try it a few times and then sent her over to the assistant saying that she would get back with her to finish up her skills.
The rest of the pool portion of the class went fairly smoothly and I and the 9 remaining students were able to complete all required skills. My knees and neck were sore after the class from being in one spot for so long. Being only 6 feet deep we could either kneel on the pool bottom or lay on the bottom. Could not sit up (so tanks would not damage the pool) or stand up and stay submerged.
At the end of the pool session it was well after 10:00pm. Total pool time was about 2.5 hours. The instructor did not ever go back to my wife and finish the skills. She simply told my wife that sometimes it takes several pool sessions before being comfortable in the water. This astonished me when my wife told me this because she was VERY comfortable in the water and was able to breath and swim underwater just fine. The one and only issue she had was clearing her mask. I was gobsmacked to say the least. She has bought a mask at a local shop here and has practiced and can clear her mask just fine. The only thing that made her uncomfortable was the outrageous student/teacher ratio.
We returned the tanks to the dive shop that evening with the rest of the class and left.
We returned to MBT Divers shop the next morning to return all the rental gear as we could not continue with the rest of the class onto the open water portions. I could have continued but was not going to without my wife. Also I was not at all comfortable doing open water dives with at least 9 students and one instructor.
I requested a refund on the fins, mask and mouthpiece I had purchased and requested a refund for all but the online course portion of our training. A different gentleman behind the counter asked why I was returning and I relayed the story and all he had to say was Its not like Cathy to not take the time with a student. My card was refunded the full amount charged earlier.
We live in Atlanta and came down for the weekend with the purpose of getting SCUBA training. After not being able to proceed after Friday our weekend, the 5 hour drive and the days I took off work were wasted.
All in all this was a horrible experience with MBT divers and we will not be back. My sister lives in Pensacola and they are considering taking up SCUBA. That would be her, her husband and FIVE children. We (my sister included) will also relay our experience to others.
We are going with another shop (Dive Pros) mid December. I will post a review of that experience which I know will be much much better.
