Hi Jane,

First I'd like to say that IMHO you are getting the royal run around & that your local shop needs some customer service training.
Second, I work part-time in a local dive shop (it keeps me out of trouble).  It is one of a eight stores in a chain, & as a group we don't have the best customer service reputation either.  Last night I was at a dive club meeting and they started discussing the various merits of the local dive shops, our group didn't have any vocal supporters.  I like to think that the store I'm at has a better rep., customer service wise, then the rest of the chain, but it is probably wishful thinking.
Regarding you last comment "...I can see why people find mail order so attractive."  Unfortunately, ya cain't get air fills via mail order.
Ed
"Dive shop drone"

------Original Message------
From: Jane Alexander <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: July 6, 2000 1:50:54 PM GMT
Subject: [SCUBA-SE] Support for local dive shops?


Hi all,

There have been some discussions recently about whether we should be
supporting our local dive shops. I totally support this idea in theory, but
am having trouble finding one on my doorstep I actually want to support! I
know a lot of people on this list work in the dive industry, and would be
interested to hear their side of the story.

The latest encounter with our closest dive store (if anyone is interested in
who they are, e-mail me privately) had my blood boiling last night. To start
at the beginning, my husband and I brought our steel tanks to the USA from
the UK when we moved here two and a half years ago. I was living in Boston
at the time, and the local dive store had no problem giving them a visual
inspection and filling them regularly, and we never had any problems with
getting fills when we traveled to dive sites further afield. Last year, we
moved to New Jersey, and went to our local dive store, firstly to get the
annual visual inspection done. They said it would take 3 - 4 weeks (the
previous year's had taken < 1  day), so we decided to go elsewhere. I took
them to another shop (1 1/2 hour round trip) where they again took 1 day,
except for one that needed a hydro, which it passed without any problem. We
then had regular fills back at the local dive store, where the only problem
was their vociferous complaints that we'd used a rival to have the cylinders
tested:-) We put up with this, and this year again asked about testing. They
said it would take a day or two, so we said fine. On the final fill a few
weeks ago, the owner made a comment about the tanks not having a "DOT" stamp
on them. We specifically asked if this would be a problem for them if we
were to have the tanks tested at his store. He assured us that this would
not be a problem, and we returned the tanks a couple of days later, after
we'd been diving. I said there was no particular rush, as I was traveling a
bit for the next couple of weeks and wouldn't be diving. After about 10
days, we received a message on our answering machine saying that the tanks
were "ready". Last night we went round to collect them, only to find that
nothing had been done except to totally drain them of air!! They refused to
do the visual, on the grounds that there was no "DOT" stamp.

Now, I have no problem with the shop deciding that they don't want to pass a
cylinder on its visual inspection if they have some uncertainty (although
I'm surprised as we have had no other problems with either the visual or
even the hydro testing and no problems getting fills). However, I am livid
about the way we were treated. They knew several days before we left the
cylinders with them, exactly where they were from, what they looked like,
and that they didn't have a "DOT" stamp. They'd even been filling them
regularly. Also, they kept them for over a week and fully drained them of
air, before deciding they wouldn't do the job. Finally, when they called,
they said the cylinders were "READY", so we'd made plans to go diving this
weekend. This isn't good service in my book. What they don't know, is that
as well as picking up the cylinders last night, I was planning to purchase a
regulator (I had a printout with all the details of the model etc. in my
pocket) and we also had a list of their boat dives that we were going to
book places on. They'd been complaining the last time we were in that they
can't fill them - I wonder why?

So, I'm now going to go back to the store that did the testing last year.
Their attitude isn't particularly friendly (even though we did more than
just the testing with them last year), but at least they get the job done.
The only place I've been really happy with was the one recommended on
scuba-L before the break-up, but that's a hundred mile round trip...

If anyone's still reading after this long rant, I'd be interested to hear
your experiences/opinions/recommendations, but given the level of service, I
can see why people find mail order so attractive.

Thanks!

Jane