Abby the instructor was amazing, she was patient and informative. The person that led to this negative review was the store manager/operator who was incredibly rude, quick to make accusations and lacked basic human sympathy.
We got there and learned my wife, who has gone scuba diving before couldn’t go because she was not systematically trained in swimming; even though the order page has a vague requirement of the person to be “comfortable swimming in the ocean” which my wife has clearly accomplished during her last scuba dive. But perhaps the most frustrating experience came from his attitude. He was rude and apathetic. First, he called me a “lier” for an honest mistake for missing the requirement on the order page. Then, when my wife tried to dispute with him, he asked my wife to leave his shop despite the fact that no money was refunded and she had to wait for me to finish the course. The shop was located in a remote place near the dock and my wife had to cross the highway to find a cafe to sit down because the store manager effectively ousted her. This person is not fit to conduct businesses and lacks the basic understanding of customer service. If it weren’t for the amazing instructor I would’ve given one star. I will never set foot in this shop again.
Response from Host
Dec 2021
Aloha,
I'm the person to whom which you are referring. Both of you came in and admitted that your wife did NOT know how to swim. We do not feel it is safe to take people scuba diving that do not know how to swim and will not put our guests or instructors in precarious situations. The ability to swim is listed as a requirement for participation in this excursion, there is even a box that must be checked when making a reservation that says "I know how to swim and am comfortable in the ocean." You acknowledged that you saw and checked off that box indicating that everyone in your group knew how to swim because she had participated in a similar excursion with a different company in a different location and you felt that was sufficient to participate in ours.
My instructor came to me as the tour was about to depart and told me that your wife insisted on going on the dive even though she had already been told we do not take non-swimmers. I came and spoke with you and reiterated what our website, booking materials, and instructor had already told you, that we only take people diving who know how to swim. To which you responded that you were going to do it anyway and did not care if me, the owner, would let you go or not. When I expressed that there was no way you would be allowed on the excursion your wife, in an effort to pressure us ON CHRISTMAS, said she was going to dispute the credit card charge so we would not get paid. I told her that if she intended to dispute the charge she should please leave the property as that was incredibly rude. I'm glad you will not set foot in our shop again as this kind of behavior and entitlement is not welcome.
Happy to hear you enjoyed Abbi's patience, hope you find a swim teacher with the same amount.