This review is also posted on Google.
I would like to preface this with it is a shame that this has to be a negative review when I see so many others have had such positive experiences.
My visit at Divers @ Sea on 7/2/2013 started out with a telephone call to a lady named Dawn. She was helpful on the phone and seemed nice enough. I had tried several other dive stores around Atlanta but most are 18+ miles from my home. I wanted to try out Divers @ Sea as I work very close by and they are also a PADI dive shop, which is whom I have my certifications thru.
When I got to the store, it was nice enough, sparse but clean. Parking is around the back and there was plenty of it Dawn was on the phone which is totally fine. However once she began helping me, I explained what I had, showed her my set up and and what I was needing from please check these regulators out to I need a new hose to fit my new low pressure BCD inflator. One of the first things out of Dawns mouth was...."you know those regulators are notorious for malfunctioning I'll likely need to send it back to the manufacturer to get it serviced" (Sherwood SR1 regulator). Wow...thanks for making me feel like the gear I bought is junk. Yes I'm aware of the "malfunctions" which happen primarily in cold water less than 65 degrees F. I'm bringing my stuff to YOU to make sure it's working within its specs. She asked me about it's history and if I knew anything about it. I told her I had bought this stuff off of E-bay and from an online dive store and that I'm heading to the Bahamas on a trip in August. She acknowledges it all the while with this "look" on her face of disapproval. I then tell her I don't need them to check the secondary air source on my BCD and I've ordered a replacement Oceanic Reliant Low Pressure inflator (already had it on order it just screws in). So she asks me what do you want me to do with this BCD then. I said check it out to see that the bladders inflate and everything else is ok with it. (I am NOT a scuba repair person, shouldn't she know what to look at....holes....tears......etc). She says, "well we can just go get a tank and see". She gets tank I put on the 1st stage and opens the tank, there's an air leak which she immediately blames on the regulator but it was actually the connection to the computer hose to the high pressure outlet. I tell her it's actually here I could feel the air. She asks....did you put this hose on.....I say yes I did. She said, "you are totally screwing up".
Frankly by that time I'd had it with her attitude. She wasn't getting my business. I made up an excuse to go somewhere else that does service Sherwood regulators since she'd have to send it off. She recommended Divers Supply (which is a great store btw), I ended up however taking it too SeaVentures (I'm taking the trip with them) which was VERY accommodating all the things I told them they had NO problems with and certainly didn't make me feel stupid ( Having three college degrees I'm hardly stupid).
I initially thought Dawn was just another employee....I could forgive that and would possibly go back after talking with a manager or owner, but Dawn is an owner at this store. This is not how you treat a potential customer by making them feel dumb when they come to you with their equipment requesting you look at it. You are the PROFESSIONAL but my encounter with Dawn was anything but professional. She was rude, arrogant and highly condescending. Not only did she loose my equipment repair business that I did later on that day at SeaVentures she also lost my retail business when I ended up spending almost $800 on a Sola 1200 Dive light and other accessories for my upcoming dive trip at SeaVentures. I will not be going back to this store for any of my scuba needs from equipment to certifications after my encounters with Dawn. I can not recommend that anyone else does either without serious changes in the way customers are treated. read more