Posted by kelphead on October 24, 2000 at 13:56:23:
In Reply to: Sport Chalet- salesforce information posted by MHK on October 23, 2000 at 15:35:31:
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my experiences have been w/the huntington beach store:
1st of all, i won't bore you w/the details, but
i had crappy 'bow' instruction--and this was when they
were still w/'naui'.
2nd of all, the employee turnover rate is OUTRAGEOUS.
3rd of all, the last time i was there, one of the
dive shop employees had recently gotten certified
but admitted to not knowing what a 1st stage din cover
was. after describing it to her, though, she
was good enough to search a file cabinet to find
one that was not for sale. at the same time,
i had overheard a couple of recently certified
divers talking about tank pressures and air fills
and i politely intruded to correct them and explain
a bit better about what they misunderstood. the employee,
who didn't know what a 1st stage din cover was,
approached me later to mention that she learned
from my explanation to the new divers.
point to be made: it seems like not all their
dive employees are well versed in basic diving concepts.
another time, i had asked for a 1st stage din cover
(this was the first one i purchased before i lost
it) and employee #1 said they didn't sell those
at all. i thought, what the heck and tried again
w/a different employee a few days later (same store)
who went up to the wall and picked it out for me.
point to be made: it seems like not all the dive employees
know their own inventory.
4th of all, after learning about the different grades
of air and wanting to be more cautious about what
type of air was being filled in my tank, i one day
asked 3 young dive shop employees (i'm guessing they
were a couple of years younger than me) what grade
of air their store pumped. they all asked "what
grade of air??" and began to laugh and joke that
their air was "very very good" and that it was rated
at "A+++". after they stopped laughing,
i asked them again straight faced if they knew
what grade of air they pumped out. that's when they
got all serious looking: one guy literally escaped
to 'help' another customer, the 2nd guy said that
he had to look for the log book, the 3rd guy gave
me a bewildered look and asked why i wanted to know
the grade of air, it's not like "the air can kill you."
the 2nd guy came back and told me that he couldn't
find their compressor log book. that's when i pressed
him if he could somehow find out what grade of
air they pumped. he then resorted to calling
a sister shop ~10miles away and THAT shop gave
them the info about the entire chain's most
recent compressor check.
i have resisted shopping there, but sometimes
their prices are really good.
the last time i went in there, i was actually
looking to replace my 'speedo fitness' cap, which
i had originally purchased from their store.
one employee (not dive shop related) was completey
clueless. i then was able to get hold of and
talk to some sort of general manager. he checked
his computer, said they did sell it, but that
they were out and another store had a few in.
he told me to call him back the next day so that
he could initiate a formal request to ship the item
to them instead of me having to drive to the other
store to pick it up.
i called him the next day per his request and
provided him w/the necessary product info. he
said he would call me back when the item came
in. that was ~4 months ago and i still have
not yet received a call (as if it matters anymore).
those are just a few highlighted incidents.
i have since decided that i truly have had
enough w/their incompetence & apathy and i am now
deliberately avoiding 'sport chalet' at all costs.
i hope i'm never so desperate that i will actually
have to step foot in their store again. one can
only hope.
i guess the good thing is that i caught the bad
o-ring on one of their tanks i was renting
one time. i checked it while standing in the
cashier's line and i went back for a different tank.
...whatever...
kelphead.