Scuba Doctor Dive Shop, 1/49 Peninsula Avenue, Rye

Reviews

• Bob Moors

  11.08.2018
  ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
  Very disappointed with the online purchase... their website picture was not the product they sent me. They pictured the original model (which is very hard to come by) but sent me the new inferior model. I returned the product immediately only to receive a partial refund. So I am out of pocket for my courier costs and the amount they deducted all because the picture displayed on their website was not correct. To add insult to injury I have contacted them about this and they refuse to budge. Very Disappointing... needless to say I will not be purchasing anything from them ever again.
• Arielle Pavletic

  22.05.2018
  ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
  If I could take stars away, I would. We made a booking the Tuesday before for 4 tanks, 2 wetsuits and 2 sets of regs. We asked for a ladies large wetsuit and a men's 3xl wetsuit, which they noted on the paperwork. Booked our boat dive leaving at 10am that Saturday, and made sure we were at the shop to pickup the gear at 8am so that we wouldn't have to rush.
  We get to the shop, met by a rude, old and overweight man who told us that there were no notes about having 4 tanks, but he'd work something out... We can have 2 standard size and 2 smaller tanks. When asked what was the difference (scuba noob) he didn't bother to take the time to explain. Then came wetsuit time, he then said that they didn't have the 3xl size, and that they haven't in a time. We asked why take our booking, he basically said that someone should have told us that they didn't carry the size... And nothing else. Didn't try to make the situation better, we basically just had to suck it.
  We left and thank goodness Extreme Watersports were the exact opposite - did everything they could to accommodate us with a smile on their face. Sam @ Extreme Watersports - you are a legend.
  We made our boat dive, but no thanks to Scuba Doctor. If I was scuba sick, this doctor would be the equivalent of dr. Kevorkian - STAY AWAY.
  Scuba Doctor staff: you people are rude, and unreliable. You didn't care that you got us into a bind that would have cost us a bit of money. I was ready to drop some serious $$ there (ready to buy a full kit, accessories and travel bags for our trip to Hawaii) but you're just not worth the risk. I would discourage anyone who would show any interest in engaging you.
• Vincent De Smet

  19.05.2018
  ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
  DISSAPOINTING DAY ENDS WITH LACK OF UNDERSTANDING FOR OUR SITUATION
  
  We have been visiting a couple of diveshops on Mornington Peninsula to rent some wetsuits in the hunt to see the weedy seadragons. Last time we were here we sadly didn’t get to see any so we came back to try our luck again this time. Earlier this day we already went to Portsea but it didn’t have the right conditions to go in to snorkel (it was very choppy and murky). We knew another great place to see the weedy’s would be Flinders Pier, but sadly there is no shop as close to that particular divesite as it is the case at Portsea.
  We thus decided we went to ask the people at Scuba Doctor if we could rent their gear if they knew the conditions would be good at Flinders. They could only tell us that because the wind was coming from the north on this particular day their “educated guess” would be that the best place to go would be Flinders because it would be sheltered. So we tried on some gear and paid for our two wetsuits and a weight belt. But when we arrived after a 30km drive to Flinders we immediately saw the water was extremely murky (you probably couldn’t see more than half a meter in front of you) and tide was almost on it’s highest point. The fishermen at the pier also told us it would be a bad idea to go into the water. So we decided not to use the wetsuits and to leave them dry and return to Scuba Doctor.
  We explained the whole situation but they were very short in their answer – being they couldn’t do anything for us and that hiring a wetsuit is at our own risk. Which we can completely understand, we should have used our own sources to find out about the situation at Flinders. But being foreigners going at it independently we lack the local knowledge these guys would have. We were only gone for an hour in total and we didn’t cause their gear to wear or tear. Sadly they didn’t even try to understand our situation and said they had to stick to “their policy”. We paid 70 AUD for 2 wetsuits and 1 weightbelt, which we returned unused. The only thing they kept on repeating was that the process is the same anyway and they have to go to a lot of work to find out the good equipment and to put them away again. Which they actually didn’t, it took them 30 seconds to give us a wetsuit and hang them away again.
  Concluding we would recommend all travellers through Ozzie like ourselves to go to the diveshop in Portsea, not only is the pricing better (25 AUD instead of 30 AUD), but they have a much more personal and understanding approach. Big corp companies need to stick to strict processes and policies. The strenght of smaller and local business is that they have the flexibility to make on the spot decisions depending on the situation. Getting a bad review is to be expected being part of ‘the process’ as well. And although you wished us more luck next time, you can never expect us to return to your business again or to advice anyone to do so.

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