Lauderdale Diver

Certainly I’ve had some negative experiences with companies but never bad enough that I felt compelled to post a negative review online. I am posting this primarily because I want to warn anyone who has their gear serviced here to check it very carefully before diving.
Recently, I had a reg, Spare Air and BCD serviced at Lauderdale Diver. While setting up on the boat, just a couple days after getting my gear back from the store, I noticed the primary reg was free flowing. The hose that connects to the reg was extremely loose and even when I tightened it down, when any pressure was applied to the hose, air leaked out. Also, a black plastic trim piece was broken, as was the rubber that held the reg’s logo in place. You can watch a short video of this here:
As to the Spare Air, when I picked it up at Lauderdale Diver after it was «serviced,» I immediately noticed a black plastic ring that screwed on to the top of the reg portion was missing. First, a guy there tried to tell me there was no ring missing. Then, after I pointed out the now exposed screw threads which should be covered by that ring, suddenly, they realized it was missing, but were sure I had dropped it off this way… Not once did they accept that, regardless of whether or not it came in to this store this way, this problem should have been fixed as part of the service. Reluctantly, Cyndi, the manager, picked up the phone and called the employee who worked on it to see if that ring could be located in the store somewhere. I believe his name was Nick. To Nick’s credit, he came back to the store, even though he had already clocked out and left. (Nick was also helpful with re-​rigging my speargun a few days earlier.) While Nick and I were discussing this, Cyndi focused on closing up the store. No further offer of assistance or apparent concern was relayed. Seeing that this was going nowhere fast, while at the store, I called Spare Air. The rep was very surprised that I was the one calling and immediately asked for the name of the store. She told me this was something the dive store should have seen and fixed as part of the service. Cyndi and the remaining staff, now completely focused on leaving, were half way out the door while I was still on the phone with Spare Air. I finished the call from the parking lot — ordering and paying for the missing part that should have been part of their service.
After discovering the problems with the reg on the dive boat, I filmed the video linked above and called the store. Two days later I got a call back from Cyndi. She wanted me to bring the gear back in but, I informed her that I had already dropped it off at another store to be completely re-​serviced. With their complete and utter failure to properly service the reg and the potential consequences that could have resulted, there was no way I was putting my life back in their hands. I forwarded the video in a follow up e-​mail and asked simply that they refund what I paid for the service of these items. After five days of hemming and hawing, rather than instantly doing the right thing, Cyndi wrote that they would only be reimbursing me for the labor charges for the reg and BCD, no parts for either, and nothing for the Spare Air!
My grandmother taught me that erasers are put on pencils for a reason. People can and do make mistakes. I get that. But, when it comes to critical, life dependent dive gear, such as a reg, or a redundancy system like a Spare Air, there is no margin for error. Still, I try not to judge a company or person on whether or not a mistake is made, but rather how they respond. Lauderdale Diver failed in all respects.

First time going to this dive shop. Fort Lauderdale local looking to rent tanks for mini season (also ended up spending $ 130 on other gear because it’s too hard to go to these places and not want something new). Shop is nice, clean with plenty of supplies for all your diving needs. Most of staff was friendly, knowledgeable and courteous. However the older woman at the register needs to work on her customer service.
I encountered her 2 days, the first when I rented the tanks the the second when I returned them. Both times she seemed overwhelmed, short and had a bit of an attitude problem. It unfortunately it had a profound negative effect on my experience with this place.
Other than her, everyone else was great. There are however way too many dive shops in Fort Lauderdale to continue to get attitude at this one.

Came here at the suggestion of a competing dive shop due to their ability to repair my brand of regulator. I found the staff to be extremely patient, knowledgable, and friendly. They also give a discount to police and firefighters. Will be back in the future to buy a BC and regulator.

Great dive shop! I’d highly recommend this shop. They’ll set you up with everything you need from buying equipment, renting equipment and charters. A huge thanks to Chris the instructor. He sets the standard high for a scuba profesional.

This is by far my fav dive shops. I did my advanced cert with rob just recently and I highly recommend him as an instructor if you’re looking to get certified

Finally a dive shop that understands customer service. I bought a mini torch light that malfunctioned. Instead of giving me a hassle about mailing it back to the manufacturer, they exchanged it and… (wait for it…) they apologized. That’s right apologized for the manufacturer’s defect. Now that shouldn’t be a shocker, but I can tell you that has not been my experience with the huge corporate chain closer to my house. Needless to say, their service was enough to get me to come back to purchase a scuba mask, a set of knife straps, and book 2 dives. They earned my business and that’s no easy task.
It’s amazing that I have to drive by corporate dive store to get whatever I need. Guess where I take I scuba buddies when they visit south Florida? Trust me, they earned this review.
BTW, the Tovatec Mini Torch Light is awesome. I used it to search for lobsters under the reef crevices. Pleased with this purchase.

I went in for an advanced open water refresher and walked away refreshed.
Rob, the instructor, is a hoot. It’s been a while since I’ve heard a good story teller. Very helpful when you’re trying not to fall asleep on a PADI power point. He relates poignant underwater anecdotes with soft enthusiasm and a partial disregard for American English. Who could ask for more?
Well, Rob is committed to making sure that you «train to standard.» (My apologies for cliché military phraseology). And it kinda helps to know you’re stuff when you’re pretending to be a fish. I wouldn’t want to use a dive shop that doesn’t place a premium on safety and sensibility.
You get the feeling they’ve achieved this when you walk in the shop. It is neat, organized, and goodies are everywhere. I could give you a double entendre here, but I don’t want to get banned from Unilocal yet.
Anyways, I know all of my Sinai dive buddies would be impressed. I look forward to doing a boat trip with these guys in the near future.
Just need GoPro gear? Stop in and check them out.

I used Lauderdale Diver to book a charter dive recently. The service was excellent, the rental gear was in good shape, and the dives were a blast!
A few key points:
— Their prices are on par with what I’ve typically paid for other charter dives on the east coast
— My dive buddy and I would be flying in on Saturday night, and we wanted to dive Sunday morning. Renters usually pick up their gear at the shop the day before, but we couldn’t. The shop was happy to accommodate and bring our rental gear to the boat for us. I was particularly happy that they used my height and weight to pick a wetsuit that fit me perfectly
— The crew on the charter boat were professional and quite friendly. It had been a couple years since my last dive. The divemaster happily offered to check over all my gear to make sure I had suited up properly. He then followed us into the water and watched our descent to make sure everything went smoothly. A crew that is passionate about diving, safety, and good service is the kind of crew I hope for every time I dive.
I originally picked Lauderdale Diver because they had the best reviews on Google. After diving with them, I can definitely say they have earned their good reputation. Thanks guys!

I went to this dive store because my mom was looking for a dive mask to use at the pool. As soon as we walked in, the guys greeted us as soon as we walked in. Within 5 minutes of being in the store 3 different guys offered to help us too! There wasn’t a huge selection of inexpensive masks but we managed to find one that was a good deal and didn’t come in a bundle like the sporting good stores sell them.
There was a fairly large variety of merchandise and it was very organized. I was in another dive store in the area and they had all their repairs scattered all over and was very cluttered. So it was nice to walk in to an organized store where the staff members knew about everything in the store. Also I thought all the guys working at the store weren’t bad to look at, so I will definitely be going back for my scuba diving needs. ;)

Lauderdale Diver just did a great job of servicing my dive computers, they even replaced the band on the spot with the proper color that I wanted. As a free diving instructor I refer for all of my students in the area to Lauderdale Diver. Professional staff and great customer service, highly recommended.