The Good Guys

[Miss Roxy Chablis]

Yeah I know its difficult - but on a site like this when it's such a crucial resource to a diver - shouldn't it be exactly the sort of thing that people talk about? Likewise when you're consistantly getting a lot of people very unhappy over a period of time with an individual - surely this is where people should be able to find out about that. Smarter people than me have probably got some ideas about what form it needs to take?

[SJT]

What would be really useful is something a bit like Ebay, where people get to leave positive or negative feedback which is available for all to see. The system seems to work quite well on Ebay as it provides an incentive for "sellers" to provide a good service and requires people leaving negative feedback to justify their negative comments. However, I don't know how difficult it would be to set this up for YD....

[jazzie129uk]

presumably not that different from a long-term poll where people can vote repeatedly. bad experience = red blob, good experience = green blob. yes a skipper might have a bad day and pick up some reds but over time they'd pick up greens too...

[daveyb]

Originally Posted by Howard Payne

Yeah I know its difficult - but on a site like this when it's such a crucial resource to a diver - shouldn't it be exactly the sort of thing that people talk about? Likewise when you're consistantly getting a lot of people very unhappy over a period of time with an individual - surely this is where people should be able to find out about that. Smarter people than me have probably got some ideas about what form it needs to take?

Over a period of time, divers get to know who they like and who they don't - sometimes it might be from personal experience or it might be from hearing second hand accounts where not all the facts are known or from other buddies etc.

While I appreciate that we all want the best skippers and that talk about the good, the bad and the downright ugly is a legitimate concern I think ratings might be too subjective - no matter how objective a rating is there'll always be room for debate except it might be ruining someone's else livelilhood. If skippering was easy why do they seem to have so many problems staying in business? ... Ah .. well who knows

If, as divers we come across bad skippers, we have the choice in voting with our feet but the skippers in a bad rating have little recourse - what could they do? Remonstrate with a club, web site or an individual diver here and potentially look silly because their communication skills are perhaps not as good as someone complaining etc. There are divers on here who are brilliant at expressing themselves and others who are not - skippers would be no different. Just a different viewpoint and I'm not suggesting that talk of bad skippers should be curtailed just that for each bad story there's usually a communication problem or a git behind it.

[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by MarkP

Any chance of making this sticky?

Hi Mark.....I am thinking that for the moment we'll use this thread as the "data collection" thread....then distill the info down into a single post which we'll make sticky.

I'd like to discuss some of the ideas being put forward with Jay because as I said earlier he is not too happy with the YD name being used to "exert" any pressure on people. .... I think there is something in this so let's not rush too quickly .... but do something that's good for the YD membership and good for the good skippers too.

Mal

[Fiona]

I am with daveyb on this one and really can't see the point of a sticky. We all know where the skippers can be found, we probably use the same ones each time we go to a location.

I could name skippers who don't provide a drink of any sort, don't provide "facilities", can't shot a wreck and are downright rude. There are also some I really like and would use time and time again.

Stickies are rarely amended and skippers and boats change, so would be out of date anyway.

For me I would leave it, if you want a recommendation for a skipper in a particular location then just ask, I am sure someone will come up with a few in short order.

[NeilP]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

loads and loads

Penzance - Pamela P - Fred 07966 626304
Falmouth - Autumn Dream - Shaun 07813 919098
Plymouth - Seeker - Steve 07779 089384
Exmouth - Wave Cheiftan - Rich 07775 581972
Lyme Regis - Blue Turtle - Doug 07970 856822
Weymouth - Scimitar - Smudge/Helena 07765 326728
Weymouth - RJRW - Woody
Weymouth - Skin Deeper - Ian
Dover - Neptune - Dave 07710 269929

Mull - Lochaline Dive Charters
Scapa - Invincible - Ian/Fiona
Scapa - Valkerie - Hazel/Helen

AD has been re-named. Cousin Jack

[Scubee]

Ithink it would be a really bad idea to 'rate' a skipper or boat. What i like, you may not. Quite honestly, I don't care if there is no hot drink - I am perfectly capable of taking a flask with me. I prefer a boat with a head, but maybe the guys don't care too much about that.

There are skippers who have certain policies with regards to O2 and the CG, which I think is fine, but I know other divers hate.

To make it work, there would need to be an objective system, which people could use to make an informed decision.

[steveharriss]

I think it's a good thing for people to say when they have had a positive experience with a skipper. It's not objective but at least it gets us away from just moaning about crap boats/buddies/kit/biscuits. I appreciate that what may suit me won't be what you're looking for but lets not shoot the messenger.

Likewise, if someone has a negative experience let's share it and we can then make an informed judgment of our own.

From a business point of view it's probably more beneficial to allow positive comments than those that 'slag off' a particular skipper or boat.