Posted by A concerned winter visitor on December 18, 2001 at 17:40:54:
In Reply to: Ocean Fox will be Open again on Monday 17th. posted by Dr Andy S Leggett on December 15, 2001 at 11:47:49:
I've been following the on-going saga between Andy and Valentines with much sadness. I have dived with both Jeff and Valentines in the past few years - with Valentines under both Bob and Rose and Chis and Lara. I have always preferred diving with Jeff, since his boats have always been less crowded and he is so knowlegable about what lies beneath the surface. When Valentines came under new ownership I decided to give them another go. Andy was both the boat captain and the dive guide for the first dive on the trip I took. He gave an excellent briefing about the sites we were going to visit, warned us about the sea conditions, and personally checked that we had set up our equipment properly before we left the dock. I had two good dives, but a couple of people, including my wife, got nauseous between dives and sat out the second dive. The divemaster led the second dive,and my wife said that Andy was very attentive and tried to make her and the other diver as comfortable as possible whilst the rest of us were diving.
The great impression we had of the new-look Valentines was destroyed when we got back to the marina. I went into the office to schedule dives for the following day and asked Lara for a refund for the dive my wife hadn't taken. Lara told me that no refunds were given since it wasn't the dive center's fault that my wife had gotten sick. I wasn't concerned with the money, but the principle of the issue. Lara's intransigence was very surprising, especially for the owner of a business dependent a reputation that is based upon customer satisfaction.
Although I was very impressed with the staff at Valentines, the apparent money-grabbing attitude of Lara put me off diving with them again.
For the remainder of my vacation I dived with Jeff, and told him about Andy and his professionalism. I was not surprised when I heard that Andy and Jeff were planning on going into partnership together.
What has surprised me is the mud-slinging that has come from Valentines in the past month. First Andy was told to leave the Bahamas by immigration at the airport after they were told that he had been fired by Valentines for misconduct. The truth is that Andy had resigned after declaring his intention to work with Jeff, and declining a counter-offer that required him to sign a no-competition clause.
Then reports were filed with various government ministies about the legality of Jeff's business, resulting in him being hauled up before various officials despite having the necessary paperwork.
These attacks on Jeff and Andy suggest that Valentines is unwilling to compete on a level playing field. Andy was denied entry into the Bahamas for a month on the grounds that it is illegal for an individual to remain in the Bahamas whilst their work permit is in application. Yet when I arrived on the island last week I saw that Valentines has two new members of staff who are not in possession of work permits. How has Valentines managed to avoid complying with the rule that kept Andy out of the country?
In my experience, people who live in glass houses and throw stones tend to find that they break their own windows. The vendetta Chris and Lara have against Andy and Jeff is not going to help Valentines in the long run. Many people on the island are disgusted at their behavior, especially since much of it has been directed at Jeff. Jeff helped Chris and Lara when they first arrived on the island to take over Valentines. In fact, Chris learned the waters around the island from Jeff when he worked for him a few years ago. This is how they choose to repay his kindness.
I wish the best of luck to Jeff and Andy.
To Chris and Lara I say: Karma has a habit of kicking in at the worst time.