I have to be honest, I usually tend to blog about a whole load of negative things, and rarely get around to giving credit to good service etc. Occasionally I will, but usually only if I'm REALLY impressed. And on this occasion, I am just that.
Having recently found a new love in my life, in the form of scuba diving, I needed to find an online shop which stocked a wide range of products, was simple to browse, and was backed up with good service. Looking through the options, the friendliest to the eye as well as the wallet came up as Simple Scuba .
After sending off some questions about my planned first purchase, I expected the same rubbish generic reply you get from lots of online enquiries. Cut and paste paragraphs with a little to make it seem personal. Instead I received a prompt reply, with a detailed response. Which in turn convinced me to press CONFIRM for the purchase.
Being the awkward bugger that I am, I found that the wetsuit I had ordered was not gonna fit. A 7mm SubGear is not the easiest thing in the world to get into on the best of days. Contacting Simply again and asking to use their FREE size exchange service. Obviously I was going to have to pay to return it, and for new postage to me, but no restocking fee. That's what I thought it would be...
Wrong.... turns out that FREE means completely free. A returns label was emailed over, simply dropped it off to a Collect+ location and off it goes, totally free of cost. The replacement is also sent free of charge too. Such a simple, pain free and most satisfying of all, cost free service. Once more for good luck.... FREE !
With my first experience all sorted, I decided it was time to take advantage of the next great thing about Simply Scuba... Their store based in Faversham is open 7 days a week, which any scuba diving fanatic will know, is not too common for a dive shop. Being able to visit on Sundays is great for the girlfriend who is unable to get to the shops any other day of the week.
Needless to say, the visit wasn't cheap!
Following the visit, I was newly inspired by seeing so many shiny objects in the shop, so went straight online and ordered some more bits. Unfortunately the bag I bought, a ScubaPro Dry 120, had a defective strap on it, so needed to go back. What a great excuse to go back for more shopping. So after a quick exchange of emails, apologies received and exchange arranged, we returned to the shop. A painless and simple exchange was made, followed by about another £1200 spend in store, and we were off again.
Sadly on Monday evening aka dive night, on unloading the bag from my car a shoulder strap gave way. Taking a quick picture just to show how it broke, I popped off an email and tweet to @simplyscuba , just as a time stamp and to excuse why the bag was worn. I wasn't for one second expecting a reply via Twitter at 10pm at night. Exceptional to say the least. The following day a quick email again, and the return was arranged, as usual FREE of charge and done with ease via Collect+ . At the same time I ordered a replacement (different brand) bag, this time a Mares Cruise Backpack Pro.
After making the order I confirmed with customer services that as I needed it quickly, I would buy the new one while the old one was being sent back, if a refund could be arranged on its return. Of course this was agreed to by the no problem approach of the customer service team at Simple Scuba. As an added bonus, and very kindly they also waived the charge for the Next Day delivery I had selected. Thank you Simply.
So now I have a complete scuba kit, including an amazing bag to carry it all in. All I need to do now is sort a dry bag for putting the wetsuit and boots in after diving. My guess that a Mares 25 litre dry bag was sadly a little ambitious. Needless to say for a wet 7mm suit and boots im gonna need something a little bit bigger. My next purchase maybe?
So my advice to you... If you like scuba diving, or a whole range of other outdoor sports, kayaking, hiking, running and more, give the Simply Group a look. Hassle free interest free credit, superb online shop, great customer services, fantastic store in Faversham staffed by lovely people, and so much more. I cant recommend Simply enough.
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to Simply Scuba for only helping to increase my love of diving, and making the journey of getting all my gear so trouble free. I already have a long shopping list of things to buy, including a 3 or 5mm wetsuit, Suunto Vyper, a decent small light, and so on...
Like diving - Love Simply Scuba
No comments:
Post a Comment