AMAZING STAFF AND GREAT TUITION!

EXCELLENT TRAINING PROVIDED BY DEDICATED EXPERIENCED AND CARING STAFF HIGHLY RECORMENDED

Did my PADI years ago and needed a refresher course, basically learn it all over again. Centre was spot on, no problems at all. Dives maybe not as warm as I was used to but blame the north east for that!

Thanks to the team, I’m now qualified. Thanks again for all your support and patience.

just want to say a massive thank you to all the divers and staff at SSC that have encouraged, helped and supported Aiden threw his dive course! Not only has he learnt an invaluable skill, it has helped his confidence massively. he is over the moon that he is now qualified and looking forward to getting stuck into the advanced. best thing he ever did starting here, iv no doubt it will open so many avenues for him

Just like to thank all the SSC staff at Capenwray today. It was fab to get out for a play again, and they looked after us all splendidly. Cheers Everyone Thumbs up

I had a Mares liquidskin mask and the frame had started to crack and crumble away. The mask had already been replaced once due to the same fault. This time it was out of warranty and I therefore contacted Mares direct with the intention of only dealing with them and assuming I would have to post the mask back to them. I gave Mares a detailed breakdown of the fault and emailed them photos. Mares insisted I contact my local Mares dealer which was Sunderland Scuba Centre. I emailed Sunderland Scuba Centre, again giving a full explanation of the problem and again sent photos. I also advised them the mask was a replacement due to the same fault and explained how careful I am with the mask, I also advised them the mask was not within the warranty period but that I didn’t know exactly how long ago I’d received it. They advised me to bring the mask to the store. I took the mask to the store and initially dealt with a young man called Andy (there was another young boy working there) Andy was reasonably helpful and we discussed the mask and I asked if it would need to be sent to Mares, he said yes but then disappeared to then re-appear with an older man I later found out to be Steve who I understand is the owner. Steve was immediately belligerent, obstinate, unhelpful and negative. He asked me how long ago I’d bought the mask (despite me already answering this in one of our emails) and when I said I didn’t know he said Mares wouldn’t do anything for me. When I advised how often the mask is used and how much care I take over it he advised that because my mask was outside the warranty period that I should expect nothing better than for it to just crumble to pieces and actually said that Mares would accuse me of being careless with the mask and/or dropping it. Steve essentially implied that I was somehow trying to con something for nothing or that I had wilfully smashed the mask outside of the warranty to somehow try and cheat my way into getting a replacement. When I mentioned other people talking about this fault with Mares masks on the internet he said he’d never heard of any such thing, when I told him my intention was to deal directly with Mares but they insisted I deal with Sunderland Scuba he said that Mares ‘probably thought the issue was minor and could be easily dealt with in the store’. He then went on to say ‘I can post the mask to Mares but you’ll have to pay the postage as I don’t see why I should be out of pocket’ Whatever I said he disagreed with, he lectured me in front of his other two staff (one of whom at least was embarrassed, at least I hope he was), he implied I was out for something I wasn’t entitled to and was condescending and as unhelpful and negative as it was possible to be. I eventually left the shop (after paying £8 for posting the mask) shaken and upset. I subsequently emailed Steve directly with a copy of the email I’d sent to Mares (to prove I’d given them a detailed explanation of the fault) and outlined how unsatisfactory I’d found his behaviour to be. His response? Come and collect the mask, get your postage refunded and take the mask to the person you bought it from! As a side note I bought the mask from Denney Diving and the only reason I didn’t go back to them was because of the warranty issue and it was only ever my intention to deal directly with Mares. I subsequently contacted them and the difference was astounding. I posted my mask to them on the Thursday before Easter and had it back exactly a week later. They had ordered replacement parts (the same colour as my mask), taken the mask apart, cleaned it, put it back together, posted it back to me and refused to take any payment for any part of the process. They were kind, courteous, helpful and proud of their customer service ethos which is to treat others as they wish to be treated. They also advised me that they kept some spare frames in the shop as this was a fault that had occurred several times previously. As a consequence I will recommend Denney Diving to everyone but would not recommend Sunderland Scuba to anyone. The owner of Sunderland Scuba is someone that believes he can run his business exactly the way he pleases, with boorish self-entitlement and no real understanding of the high standards present in the majority of retails businesses these days and indeed the high standards most of us expect. As a Mares dealer Sunderland Scuba Centre is an extremely poor ambassador for the brand.

I transferred my training from another company within the PADI circle. Travelling 8hr round trip such is the expertise that's available here. I'm paraplegic and the staff are HSA qualified, SSI and PADI qualified. There is everything I look for in a club or dive centre, extensive training, kit advice, deals, socialisation options, actual good hard training sessions which are optional if you don't want to work hard and progress. I've the more I put in to Sunderland Scuba, the more I get out of the club. Thanks to everyone for the help with my sometimes awkward needs regarding access, and accessing open water dives worldwide.

Have dealt with Sunderland Scuba centre many times over the last 4 years and have always been given sound advice regarding both diving kit and courses where standards of teaching and safety is paramount and tailored to the individual.

Ordered some dry gloves for £43 online in preparation for a trip a month later. They arrived the day after the trip. Website gave no warning of this excessive delay and there was no communication warning me. I contacted them saying when I needed them for :-(

Excellent customer service, Very fast delivery. Would Highly Recommend!

A lack of interest In orders. Very poor communication. Advertising items as in stock when they will freely admit never actually having them in. avoid.

This shop has been at the core of my diving experience. Their open water course was fantastic. The patience of saints. Can not recommend them enough

I ordered my Sunto Zoop dive computer late on thursday night, not opting for the quick delivery!!! Much to my amazement it arrived in Cardiff on the saturday morning, so I had it for my diving on sunday!!! Excellent service, and excellent value for money for this product. Highly recommendable!!!

Fantastic customer service as our original request for a specific coloured Tusa mask wasn't available. The order was placed on a Saturday night and an email and voicemail was left the next day to advise of a stock out. An alternative colour was chosen and we received our masks on the Tuesday. Brilliant!

They contacted me as the fins I had ordered were not in stock and they were unable to source them but they offered me a replacement which was £10 more and honoured the price of the finsI had originally ordered, and they came the next day too. Well impressed.

Item initially not in stock but arrived much earlier than communications said.

Ordered goods but was told not in stock, how ever goods arrived 48 hours later. Exellent service highly recommend & great comunication from them

ordered wrong size but exchanged it no problems. Great on price.

Based on experience with other dive shops I was hesitant to order given that the items were "not in stock" at the time of ordering. However, everything I ordered arrived in less than 48 hours - a day earlier that they had suggested ,so brilliant service, thanks.