Snorkel Bob's — Attraction in Hawaii

My group of friends and our kids wanted to go snorkeling. We were going to be in town for 10 days and we went here to rent our snorkel equipment. I almost gave it a two stars because the equipment was solid and they had a lot of stock. But the customer service from the guy at the counter was horrible. He was an absolute jerk. And my 8-year-old son asked a question and apparently is common knowledge to anyone who has eyes and the response that was given was so out of line. I almost walked out in the building right now. I wish I had. We all rented and later that night we were talking about it around dinner and none of us said anything because it was we thought it was just us. But apparently we all were an agreement that this guy was an absolute jerk. Ended up returning all of our equipment the next day. Except for two items because we were unable to find them when we went in.

We actually ended up finding them later that day and just decided it was easier to just keep using them instead of making another trip.

The friend who had rented those items kept them all week and when we dropped them off at the airport I told them I would drop them off for them. When I arrived on site. It was a group ahead of me. The guy told me just to put them on the ground with a pile of others with the receipt. And let him know that I do not have a receipt. He then made a big spectacle amongst all of the other people in the building on how this is why we tell you to make sure you have the receipt and started digging into me. And I told him how I did not have the receipt. They're not mine. I just told the person I would drop them off. But if he's going to make a big deal about it, I will take a picture of them being in the building and then I will leave and we can use the picture as evidence that they were returned. And then he replied. "Oh well, there's no reason to take a tone like that." Let's just say he did not drop the point of the receipt and kept bringing it up to the point that I even mentioned, "so we're going to be talking about the receipt again?"

Also, we didn't go all week without fun because we ended up going down the street to boss frogs. They were not condescending to my 8-year-old son. They were not rude to any of us. In fact, the woman behind the counter actually got excited for my son and got him all revved up about what he's going to see. I would highly recommend going to Boss frogs. They were even a...

We opted to rent snorkel gear (versus purchase and pack) for our recent trip to Kona. We made a reservation online and it was nice that you didn't have to pay until you picked up the gear; this gave you the opportunity to view alternative gear options at the store or say "pass" if you decide you don't want sometime. We had a large group of folks with us. Previous posts mentioned the gentleman working was rude - I didn't see his attitude as rude, rather, he knew how to get through the rental process quickly and efficiently. The store was busy, with people returning gear or coming in to pick up new gear. He asked us to take a seat on the benches, which allowed him to quickly maneuver throughout the store and collect our gear. After learning our feet sizes, he had us each try on a pair of fins and verified if they fit or not. He also helped us find the appropriate fitting snorkel mask. We were going to rent swim vests, but he recommended the belts instead, which worked out great! The only complaint there is that they don't come in kids sizes. The kiddos in the group had them tightened as small as they would go; they never came off when snorkeling. I appreciated that the packages came with the anti-fog goo. He also made sure each person had a different color back to store their equipment, which was super helpful when we had our beach days. We reserved the gear for the week and took advantage of dropping off at another location. Our rental experience was great and I would recommend renting gear if you're traveling...

A great argument for the zero star review. Long story short, go to the Boss Frog down the street and work with the incredible people there instead.

We were staying down the street at Royal Kona and I stopped in Snorkel Bob's to find out about getting snorkeling gear for the day for 5 people. The woman working said that the best she could do is $20 a day. That seemed high and I asked if there was anything at all she could do about the price since we had 5 people - the answer was a firm No, $20 was their rock bottom best price. I went back to the car and spoke to my wife who pointed out that the Snorkel Bob website offers three packages at $8, $12 and their "ultimate premium" package for $14 a day. When I went back in and asked about the price differences, she told me she'd quoted me the ultimate package plus a $6 upgraded snorkel. As her best price. Presumably the upgraded snorkel was better than the "ultimate" package snorkel? Anyway she said the $8 set was absolute garbage, and they were fresh out of the $12 sets, so I'd have to get the $14 set or do without. Incredibly rude vibe once she'd been caught in her lie. Another group walked in and she snapped at them, "are you together?" They answered no, and suddenly the charm comes back and she's asking how she could help them.

I went down the block and worked with Boss Frog who did an amazing job at $12 a set. I would have paid anything however to not give any business to...