hey i totally see your point and it is certainly valid.But are they a "PADI customer"? They have had no interaction with PADI during the course (other than access to eLearning modules) and have paid no monies to PADI. Even certified divers are not customers of PADI; and after certification have no interaction nor pay any money to PADI.
but we could also look at it this way......if you buy a chevy truck from a chevy dealer you are the dealers customer right? you are not a chevy customer.
but if you had a problem with that dealer, wouldnt it be nice if you could receive some help from chevy to sort it out? would chevy not benefit from trying to make sure the customer was treated fairly by its representative?
the reality is, that in most cases, you are right, and padi would be able to do nothing. but if the padi shop broke any standards during training or in this case, perhaps they may have broken a code of ethics they are expected to uphold, then you would think padi would at least make an attempt to straighten it out.
lets remember, when things like this happen, it not only reflects badly on the shop itself, but also on the agency they represent.