Must gear be purchased from the LDS you are getting Open Water certified at?

[Aguablanco1]

Right here. ---
RichH

---------- Post added June 25th, 2013 at 02:24 PM ----------

Sorry. From their website, PADI Open Water Certification:

The PADI Deluxe Open Water Course includes a Deluxe Binder, Module Starter, Dive Log System and Dive Planner. Full instruction by a Certified PADI Instructor using new Prescriptive Teaching Format and DVD for home studying. Classroom time and Four Open Water Dives; Fresh and Salt Water. Upon completion of the Class a PADI Open Water Certification Card will be provided. ​

Includes use of the following Equipment:
~ SCUBA cylinders
~ Regulator with depth, pressure gauges and alternate air source
~ Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
~ Wet Suit
~ Compass

Course Requirements:
~ Must be at least 12 years of age; under 18 requires parental approval
(Special junior classes for ages 10-12)
~ Medical clearance (completed blue folder in dive packet)
~ Personal gear such as masks, fins, snorkel, weightbelt, weights, and optional water proof watch
(Special student discounts are available)

 

[chrpai]

Ah, I moused over courses and clicked through each of the child pages but not the main page. Web design from the 90's...

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Bunch of lying no good egg sucking dogs.

Ah...come on Jim. All the dogs I know at least are honest and have some ethics.

I will say that the part of teaching that I disliked the most was the shops constant reminder for Instructors and DM's to push gear. The line about the insurance is straight out of the south end of a north bound bull.

We all know that it is always the intructors reponsibility to determine that student owned gear is safe..... but a new Mares Journey Elite...basically the same back inflate weight integrated system as the Zeagle.....give me a break.

 

[flots am]

actually its: · · · – – – · · ·

I was all set to jump in, then decided that you guys had already said what needed to be said.

SB needs a delete button. If "edit" is OK for 24 hours, then delete should be too.

---------- Post added June 25th, 2013 at 05:43 PM ----------

I suspect the agency would do nothing.

Me too.

Vote with your money. Just call your credit card company and tell them the shop is engaging in deceptive business practices and you want a refund.

You'll get it.

Then go somewhere else.

flots

 

[Scott]

And believe me that PADI will take your complaint seriously enough that you will, at the least, get a call from the shop asking what the issues were. I had a problem locally with very sub-par, read none, instruction on my wife's buoyancy class and had to write PADI.

I suspect PADI or any agency would respond in any manner that makes a difference. This is a business decision by the DS, a poor one IMO, not a course standards issue.

The times I question gear is when a student brings in gear they have purchased between session from the local classified ads. New gear..set it up. Used gear that has been serviced....set it up. Stolen gear... ah that's a nother story.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Right here. ---
RichH

---------- Post added June 25th, 2013 at 02:24 PM ----------

Sorry. From their website, PADI Open Water Certification:

The PADI Deluxe Open Water Course includes a Deluxe Binder, Module Starter, Dive Log System and Dive Planner. Full instruction by a Certified PADI Instructor using new Prescriptive Teaching Format and DVD for home studying. Classroom time and Four Open Water Dives; Fresh and Salt Water. Upon completion of the Class a PADI Open Water Certification Card will be provided. ​

Includes use of the following Equipment:
~ SCUBA cylinders
~ Regulator with depth, pressure gauges and alternate air source
~ Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
~ Wet Suit
~ Compass

Course Requirements:
~ Must be at least 12 years of age; under 18 requires parental approval
(Special junior classes for ages 10-12)
~ Medical clearance (completed blue folder in dive packet)
~ Personal gear such as masks, fins, snorkel, weightbelt, weights, and optional water proof watch
(Special student discounts are available)

So they don't supply weights?

 

[tdtaylor]

The dive shop I work through as a DM of course includes the rentals for the classes (SSI, PADI, NAUI, shouldn't matter). The shop also works hard to give you a selection of back or jacket BC, type of wetsuit, etc. so you can decide in the pool what you feel works best. I have no clue if they make money or not on the training, but they work hard to make everyone satisfied. One lady in one of my OW classes had issues with masks, and after several rounds of classes the Owner gave her 5 new masks to try at the pool (after 45 minutes of one on one with me on mask clearing, it wasn't the mask).

Of course they want to sell you the equipment, and we (the staff) support that. But to promote their equipment, we need to believe in the shop. The Owner will work with you on cost and payments, and has always been aware and competitive with the internet, and will bend over backwards to work with any equipment you purchase, warranty or not.

From my perspective as a former Owner of a services company, I understand the issues in the market. SOME SHOP ARE DOING IT RIGHT! I will always give this shop the first shot at any equipment I purchase.

As previously mentioned several times, I would run from this shop, as fast as I could.....there are plenty of shops doing it right....

Just my 2 cents.....

Terry

 

[EastEndDiver]

Someone should call the dive shop and tell them of this thread and ask them to come here and explain this.

I would love to hear their BS response.

 

[Rhodesaz]

Run!!!

 

[IIIEXOCETIII]

Ok, so an update. I went to the dive shop today after work. I asked them specifically about how my wife had come in with her own bcd. Blah blah. They obviously knew who I was. Mikes wife was in the shop. I said "My wife came in last night for classes with her on BCD" she nodded her head in agreement. I said a "Apparently I'm required to have purchased my BCD from here, as it was apparently a liability issue?" She confirmed this was the case. And said that there insurance policy required "All Life Support System's" to have to be purchased through them for insurance to cover an issue if any, that had ever occurred.

Thinking to myself I have thought that maybe the Zeagle would be a better buy and the $200.00 dollars extra for the BCD might be well spent. However, the tactic still seems somewhat misleading. I mentioned the fact that this was never told to me and their response was "Well we never thought you'd go buy gear somewhere else either". Being a mom and pop shop I'd tend to believe they think I hurt their dignity by going to another shop.

Ultimately in the end I am somewhat forced to make a decision here. My wife can use their rental BCD's and with a small frame potentially be uncomfortable throughout the dive. Or I can spend the extra $200.00 and have a BCD that could last me the next 20 years, and she can become proficient and comfortable in. Or lastly walk away from it all and have to reschedule things.

In the end I think I might bite at the Zeagle, however I probably wont ever be doing business here again. As I feel somewhat bait and switched.