Disappointed

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You asked how it “usually” runs; Well t my LDS Waterfront Dive Center (Only one of 2 within a reasonable distance away and one is going under) When you pay for a class you get your cert. even if they have to bend over backwards to do it. The dont have their own pool but we do have a lake to train in conditions dependant. They are a NAUI shop primarily but do offer a few PADI certs. They offer one of three choices one week intensive, six week spread out of custom with referral.
Is the shop you are working with your only choice? You may have better luck going to another shop, a competitor and seeing if they will help you out? At the very least that info will make good ammunition for getting what you need from your current choice of LDS. how ever this winds up for you I would never step foot in that LDS again and would provide accurate information who the shop is to the cert. agency, Yelp and hear on SB lest someone else winds up in the same position as you are in now.
In the future dont leave key components to an expensive dive vacation for a few weeks before you go and dont take "maybe" and "will try" as acceptable answers. Its your $$ they want and its your choice to learn to dive with them!
 
Thanks Rileybri. We have been going back and forth with what to do. We just don't get a good vibe or feeling from this guy (like you know you're not going to be friends, hang out or dive with this person). He comes across as condescending and he may not realize it. Don't get me wrong, he's a really nice person but not great with the instruction. We're not going to get a partial refund, already asked. As it stands now, we're going to go on vacation, do another discover scuba course and pick up the class with him some time down the road. If at any time I feel unsafe like I did last week, things will get more serious and we'll stop being nice about this whole fiasco. I know we should bare some of the blame but from what everyone is telling me, there are definitely some things wrong with this scenario. I mean, we are the customers, right?
 
Aside from accepting vagary and misdirection from someone who has demonstrated (based on your reporting) an inability or unwillingness to provide appropriate services for the money they received from you have no more responsibility or fault. I would however if I was in your position tell him to go take a long dive on a small tank, report hi/the LDS and move on. It may wind up costing a few hundred more dollars but hay in the grand scheme of diving its will be a drop in the bucket. Find someone else to teach you and wash your hands of this whole affair.
 
Thanks to you too Colliam7. Sorry, just now saw your post. We found an SDI shop that can do 2 indoor sessions this weekend and 2 check out dives next weekend for about $550 more but current LDS says he can only give a referral for the OW portion and we have to complete pool work with him. So without any sort of partial refund and a vacation coming up, it's just not doable, even if he did give us the referral. The new shop has been really great to work with so far over the phone. Even though they're an hour away, I think we're going to pay them a visit when we get back :eyebrow:
 
We found an SDI shop that can do 2 indoor sessions this weekend and 2 check out dives next weekend for about $550 more but current LDS says he can only give a referral for the OW portion and we have to complete pool work with him.
That last part seems strange, but I confess that I don't know the SDI system, and it may be true.
So without any sort of partial refund and a vacation coming up, it's just not doable, even if he did give us the referral.
I can appreciate your situation. The more you share about your interaction with the shop and owner, the less impressed I am with his business practices, not to mention approach to instruction.
 
That last part seems strange, but I confess that I don't know the SDI system, and it may be true.

Sorry, to clarify, he can't give a referral for both confined and open water but he can sign off that we've completed the class and taken the test, allowing us to complete pool and OW somewhere else.
 
I am sorry to hear about your situation and being new to diving myself I have no credible advice to lend. I will say though that not all LDS shop owners are going to give you the same level of service that you have received so far. It is like anything else in this world some are good and some are not. I hope you stay interested in diving and I also hope you have a great vacation even though it will not be a dive vacation. Take care.
 
Wow. That's about all I can say. I did the theory online, booked in a course at the LDS, sat the test the next morning, dove twice that day, and three times the next, and was OW certified. Taking weeks or months to get certified in OW sounds crazy.
 
We found an SDI shop that can do 2 indoor sessions this weekend and 2 check out dives next weekend for about $550 more but current LDS says he can only give a referral for the OW portion and we have to complete pool work with him.

That last part seems strange, but I confess that I don't know the SDI system, and it may be true.
That is pretty standard, in my experience.

Sorry, to clarify, he can't give a referral for both confined and open water but he can sign off that we've completed the class and taken the test, allowing us to complete pool and OW somewhere else.
Typically, a referral attests that you have successfully completed the theory and the pool work, leaving the open-water dives to be conducted elsewhere. It was conceived with divers like you in mind--those who don't want to dive in cold water.

A referral should be cheaper than a full certification (that includes the open water dives in the price). Paying him $600 to attest that you have completed the theory is probably a waste of $600. Resorts at your destination are likely able to give you a full certification course--at full price--or conduct the check-out dives with a standard referral, at some lesser price. I doubt they have a provision for pool work and checkout dives that offers a significant discount (or time-savings, for that matter).
 
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