C-Card Recognition: Myth or Fact?

Were you ever denied a service or boat ride based upon C-card brand?

  • Yes, I have been denied a service or trip based upon brand.

    Votes: 5 2.9%
  • No, I have never been denied a service or trip based upon brand.

    Votes: 28 16.4%
  • I have never had problems based upon brand, but had problems based upon the rating on the card.

    Votes: 11 6.4%
  • I have never had any problems having a C-card accepted.

    Votes: 127 74.3%

  • Total voters
    171
  • Poll closed .

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Interesting. Aren't the Skippers concerned about an unqualified person suing them if there is an incident? An interesting idea-- assuming someone is a capable diver if they go out on a boat. Then again, logic says anyone taking an OW course obviously knows how to swim and has been in water over their head before--no need for wasting time on a "swim" test. But that's only logic, not what today's society needs.

No, they are not, that is because suing is mostly a USA thing. In the rest of the world if you do something stupid and kill yourself, it is your fault, here if you do something stupid and kill yourself, it is somebody else's fault for not stopping you.

N
 
Interesting. Aren't the Skippers concerned about an unqualified person suing them if there is an incident? An interesting idea-- assuming someone is a capable diver if they go out on a boat. Then again, logic says anyone taking an OW course obviously knows how to swim and has been in water over their head before--no need for wasting time on a "swim" test. But that's only logic, not what today's society needs.
Ive actually seen people turn up to a scuba course not being capable of swimming :(
 
Interesting. Aren't the Skippers concerned about an unqualified person suing them if there is an incident?

You could only sue a skipper in the UK in the event that they did something negligent, like run you over with the boat or have it so poorly maintained it sank underneath you.

If an unqualified person books onto the boat then in the UK that would be viewed as their fault if something went wrong as the result of them undertaking a dive they knew to be beyond their capabilities.

The general principle is that of personal responsibility but to balance that you cannot waive liability. A piece of paper cannot absolve a skipper or instructor or anyone of their duty of care to act prudently and safely. Not only that but a liability waiver in a contract is fatal to the entire contract (you cannot have a curate's egg). So liability waivers are useless in the UK and it is somewhat amusing when you get some freshly-minted (by a US agency) UK instructor running around insisting people sign release forms and similar. I like to sign them "Mickey Mouse" if they are really insistent.
 
You could only sue a skipper in the UK in the event that they did something negligent, like run you over with the boat or have it so poorly maintained it sank underneath you.

If an unqualified person books onto the boat then in the UK that would be viewed as their fault if something went wrong as the result of them undertaking a dive they knew to be beyond their capabilities.

The general principle is that of personal responsibility but to balance that you cannot waive liability. A piece of paper cannot absolve a skipper or instructor or anyone of their duty of care to act prudently and safely. Not only that but a liability waiver in a contract is fatal to the entire contract (you cannot have a curate's egg). So liability waivers are useless in the UK and it is somewhat amusing when you get some freshly-minted (by a US agency) UK instructor running around insisting people sign release forms and similar. I like to sign them "Mickey Mouse" if they are really insistent.
It goes wider, one dive specilst company is being investigated by Trading Standards for including the waiver in their holiday bookings.

UK Charter skippers deliberately don't check qualifications to reinforce their stance of providing transport to/from the dive site only.
 
Ive actually seen people turn up to a scuba course not being capable of swimming :(

:shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shakehead: :shakehead: :shakehead: Sounds like a serious self-nomination for a potential Darwin award.






Do you know the most significant difference between wisdom and stupidity? There are limits to wisdom...
 
They where sent home.. Wonder why...
 
I've never been turned away and rarely have been asked to show it.
 
No, they are not, that is because suing is mostly a USA thing. In the rest of the world if you do something stupid and kill yourself, it is your fault, here if you do something stupid and kill yourself, it is somebody else's fault for not stopping you.

N

Agree. But I believe it is common to have liability waivers and cert. checks in Canada and we make fun of the US and their lawsuits. Other Canadians correct me if I'm wrong.

---------- Post added March 26th, 2014 at 11:32 PM ----------

Ive actually seen people turn up to a scuba course not being capable of swimming :(

Same here.
 
Ive actually seen people turn up to a scuba course not being capable of swimming :(

I had this experience once ... I always make sure my students know ahead of time that there's a swimming test, and tell them exactly what the test will be.

This one time I had a fellow jump in the pool and start dog-paddling, with a look on his face that was clearly verging on panic. I called him back immediately and asked him to exit the pool. "Was it not clear to you that this class requires you to be able to swim?" I asked. "Yes", he said. "Then why did you come tonight?" "I have a fear of water and thought this would be a good way to overcome it."

I told him to go get dressed, and gave him the contact info of a good swimming instructor I knew at the time. I told him to come back and restart the diving class once he'd worked with her and could swim. I never heard back from him.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added March 27th, 2014 at 05:49 AM ----------

Agree. But I believe it is common to have liability waivers and cert. checks in Canada and we make fun of the US and their lawsuits. Other Canadians correct me if I'm wrong.

... most places I've dived in Indonesia require you to sign a liability waiver ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Interesting. Aren't the Skippers concerned about an unqualified person suing them if there is an incident? An interesting idea-- assuming someone is a capable diver if they go out on a boat. Then again, logic says anyone taking an OW course obviously knows how to swim and has been in water over their head before--no need for wasting time on a "swim" test. But that's only logic, not what today's society needs.

I've never been asked for a card by a skipper, but quite a few have asked me to sign a declaration. Usually they are for me to acknowledge that I have been briefed about safety facilities, that the skipper or crew are not acting as dive supervisors and that I am suitably trained and medically fit for the activity I'm undertaking.

In my opinion, skippers asking for certification cards increases their exposure to potential liability. They are making a decision as to whether somebody is safe to dive based on a piece of plastic, and we've all seen divers who look like they got their certification my collecting tokens from boxes of corn flakes. Another issue is where do they stop after checking cards? Checking regs are serviced, analysing gas, approving dive plans?
 

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