Advanced Open Water Disappointment

[Corby B]

Please name the dive shop/instructor and send your report to PADI training. If people don't speak up, this kind of crap will continue. You got screwed; don't help others get the same treatment.

I should, I know and admit. I feel like I carry a lot of the blame for letting it happen.

 

[tursiops]

I should, I know and admit. I feel like I carry a lot of the blame for letting it happen.

You can let it all be on you if you'd like, but that is unrealistic. You were duped and scammed. Name the names and save someone else.

 

[tarponchik]

Please name the dive shop/instructor and send your report to PADI training. If people don't speak up, this kind of crap will continue. You got screwed; don't help others get the same treatment.

And what did you expect, a bootcamp? If AOW is an artificial certification where students get pseudo-skills I'd say it is reasonable simply to pay PADI the AOW tax and get the card. Yes, people should speak up, but not not in the way you'd like. People should tell PADI they need one kind of training to get one kind of C-card w/o any artificially set depth limits.

 

[tursiops]

If AOW is an artificial certification where students get pseudo-skills

I reject this "if" statement. AOW is a perfectly valid course, if taught to standards by a decent instructor.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

To what extent does PADI care? (Owned by Mandarinfish Holdings of China.)
maybe they do but where is the line that they will actually take some action? Obviously if someone dies, but we’re talking about slightly substandard AOW classes.
What happens to the instructor that gets turned in?
Does the shop take action against the instructor? what do they do, fire him? Does PADI corporate take action? How do they deal with it? Tie them up and flog them? Does the dive shop lose their PADI affiliation? Is there any sort if lawsuit or fine?
Or is it just a reprimand in the form of an email or phone call and maybe not even that?
I’m wondering how far PADI will go to before they either lose too many instructors, shops, or marketshare = money.
Instructors are getting harder and harder to come by and the pay sucks. How hard is it to piss off your instructing staff and have them say “screw you” and leave. Where is the instructors personal tolerance line when they are being pushed for slave wages? I find it hard to believe that they will come down on such a fragile industry with full force. Kind if like slamming your own foot with a sledge hammer because you didn’t like the way one of your toes wiggled.
When they start losing customers maybe, but they already got your money. How is a customer supposed to find “super instructor” at a vacation destination when they are there for one week?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

To what extent does PADI care? (Owned by Mandarinfish Holdings of China.)
maybe they do but where is the line that they will actually take some action? Obviously if someone dies, but we’re talking about slightly substandard AOW classes.
What happens to the instructor that gets turned in?
Does the shop take action against the instructor? what do they do, fire him? Does PADI corporate take action? How do they deal with it? Tie them up and flog them? Does the dive shop lose their PADI affiliation? Is there any sort if lawsuit or fine?
Or is it just a reprimand in the form of an email or phone call and maybe not even that?
I’m wondering how far PADI will go to before they either lose too many instructors, shops, or marketshare = money.
Instructors are getting harder and harder to come by and the pay sucks. How hard is it to piss off your instructing staff and have them say “screw you” and leave. Where is the instructors personal tolerance line when they are being pushed for slave wages? I find it hard to believe that they will come down on such a fragile industry with full force. Kind if like slamming your own foot with a sledge hammer because you didn’t like the way one of your toes wiggled.
When they start losing customers maybe, but they already got your money. How is a customer supposed to find “super instructor” at a vacation destination when they are there for one week?

In general, and I'm not just talking about PADI, but agencies don't care as long as a dive center or instructor is a source of revenue. As long as you don't do something stupid to kill/harm someone to cause a lawsuit where the agency (not just PADI) gets pulled into court, you might get a talking to. This is NOT unique to PADI. I've seen it with other agencies where friends of mine have reported issues with their place of employment (after their time was up there to avoid backlash).

Nothing was ever done. Again, this is not limited to PADI.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

I should, I know and admit. I feel like I carry a lot of the blame for letting it happen.

I felt the same way for a while. But we were/are newbs and didn't know what to do. Now we know. It's so prevalent in the organization. turisops almost has me talked into to filing a report, if for nothing else to know at least my side of the street is clean.

 

[CT-Rich]

I have read only a sliver of these this thread. It has grown far faster than I care to read.

I wi ll say this, poor instruction for the amounts they charge for classes in not acceptable. But the card is not the end of the journey. It is a license to learn. I took my classes a long time ago and I'm not sure what and how I learned would pass muster today. The diver you are and what you become is the responsibility of the diver, not the instructor. A good instructor makes the path easier and clearer, but how you follow it is up to you. A competent dive buddy will probably be more valuable than a competent instructor. Four hours in a class, four hours in a pool and five certification dives (I have no idea what classes are like these days) is nothing compared with 25 dives.

I feel bad if you spent good money and weren't satisfied, but you have AOW and can get on charters and can gain experience. Even if you had the best instructor in the world, you need to choose dives with in your skill set. For the cost of retaking the class you could log ten dives and learn a lot more.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

I'd say it is reasonable simply to pay PADI the AOW tax and get the card.

This is all I did. Paid for the card, got the cert without a single dive.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

I have read only a sliver of these this thread. It has grown far faster than I care to read.

I wi ll say this, poor instruction for the amounts they charge for classes in not acceptable. But the card is not the end of the journey. It is a license to learn. I took my classes a long time ago and I'm not sure what and how I learned would pass muster today. The diver you are and what you become is the responsibility of the diver, not the instructor. A good instructor makes the path easier and clearer, but how you follow it is up to you. A competent dive buddy will probably be more valuable than a competent instructor. Four hours in a class, four hours in a pool and five certification dives (I have no idea what classes are like these days) is nothing compared with 25 dives.

I feel bad if you spent good money and weren't satisfied, but you have AOW and can get on charters and can gain experience. Even if you had the best instructor in the world, you need to choose dives with in your skill set. For the cost of retaking the class you could log ten dives and learn a lot more.

A lot of the discussion is PADI selling cards instead of giving instruction. But that is their business model, selling next cert. I agree with you wholeheartedly on just diving to learn. I learned to paddle class V+ whitewater and rock climb without a single bit of official training and there are no certifications in those industries. I just paddled a lot and with people better than me. The whole cert card industry is a joke.