Certification problems

[Whitrzac]

Yeah, the op is hiding something.
There's plenty or scummy shops out there, but the incomplete information, refusal to answer relevant questions and cropped screenshots means even they know they're in the wrong.

You'll get no sympathy from us.

 

[dmaziuk]

It also isn't a PADI charge. PADI does charge the instructor for the certification process; I don't know what it is there, but it cannot possibly be anywhere near that. I always included the certification charge in the course fee. At that price, the shop is taking a significant markup.

I think we paid something in that ballpark (in USD) for the 4 dives and the cards. The other option was a referral for much less. The "main" fee was classroom and pool dives, and it was all made clear to all involved when we signed up for the course.

 

[Centrals]

The name of the operator is still a state secret?

 

[runsongas]

wonder if this is due to a lost in translation error. that the original text was meant to mean that the price of materials and cert fee was not included. When I got certified, the materials were not part of the quoted/listed/advertised cost for the OW class either and that seems to be fairly commonplace practice.

 

[Rose Robinson]

D

Hi All,

I’ve just returned from a dive trip, the purpose of which was to allow my son to qualify. We attended a PADI centre.

At the end of the course we were told that we needed to pay an additional €140 for the certification, having been told at the start that certification was included in the price.

I refused to pay, expecting to be able to sort it directly with PADI.

I contacted the PADI regional office and they have said that I have to sort it with the centre.

I feel like I am being held to ransom.

Any one have any ideas (other than just paying up)?

Thanks.

Dear Sir,

Sounds like you've already paid the 140 Euro in frustration.

If training documentation has not been forwarded to PADI, it won't be long before the dive Operator loses all your son's training records.

You may want to consider paying the 140 Euros and chalk it up as ''Lesson Learned''.

It's too bad, it is a very disappointing experience, but if PADI won't help you, you have little other choice left

In my experience, vacation destination PADI dive training centers will furnish the student a temporary Certification card, a Graduation Certificate and a complete record of the students performance of each of the diver training modules. My life partner who passed away in 2019, was trained at a PADI Dive Center in the DR. I still have all of her original training records as mentioned above.

Best of luck in resolving your issues.

Regards,

Rose

 

[JonnieB]

Er… no.

I don’t really understand why people feel the need to try to”pick apart” the information that I have provided, or expressing options about whether I have got “got what I paid for”, or whether I am prioritising money over my son, rather than simply accepting the information I have provided and answering the question that I have asked.

Put bluntly, if you don’t have anything useful to say, don’t say anything.

I'm not sure if you have answered this before - is your son in fact not a PADI certified OW diver? He is not listed as such on PADI's online database. It seems like the €40 is for a hard copy of the OW workbook and I guess €110 for certification...I'm wondering if this is for a physical PADI card or actually to complete the certification paperwork by the dive center. The physical card is a nice souvenir for new divers but costs only about €50. I think the "name and shame" on social media is the best option if you get nowhere with direct communication. I don't think PADI will be much help as it works for dive centers not students (even if a center is bismerching their brand).

 

[rick00001967]

being a text or not, it at least is something in writing and to me, clearly shows there is some hanky panky going on.
the bottom line is, a padi customer is being denied their certification. padi should be concerned with this.
now padi may not have any final say in how the dive shop decides to deal with financial disputes, bit they certainly should be concerned when a shop refuses to issue a cert.
i would have thought they would at least make an attempt to help sort things out.
i am confident ssi would.

 

[JonnieB]

being a text or not, it at least is something in writing and to me, clearly shows there is some hanky panky going on.
the bottom line is, a padi customer is being denied their certification. padi should be concerned with this.
now padi may not have any final say in how the dive shop decides to deal with financial disputes, bit they certainly should be concerned when a shop refuses to issue a cert.
i would have thought they would at least make an attempt to help sort things out.
i am confident ssi would.

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.

 

[Centrals]

deleted.

 

[boulderjohn]

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.

They did not do eLearning, so they had no contact with PADI whatsoever.

Also - my son did not do e-learning. It was all books/videos. Nothing was completed online (other than him setting up a PADI account to log divers). Everything was done using paper forms. We are therefore dependent upon the centre submitting those forms to PADI.