Diver Training Rip-off - Divers Beware!

[L. Smallman]

Hello fellow divers,

After a show of support from the top dogs here, mainly King_Neptune, I decided to call AKA Divers dive shop just one more time to plead for our permanent TDI nitrox C cards. The woman at the shop who answered the phone agreed only to take a message from me to the manager. When I gave her my name and number I also asked her to take down specifically what I was calling about. When I told her it was about permanent TDI cards, she blurted out our cards were right there at her counter!!

I asked her to check again that the cards were actually TDI since AKA Divers had already sent me temporary PADI cards. Again she insisted they were TDI cards. My buddy went right over to the shop and picked up the cards. The cards were indeed TDI permanent C cards for nitrox. This is very good. However, my buddy was given two sets of C Cards for each of us. One set of cards were dated 11/16/00 and the other were dated 3/22/01. The cards also had different ID numbers. This is not so good.

No explanation was offered as to why the cards were just sitting on a counter at the shop and why the cards were not mailed to me as the owner had said they would be. No explanation was offered as to why we were not notified that the cards were there so we could come by and pick them up, even though I had left several e-mail addresses and several telephone numbers where we could be reached. This is also not so good. We are very happy this has been resolved, but of course not very happy about how it was resolved. Keep in mind we took the course in 11/00 and I had tried many, many, many times since then to get this problem resolved.

So, yes we can now dive happily on nitrox. Halleluah, but should it have really been this hard?? I would not ever do business with this shop again and still cannot in good faith recommend this shop to anyone.

As controversial as this issue has been I do not know if I would ever post a specific complaint against a particular shop again. Although, I don't think I was in the wrong in any way I certainly did not want to offend any readers of this message board.

Later I found out that King_Neptune had placed a call to make a simple inquiry and after a 10-15 minute conversation wouldn't you know, King_Neptune convinced them it was in their best interest to turn over the cards if they did indeed have them and if all the requirements were truely met. I was told that he, in a professional manner, explained the downside of what such nonsence could cost them in front of such a public forum.

At the risk of repeating myself, thanks so much to all for the interest, support and advice.


Happy Diving,

Laura

 

[BetterLateThannever]

Hey Small,

Don't you dare be intimidated by a few negative responses. This, IMO is exactly the place to raise issues such as yours. I for one, appreciate being given a heads up about an operation such as the one you did business with.

Beyond that I believe it is my responsibility to weigh the validity of the complaint against other sources before just writing a business off.

I don't quite understand the position of some who seem to think it is the injured party's responsibility to present the LDS' case for them. Strange concept. Seems to me part of the problem is that we hold businesses to such low standards, we get what we ask for. Kind of like with our politicians....but that's another argument.


Anyway, glad you finally got the cards. KN, you kicked some major scuba-booty!

Have fun.

Jimbo

 

[L. Smallman]

Hi Jimbo,

Yes, yes we have our nitrox C cards and will be off to Grand Cayman this month! We are looking forward to adding the nitrox dimension to our dives. I will be interested to see if it cuts down on diver fatigue as we plan to do a lot of shore diving at the Seaview Hotel reef and at Eden Rock. Next we will be pursuing advanced certification from a local diving professional. Don't know who that will be right now, but I bet everyone can guess who it won't be.

Toodles,
Laura

 

[egg007]

yes you are frustrated but contact the agencies first. Report the matter to them often they will deal with you directly (PADI specifically says to contact them if Certs not received). If they cant help then "bad talk the dive operator"

 

[L. Smallman]

Hi egg007,

I think you are giving some good advice. However, I know this a long thread and I'm not sure if you read all of it. I did contact the agencies and the dive shop numerous times. I would have much rathered this was done right by the dive shop so I would not have to think or say anything negative about them. I think I did everything except stand on my head and whistle Dixie (and I would have done that too if I thought it would help) but, I never did get any real explanation of why this was not handled in a timely manner.

Again, I believe your advice to others in this situation is sound.

Thanks,
Laura

 

[BetterLateThannever]

Hey Laura,

You said you were going to let us know if the Nitrox made a difference when you got back from Grand Caymans.

Well? Tell us.

 

[The Chairman]

Hey all,

I completely agree with KN that this is the right place to bring up this sorta crap! If I were at an impasse, I too would find a way to ratchet up the pressure on the dive shop. If this took the form of negative advertisement, then so be it!

I would rather hear "unsubstantiated" problems, BEFORE I go to that shop! I think we even heard a counterpoint about the same shop during the discussion. Either way, its good for a shop to know that there are some un-happy divers out there, and that they can be vocal about what is ticking them off.

The great thing about this board, as opposed to List-Serve, is that I can come when I want and look at what I want. I don't HAVE to sift through a bunch of crappola that does not interest me.

If anyone finds her gripes offensive or inappropriate, then just ignore it and the thread will either die from inactivity or carry on without you. Either way, NO ONE will force you to read it. Unless there was a memo I missed from KN...

:tease:

One other thing should be noticed here as well... You guys, as do we all, owe KN a bit of thanks for the time, effort, money, etc that he spends to bring us all such a great resource!

 

[Zagnut]

..until today and I see from the dates that this thing started some time ago and has since been resolved, but I wanted to put my 2 cents in. The way this thread reads, L. Smallman posted first as Texasdiver. It seems to me that Rick Murchison just misunderstood. It sounds to me that L.Smallman, after reading the entire post, was indeed wronged by AKA Divers.

I don't think Rick was taking a jab at you, and by checking his profile, you get all kinds of info on him that could feasibly be used to check his authenticity. His profile, along with his tenure on the board, would lead one to believe that he is in no way connected to Mr. Biggs.

The profile on Texasdiver was totally anonymous. That is why Rick did not side with Texasdiver. I believe this IS the forum to air these types of grievances, although we should get a little background on both sides and not just an anonymous slam against someone else. I to agree that I thought King_Neptune handled things most professionally and it looks like everyone comes out on top. Even the dive shop learned a thing or two and will think twice before pulling that again.

With that said, L.Smallman, I'm glad things finally got worked out for you and thanks for the heads up on AKA Divers. I don't think I will be going into Mr. Biggs shop anytime soon.

 

[Se7en]

Hi Laura

Back when I started diving, it was with a couple of friends chasing crays and abalone. One of the guys I was diving with completed his instructors course and got a job at a LDS - and so decided that I should become 'legal'.

I sat in on a course with another instructor, and completed all the material - however due to some paperwork laxness (probably on my part) my papers didn't get sent in for over six months. (As I was diving anyway, and no-one ever asked for a C-card, it wasn't of great urgency).

Eventually, a new set of paperwork was done, signed off by yet another instructor (who I had not met at that time) and sent off. I recieved a C-card saying I was certified by someone I never met, some six months after doing the course...

Shortly after this, the origional paperwork was found, and was nearly sent off with another batch - except someone at the LDS spotted my name and held onto it.

Could something like this have happened? Sure, but it sounds as if there was more monkey business going on and funny how after a call from the "powers that be" everything cleared up.


ciao

Mike

 

[Mario S Caner]

Having two sets of paperwork can only mean one thing to me. That one set was gun-decked, meaning it's been "fudged" which is not a good thing. The instructor whose name is on your card is legally liable for a period of seven years for your diving ability or lack thereof. There isn't a chance in hell that I'd sign my name to anyones card that I wasn't 100% sure on. Let alone someone I've never even seen!