FAKE NEWS!!--PADI to be sold once again

[wheeledgoat]

Well, at least they've got their eye on the future with new courses and classes being created.

 

[Birddog1911]

John, thank you.

While I still hope to hear from Birddog1911 (since he made the specific comment), regarding what would constitute an action that would ''cut the throats of their dive shops in the past year', your comment makes sense. If PADI shops in Colorado derive a significant portion of their income from travel, and their affiliated agency creates a program that is perceived to be in direct competition with those shops, I can readily understand that such an action would be negatively viewed.

So, are there any data to characterize exactly how much of an impact PADI has had on local shop travel business? That is not my field of expertise, and I haven't paid much attention to travel issues, as I always go through local shops, or book travel directly myself.

BoulderJohn summed up my points perfectly. Sorry, been busy with work, so hadn't gotten back to the site. I don't have the numbers, but I know that it was hurting the shop where I teach. I know that the 3 largest shops in CO, and I believe even more, have left PADI due directly to travel, and to a smaller extent, something to do with direct sales of training to students. I'm not involved in that part, I just know what people have said at our shop.

 

[Birddog1911]

What he wrote is accurate in that several dive shops in Colorado have already left PADI, and others are thinking about it. It is a very sudden development. The specific problem is dive travel.

With PADI now highly engaged in the travel business, these shops believe that PADI is in direct competition with them, and they do not like it one bit. It is hard to understand how switching to another agency will change that, but that is what is going on.

I can tell you that the owner of our shop said one of the biggest reasons we became affiliated with SSI is because they are not involved in travel; they leave that to the shop.

 

[boulderjohn]

I got most of my information from a shop that is considering making the switch for the reason I cited. I assume they have thought it out, but it is hard for me to understand how switching your agency will improve the situation. If PADI travel is creating competition for dive travel, then that competition will exist regardless of your shop's affiliation. As someone from that shop said, their customer base for travel likes the personal touch they provide, and he does not think they will lose many of those customers.

I recently got an explanation of their thinking on this issue. When they send in the certification information for a new diver, they are sending in the contact information for that individual. That individual is a potential travel customer for them, but that individual will be getting direct travel solicitations from PADI now that they are in the travel business. If they instead certify their potential travel customers through a different agency, then PADI will not have that contact information and will not be sending dive travel solicitations.

 

[Edward3c]

I recently got an explanation of their thinking on this issue. When they send in the certification information for a new diver, they are sending in the contact information for that individual. That individual is a potential travel customer for them, but that individual will be getting direct travel solicitations from PADI now that they are in the travel business. If they instead certify their potential travel customers through a different agency, then PADI will not have that contact information and will not be sending dive travel solicitations.

If PADI do that in Europe they will be in breach of the GDPR and be liable for a fine of €20M or 4% of global turnover (whichever is the greater).

 

[OWDiver3]

To quote from the article:

"In a bit more than a year, Providence approximately doubled the value of their investment in PADI by doing very little more than increasing prices while cutting costs (with lots of layoffs)."

"PADI has continued to increase the price of their products and services, while continuing to cut costs. If you are a client of PADI (in other words, if you are a PADI dive center or PADI dive professional), you know it’s hard to get any kind of support from PADI nowadays. To start with, there’s almost nobody left to talk to in that building in Rancho Santa Margarita, California!"

Exemplifies the term "Put Another Dollar In" - prices go up and service goes down. Now I understand why one of my favorite dive centres switched from PADI to SSI.

Divegoose

It seems pretty typical for these buyouts and mergers to look first toward maximizing profitability before going back to a customer-oriented business model. Hopefully it doesn't disrupt the market too much. Seems like time will tell how this one unfolds...

 

[Rhone Man]

If PADI do that in Europe they will be in breach of the GDPR and be liable for a fine of €20M or 4% of global turnover (whichever is the greater).

I am not sure that is correct. This is not the thread to discuss GDPR (which is hugely boring) but PADI are allowed to communicate with people if they have a "legitimate interest" in those people, and customers are generally treated as being subject of a legitimate interest for businesses marketing related products and services.

GDPR is far from being the anti-spam device that it is sometimes marketed as.

 

[Scottsfire]

It may not be the case, yet, but the possibility exists to become reality. PADI cut the throats of their dive shops in the last year, and many are pissed off enough to leave. SSI has courted our shop for years, and we just officially became a SSI dive center, and have left PADI. Like I said in the other thread, I know that at least the biggest 3, and I believe 3 others in the state, have left PADI.

You must be with a certain shop located at Bellview Ave. I heard one of my instructors whispering about this at the aquarium.

 

[Scottsfire]

What he wrote is accurate in that several dive shops in Colorado have already left PADI, and others are thinking about it. It is a very sudden development. The specific problem is dive travel.

Here is Colorado, we have nearly no local pleasure diving--the overwhelming majority of local diving is solely for the purpose of certification. Despite the lack of local diving, DEMA statistics have for decades identified Colorado as having among the most divers per capita in the nation. We have a wealth of of local dive shops. Coloradans do their diving on vacation--our unofficial state motto is that we are just a plane flight away from great scuba.

That means that dive travel is a HUGE part of those many dive businesses. Go into the dive shop with which I do most of my work and you will usually see 4 people hard at work at their desks in the dive travel section of the shop. Most of the shop's income--by far--comes from that.

With PADI now highly engaged in the travel business, these shops believe that PADI is in direct competition with them, and they do not like it one bit. It is hard to understand how switching to another agency will change that, but that is what is going on.

After getting my OW cert (last year-rookie) I got back home and went to every dive shop in the Denver area. Unfortunately, I went threw all the bad ones first and was about to give up until I looked at my wife and said "Just one more shop". 15 minutes later I walked into what I thought was the mecca of the dive shop world.....A1 Scuba and Travel. It truly was/is one stop shopping with travel, pool, employees who are not snobby, and exciting destination photos all over the walls. I decided it was "MY" home shop! If keeping mecca alive means leaving Padi....so be it! SSI here we come

 

[Scottsfire]

So, let me ask this question...because this thread has me thinking. Is Padi going to start buying up online cloud based log book sites? If Padi is allegedly going to use Padi certification registrations as new travel solicitation opportunities, could they already be buying up cloud based online log book sites? Back in July I joined logbook.diviac.com and found it free access super cool. I cruised around the site and thought it was really innovative....so I joined, payed the $15 annual fee. Last month I started noticing that almost all of its advertising and pathways some how lead me to Padi Travel. The support became less responsive and it was as if someone turned off the lights and left the room! The site seems to just be dead right now. What do you guys think?