Is My Scuba Instructor a Former Car Salesman?

[tbeck3579]

There is no gun to your head. Once trust is compromised, you'll be second guessing everything. There are some great, non-greedy instructors in your area. I gave you one name, but there are others.

Thank you for the response. I had thought about that, and gave it more thought after reading your post because it appears to be my only other choice at this point. I had to pre-pay for the course and I don't think they will give me a refund. If I go down that road, or ask for a different instructor, there is a strong likelihood I'll make a bad situation worse; no matter how polite or PC I may try to be. People who work together tend to grow close, and whiny students bring them closer I'll get it done and move forward. There are worse things in this world. I have a great old historic hotel on the beach reserved, and I'm looking forward to eating great food on a world class beach with beach front service. I'm meeting my friends for happy hour; life doesn't get much better than this. I'm blessed I have a couple dollars to do nice things for myself every now and again. The confined dives are a short part of next weeks "fun" Who knows, he may finally realize that making a little less on commission is better than making none at all and we can work it out; that's up to my him. I know I'm overly optimistic, hehehe.

 

[tbeck3579]

I often pay my LDS somewhat more than I would if I bought the equipment online. The reason for this is because I know my LDS will assist/train me on the gear as needed & will help me if there's a problem with the gear. They go out of the way for me in a number of other ways because I've built a solid relationship with them. I also know that the gear is new & not used/damaged trying to be passed off as new. (I've seen a number of people get into scary trouble on dives when they bought some gear online from a well known online retailer which turned out to be damaged.)

So I do the opposite: I buy my life saving equipment from my trusted LDS (e.g., regs, bcd, computer, etc.) and I buy the smaller stuff online that won't hurt me if there's a problem (e.g., wet suit, fins, etc.). The key word here is "trusted". If the LDS is just money-grubbing, I'd go elsewhere.

I agree wholeheartedly re supporting my local businesses because it does have some value to me as well. I wasn't expecting bargain basement, but I would hope I would get the the SAME price the dive shop is offering at this weekends show -- that's what he said, but a person doesn't always keep their word. You would think I would get used to that, but I can't seem to wash the "sucker" tatoo off of my forward

 

[The Chairman]

Thank you for the response.

I'm not trying to beat you up. Scuba diving is supposed to be fun. For the most part, it is fun. Don't let anyone steal the fun from you. My second rule of diving is, in fact, the rule of fun: You can call a dive at anytime, for any reason, with no questions asked and no repercussions. You can call a class too!!!

You've done the online class which is worth a $100 or so. If you really lose confidence in this guy, and I'm not trying to push you to do that, then he should refund all but the online portion of the class should you fire him. At least, that would be the ethical thing to do.

 

[NYCNaiad]

I agree wholeheartedly re supporting my local businesses because it does have some value to me as well. I wasn't expecting bargain basement, but I would hope I would get the the SAME price the dive shop is offering at this weekends show -- that's what he said, but a person doesn't always keep their word. You would think I would get used to that, but I can't seem to wash the "sucker" tatoo off of my forward

Yep. I totally agree! (I was more so responding to Kodad on his point hence the reply to him.)

And the Chairman has a good point. @The Chairman, Any idea how referral requests are handled midstream? I've known a bunch of people to do referrals for the OW portion, but only when it was set up this way originally. A referral might be a good compromise.

 

[tbeck3579]

Ive bought most of my expensive gear from local shops and most of my small parts and pieces on line (amazon mostly). Ive only had 1 dive shop go full retard on me, and I simply wont go back in there, ever.

Short version... my original LDS went out of business. I went to one closest to my house to visit. They seemed nice enough. A few months later I took my regs in to get them serviced (annual) and the owner told me that me that my regulators needed to be replaced because of a known design issue that he personally discovered. He went on to state that he had been in close contact with Sherwood and that there was no fix for it short of a full factory rebuild and that it could take several months with no guarantee of actual repair. (note that this shop is an authorized Sherwood dealer and repair shop. Now, I dont know any better and likely would have taken him at his word but then he said "With the computers you bought at your original shop you wont be able to get service either, so plan on replacing those. Suunto Zoop computers were what he was telling me to replace...

At that point I could clearly smell the ********. I took my regs and left, got home and reached out to Sherwood to talk to them about the regulators. I received a call from the local Sherwood rep who told me he could put me with a shop that would service my regs and address the issue ASAP. (the issue... one of the 1st stages was testing at 175psi)

I wonder how many new divers this guy has screwed over the years.

I'm guessing new divers and old divers alike. I'm glad you told the manufacturer. I'm always surprised when people fall for something that will cost them a lot of money without checking it out first. While I was caring for mom before she passed away I couldn't believe the scams -- best one -- my 85 y.o. parent had a student loan I know there are times when my life is so busy to the point it is overwhelming and I agree to something that seems fishy because I don't have the time or energy; so I do understand why it happens to people who are typically "on it".

 

[The Chairman]

t. @The Chairman, Any idea how referral requests are handled midstream?

I think she's gone the PADI route so she should ask PADI people. I really don't know. I would be glad to work with her down here in the Keys, but she's on the left coast.

 

[tbeck3579]

I'm not trying to beat you up. Scuba diving is supposed to be fun. For the most part, it is fun. Don't let anyone steal the fun from you. My second rule of diving is, in fact, the rule of fun: You can call a dive at anytime, for any reason, with no questions asked and no repercussions. You can call a class too!!!

You've done the online class which is worth a $100 or so. If you really lose confidence in this guy, and I'm not trying to push you to do that, then he should refund all but the online portion of the class should you fire him. At least, that would be the ethical thing to do.

I'm guessing the business principle of "ethics" may be unfamiliar territory This is is supposed to be my fun "mental health" getaway. Like everything in life I there are trade-offs and I have to weigh the decisions and the consequences. I'm guessing this dive shop is hard core on the bottom line profit. At the bottom of the quote was "no refunds, store credit only". I asked about the large purchase I was going to make and, yep, store credit only. As I said, my blood pressure went up. I will ask but due to the number of shops they own they will offer "store credit". I can probably choose another instructor in a different shop with the same company. I was looking forward to doing weekly, or at minimum bi-monthly boat dives with this company. My plan was (I told God my plans and he laughed ) taking a half day and heading to the beach to boat dive. I will overcome the hurdles -- nothing is perfect.

 

[KevinNM]

If you are in Long Beach/LA area and looking for other options, LA Scuba is run by Steven Millington, who is a very good instructor. L.A. SCUBA DIVING - LA's Official SCUBA Diving Facility in Los Angeles : SCUBA Classes | Training | Certification - Small Groups, Expert Instruction. Professional Scuba Instruction - Los Angeles, Beverly Hills & Southern California CA
I've only trained with Steve on the tech side, so it might work differently on the PADI side, but as far as I know they are not associated with a shop so they don't have the whole hard sell on gear. (That's also why they don't have a street address on their site).

 

[tbeck3579]

I received an email with a price drop -- is that the "hold on, sit down, let me talk to mgr" part?

I cooled off and let my blood pressure return to baseline. I sent an email explaining I should hold off buying gear and asked about transferring OW dives. I was "gentle" in explaining my interest in diving Catalina and the Channel Islands. I also explained I didn't want store credit. Private PADI classes weren't cheap so I don't want store credit. If I had paid for regular classes with a large number of students I would write off my loss and move on. I will see what the response is tomorrow.

 

[tilikum]

Trying to salvage a sale after realizing he isn't going to get to take you for a ride.