My LDS an authorized aqualung dealer has said things about the legend series that kind of breaks my trust with them. Is this information accurate?

[Boarderguy]

Challenge the charge on your credit card for services not rendered and then go somewhere else for the training. This is a shitshow and shouldn't be like that.

 

[BigAladdin]

I saw many people say to cancel/dispute. I submitted a partial dispute/charge back in my cc for $500. I thought this was fair since I paid $873 for the course. It includes an E book, 2 pool sessions and 2 check out dives. I did already use the e book which I think is valued at $200. And 1/4 dives. So basically $168 for one pool session gone to waste. But I’m afraid now of what to tell them. I should get the charge back since they never provided the rest of the purchase and no receipt would be necessary as my credit card charge was the receipt. They’d have to forge services rendered/product delivery valued at a certain price to get this amount back which I doubt they’d do. But I’m afraid what they’ll do once they find out. Should I ask to just front me $500 so I can cancel the dispute? I’m afraid I also put myself in a spot where they tell me to F off and somehow the dispute goes against me I don’t get anything from my bank and now no service or refund from them. This experience honestly just about ruined diving for me. I wish I went to a more reputable diving company. But I don’t deserve to be this paranoid from this.

 

[lowwall]

The cc companies tend to side with the customer. I would e-mail them, explain what you did and why and tell them that you are not interested in continuing as their student or customer.

Then find another instructor. Preferably one that uses the same training agency so you don't have to pay for the e-learning again. From the cost, I guess it was PADI?

I hope you continue with a new instructor. What happened to you isn't the norm in diving, the good ones far outnumber the bad.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I saw many people say to cancel/dispute. I submitted a partial dispute/charge back in my cc for $500. I thought this was fair since I paid $873 for the course. It includes an E book, 2 pool sessions and 2 check out dives. I did already use the e book which I think is valued at $200. And 1/4 dives. So basically $168 for one pool session gone to waste. But I’m afraid now of what to tell them. I should get the charge back since they never provided the rest of the purchase and no receipt would be necessary as my credit card charge was the receipt. They’d have to forge services rendered/product delivery valued at a certain price to get this amount back which I doubt they’d do. But I’m afraid what they’ll do once they find out. Should I ask to just front me $500 so I can cancel the dispute? I’m afraid I also put myself in a spot where they tell me to F off and somehow the dispute goes against me I don’t get anything from my bank and now no service or refund from them. This experience honestly just about ruined diving for me. I wish I went to a more reputable diving company. But I don’t deserve to be this paranoid from this.

You was even more kind with them than what I had suggested.
If it was me, I had disputed the whole sum paid, then contacted the shop asking how much was due for the little poor service provided.
Regarding the E-book, this is probably a different culture. Here in Italy almost no one spends money in E-books. We use Bittorrent...
So for me the E-book is not worth more than 5 bucks.
But, as said, different country, different rules.
A completely different thing is E-learning: this means getting access to an on-line platform, providing automated training AND scoring (evaluation).
Of course if you have been registered on such a platform, and you got the access credentials, this is an upfront cost for the shop and you should pay them for this service. Of course if you pay for it they should not cancel your subscription and you should keep the score you have already obtained, which you will use with another instructor / training center.

 

[Nemrod]

Sometimes it is best to just walk away (or even run away). Let water under the bridge find it's way to the sea and you (the OP) find a new way. I hear New York is a pretty big place. I bet there is at least one business there that can provide the training and products you need to begin your own journey to the sea.

Let It Be.



As to AL/Apeks, I would give them a time out for the time being until it is determined how serious the holding company that now holds them 100% is about the SCUBA business they just acquired and what direction they will take.

 

[BigAladdin]

Update. They ended up finding a substitute and rescheduled the pool session today. I finished my last pool session and have my check out dives this Saturday and Sunday. Now I’m in this conundrum where I already requested a charge back. And my bank credited me the money. I’m going to cancel the dispute so the funds release and go back but now I don’t know how to explain this ti the shop. At this point they will see the charge back. I don’t want them to see it on Tuesday and have a reason to not give me my cert. I’m thinking about just calling the bank, canceling the dispute. Then calling the shop and saying something like hey sorry I lost my credit card and charged non murchsdise purchase as dispute and u were in the crossfire. I called the bank and told them to release the funds back ti you though. But when I do this is the question. Do I do it before the check out dives this week. Or do I do it after? I’m thinking about just calling everyone tommorow before my check out dive and just getting it cleared with the shop and canceling the dispute with the bank.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Update. They ended up finding a substitute and rescheduled the pool session today. I finished my last pool session and have my check out dives this Saturday and Sunday. Now I’m in this conundrum where I already requested a charge back. And my bank credited me the money. I’m going to cancel the dispute so the funds release and go back but now I don’t know how to explain this ti the shop. At this point they will see the charge back. I don’t want them to see it on Tuesday and have a reason to not give me my cert. I’m thinking about just calling the bank, canceling the dispute. Then calling the shop and saying something like hey sorry I lost my credit card and charged non murchsdise purchase as dispute and u were in the crossfire. I called the bank and told them to release the funds back ti you though. But when I do this is the question. Do I do it before the check out dives this week. Or do I do it after? I’m thinking about just calling everyone tommorow before my check out dive and just getting it cleared with the shop and canceling the dispute with the bank.

You are the customer, you need to be in charge.
You are giving them money for a service, they owe you.
You could do it one if two ways.
Keep the chargeback and when they see it tell them they will get paid when you finish and have your certification.
Or, call the bank and cancel the charge back. When they see it explain to them that first of all, you will be had by no one, and second you felt completely jerked around and seriously thought you were going to get screwed.
Sometimes brutal honesty is the best thing no matter how awkward it may seem, it’s the truth.
The truth will set you free. Coming up with some story is not the way to handle this.
Some of these schmucks will step all over the customer. They always have some excuse. I gotta ask, is this more of an East Coast thing?
It sounds like they’re just greedy. Stand up for yourself over what you know is right!

 

[pauldw]

Um, wasn't Leisure Pro infamous for being the planet's biggest gray market SCUBA gear seller back before gear became commonly available on the Internet? And reviled for undercutting local dive shops, especially given what some considered an unholy relationship with gear manufacturers? That doesn't have anything to do with anyone's religion, it has to do with historical facts. Which I'm only vaguely familiar with. Would someone who doesn't have an urgent need to do virtue signalling, and who knows something about this period of SCUBA history, kindly fill in some details?

P.S.: MBS is more commonly known in the broader society as standing for Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the evil murderer who pretty much rules Saudi Arabia.

 

[Joneill]

Um, wasn't Leisure Pro infamous for being the planet's biggest gray market SCUBA gear seller back before gear became commonly available on the Internet? And reviled for undercutting local dive shops, especially given what some considered an unholy relationship with gear manufacturers? That doesn't have anything to do with anyone's religion, it has to do with historical facts. Which I'm only vaguely familiar with. Would someone who doesn't have an urgent need to do virtue signalling, and who knows something about this period of SCUBA history, kindly fill in some details?

P.S.: MBS is more commonly known in the broader society as standing for Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the evil murderer who pretty much rules Saudi Arabia.

Maybe try actually reading several of the response posts right on the first page of this thread that speak to this. While they did sell grey market items way back when, they were clearly marked as such so there was full transparency for customers who chose not to pay the higher price for non-grey market goods.

And… it’s certainly true that this has nothing to do with religion as you stated! So… why did the LDS feel the need to tell the OP that scuba.com was owned by Hasidic Jews? Seems pretty obvious anti-Semitic bigotry to me…

 

[Litefoot]

I’m pretty new here, so I don’t know the past history of LP. I have recently built a full single tank diving kit using a lot of vendors including scuba.com, Divers Supply, DGX, Deep6, Subgravity and Mako. All of them have been excellent to deal with. But when scuba.com sided with me instead of the shipping company when I had an expensive item lost, they earned my loyalty. And they continue to not disappoint.