Suggestion New Forum for Agency Bashing?

[Ann Marie]

I'd love to see a new forum for Agency Bashing. I've noticed recently that when new divers ask questions about classes and training that the threads turn into an agency bashing free for all. Heck, even threads that have nothing to do with classes and training have turned into 'my agency is better than yours' forums.

I'm not saying that there aren't changes that could be made in ALL agencies that could benefit divers but I'm just so tired of reading all the same arguments made by all the same people when threads are hijacked.

 

[The Chairman]

how do you give yourself a vacation?

Well,

I went to the Bahamas a couple of weeks ago. I suppose I could go back again.

 

[The Chairman]

Bashing is a tough one. I think that it requires unfair accusations. But... what's fair can be a matter of opinion. So much for that definition.

Again, we are looking for obsessive behavior. There are a couple/three who are getting close to crossing this line.

Of course during any discussion, a person may claim agency bashing merely because they disagree with the opinions/views of the other person. Rather than pollute the discussion with additional vitriol and name calling, it is prudent to merely report the post and let a third, unbiased party determine if that line has been crossed. Unless you report it, it could easily pass under the radar undetected. We are trying a new strategy to deal with the reported posts we get. I don't want to make any promises about it's efficacy, but it's looking rather promising at the moment.

 

[freediver]

We are trying a new strategy to deal with the reported posts we get. I don't want to make any promises about it's efficacy, but it's looking rather promising at the moment.

Does it involve the use of a cattle prod!

 

[drbill]

When one raises criticism about the standards and practices of one agency over another, doing so in a rational way often makes the difference between bashing and just criticizing. I have seen (and probably indulged in myself) some pretty emotional outbursts against an agency that, while perhaps being justified as criticism, often make people react defensively and others dismiss the criticism.

Personally I dislike the way the industry (largely as a whole) has watered down instructional standards and content to open SCUBA up to more people, including a number who (IMHO) should not be diving in the first place. Classes decades ago were more comprehensive, longer and demanding than they are now. Today, to achieve the same level of knowledge as conveyed in some of those early classes, you have to combine BOW, AOW and part of Rescue Diver (at the cost of three different certifications).

I don't remember what my OW certification from LA County cost back in the 60's. In today's dollars it may have been much more than what is currently charged. However, it did prepare me to be a real diver.

Where classes are watered down into several certification levels, one has to question the wisdom of such an approach. Is it to allow more people to gain access to SCUBA.. or to generate more revenue for the agency, its shops and instrictors (we all know they don't earn enough under the existing system as it is).

Would be interesting to determine the cost of my OW cert in current dollars and see how that compares to the cost of current OW, AOW and Rescue Diver certification classes. It actually might come fairly close.

 

[Walter]

What IS agency bashing, exactly?

If I mention "PADI" in a post, it's bashing.

Whooops, did it again, I apologize.

 

[Charlie99]

I nominate Walter as the "Local Guide" for the Agency Bashing sub-forum.

 

[Ann Marie]

If I mention "PADI" in a post, it's bashing.

Whooops, did it again, I apologize.

OOOHHHH, Walter said a four-letter word!!!

:10:

 

[El Orans]

Newsflash: there will be no such thing as an Agency Bashing forum.

May I suggest Whine and Cheeze?

 

[Walter]

Ann Marie, at least I apologized and I really am trying to resist my impulses.

We know, Laurens. Ann Marie was proposing making one, although I suspect it was a tad tongue in cheek. If there was such a forum, she wouldn't make the proposal.

 

[El Orans]

Ann Marie was proposing making one, although I suspect it was a tad tongue in cheek.

Probably, I try to keep Site Support on topic though.

There is enough MOFia elsewhere on SB.