PADI E-Cards

[The Chairman]

I think this is a legitimate criticism and not a bash. No agency is perfect, and we often need to remind them that they need to do better. I carry the highest card I have. However, my students get an e-card automatically and have to pay extra for a real card. That's how NASE works. It's also not a perfect agency. Criticism is not the same as mindless bashing.

 

[Schwob]

I think this is a legitimate criticism and not a bash. No agency is perfect, and we often need to remind them that they need to do better. I carry the highest card I have. However, my students get an e-card automatically and have to pay extra for a real card. That's how NASE works. It's also not a perfect agency. Criticism is not the same as mindless bashing.

Wondering as I really don't know. Not "needeling".
So, how might e-cert. only (if the diver chose not to have a hard copy) "typically" work in real live?
Might there be an issue in showing up to an operation with out a at the time working Internet connection?
(Be it just to get a fill or to get on a boat or to do another class...)
Assuming there is a working internet connection, can then any dive center (including any not NASE dive center) verify there is a card?
Or?
Or is it just really advisable to get and have a physical card?

 

[Marie13]

Wondering as I really don't know. Not "needeling".
So, how might e-cert. only (if the diver chose not to have a hard copy) "typically" work in real live?
Might there be an issue in showing up to an operation with out a at the time working Internet connection?
(Be it just to get a fill or to get on a boat or to do another class...)
Assuming there is a working internet connection, can then any dive center (including any not NASE dive center) verify there is a card?
Or?
Or is it just really advisable to get and have a physical card?

Just keep a copy of e-card on your phone as a picture. No working internet connection needed, then. I've got my physical SDI cards, but I still have my main cards (OW and nitrox) on my phone as pics.

 

[luscioman]

That's why taking pictures of the physical card seems to be the best workaround in place of a e-card.

This is what I did as well.

 

[richmonddiver]

Wondering as I really don't know. Not "needeling".
So, how might e-cert. only (if the diver chose not to have a hard copy) "typically" work in real live?
Might there be an issue in showing up to an operation with out a at the time working Internet connection?
(Be it just to get a fill or to get on a boat or to do another class...)
Assuming there is a working internet connection, can then any dive center (including any not NASE dive center) verify there is a card?
Or?
Or is it just really advisable to get and have a physical card?

I just put my iphone into airplane mode and was able to view my ecard in the PADI app. It seems like it downloads to the device. If you have your phone charged, you have your card. Its probably just as easy to counterfeit a physical card as it is to counterfeit an electronic one.

The reason I have an ecard is because I went on vacation and forgot my card. The dive op (NAUI affiliated) recommended that I get the ecard, so it seems dive ops consider it vaIid.

I think getting the card was immediate. I believe I had to know my instructors name and my date of birth. Possibly the shop. Now that I have it, I'm glad it's there. I'm a bit forgetful, but I always have my phone. You don't need an ecard for every certification. You only need your highest level and anything useful to get stuff (nitrox, deep, etc).

I do think it is silly that PADI charges as much as they do for EACH ecard. It should come with the certs. Its their business model, though, and it seems to work. I don't like it at times. I guess I should start my own globally recognized certification agency in protest. Until I do, I will put another dollar in.

 

[The Chairman]

Its their business model, though, and it seems to work.

In their favor, PADI seems to be ready and willing to change their business model to keep up with the times. They are the biggest agency for a reason.

 

[Clark Fletcher]

This is what I did as well.

+2. The e-cards should be included in the price of certification along with a hard card. The only thing that should be extra should be replacement hard cards. When I recently came back to diving after a 35 year absence, I didn't realize PADI had become the nickel and dime agency it is now days. Had I realized that up front, I might have chosen to cert with a different agency.

BTW, PADI may have records back into the late 80s. However, they DON'T appear to have records back to the late 70s. When I decided to come back to diving, I tried to look up my certification and there was no record of it. So, I did a new certification from scratch.

As others have mentioned, I simply took a picture of my certification cards with my phone. However, I haven't tried to use them yet. But, I can't see why a dive shop wouldn't accept them in place of a hard card or official e-card.

 

[Sevenrider860]

BTW, PADI may have records back into the late 80s. However, they DON'T appear to have records back to the late 70s. When I decided to come back to diving, I tried to look up my certification and there was no record of it. So, I did a new certification from scratch.

I believe there was a cutoff date in the early 1980’s where certifications were copied over to the database system. However, PADI has a lot of the old records on microfiche and a call to PADI can often locate the older certifications and they will add it to the digital system.

 

[Saniflush]

This is what I did as well.

Same here. Haven't had a problem to date.

 

[richmonddiver]

In their favor, PADI seems to be ready and willing to change their business model to keep up with the times. They are the biggest agency for a reason.

I don't agree. They will change their business model, but only kicking and screaming at times. PADI is not a forward looking organization. PADI is stodgy at best. Cases in point;
1. PADI almost religious refusal to certify diving solo. They eventually allowed it and saved face by calling it self-reliant.
2. Scubaearth is a disgrace of a website. It seems like they hired a summer intern to build a dive logging website, because all of cool kids had dive logging website. PADI seems to not realize how well they could promote their programs, if a global network of divers was to come to their site to log dives. Scubaearth at this time is, at best, a poorly programmed beta release that should not be accessible to the general public.
3. PADI elearning is way behind SSI. Elearning is what a younger generation wants. If PADI wants to remain a world leader in diving, it needs to catch up with SSI

In short, PADI does not seem to be "ready and willing". I would describe their business model as "reluctant and reactive". PADI is a good organization, but it is not an innovator.