PADI Inadequacies

[ScubaDon]

MechDiver once bubbled...
Divers have horror stories about all the agencies. If you are not happy with your LDS, tell them that. Then tell them you are going elsewhere for your business. Then contact PADI's standards department and complain about your class, you should have gotten a form in the mail asking about the quality of the class.

You could not have done the time you say you did in the pool and met standards IMO. How were the OW dives? Where did you do them if you didn't have altitude training?

Phil

We did talk to them about several of the classes and literally nothing changed. As far as taking our business elsewhere, we told them that too, not just because of the class issue. We never received anything from PADI other than our C-card.

I know we didn't get the time we needed in the pool and it was evident on the dives we made after OW. Finally after 12 dives I am starting to feel more comfortable. And only because of some very good people helping me through those first dives. Oh yea and weighting............never even did it.........talked about it for a couple of minutes though.

Our OW was a 2 day thing, over the 2 days we did 4 dives totaling 56 minutes. It was done in the Homestead crater which is at 6000 feet but we had to go over an 8000 foot pass to get there and back, we mentioned this to our instructor and she told us she would have to charge us extra to talk about that.

 

[cmay]

MechDiver once bubbled...


And I've seen NAUI and SSI instructors who had the buoyancy skills of a sea cucumber.

There are good and bad in all agencies. IMO

Phil

I'll second that

 

[joens]

ScubaDon once bubbled...


Our OW was a 2 day thing, over the 2 days we did 4 dives totaling 56 minutes. It was done in the Homestead crater which is at 6000 feet but we had to go over an 8000 foot pass to get there and back, we mentioned this to our instructor and she told us she would have to charge us extra to talk about that.

Last year I was diving at Homestead crater and got to talking with the folks running the place they said there were several instructors they no longer allow to come to the crater as they were a safety hazard . maybe your instructor should be on the list.
Joens

 

[MechDiver]

ScubaDon once bubbled...


we mentioned this to our instructor and she told us she would have to charge us extra to talk about that.

You got to be making this up, right

Sorry, I'm still laughing over the ceiling buoyancy thing, and this just hit the button. I sure would like to go into that shop and ask about an OW class

I just can't believe these people are this bad and are still in business. Best of luck with your SSI classes.

Phil

 

[jepuskar]

Ok, let me change my numbers..91%- 96% of PADI instructors dont belong in the water. My instructor is AWESOME, but I am afraid that an overwhelming majority of you..SUCK!!!!

 

[Bob C]

My experience with PADI was just the opposite of yours. My first class was about 2 hours instruction followed by 1 hour in the tank. My later pool lessons were on two different nights and were 3 hours each. The cert. dives were made over a week-end.
I think it is the instructors lacking rather than PADI. Of course, the LDS is also part of the problem.

Bob C.

 

[ScubaDon]

MechDiver once bubbled...


You got to be making this up, right


Phil

I wish I was making it up. We were filling out our logs after one of the dives and were talking about the altitude adjustments and were told to "not worry about that" and "if we were to talk about that we would have to charge you for another class." That was the beginning of the end of our dealings with this dive shop. Tempted to name them here for all to know.;-0

 

[MikeFerrara]

I'm sorry to hear about your class. I have worn out my key board writting about this. A good class costs money to teach but few charge much for it. The purpose of the class all too often is to sell equipment so not much energy goes into the class. When the product of these classes go on to become instructors you then are left with nobody who knows the difference. I have the oportunity to watch classes of many different agencies and I can't say one is better than the other. By all means write to PADI they are tired of hearing it from me.

Let me ask you a couple of questions. You don't have to answer I'm mostly making a point. Did you compare different shops/instructors? Did you meet with your instructors before the class? Did you ask to watch part of a class? What kind of questions did you ask the shop before signing up for your class.

I'm sure you asked these...
How much?
What is the schedule?

But did you ask these?...
What is the teaching experience of the instructor?
What kind of experience do the assistants have?
How many assistants will there be?
How big is the class?
What kind of diving does the staff do outside of teaching?
What is your safety record like?
Why should I train with you?
How do you deal with a student who is having trouble?
Can I contact references?
Can I see the instructor and staff dive?
What additional training does the teaching staff have?

Trust me if you find some film of good divers and then watch the instructor and assistants you would learn plenty.

I'm not trying to blame you and I know that when a person first considers learning to dive they don't really know what to ask. In three years of owning a shop I have never had a prospective student or the parent of a prospective student ask about anything other than time and cost commitments. I could have killed dozens and nobody would know because nobody has ever asked. EVER

I invite prospective students to visit a class. check references and compare us to the other guy but they never do. Well, they do compare price. If they would compare the important stuff I could charge much more. My Assistance are highly trained, highly skilled divers but nobody has ever asked. I do alot of diving outside of teaching but nobody has ever asked.

I have never NOT EVEN ONCE met a student who has done any real research. Oh, they come in knowing where to buy cheap gear on the net and they are very intune with how much money and time their card is going to cost. They never ask how good of a diver they will be when the class is over.

IMO, the recreational dive industry is not very healthy but the diving public is eating it up. They are buying cards so they can go see the reefs and palm trees they see in the magazines. They are getting what they ask for no what they are demanding. Unfortunately it seems the lousy instructors/shops can make much more than the good ones. The equipment manufacturers, agencies and resorts are being well rewarded for their methods.

 

[Popeye]

ScubaDon once bubbled...

I wish I was making it up. We were filling out our logs after one of the dives and were talking about the altitude adjustments and were told to "not worry about that" and "if we were to talk about that we would have to charge you for another class." That was the beginning of the end of our dealings with this dive shop. Tempted to name them here for all to know.;-0

Frankly, if what you say is true, and I believe it is, it's your moral responsibility to name them.

I'm sure I've heard this story elsewhere.

 

[Scottri]

Your problem is not with PADI, it's with the shop and the instructor. Period. I can recite a list of good and bad shops and instructors. I DM for a PADI instructor that is the best I've ever seen. He will not pass people that don't cut it. He cares more about his students than most people do about their children. On the other hand I worked with an SSI instructor that lost his students at least once on each OW weekend.

To say PADI instructors suck is plain stupid. If you have problem with an instructor or shop, report them to PADI. They have a very strong QA program. I'm not an advocate of PADI or any other agency. I happen to be a PADI DM but only because the Instructor that trained me was PADI. I frankly didn't care what agency was on the card. I wanted the best education possible from the best instructor I could find.

If your class was that bad report it! Write PADI with the class date, shop name, instructor name and list of things that were wrong. PADI will investigate. The follow up on all QA complaints.

Give PADI a chance to correct the problem before you decide to bash them in a public forum. I've helped teach both SSI OW and PADI OW and the course work and skills required are virtually the same. The same amount of class work and the same amount of pool work, the same quizes the same final exam the same OW requirements.


Scott