You all do realize that there is o reason for PADI to offer the student a discount on the cost of course materials because the students should already have the course materials. PADI cannot give them the certifications because the students did not do the course as designed and so did not meet the standards.
Actually, we don't know what standards were violated. This was a groupon. I expect the easiest way to violate standards was to use some old books they had laying around the shop
But what PADI said was: "We strongly urge that you discontinue all diving activities until you have taken part in an additional diver training course to ensure that you are a competent and safe diver. This can be accomplished by contacting a local PADI Dive Center and taking part in a refresher course, such as ReActivate or Scuba Review, or retaking the PADI Open Water Diver course." And then they go on to suggest that taking a continuing ed course would also be adequate,
leading me to believe that this diver already has a card of some sort, leaving PADI (the issuer of the card) open to liability in the event that some bad thing happens to the inadequately trained diver while diving.
So PADI recognizes that the training didn't meet standards, they signal that the diver needs more training, and that they should run right out and buy some. As I stated before, this is only nominally PADIs fault (they issued a card based on faulty knowledge). But PADI could have chosen to step up and have an excellent solution (Go to your nearest PADI dive center, register with PADI, and have a competent instructor evaluate your skills, all on our dime), come up with a course of action (If your skills are found to be lacking, we suggest the following course of action and we will supply your training materials for free!!, which costs them nothing), and the liability is resolved, the diver has been excellently managed, and the other dive shop (who was bitching about the groupon in the first place) had a chance to convert a pissed off customer.
Instead PADI took a very short-sighted route. Just like always.
John, you and I will never see eye to eye on why PADI chooses not to be excellent. I understand that. I don't know why, because I believe you are an excellent instructor, and I believe I am an excellent dive operator. But I don't believe PADI, which we are both members in good standing, is excellent. It's like they have some corporate culture of mediocrity. Or maybe we just all see excellence in a different light.