The course director wanted to hear my side of it. And then he tried to pin me into a corner using the argument that I had abandoned my buddy, should have followed the separation protocol from another dive at another platform with another dive instructor, etc. I called BS on that and politely held my ground.
And well you should ... separation plan should be DISCUSSED and AGREED TO before the dive by all participants in the dive.
No exceptions, no excuses ... you're in a Deep Diver class ... problems get magnified as you go deeper ... you should be clear on how you're going to deal with them before you ever get in the water..
The instructor failed to do his job.
I then asked what impact this should or would have on my DM course and was told to "pretend it didn't exist" and that he would cover it with that instructor. I don't like that answer either, and called that instructor and told her I would not be in class today and that I needed to get past this.
"pretend it didn't exist" ...
You had a problem ... it could have been a SERIOUS problem ... and they want to pretend it didn't exist? Hey, whatever happened to "here's what you should have done under those circumstances"? Students are supposed to make mistakes in class. Instructors are supposed to identify those mistakes and use them as learning opportunities. Instructors are ALSO supposed to maintain control of the students in such a manner as to assure they're not going to injure themselves or others in the process of learning. That's what you're paying them for.
The more I hear about this shop, the less I think of their ability to train divers in a safe and professional manner.
Seriously ... stop pretending you're going to work this out with these people. Just go find yourself a shop that can offer you some real, professional training. This one's throwing red flags all over the place.
I also pushed him to address the instructor conduct although I still think the focus of the call was on me and trying to question my judgement. I got chastised for "judging an instructor" and told that I wasn't qualified to do that,
Are you kidding me? You're the CUSTOMER! OF COURSE you're qualified to judge the instructor ... you SHOULD be judging the instructor. Sounds to me like these folks are in full CYA mode here, and unwilling to accept that they made mistakes that simply shouldn't have been made. That's a classic symptom of a shop that bases their entire business model on pushing people through as many classes as possible as quickly and cheaply as possible. You REALLY want to avoid those kind of shops.
Had the course director acknowledged the problem (inappropriate instructor conduct), apologized, and then proceeded to debrief the dive I would have been fine with it.
How much you wanna bet this "course director" went through the same fast-track certification process your instructor did ... the same one they're now trying to push you though?
I see a pattern here ... and it ain't a pretty one.
Instead the method of action was to discount my previous dive experience with 4 or 5 other MSDT and tell me that they have to determine if it's me, the environment, or a conflict with the instructor.
Irrelevent ... if your previous dive experience wasn't suitable for this class, they should have told you that BEFORE they took your money and signed you up for it. And for sure before they ever decided to take you deep.
After an incident isn't the time to be having that conversation.
I don't begrudge the course director. In fact I appreciate him taking the time to have a very long conversation with me. Part of the conversation was regarding the Deep class, part on the instructor, part on the DM course, part on if I should be in the DM Course (we had a few discussions about this before I enrolled in the class), and part on wether my reaction was appropriate.
I'd be interested in the CD's response to how prepared you are for the DM class ... based on everything else you've said, I'd guess he still is telling you that you're ready for it (I don't think you are ... based on the clues you've provided in this thread).
He did acknowledge that I was right to avoid injury, so again it's not all bad. I don't agree with everything and that is why I escalated it to the LDS Owner.
My guess is that the instructor, CD and owner are all on the same page that the solution to your problem is more classes.
The class started on Wednesday and we had one session into it. Another student was joining the class and couldn't make the Sunday class anyhow, so slowing down for a minute to debrief this wasn't likely to be that big of a monkey wrench.
Debriefing a class dive isn't slowing down the class ... it isn't a monkey wrench ... it's SUPPOSED to be part of the learning experience. It's one of the really important components of the class. How else are you supposed to know what you did right and what you need to work on?
Are they really teaching you anything? Or are they just taking you diving, patting you on the back for a "good job", and telling you to sign up for the next class?
Right now I'm evaluating if the shop holds the same customer service standards and instructor conduct expectations that I do. If the issue is isolated to the instructor then we will put this behind us and move on. If on the other hand there is a disconnect then as nasty as it is, this isn't the shop for me.
I think the conclusion is obvious.
I think someone else brought up a good point that had been in my mind .... I need to put some more recreational dives under my belt. Training is good, but it's not a replacement for recreational dives. Anyhow, that's another conversation that belongs in the GoPro area.... so I'll stay on topic.
At this point, you'd probably get more out of just finding a good dive buddy and going diving. Once you get completely comfortable with the dives you're doing, and feel that your skills are at a level where you aren't putting much effort into using them well, then it's time to sign up for the next class.
Slow down ... in the long term, you'll be a much better diver for it ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
