Why PADI do support for them?

[vondo]

Did anyone else catch and understand that all he got was 20 minutes of classroom instruction on diving Nitrox? And didn't take a test. That can't qualify as a full course, right? Mine was more like 3 hours of classroom. Although I would think 20 minutes of "instruction" on Nitrox and then allowing people to dive it would also be a big no-no for any certification agency.

 

[Mitchell]

sounds like a discover nitrox class.

 

[vondo]

sounds like a discover nitrox class.

Yeah, it does. I didn't know they did that, but they do. I can't imagine what the point of that is.

 

[boulderjohn]

sounds like a discover nitrox class.

I just found this thread and that was what I was thinking from about the 5th or the post on.

Tikal, please read this carefully.

It looks like you did not take the nitrox course. You may think you did, but you have never mentioned doing the important parts of the course once. You have instead mentioned things that were not part of the course. I am absolutely certain from what you have written that you did not take the real course.

PADI cannot give you a certification for a course you did not take.

As a part of the instruction you received for your OW course, your instructor is allowed to have you use nitrox, in which case he must give you the kind of brief introduction you describe. That sounds like what happened. Such an introduction will not get you certified.

One of the following may have happened:

1. It is possible you misunderstood what was happening. Maybe they told you that they were just giving you an introduction to nitrox and you misunderstood and thought you were getting the full certification course.
2. They may have lied to you and told you that they were giving you a certification course. I don't know why they would do that--it is of no benefit to them at all to do this. If you really do have a temporary card, though, then it looks like they lied.

If they did lie to you, you can gain some satisfaction by telling PADI that this is what you think happened. PADI will investigate, and if they believe it is true, they will punish the instructors who lied. This will do you no good, though. You will still not be certified because you did not take the course. You will probably not even hear the results of the investigation. I once turned in a PADI instructor many years ago, before I was an instructor myself. They thanked me and said they would look into it. Because it was an internal investigation, I was not notified of the results, but I found out later that they did take action against the instructor.

If they did not lie to you and it was a misunderstanding, then there is nothing anyone can do. You should take the course and get a real certification card.

 

[boulderjohn]

I would just like people to have another example of how little an agency can do in a case like this.

The PADI student record file that is used for referrals for Open Water dives has a place for the instructor to initial, place his or her number, and date the completion of each individual confined water dive and knowledge review. (That's a lot of writing.) It also has a place at the end for the instructor to sign and date, with language indicating that if the same instructor did all the knowledge reviews or confined water dives, only the signature at the end is needed; the initials, numbers, and dates with each item are not necessary.

Tired of all the hand-cramping writing, an instructor in our shop contacted PADI America and confirmed that was true--if there is only one instructor, only the signature is needed.

One of his students then took the referral to a resort on a French island in the Caribbean. The French instructor there refused to accept it. He said that the initials were needed in every place. It turned into a big mess for our shop. PADI America tried to intervene, but it did no good. PADI Europe backed the French instructor, and that was that. The student would get no credit for his knowledge reviews and confined water work with us because he had only the instructor's signature at the end of the list, and the individual instructor there decided not to accept it.

Consequently, we now all use both the initials and the signature so that we don't put another student through that mess.

 

[Tikal]

"If you really do have a temporary card, though, then it looks like they lied."

Of course they lied! I got not only the temporary card but also a receipt (they wanted it back to give me a new one ...) where is "Nitrox Course". Also on the loogbook is "Course" on the Nitrox dives.

 

[Tikal]

"PADI America tried to intervene, but it did no good. PADI Europe backed the French instructor"

In this case Padi Switzerland (why it's called Padi Europe if Switzerland is not even in UE?!) and Padi UK did the same with egyptian dive center's owner (whom is a PADI instructor himself) and his instructors staff.

 

[iztok]

Tikal, please read what boulderjohn wrote carefully. You might have been charged for a cert but you did not perform requirements for it. As such PADI can't issue you a cert, you will have to do more work to earn one.

 

[Tikal]

I don't know if this is a language problem or you simply don't want to be told something you don't want to hear.

Whatever the case, you've been given an explanation. You can choose to believe it or not. It's up to you. Just don't expect any more sympathy.

I don't expect any sympathy. Finantial Market should be completly regulated. Multinationals and international franchisings, like PADI, should also be submited to similar regulation. It's my opinion (probably shared by millions people).

This case has some bizarries as both PADI based in Europe (PADI Switzerland, called as "Padi Europe", and Padi UK) aparently do suport the robbers. And as far I know it seems not be the first time on similar situations.

 

[Tikal]

Tikal, please read what boulderjohn wrote carefully. You might have been charged for a cert but you did not perform requirements for it. As such PADI can't issue you a cert, you will have to do more work to earn one.

I understanding! But there are some robbers that ripped me off. And those robbers are PADI certified.