I'll tell em to Yank your C-card?

[walke121]

I wouldn't think you could get your c-card yanked. It is the instructor/agency's responsibility to teach you the material and if you can pass the tests and dives it is then up to you to utilize what you have learned and practice safe diving. That being said I have seen some divers that needed to get their c-cards yanked.

 

[EastEndDiver]

They can have my C-card when they pry it from my Wet neoprene clenched fist.

 

[Cave Diver]

That is true. There is also a statement that says (don't have it in front of me) that you agree to surrender your card if asked.

Even beyond that, they can simply take your card away (I think mine says the card is the express property of GUE and must be surrendered upon demand by the board of directors). According to one of the head honchos, this has happened one time. Really gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside

One issue I see with this, at least in the case of GUE, is that anyone holding a card with them likely has cards from other agencies as well. Surrendering a card may limit their diving, but it wont stop it.

 

[cloudswinger]

C-cards aren't real licenses, from some governmental body, it's a voluntary system. There's no penalties for not checking whether a card is valid, so how does it really matter? You only need a card to get air, and maybe book a boat, and if the dive op doesn't check, or you have a diving friend, or have your own boat and compressor, the card is meaningless.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think I saw one of the posts that led to your question, a story in which a passing instructor saw a diver going solo and demanded his card.

Well, that guy was completely full of it. In that case, he didn't even care what the certification agency was--he seemed to think he had the right to pull anyone's card.

I will speak for PADI. There is not a word in the PADI standards and procedures that even hints that a C-card can be revoked once it has been earned.

 

[DaleC]

The agency could put up "Wanted for flagrant violations of safe diving practices" posters with your picture on it in all the dive shops.

Don't tell my dive shop that

I wonder if GUE has ever done this?

It's often said here on SB in jest or in anger, but no agency even has that mechanism other than GUE.

That's what I'm wondering. So GUE has a mechanism but the other agencies don't(?) Anyone from any other agency know something to the contrary?

 

[tc]

A C-Card (for most agencies) is just a record of training- you paid for it and it belongs to you.

Absent something like a signed agreement with the agency where you agreed to return it on demand there is no legal standing for anyone to take it back, doing that without your permission could be theft or possibly robbery depending on the circumstances.

Most agencies are able to revoke an instructor or divemasters status because of standards that those folks agreed to abide by in order to get that certification. But most would not attempt to remove a card- they would simply stop issuing certifications for the instructors students and maybe publish a list of revoked certifications on their web site for a bit of legal CYA.

 

[Gombessa]

One issue I see with this, at least in the case of GUE, is that anyone holding a card with them likely has cards from other agencies as well. Surrendering a card may limit their diving, but it wont stop it.

I didn't see "stopping someone from diving" as the main reason to pull the card. Instead, I figured it was to remove the association of the agency from the individual. "If you want to keep telling people to fill their tanks with methane, you can't do it under our auspices."

 

[ligersandtions]

I thought GUE only "yanked" cards for people who weren't doing enough dives at their certification level over a specific period of time (i.e. you must do X number of dives at Tech/Cave Y level over Z years, or you will no longer be certified/qualified to do such dives and must take the class again).

Can they pull cards for any other reason? If you're doing the required number of dives at your level, do they issue another card (that's not expired)?

 

[Nemrod]

They can pull it, I got more, I even make my own.

N