Not so good certification.

[Diver0001]

Buddy you are the victim of crappy IT support. A good tech should do it right one time and be done. sort of like a good dive instructor, no need to have refreshers or return visits.

Dude... you know how the industry works. Suck them in with visions of utopia and suck them dry with visions of reality.

IT "support" is the 2nd most lucrative business in the world.... the first is running drugs.

R..

 

[The Chairman]

Buddy you are the victim of crappy IT support.

As a veteran IT provider, I can only say that once we have everything "just right", they change the rules on us. From ThinNet => CAT3 => CAT5 => CAT5e => CAT6 => various solutions for fiber => N => G => B and so on. Changes happen and they can be fast and furious. While we have great backwards compatibility today, it wasn't always so when "Plug and Play" was better described as "Plug and Pray". Things are definitely better than they were, but it doesn't take much for a user to upset a carefully planned system.

 

[Token]

If a person can't afford a proper agency certification, he can't afford to dive. Actually, this sounds more like a fraud than a 'deal'.

 

[HIGHwing]

with no pool sessions...

I cringe when people say "no pool" as if a filtered concete pond is absolutely required for the confined sessions. I have students who never visited a pool and are certified at various levels. When the water is warm, calm, and clear I often use a local lake which replicates "pool like conditions" which is what is specified by my training agency. I would hate for them to read this and think they didn't get a pool experience they were owed.

If you think back to the PADI IDC slides, you might remember the dive today philosophy; it speaks about the optimal confined/open sequence. The slide shows the optimal dive sequence assuming the Open Water and Confined Water environments are adjacent and available such that you'll be in the ocean well before you finish confined. If you follow the PADI recommended sequence it makes a pool almost impractical. Take a look, it's food for thought. If you have the Course Director Manual available, you'll find the referenced slide on page (C-85).

Granted the manual also states you should adjust for local conditions and zero visibilty. Training in a shipping lane, at the end of a boat dock, or in front of an active dredge probably fails to meet that criteria as it pertains to this thread.

 

[lindenbruce]

Okay, sure you don't need a "pool" for the skills demonstration and to introduce the basics. But, a "pool" is usually the most widely used tool as they are readily available where as a shop may have to drive for hours to get to water. And if you have to drive for hours to get to water that is going to turn a lot of people off who are going to say screw it and not do scuba. If a shop has other sources readily available to them for the training then they should utilize those resources. And if it's a lake then so be it. I think the "pool" sessions is just a generic term for those sections of training where a controlled environment is needed/used by the trainer. Just because the "pool" happens to be a lake or a cove in a wide section of a slow moving river is a matter of semantics. Heck, you hear the British refer to the USA as being across the pond from them. Well, the "pond" is the Atlantic ocean. WOW. Big "pond". B

 

[Dahodevil]

Ok, i spoke with my neighbor and he said he paid $600 to the instructor. I thought , thats about what i spent on my son's training at the local dive shop with a classroom and pool in the shop. They where great to work with and very thorough. I even was encouraged to tag along in the springs for all of his open water checkouts.

 

[Islandheart]

Sadly, he is now not only a danger to himself but anyone else that's in the water with him...