The cost of Padi

[Fish_Whisperer]

Sounds like PADI needs to direct some of that $$$ they are getting from IRRA dues into their customer service department

This PADI business model seems somewhat backwards. and a bit monopolistic. Let's see:

They expect the LDS/instructors to pay annual dues to keep the certifications current.

The LDS must carry their product line of materials.

PADI requires EACH diver to purchase their own set of materials (this one really bothers me from an organization who promotes environmentalism right to the point it might impact their bottom line. So typical selfish big business).

The LDS does all the marketing, sales, and instruction in the local market without much or any help from PADI.

The DM's and Instructors are paid slave wages, and are potentially liable for anything that goes wrong.

PADI has very little liability, and very little interaction with the public other than to produce and mail certifications.

Basically the LDS does all the local marketing, handles the sales, hires the instructors/DM's, provides the facilities. PADI sits back and harasses the business owner who is doing all the promoting IF PADI does not get their IRRA dues.

Most business would kill to have every retailer promoting their products using Logo's and web presence. PADI seems to be in the position to demand payment for something that is a direct benifit for them.

This kind of crap is precisely why my instructor, who has all of his certs and qualifications through PADI and taught and instructed for them for years, has switched over to MDEA.

 

[Cacia]

I am amazed at the information and list of concerns here. Would it do "good" to summarize concerns and send a letter to PADI? Or am I a Pollyanna? I will ask it again, is there a process for feedback to PADI? Christi's situation makes me sad.

 

[TheRedHead]

Not meant to be insulting, Catherine, but I think it is naive to believe that PADI would change their business model based on marketing research and books approved by ph.d psychologists because a few people on scubaboard have a problem with it. I'm sure they would be very nice about it and tell you they appreciate your concern.

 

[Cacia]

well, Redhat, I still believe that the agency is good and maybe feedback from "a bunch of people on SB" might matter. A lot of these people giving feedback are business owners, and instructors. I am just not ready to be jaded yet....and BTW, I have done okay in "business" myself so I may not be as naive as you think. I think you catch more flies with honey....

 

[nyprrthd]

The post by Bailey, and a few others, regarding the structure of the PADI course and materials shows us one of the reasons that PADI is the largest agency in the business.

I too am a college educated individual, and have a background in engineering. I personally found most of the material in the OW book to be pretty simplistic. My wife is very artistic, and very visual; and had a little trouble "visualizing" some of the material. My understanding of the material and how she learns things allowed me to convey the theories to her in a way that she could grasp. When we watched the video, I saw a lightblub go off in her head. She got 100% on all the written tests.

PADI is not trying to turn out scientists. Their goal seems to be to make diving safe and fun ...... for everyone.

My biggest complaint about the materials is that annoying Doofuss on the DVD!

 

[Scuba_Steve]

This PADI business model seems somewhat backwards. and a bit monopolistic. Let's see:

They expect the LDS/instructors to pay annual dues to keep the certifications current.

The LDS must carry their product line of materials.

PADI requires EACH diver to purchase their own set of materials (this one really bothers me from an organization who promotes environmentalism right to the point it might impact their bottom line. So typical selfish big business).

The LDS does all the marketing, sales, and instruction in the local market without much or any help from PADI.

The DM's and Instructors are paid slave wages, and are potentially liable for anything that goes wrong.

PADI has very little liability, and very little interaction with the public other than to produce and mail certifications.

Basically the LDS does all the local marketing, handles the sales, hires the instructors/DM's, provides the facilities. PADI sits back and harasses the business owner who is doing all the promoting IF PADI does not get their IRRA dues.

Most business would kill to have every retailer promoting their products using Logo's and web presence. PADI seems to be in the position to demand payment for something that is a direct benifit for them.

Well if you're going to put it that way, sure it sounds bad............LOL

.

 

[Cacia]

exactly....thats where I was coming from when I brought this logo issue up! It is perhaps their loss, as I see it, that they are making operators take it down, because they are NOT paying, for whatever reason. Thats not a value judgment, it is however something PADI will eventually take note of, no?

 

[lowwall]

It's interesting to see how these things really operate.

When I took OW and AOW, I assumed that PADI was actually a dive shop owned organization. Just look at the number of pages in the manuals devoted to all the shiny things you can buy and the emphasis on taking more classes, most of which are oriented around some expensive piece of equipment the dive shop will be happy to sell you.

So now I understand it's more of an uneasy alliance between publisher and retailers. PADI has a vested interest in selling more courses, which means they have to keep the shops afloat by providing a liability cover and cheerleading for equipment sales. But like any for profit business, they want to extract as much as they can without actually driving away their customers. I've noticed they also do this to divers when they have an opportunity, for example charging $30 to replace a c-card.

The solution from the dive shops' perspective seems obvious. Cut out the middleman by creating a self-owned certifying organization or buying out one of the existing agencies. It would cost some money at startup, but once it's going, the shops would be able to buy the things they need at cost and wouldn't have to pay a dime for the stuff they don't need that PADI currently forces them to buy.

Do the dive shops even have their own association?

Alex

BTW, PADI's manuals do have a very low content to space ratio, but I also understand the rationale. It's better to bore the well educated for a few hours than make it impossible for the less educated to learn and retain the necessary information. I think they could help things out by including one or two densely packed laminated page with all the filler stripped out (like these things - http://www.barcharts.com/default.asp?page=chart_details&gid=2&pid=699-4) for later review and - dare I say it - initial review for those of us who can handle a little less white space.

 

[espenskogen]

That's not accurate. PADI does a lot of marketing and has established a BRAND. What value does the Better Business Bureau have to a merchant other than the brand? Many new users have come to this site and stated that they chose PADI because it seemed to be the most established and popular. They assumed it would be good. Branding is a very powerful marketing tool. Companies spend millions to billions each year to establish a brand.

Exactly right - It is because Padi is such a big brand, that they can operate the way they do. You hear a lot of people who want to learn how to dive come in to the shop and say 'I'd like to do my Padi' - That is because in their mind, Padi is synonymous with dive certification. We, as instructors, diveshop owners etc want to be associated with Padi, because we don't have to do the marketing - it is done for us. All we need to do is say 'Hey, we can give you your padi - Only 300 bucks..'

When you put it in that kind of perspective, we charge each student hundreds of $$ for a course. Padi gets about $40 of that money - $20 for the pic card and about $20 for the book. If the dive shop certified say 480 students a year (4 days course, 8 students on each course, 20 working days a month..), at $300 a pop (Which is quite cheap) , it would yield a revenue for the diveshop of $260 - Less direct costs - Instructor fees - Say $50 a student - Leaves $210 per student. Now, the shop would have a Gross Profit of $100,800 from which writeoffs for BC's advertising, pool etc would come out of.

In this perspective, the $750 the shop would need to pay Padi for the brand recognition isn't actually all that bloodsuckingly evil... (nor is the $150 a year instructors have to pay to Padi - After all, they're making $2000 a month by way of diving (This shop is nice - It pays a reasonable wage to their instructors))

Now add 10 instructors (in busy resorts) all doing 5 courses a month - Guess what - The shop has just made a million bucks before depreciation and rent.

I think if we have anything to complain about, it's the fact that instructors and divemasters have to work for slave wages - But that is only because so many people want to spend a year working in the sun whilst travelling, and don't mind getting paid peanuts.

If diving wasn't so damned enjoyable, I bet the availability of instructors would be quite a different story.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Good points, Esp.