well that didn't go as planned.

[UrbanJungle1966]

I would talk to the dive shop about it. My wife has a bad back and also slow equalizing ears. She loves snorkelling and would love to dive. Anyway her discover scuba did not go well. So for her next attempt I will be going with her and we are having a single instructor who she likes just for her.

If she is able to get under the water and everything goes ok she will be doing her OW in a one on one situation with me by her side just for added backup and to help lift tanks and get her wet suite on and off.

 

[RandomGuy1]

This thread is making me glad I am taking my instruction where I am. My wife and I did a "discover scuba" for free, and the class consisted of me and her. 2 hours of classroom training (basically module 1 of the OW course), and almost 2 hours in the pool. My wife still wasn't comfortable, so they told her to come back as many times as she wanted for free, until she was comfortable enough to start on the OW course. I signed up to do the OW course for myself, and they told me to bring her along so she could get the pool time and hopefully get more comfortable. If I were you I would talk to the original dive shop, and if they don't do anything for you, find some place else to spend your money.

 

[1bubbleoff]

Avenger,

Really sorry to hear your wife did not enjoy her introduction to diving...seems like it happens all to often in alot of shops....sigh..
I see your in WI...I'm with a shop in Sun Prairie...would like to try and help if possible... please drop me a private message and I'll see what I can do about getting your wife a "quality" experience...maybe we can salvage this situation.

Hope to hear from you,

Bubs

 

[avenger79]

So, it seems you were unhappy with the class. I have no problem with that I would have been as well given the description.

But I have to wonder as you post on here and talk about trying the next LDS if you even bothered talking to the owner of the LDS about this situation?

Seems like you would probably prefer that your boss talk to you about a performance problem rather than just fire you mysteriously, maybe you should do the same with the shop? Just my thoughts this AM.

I hope she will give it another try, I hope you will give the shop a chance to talk it over with you.
Jerry

I understand what you're saying and in some instances I would agree. In this one, they seemed prefectly happy to run their class this way. It's not like they weren't there. also because I am completly new to this I don't feel I have the "knowledge" to tell a shop what I think they should have done.
It comes down to, I tried their shop, didn't like it, time to move on. I realize you are saying give them a chance to fix it. My question in return would be why? so they can try to recoup money they may have lost should we decide to go further with this? if that's the case, the answer would be ....no.
I'm not interested in helping a business do better, it's their business to run as well or as poorly as they see fit.

not like we're out a ton of money from the experiemce so really no reason for me to complain to them, water under the bridge.

---------- Post added April 17th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ----------

Avenger,

Really sorry to hear your wife did not enjoy her introduction to diving...seems like it happens all to often in alot of shops....sigh..
I see your in WI...I'm with a shop in Sun Prairie...would like to try and help if possible... please drop me a private message and I'll see what I can do about getting your wife a "quality" experience...maybe we can salvage this situation.

Hope to hear from you,

Bubs

1bubbleoff, thank you for the offer. right now I'm kind of leaving it up to her. DOn't want her to feel pressured to try again. When/if she decides to give it another go, I will definitely keep the offer in mind.

 

[1bubbleoff]

Hope she decides to give it another go....offer remains open...no expiration date...just give me a shout here..or call the shop and ask for Kurt...608-219-5075.

Bubs

 

[B Lo]

I had a horrible experience with the first shop I trained with. They were absolutely, objectively, terrible. Had it not been for my [now] wife (who, at the time, had been certified for years) and good friend (who used to be a dive instructor years back), I probably would not have continued training. I went elsewhere, paid quite a bit more, and ended up doing my AOW right after my OW just to get quality training. It was money well spent and I enjoy diving all the more now. Don't give up because the initial training experience isn't up to par.

 

[tkdgodess]

The ratios are too high. Its not just standards, but you need to teach with enough staff that if one person (or more) is having issues that staff can work the easy group and with the people having issues. With your wife being as you descibed in your first post, a large rushed group dsd would have been the worst thing for her, just get more anxious.

Honestly make sure she wants to do it for her, not anyone else (you) if she is willing a one-on-one dsd with a patient detailed instructor is what i recommend.
Attempt another group dsd, or even a large group ow it might not go your way.

I work in ratios of 5:1 in the pool as a max with lots of in water time. If one person in the group is the nervous type the whole thing goes south fast if i dont have another instructor/dm in the pool with me to help out (i do)The nervous student worries about so many things us regular types dont, reasons so creative....

i labelled her as nervous, but you said timid and frustrated... My apologies... Ime when there is a lot of futzing with a mask, the person is nervous and blames the mask, even after i have a mask on them that works. Usually mine.

 

[spectrum]

Avenger 79,

She ran into a common stumbling block. What we eventually consider a minor nuisance can be a real show stopper to the timid diver wannabe.

I suggest working this out in advance in a private pool, hotel pool or even your own bathtub. Round up as many masks as you can marshal and let her experiment. Remember that these problems are rarely solved by tightening the strap and where you place the strap on the back of the head can make a big difference.

After she has rebuilt her confidence with some snorkel time she can try again at the shop of your choosing.

Pete

 

[avenger79]

Honestly make sure she wants to do it for her, not anyone else (you) if she is willing a one-on-one dsd with a patient detailed instructor is what i recommend.
Attempt another group dsd, or even a large group ow it might not go your way.

I work in ratios of 5:1 in the pool as a max with lots of in water time. If one person in the group is the nervous type the whole thing goes south fast if i dont have another instructor/dm in the pool with me to help out (i do)The nervous student worries about so many things us regular types dont, reasons so creative....

yep I may find a way to get her in one on one. BTW the diving is all her idea, I'm the come along on this journey. LOL

When she wanted to try sportbikes I did manage to get her a factory demo one on one with a factory rider. (that was my thing LOL) she had an amazing time. Bought a new bike within a week. The guy couldn't have been better, he lead for awhile then took let her go. no speedlimits, no rules other than don't crash. Other friends of ours were very jealous as their demos were all in large groups and very "disciplined". ie: no speeding, no wheelies, no burn outs etc.

yeah pretty sure the mask is worked out now, so time to get some water trials.

---------- Post added April 23rd, 2014 at 08:55 AM ----------

Avenger 79,

She ran into a common stumbling block. What we eventually consider a minor nuisance can be a real show stopper to the timid diver wannabe.

I suggest working this out in advance in a private pool, hotel pool or even your own bathtub. Round up as many masks as you can marshal and let her experiment. Remember that these problems are rarely solved by tightening the strap and where you place the strap on the back of the head can make a big difference.

After she has rebuilt her confidence with some snorkel time she can try again at the shop of your choosing.

Pete

yep, that was my thought as well. Just focus on snorkeling for a while and when she is ready to go at it again, she can. I offered her a trip to Hawaii to snorkel, (with me of course) LOL too much going on here right now she said. LOL