Banned from Pro Dive..the final story.

At the end of the story I mentioned that he had actually finished the course and is now a qualified Divemaster....thats true..however:

Three weeks after completing the course he made the mistake of purchasing a new BCD on line. It was a make that the store sold but their price was $200 odd dollars more expensive, and when he asked about the difference he was sold a story that didn't gel and therefore went on line.

Lo and behold the shop found out and promptly banned him. He can see the funny side of it now but at the time it was just nuts.

Those of you out there saying that he should have taken it further are probably right but the truth of the matter was he just wanted to dive and enjoy leading dives and it was all becoming way too complicated.

That was over a year ago...hes still banned from the shop...can't even get air fills there...but hes happy.

Coogeman

see, this shop would like some more students/dupes/customers, right?

Seems to me that he could do quite a bit of diving and steer business elsewhere, doing nothing more than telling the God's-honest truth about how he was treated.

He could do that...but the dive industry is so small when you get a reputation for stuff like that it may inhibit him with regards to opportunities re working as a Divemaster or an Instructor.

The owner at Pro Dive wanted to get him blacklisted...and I think even went as far as to call Pro Dive head office and see if she could. Luckily good sense prevailed and the Pro Dive franchise owners told her to get a life.

These people do exist and to a certain extent are powerful enough to dictate what you can and can't buy. It's changing, thank god, but it will take time.

Very true, the industry is small EVERYWHERE and words gets around. It's changing too slowly though.

-Dennis

Coogeeman once bubbled...
He could do that...but the dive industry is so small when you get a reputation for stuff like that it may inhibit him with regards to opportunities re working as a Divemaster or an Instructor.

The owner at Pro Dive wanted to get him blacklisted...and I think even went as far as to call Pro Dive head office and see if she could. Luckily good sense prevailed and the Pro Dive franchise owners told her to get a life.

These people do exist and to a certain extent are powerful enough to dictate what you can and can't buy. It's changing, thank god, but it will take time.

Click to expand...

He could do that...but the dive industry is so small when you get a reputation for stuff like that it may inhibit him with regards to opportunities re working as a Divemaster or an Instructor.

Click to expand...

This kind of thing only stops when people stand up to it.

In this case, the shop had already acted to try to limit his opportunities. The nice thing about someone doing this is that there is no longer a threat they can use to hold over your head - they've "shot their wad" so to speak.

It is not only reasonable but ought to be expected that such behavior will be WIDELY publicized.