Bad Lesson

[comcomtech]

My daughter (14) and I (63) contacted a tropical dive shop with which I have been doing business for several years. I told the owner that we wanted some new and outstanding dive sites. Could he also build an AOW course around such sites?

I have been diving about 30 years, my daughter 5.

We started with the buoyancy dive, which was no challenge. However, my daughter had a problem with a self-inflating BCD, which kept propelling her to the surface. The instructor was ahead of us and rarely looked back. I misdiagnosed the situation, thinking my daughter's mask was flooded. Eventually, I managed to call the instructor's attention to my daughter and she disconnected the BCD inflation hose.

During the surface interval, the instructor said we could "squeeze in" a fish identification/digital photography dive. The shallow site was murky, with few fish or photo opportunities. After 30 minutes and our tanks more than half full, the instructor signalled us to exit the water, later explaining that the boat had a schedule.

Our third dive was an almost completely barren area, although we did spot several reef sharks. Still, it was supposed to be a drift dive, yet there was no current. I felt the instructor had been going through the motions of teaching a course and the dive shop had misrepresented the quality of the sites. In fact, I had dived at them two years earlier and they were filled with life then. Intensive tourism had, it seemed, killed almost all the coral and many of the previously diverse sea creatures.

The second day, I asked the shop manager, very nicely, if we could dive some different and better sites. I said nothing about the instructor's performance. The manager said we would be going to a whole different set of "truly fantastic sites."

On the boat, the instructor said we were going to the same sites as the day before. She was walking unsteadily, talking nonsensically and I smelled alcohol on her breath. She had forgotten our dive computers, which were standard equipment for the AOW "deep dive." She recited a long list of crucial equipment she had forgotten in the past, such as a weight belt and wet suit (in 16 C water), but managed to shepherd her charges anyway. She seemed to be making light of her oversight. The instructor then told my daughter how she had been out drinking the night before.

The instructor next volunteered that we could save on air by "holding our breath," while diving. I was amazed at this suggestion and asked her for clarification. She said holding your breath briefly, while swimming at a constant level, is acceptable. Of course, taking a deep breath and holding it will affect your buoyancy and cause you to rise. At this point you certainly wouldn't want to be holding your breath. But I decided not to get into an argument with her.

We were far from shore when I opted, based on the circumstances, not to proceed with the dive. I didn't give a reason. I said, My daughter and I will not dive at this time; I'm sorry to inconvenience you.

The instructor, who is paid by the dive shop, not me, proceeded to tell me that she was a single mother and that I was destroying her life. She nagged me for the six hours we were on the boat.

When we returned to port, I went to see the dive shop's owner and told him there was a problem and would come back to discuss it later. He pressed me for a reason and I said, very quietly, that I believed the instructor was drunk and had decided not to dive with her. He terminated the conversation.

The following day, the instructor appeared in the village, where we were speaking with friends at another dive shop. She began threatening us and the dive shop crew. She told me she had local friends who would "get" me.

I complained to her shop's owner, who said her behaviour was unacceptable. But in an email a few hours later, he said the incident had never happened.

 

[Freewillow]

S.............happens. What else can we say? Give us names if you think that they were that bad?

 

[The Chairman]

Denial: not just another river in Egypt.

Denial our biggest problem in diving. If you deny a problem exists, you simply can't fix it. I don't care if you're a single mother or an old fart like me. The only way to improve is to clearly ID problems and then figure out their solution. You didn't ask for any advice, but that's not going to stop me from giving you some: Don't go back. Ask for a refund or partial refund. If nothing happens, simply write it off. You don't want to dive with this kind of operator and you certainly don't seem to be learning anything. You need to find an instructor that actually teaches during the AOW: most don't. Most see it as a few more training dives with students and not as an opportunity to teach new skills or to improve old ones. They take an cavalier attitude towards the class which reflects the attitude they have towards diving. It's sad, but it's common.

The AOW card is not worth much. The possible learning potential from earning it with the right instructor is simply priceless. Don't cheap out here. Your diving will be far more enjoyable if you really get the skills down. It's worth traveling too.

 

[comcomtech]

After a lot of thought, I decided not to give names, for a number of reasons. I posted the story not to get back at a dive operator, but to stimulate discussion about education within the dive community. I should add that most of my previous dive instructors/masters have been outstanding.

---------- Post added March 4th, 2014 at 09:27 AM ----------

You're right. I'm not big on courses. However, if I take one, I want to learn everything I should--I'm not interested in rubber stamps. I'm not concerned about the cost here, just the cavalier attitude you mention.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

A confidential letter to the certifying agency would be a good idea if you feel your suspicions are true. The instructor comcomtech describes should not have the care of other divers or dive students.
If incompetence, or as here, outright dangerous behavior, is exhibited, it needs to be reported.Better a letter to the certifying agency than idle anonymous gossip on scubaboard.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Redshift]

That was unacceptable behaviour. Not only by the instructor, but also the dive centre does not seem to be on top of things. Is not controlling what the instructor is doing and apparently is not acting on your information.
I think you have to contact the certifying agency. And even doing so, it would be important, in my view, to warn other divers about that place and instructor.

 

[flots am]

Complaining to the agency will likely result in nothing, unless you can prove you were in a class and there were gross violations that resulted in an injury.

• The inflator problem is something both you and your daughter should have been able to recognize and handle without assistance. It's a requirement in OW class. As is venting the BC when it becomes too buoyant.
• Saying "you smelled alcohol" could mean the employee had used mouthwash, or just drank a pint of vodka. There's no way for anybody to prove anything. Even if the employee was falling down drunk, you still can't prove it happened, which means nothing will be done, especially not by the certification agency.
• Although I have no idea where you were, it's generally unwise to stir up trouble on an isolated island where the main town is a "small village" and you have a child with you.

You're both alive and undamaged. If you think you didn't get what you paid for, complain to your credit card company when you get home and they'll give you your money back.


flots.

 

[comcomtech]

That was unacceptable behaviour. Not only by the instructor, but also the dive centre does not seem to be on top of things. Is not controlling what the instructor is doing and apparently is not acting on your information.
I think you have to contact the certifying agency. And even doing so, it would be important, in my view, to warn other divers about that place and instructor.

I ultimately did refer the matter to PADI, because I feel the instructor is a hazard.

As far as the dive shop, I referred the matter to the local dive association, but have not received a reply, which does not surprise me. A few people control everything in this region, which is one of the reasons I am not naming names.

To answer another suggestion, I won't be diving there again, but simply because the coral, sea life and viz has declined enormously in my three decades of doing scuba in that region.

My initial reaction was indeed to warn others off: I posted a message on TripAdvisor to that effect, but deleted it after a couple of days because it targeted a bad shop rather than a bad practice, which is the issue.

---------- Post added March 4th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ----------

Money is not the issue. Actually, I got some nice pictures of black-tipped reef sharks.

You're right: my perceptions about the employee's drinking could have been erroneous. Still, accidents are the result of an event chain and it's our responsibility to take the necessary action when they occur. In this case, I declined to dive because of my suspicions about the instructor's drinking combined with her dangerous instructions about breath holding. I lost my confidence in her and, right or wrong, it was time to make an executive decision about the dive, particularly as my daughter was along.

As for recognizing the BCD problem, you are right. I should have. But I didn't.

Under different circumstances, I could have talked the matter over quietly with the shop owner and proceeded with another dive and different instructor the next day, without finger pointing. In fact, on the very few occasions I have had problems with a dive shop in 30 years, this is what I did and, except in this case, the shop always responded positively.

 

[nimoh]

Complaining to the agency will likely result in nothing, unless you can prove you were in a class and there were gross violations that resulted in an injury.

• The inflator problem is something both you and your daughter should have been able to recognize and handle without assistance. It's a requirement in OW class. As is venting the BC when it becomes too buoyant.
• Saying "you smelled alcohol" could mean the employee had used mouthwash, or just drank a pint of vodka. There's no way for anybody to prove anything. Even if the employee was falling down drunk, you still can't prove it happened, which means nothing will be done, especially not by the certification agency.
• Although I have no idea where you were, it's generally unwise to stir up trouble on an isolated island where the main town is a "small village" and you have a child with you.

You're both alive and undamaged. If you think you didn't get what you paid for, complain to your credit card company when you get home and they'll give you your money back.


flots.

I agree that probably nothing will come of one complaint, however filing the complaint will normally result in the agency investigating, and at the very least, informing the instructor of the complaint. This in itself may change the instructors behavior and fix the problem moving forward. If it doesn't and the agency receives more complaints, a history of the behavior is established and disciplinary action becomes much more likely.

 

[The Chairman]

There seems to be a "I've got a right to know" philosophy among a few that always want names. I've posted several incidents without names, and at least twice, they knew the thread was about them and in one of those threads, somebody lost their job over what I posted. Smart dive ops check ScubaBoard for potential problems and those that take care of them online usually reap some good rewards for being up front and honest. It's not against the ToS to mention companies, but after that we have to deal with an increasingly fine line in regards to privacy and culpability. We try to do the responsible thing whenever possible, but that's not much of an issue when there are no names given. In any event, you should send the offending Dive Shop a link to this thread so they can see how ScubaBoard users view such behaviors. Keep us apprised as to how PADI handles this as well. I hate it when we are simply left hanging on an issue like this.