We train about 2000 divers each year. That's 10 times the average dive shop in Canada. I hear all the above comments on a daily basis and so far I'm pretty impressed with the fairness of the comments made on this thread thus far.
The difficulty is that you all know what's involved in becoming a diver while people that call making inquiries about becoming a diver do not. They are therefore at the complete mercy of the store owner or club trainer. They have no idea what they need to complete the certification process; they have no idea what equipment they should or should not buy; they have no idea of the costs of diving after the training portion is completed.
We have built an enviable scuba business and are proud that we are completely up front about the costs, options, requirements and any other information the prospective new diver ought to know to make an informed decision.
Regardless of the course 'fee', the ultimate cost to the new diver doesn't vary much. If the course is $99, it simply means that the additional costs are added later. The PADI student kit alone retails for $75 so obviously you don't get that in the $99 course. A $99 course will certainly (as most courses do!) require you to purchase a personal gear set (mask, snorkel, fins, boots and likely a weight belt too) which will cost $300 to $400. I'm sure that's not mentioned in the "Learn to Scuba Dive for $99" advertisement. For $99 you're not going to get much of an open water experience.
We've set a standard for several years now that has worked well for us in spite of numerous and persistant attempts to undermine our efforts. Our course fee of $375 includes everything! It's that simple.
We do offer a group rate and we do offer limited time specials but the concept never changes - the course fee includes everything you need to complete the training course. As we say, "There's nothing else to buy".
Let me be clear. The fee includes the class and pool training (the PADI modular course), the entire PADI student kit (Text, tables, log book, ++), the use of all equipment and even lunch throughout the weekend.
There is no component in that fee towards the cost of open water diving. The new divers are told that as we explain the options and costs of O/W training. They know they will need to pay for those expenses. We do not include anything for O/W because a large number of our divers complete their O/W dives by referral while travelling. It would not be fair to have a charge built into the course fee for diving they do not do with us. On the other hand, if they do the dives with us there is no fee charged. They simply pay their share of the cost of completing the O/W dives.
So why do we get so many students at our fee when others offer courses for less than 1/2?
Once explained, new divers can see that our course does NOT cost more - the fee is higher because all the essentials are included. In many cases, it turns out that taking our course ultimately costs less that at a store with a 'low fee'.
One definite reason is our reputation - our course is worth more.
We are often chosen simply because we are up front.
We offer a money-back guarantee. If you are not successful, we refund your money. No one else does that!
We give many, many extras - Dive Team membership which offers discounts, free pool practice time, specials, etc.
Our courses are clearly quality - no class has more than 8 students; there's an instructor for every 4 students; free make-up or extra classes; several quality control surveys; an extremely motivated, experienced and friendly leadership team; etc.
The new divers like the idea of options - they have options on the format (weekend, weeknight, daytime, home study, etc), options on the O/W dive format, options on equipment use and so on.
There may be other approaches that work well too but our courses run every weekend and often they are filled well in advance (we typically have 3 and sometimes 4 classes of eight every weekend) so I'm not about to make any changes.
I have been part of stores that have low course fees with hidden costs to make up the difference. It was no fun to work there, no fun for the students and no way to try to build a business.
BTW sparky what's wrong with divers who only make a few dives a year at the cottage or on their week-long trip to the south? Lots of divers enjoy scuba diving without falling head-over-heels. They still deserve a quality training program and great service. We get hundreds of new divers who want to take the course just so they can dive on their annual timeshare trip. I don't understand how that has any relationship to the 'quality ' of the scuba school!
