Exactly how I understood it. Don't come to me to take a class until you don't need it, because I am not competent enough to teach it to you in the allotted time. Make sure you pay me well for all the instruction you got on your own.
Fortunately, the class was actually extremely inexpensive. I think it was $100 and that covered having him meet me at a lake 2.5 hours away (and all his other expenses) and spend a day first verifying my experience (which he already knew from prior conversations), covering all the book material to make sure I understood it, and then observing me on some dives to verify that I had the required skills down. All one on one. Plus it covered the course book, the card fee, etc.. My only other expense was my travel and entry fee to the dive park where we met.
I thought it was a bargain, really, for that much of his time and the result of a card that will let me dive solo anywhere that allows solo diving (including places that don't accept PADI Self-Reliant).