As a profesional- How do you expect to be treated?

[chiara]

I think the magical word here is Thailand.

Thais are a very special bunch of people, they will go to great lengths to help you, no matter your qualifications and they will make sure your experience, diving or otherwise, is a very special one.

As for checking logbooks, I find it only reasonable.

As for free services, I know nothing about Israel, but no, it isn't common practice around here, unless they know you very well.

There is a place where everyone goes frequently if they live in Belgium and are divers, and if you are an instructor you won't have to pay for the access fees to the lake, that's all, even a DM or an AI will have to pay.

 

[ScubaBaby]

But if I was and I was new at dive centre/center - if they didn't check me out first I'd be worried what type of centre it was!!!

I think it would be wrong for a dive centre not to offer advice etc. No matter what cert. you are - your still a paying customer and should be treated as such.

When Belushi and I went to Gozo last year, as Belushi was the most high ranking instructor there he ended up leading dives etc. That was suppose to be our holiday. Now it was okay with Belushi as it was the only way to get the dives we wanted but still.....we paid for a holiday!!

When you go away, you shouldnt have to worry about being "an instructor" - your a diver.

 

[Liquid]

Hm. Let's explain abit-

I haven't volunteered any information that wasn't asked of me, and certainly didnt ask for a discount (it was quite cheap anyhow-off season). The only C-card I have is SSI DCSI, so there's nowhere to hide it, aspecialy if I dont want them to put me with newbie divers (nothing against those, I was one once, but when didving with them I alwais feel responsible, and I didnt want to). What I mean is- If I say I have a cold and dont know if I will be able to dive, I expect people to understand themselves that I probobly know the SIMPLEST ways that are tought at OW, aspecialy when they know my exparience, and also doing it with a patronizing tone. It's annoying. I certainly wouldnt tell someone as qualified of me to equalize if he complains of ear-pain. It's obviouse.

As for the weight check-I wanted to check the amount of weights I need , as I haven't dived for quite long time. This is actualy the only REAL complaint I can have with the place. Other than that they were great, with good crew and good equipment. I am aware that the above issue is just some rattling.


P.S-

Oh, it couldn't have been ass covering. You dont tell someone how to dive with a mild cold to cover your ass. If you want to cover your asss you tell them NOT to dive at all.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Liquid once bubbled...
Hm. Let's explain abit-

The only C-card I have is SSI DCSI, so there's nowhere to hide it, aspecialy if I dont want them to put me with newbie divers (nothing against those, I was one once, but when didving with them I alwais feel responsible, and I didnt want to).

DCSI is the ONLY card you have? What happened to the rest of them.. IMHO I believe I'd get some reissued, from whatever agency. If you're with SSI I'm sure they would have no problem issuing an advanced card to a DCSI.

If I say I have a cold and dont know if I will be able to dive, I expect people to understand themselves that I probobly know the SIMPLEST ways that are tought at OW, aspecialy when they know my exparience, and also doing it with a patronizing tone. It's annoying. [/B]

Maybe the patronizing tones were because of the language differences and translations.

I certainly wouldnt tell someone as qualified of me to equalize if he complains of ear-pain. It's obviouse........As for the weight check-I wanted to check the amount of weights I need ,[/b][/

Not to be taking a cheap shot, maybe in way I am, but if you are so qualified you should remember what your weight should be, or close enough anyway. Personally, someone whips out an instructor card on me and then ask for a weight check to see how much weight he will need, I believe I'd act a little patronizing or at least suspicious.

 

[DiveTub]

Hi Liquid
Mate no offence but do you think you might run a spell checker over your post before posting.

A good idea is to type your post out in word, do a spell check, then copy and paste it into Scuba Board.


Oh yes and Ditto to Lead_Carrier

Hey Lead Carrier how much do you carry?

If you are paying for a Dive you have no responsibility to anyone else on the boat, except maybe to you buddy. So if you see a problem politely alert the DM or captain then get on with your dive.

 

[Jonathan]

Spell checker does not do grammar checks....

If the shop shows me great service I will let them know and recommend there shop.

sorry - couldn't resist.....

Jonathan

 

[DiveTub]

Yea good call ;-0

 

[Padipro]

I can relate to exactly what you said Liquid. I've had many problems with being treated like a newbe at shops where they don't know me both here in the states and on trips. I don't mind the shop telling me about local conditions and such but to tell me that I need to wear a snorkel while wreck diving in calm seas, I don't think so.

I've heard a lot of professionals say that they never carry their Instructor C card with them on trips because they don't want the hassel of being paired up with someone that needs to be watched. If they ask me to dive with someone that they feel needs to be watched and I don't feel like it that day, I just respectfully tell I'd rather not and I've never had trouble with that. I ALWAYS carry my MSDT card with me as well as every other C card I've ever gotten, a total of 23 of them, and I've never had that problem, infact, it seems to help out whenever there is a problem.

Case in point. A DM buddy of mine and I took a trip to Northern Florida a few years back to dive in the Gulf. We had called the shop to check on everything before we went so we thought we had a good idea of what we were getting into. Well, when we arrived we went to check in and asked if they did nitrox fills since we didn't see a sign on the door. We were told that they didn't even allow nitrox on their boat. This really suprised us so we asked why. We were told that nitrox was dangerous, that it was never ment to be used the way recreational divers were being tought to use it (extended bottom times) and that it was "Safe Air only" so they didn't allow it. This conversation took place with the person at the front counter so I asked to see the owner or manager of the shop to discuss it with them. My buddy and I had driven some 10 hours to get there and we wanted to make the most of our time in the ocean so I thought maybe I might convince someone in charge to let us use it. Before I could even get a word in the owner started repeating exactly what the girl at the counter had said just minutes before. While he was going on and on about the dangers of this witches brew and telling us there was no way we could use it on their boat I opened my log book which has all my C cards stored in business card holders right in the front. When my buddy saw me doing this he opened and set his log book right next to mine so our black C cards were in full view. When I finally got the chance to say something I said " So you're telling me that everything I've been tought and everything I've been teaching is wrong?" His whole story suddenly changed. He started telling us that they were on a schedual where they ran two trips a day and that thay had to stay on schedual. He said that they didn't want people using 40% on a dive with 120 cuft tanks and staying down for an hour and a half at a time making them late for their second trip of the day. Now I can understand that, and I told him so, the guy has a business to run and set times that the boat is supposed to leave so the divers need to be back on board in time to make it back to the shop for that next trip. I told him that if he wanted to stay on schedual that it would be easier to tell people that they only had so much bottom time reguardless of what gas they were breathing and how much of it they had left.

Well to make a long story short he let us use the nitrox for the entire trip but we were the only divers on the boat that had it and the only reason we were allowed to use it is because we were professionals.

I could go on and on with other stories about how I've been treated at shops and how that treatment changes as soon as they see my Instructor card. I realize that shops have to be careful about who they are allowing to dive with them but instead of treating everyone as if they're a new openwater diver that doesn't know a thing I think they should ask about ones level of training and experience before they just assume everyones an idiot.

Scott

 

[Lead_carrier]

Sydney_Diver once bubbled...

Oh yes and Ditto to Lead_Carrier

Hey Lead Carrier how much do you carry?

I usually carry 20# of lead, usually for students that forget how much they wear from week to week. If you're asking how much I wear? It will vary, of course, but usually 4# fresh to 8 # salt with a 3mil. When I get in the cold water with a 7 mil I usually go to 12#.

 

[Liquid]

Well, for all those wreched people complaining about my grammer/spelling- All I can say is, that I've got a really great accent (relatively ) for an Israely.

Hm btw-
When you said:

Mate no offence

Did you mean-
"mate, no offence"
or maibe:
"Ment no offence"

wich I belive should really be:
"no offence ment?"

I was really wandering, you no, it changes the whole phrase (And I do take into acount the fact which I am wrong and you'r going to mock me again sice there was nothing basically wrong with what you wrote, still I couldn't resist the temptaion, being human and all).

And now for something constructive:

If you are paying for a Dive you have no responsibility to anyone else on the boat, except maybe to you buddy. So if you see a problem politely alert the DM or captain then get on with your dive.

Not True AT ALL!!!!!
In the eyes of the law, if during a dive an accident happen, and beside the DM there's a vocationing instructor, the instructor MIGHT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IN THE EYES OF THE LAW. I know of several cases. In one the instructor just dived from the same boat with someone that died. It came to court, and his Instuctor licese was taken, on grounds that he was the highest ranker around.