I've FINALLY HAD IT with my LDS

[oly5050user]

The Aquatic Center of Rochester, NY

WHAT A RIDICULOUS MONEY HUNGRY JOKE OF A BUSINESS. My girlfriend wants to get PADI certified. As a gift, she received a PADI eLearning course. She wanted to complete her 4 pool sessions w/ the Aquatic Center and checkout dives elsewhere... I called today for a price on the 4 pool sessions only.....drumroll please.... $550 - WHAT!!!??!? THEN, the employee informed me that she'd receive a $50 store credit (at their ridiculously overpriced store) for not doing classwork or checkout dives with them..... WHAT A RELIEF!!! So, I asked how much for the whole cert from start to finish was... Ready for this? $550, but without the credit... what a bargain!

Thank you Aquatic Center of Rochester, NY. It's amazing you're still in business and no wonder I rarely see a car in your parking lot....

There are 5 modules to complete in the pool. Can be done in 5 sessions or 2 or 10 sessions. Depends on how well a student retains information and can apply it correctly.To be fair was the price they quoted you for a private one on one course? Done at any schedule you want?Any time you want? People take the online course for the convience and instant gratification it offers,which is fine.
We charge anywhere from $199. to $269. for GROUP schedule OW course.For private class at the customers schedule/requests we charge $600. This is only fair ..You are using a facility that may cost upwards of $3,000,000. for you private use with an instructor,if the lds has their own pool/classroom .The facility may even be closed for business at the hours you wish for.I know that if I had a private student that I had to pay a facility to teach using their classroom and pool-such as a local YMCA or school or a lds it can cost anywhere from $250.-$400 to use.It is the same cost if I had 1 student or 8 students. Then he has to have gear for your use and pay his insurance.So at that rate an instructor is making maybe $200. to $350. to teach you. After expenses it comes out to like $7. to $12. an hour..That really is not alot of $ for what you are getting.If you cannot afford it,or believe it is too high, just take a normal group class.
If it is a private one on one or even two students to one instructor I think you should apologize to the LDS.If it is a group class then ,yes it is high.Its all supply and demand that sets the price.

 

[jsado]

To be fair was the price they quoted you for a private one on one course? Done at any schedule you want?Any time you want?

No. The price of $550 was for the attendance of 4, already in progress because a class is going on, pool dives....

 

[rstofer]

The Aquatic Center of Rochester, NY

WHAT A RIDICULOUS MONEY HUNGRY JOKE OF A BUSINESS. My girlfriend wants to get PADI certified. As a gift, she received a PADI eLearning course. She wanted to complete her 4 pool sessions w/ the Aquatic Center and checkout dives elsewhere... I called today for a price on the 4 pool sessions only.....drumroll please.... $550 - WHAT!!!??!? THEN, the employee informed me that she'd receive a $50 store credit (at their ridiculously overpriced store) for not doing classwork or checkout dives with them..... WHAT A RELIEF!!! So, I asked how much for the whole cert from start to finish was... Ready for this? $550, but without the credit... what a bargain!

Thank you Aquatic Center of Rochester, NY. It's amazing you're still in business and no wonder I rarely see a car in your parking lot....

Right up front, I am not an instructor and I don't own an LDS. Please keep that in mind.

This eLearning thing is going to cause a lot of conflict. From the point of view of an instructor, how do they know that the person standing in front of them is the person that did the online course? I suppose some kind of test. Maybe the normal written exam used by book based classes. So, other than not sitting in a classroom with other students, what has reduced my cost of teaching the class (hours).

Now, as the instructor administering the pool sessions I am expected to fill out referral paperwork so the student can do the open water dives elsewhere.

Here's the rub: when it comes time to sign off the PIC card certifying that the student is qualified, it is the local instructor that has to do it. Not PADI, not the resort; the instructor who, at most, did the pool work. That's a lot of risk considering that the instructor didn't even teach the class.

We're continually complaining about the low quality of instruction. This approach doesn't improve it.

So, here's where I come out: were I an LDS or instructor, I wouldn't accept eLearners at all. We are bound to be in conflict from the very start. The eLearner has paid a lot of money to PADI and I don't want to reduce my price.

Second, I wouldn't do referrals. Why in the world would I want to sign off on someone's open water dives when I didn't even see them.

Put the facts together: classroom by eLearning, open water dives by others and I have to sign them off? Ain't going to happen.

I would want to get the terms settled right up front. It's an all or nothing course and it's all done here. The price is what it is.

Richard

 

[fire_diver]

Right On Brother!

The only thing that is a little disconcerting is when a Dive shop in Oklahoma boasts that it is cheaper than a dive shop in downtown NYC.

Reality checks... costs of doing business are all over the place across the country. From rents paid to pool costs, insurance etc. It is really only fair to offer comparisons within a targeted market area.

This is true, and something very often overlooked. Even I wasn't thinking about the local economic differences in prices when I made my statement.

 

[psychocabbage]

Its under $300 here.. I think its btw $250 and $275 for NAUI certs which IMO give the diver a much broader scope and more for their money.

 

[Meanee]

Wow... I paid $550 for full classroom/pool/quarry/ocean, including 2 specialties, in Brooklyn.

Definitely sounds like a ripoff, but I guess it's the whole eLearning. I am not sure how PADI runs their programs, maybe PADI shops are required to accept eLearning, but don't take it out on a potential customer that they did not sit through your class

 

[kanonfodr]

Man, I guess I'm lucky that Hawaii is such a big place for scuba diving. My open water cert cost me a grand total of 200 bucks flat, and I definitely don't feel shortchanged in my education. Oh yeah, that included the gear rental, tanks, books, pool, and my 3rd and 4th cert dives were boat dives to boot!! I feel like a bandit, reading some of these posts.

Peace,
Greg

 

[kjvander]

I guess i got lucky and one of my buddies friends is an instructor...150 bucks.....but i guess that is that whole knowing people that know people thing....good luck on finding a good LDS that you trust.

 

[ONESPEED]

cheap doesn't mean lacking in substance any more than expensive equals quality.

Never said it did, just pointed out that most "deals" in SCUBA instruction fall short of good training. In my area instructors are a dime a dozen, good instructors that turn out solid divers are few and far between and you definitely get what you pay for. Does inexpensive, solid dive training exist? Absolutely, but sadly it is the exception, not the rule. All I'm saying is do your homework on a shop and instructor before buying the deal. I see far too many victims of "the deal" here, they're easy to spot from their dangling gear, craptastic trim and the gigantic silt clouds following them around.

 

[ScubaSteve]

.....they're easy to spot from their dangling gear, craptastic trim and the gigantic silt clouds following them around.

Were you following me around?