AOW Disappointment

[prthd9]

Put the outfits name on the board. You should at least worn other divers of the outfit, so the ripping off is minimalized.

 

[Dive-aholic]

That's all it's designed to do.

True, but the instructor can make it more than that.

I haven't seen which agency this is through, but if he was dudded, it was by the agency whichever one it was.

It's easy to see by checking his profile what agency this is through. But I disagree that the agency dudded him. The agency provides the minimum standards. It's up to the shop and the instructor to provide the customer service, and that's what appears to be lacking here, among other things.

 

[DandyDon]

I wouldn't threaten, I would report them, that's a blatant ripoff.

You're owed a refund on the boat dives. The Aow course is no big deal, just a step in the learning...

The whole story sux. Demand a free Nitrox course, but don't expect the place to be in busiess long. Be sure you have receipts for your training, and contact your agency in two weeks to confirm the paperwork is there.

 

[Walter]

True, but the instructor can make it more than that.

True, but that's damned rare.

It's easy to see by checking his profile what agency this is through. But I disagree that the agency dudded him. The agency provides the minimum standards. It's up to the shop and the instructor to provide the customer service, and that's what appears to be lacking here, among other things.

Nope. If the instructor followed standards, he did all he's required to do (well, except for ripping off the customer by not providing boat trips that were paid). If the class sucked and standards were followed, blame lies squarely with the agency for not having better standards.

 

[diver 85]

Bud, you got ripped off.....Don't know any good(cheap) lawyers, do you?.....I wouldn't put up with that crap for anything.....good luck.....

 

[Divedoggie]

Its amazing how a thread which was started to see if someone was the victim of bad business practices and if he is owed anything, has turned into yet another opportunity to PADI bash.

We all agree that he is owed something, and was basically ripped off.

The agency was not named, even though an intuitive person can figure it out.

As sure as the sun, the trollers come trolling by.
Count on the guys with an agenda to appear. The same people always show up as they cruise the board looking for an opportunity to either tout their amazing abilities or gives us the "back in my day" stories.

Why not just go dive and set your perfect examples?

I'm sure that Steve R (new member) is an alter-ego, because he jumped into the foray like an old pro. 7 of his mere 10 posts are bashing. Who signs up for SB and immediately trolls for opportunity to agency bash? Old pros.

You people may shock some newbies, but the rest of us see your names and know, here comes more of the my agency is better, my standards are higher, back in the day, give Rakkis a hard time about the shine on his Instructor's card...."he he he, just wait till your jaded like I am. Then you will know how bad things are..."

There are instructors who only meet the bare minimum standards. This is an exception, and the trollers try to make it seem the rule.
The majority of instructors want leave a good impression, and they go above and beyond to accomplish that.
The only reason that most people become instructors is for the students. To share their passion. Certainly NOT for money.

I'm sure that this post will be attacked now, with the rationale...
Dd is a blue bird.
PADI is so bad that it justifies the attack.
Dd's inexperience proves that he just doesn't know how bad it is yet.
and many more that we have all already seen. Maybe someone will come up with a clever new reason. It will be fun to see....

 

[Walter]

No bashing has taken place in this thread.

 

[plot]

No bashing has taken place, but a good point is brought up. The current AOW from any of the main agency's is a joke to begin with and most of it could/should be lumped in with basic OW... or alot should be added to it to make it a truely advanced course.

Right now it's more like a few extra dives with an instructor still around to babysit you in the water as needed... the agency gets it's dollar, the instructor gets it's dime, and the student is left wondering why he just wasted money on that when he could've taken a nitrox class or something better instead.

 

[jviehe]

22 meters is deeper than 60 ft.



No, but then AOW isn't an advanced course. I'm not sure it even qualifies as a "course."

PADI does not have a AOW course. They have a program called Adventures in Diving, which is a selection of individual experience dives. If you complete the Deep, Nav, and any three other Dives, you get the AOW certification. How a individual instructor or shop turns this into a course is up to them, as is them calling it an Advanced Course.

 

[jviehe]

No bashing has taken place in this thread.

What abotu Steve R's comments?

As soon as the shine wears off that Instructor's card you have, you'll realize that most agencies (Padi anyway) doesn't give a rats-behind about their own standards really.

I've been giving them (Padi) point blank, cut and dried and current examples of this sort of thing for a long time now, and if there's one thing I know for sure, they don't care, as long as the cash is rolling in.

When they can't argue that in fact you are correct in your assesement, they'll toss the mother of all "go away we've looked at it" excuses and tell you that the investigation has been done, and they are not at liberty to tell anyone anything more than that.

That's double-speak for we did nothing, we don't care, and please go away, you're making us look like the incompetents we are.

My hat's off to you buddy, you're doing the right thing, but you think the agency is in your corner. Sorry to tell you bud, they're not.

Please prove me wrong and help the student file that complaint after you've verified that in fact there really was a standards violation in your opinion.

I would love to see the good-guys win for a change.