Hey Ray -
I first sent him an email in May of 2009 - as seen below. I then snail mailed the same letter to him a few weeks later. The people who answer the general SSI emails using the contact form on the SSI site are usually really quick to respond (they actually sent me to Watson in the first place). In this case, I know Watson contacted the dive shop directly, but never bothered to answer any of my questions regarding the specific requirements of SSI Stress & Rescue instruction.. In the end, we worked with the shop owner to get 50% of our tuition back and will re take the class at another facility.. Going to ask many more questions this time before shelling out the $$ !
---- original email
Hi Waston -
I was referred to you by Marilyn Pearson regarding a rather bad experience my girlfriend and I recently had with a local SSI Dive shop here in Oregon.
I'm not really sure what you're able to do about it, if anything, but I feel like we should almost re-take the classes because they were taught at such a poor level, and I'm worried that their basic open water classes might be equally bad for new divers. I'm usually able to overlook a few small problems, misunderstandings, or incorrect information when it comes to "specialty" classes as nobody is perfect and it's rare to find a walking encyclopedia of SCUBA knowledge, but I feel like it was just one mess-up after another with this instructor and shop, which I refer to at the end of this message. For your consideration, here are some brief notes about what we felt was wrong / odd / poor about the Stress and Rescue and Dry Suit classes we took in March / April of 2009.
== Stress & Rescue Class ==
- forced to buy 2 separate books & DVDs ($60 each) due to "homework" that we needed to complete
- yet homework never looked at, discussed, collected, or corrected (we still have it, untouched by instructor, never signed off on)
- course was condensed into one night of 30 mins class & about 60 mins pool, no second class or follow-up before open water
- no CPR or accident management discussion (told it was not required)
- no discussion or rehearsal of what to do once you get the diver to shore / boat (essentially towing exercises only)
- instructor never entered pool once (seemed very odd to me)
- pool session consisted of 4 tows and inflating the BC of an unconscious diver
- covered how to approach a panic diver by splashing water in face or diving under them
- mock coaching sessions seemed practically useless
In summary - we could have read the SSI Book and watched the DVD and basically received the same level of instruction.
== Dry suit class ==
- done as part of 'demo days' to sell White's dry suits (1/2 price class as promo)
- no book for class ("out of stock" according to shop), no real classroom lecture other than sales pitch from White's rep (no SSI materials provided or reviewed whatsoever)
- used only Whites dry suit, despite several neoprene suits in rental stock
- no instructors in pool during demo
- one lady left to flail for several minutes upside-down during air-bubble-in-feet exercise while instructors chatted poolside, oblivious
- no solid discussion of proper ascent procedures - implied that suit takes care of it all...
- when instructor added dry suit hose to first-stage regulator, we were told that having both regs on right side was "PADI" setup, instructor switched backup reg hose to left post
- when we asked why PADI does it that way, told "Because they are retards" (direct quote, probably a joke but I didn't find it very funny or informative)
- when I asked about the problem of backup regulator (now on left post) being UPSIDE DOWN from my point-of-view, I was told that it's only for air sharing.. (I would never need to use it)
- then I asked "what happens if my primary second stage has a problem and I need to use my backup" and was told "If your primary has a problem, you're in trouble.." with no further clarification or explanation on how to use a regulator that was oriented upside-down
In summary - probably great for selling Whites dry suits, but not really useful for a new dry suit diver, and no materials to refer back to for ascent / descent procedures, care of suit, etc
== Scheduling & Open Water - (other misc info, not necessarily related to SSI course material)==
- Told incorrect time for dry suit "class"
- Scheduled open water for Sunday, reminded dive shop it was on Sunday during equipment pickup, yet was confronted and attacked when showing up (early) on Sunday morning
- Chatted with another dive shop instructor who was holding open water training, and was told that our instructor had "a late night" the previous night (not exactly confidence-inspiring)
- witnessed conversation between instructors that their open water class had skipped the snorkel dive during open water certification and nothing was done about it.
{removed scuba shop info, since I mentioned it in another thread and no need to beat a dead horse}
In closing, I would love your feedback on what a proper Stress & Rescue class and Dry Suit class should consist of. I feel as though we spent hundreds of dollars at this shop and now have next to nothing to show for it in terms of useful continuing education, other than 2 copies of an SSI Book and 2 DVDs (which we could have easily shared one of for $60).
We both certified at a great shop (Neptune Divers in UT) with great instructors, and I feel fortunate to have started SCUBA off on the right foot. However after this experience with Aquatic Sports, I feel as though the continuing education "specialty courses" might be not worth taking.
At some point in time, I would also like to forward this information to the manager {scuba shop}. Is there any reason to hold of on this? (I'm not sure what actions, if any, will be taken by SSI)
Thanks for any input & advice on this - please let me know if you need any additional information from me.
{ my contact info removed }
