Course pricing

[CptTightPants21]

A shop or instructor can charge whatever they want for services...that's not illegal. Did the OP agree to receive and subsequently pay for said services? If yes, than there is no disputing the charge.

Report to PADI? Really? So PADI sets market value on instruction now? Good luck with that one.

Look I understand your POV. Truth is I agree with you on instructor setting price of instruction, etc. I have and will continue to pay top dollar for quality instruction. If all he paid was $300, I would consider that an overly high price, but a live and learn free market experience. If what the above is accurate, that he was charged $600 for a basic nitrox course, that is the equivalent of high way robbery. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered and that is exactly what that shop has become.

There is no way you can tell me he received $600 worth of instruction for the basic nitrox course-----advanced nitrox by itself doesn't even cost that much.

 

[Hawkwood]

Interesting. Looked at a three shops in Ottawa for their pricing.

The three I looked at offered eLearning, $264 plus GST/HST.

Of the three, only one stated what their additional charges were...$195 USD. I thought it was strange to show the price in USD, but oh well. Currently, the exchange rate makes that about $250 CDN.

 

[decompression]

Interesting. Looked at a three shops in Ottawa for their pricing.

The three I looked at offered eLearning, $264 plus GST/HST.

Of the three, only one stated what their additional charges were...$195 USD. I thought it was strange to show the price in USD, but oh well. Currently, the exchange rate makes that about $250 CDN.

Agreed that $500+ is a tad high for a almost zero overhead course........

I include nitrox in my basic ow courses. Nice for my customers who are leaving for a nice warm vacation to be able to dive nitrox.


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[jbomb001]

No such thing as e- learning when I got mine. But I think my Class was $165.00 and that includes 2 boat dives on my choice of up to 40% o2. $600 ???wtf. I'd think you got double charged an would ask the shop to review your transactions. If they tell you that you were charged appropriately let them know they will not be charging you for anything ever again. Note I did mine with ssi not padi. So idk what the difference is.

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[tomfcrist]

Look I understand your POV. Truth is I agree with you on instructor setting price of instruction, etc. I have and will continue to pay top dollar for quality instruction. If all he paid was $300, I would consider that an overly high price, but a live and learn free market experience. If what the above is accurate, that he was charged $600 for a basic nitrox course, that is the equivalent of high way robbery. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered and that is exactly what that shop has become.

There is no way you can tell me he received $600 worth of instruction for the basic nitrox course-----advanced nitrox by itself doesn't even cost that much.

I'm not saying there was $600 worth of instruction given. I'm pretty sure that with PADI you can buy the nitrox Elearning through the PADI website. If that's not the case, then I'm at a loss for why the dive shop would sell a course to somebody with 2 separate fees.

If you buy through PADI, you buy the Elearning and nothing else. The dive shop is not going to work for free. They are going to charge you if you want checkout dives. It's no different than a referral. How much does it cost to do referral dives? $3-400 in most places...on top of the tuition and training the student took back home.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Do they still require dives with PADI Nitrox?

 

[CptTightPants21]

The on-line portion was $300 and then my dove shop charged me another $300. The online portion seems reasonable considering the information presented, however I feel $300 for a 2 hour class composed mainly of chit-chat followed to be shown how to use an oxygen sensor somewhat pricey.

I'm not saying there was $600 worth of instruction given. I'm pretty sure that with PADI you can buy the nitrox Elearning through the PADI website. If that's not the case, then I'm at a loss for why the dive shop would sell a course to somebody with 2 separate fees.

If you buy through PADI, you buy the Elearning and nothing else. The dive shop is not going to work for free. They are going to charge you if you want checkout dives. It's no different than a referral. How much does it cost to do referral dives? $3-400 in most places...on top of the tuition and training the student took back home.

What the hell did this dive shop do that was worth $300?
He didn't get checkout dives.
This is a basic nitrox course, what the hell is there to do on a checkout dive? My shop had "checkout dives", it was here are two tanks of nitrox, analyze them, bring them back empty, have fun.

This "training" actually costs more than advanced technical training from the best scuba instructors on the planet when you look at it on a per hour basis.

I'm at a loss for words as to how someone could argue this is anything but price gouging.

You seem to be talking to my posts rather than to the issue at hand. What do YOU charge for nitrox? Can you explain to everyone here why charging $600 for a basic nitrox course is fair and reasonable.

 

[Hawkwood]

Do they still require dives with PADI Nitrox?

No Jim, they are not required.

The students can do two "Pre-Dive Simulation Exercises" or they can do two Enriched Air Dives. The only difference is that they actually do the dive for the second option. They still must go through all the planning, etc. for just the Simulation Exercise.

 

[Pinecube]

Interesting. Looked at a three shops in Ottawa for their pricing.

The three I looked at offered eLearning, $264 plus GST/HST.

Of the three, only one stated what their additional charges were...$195 USD. I thought it was strange to show the price in USD, but oh well. Currently, the exchange rate makes that about $250 CDN.

I just visited the website for 3 shops in the Ottawa area. One does not state a price, one shows $175CAD and the other shows $150CAD. Now, are these actually "additional" charges? I don't see anywhere that states they are additional charges. My assumption was that it was the price for the full course (with no e-learning).


Is it possible ljpm paid for a full course plus the PADI e-learning course? I ask because he stated that he had a 2 hour lecture, which I wouldn't think necessary if he already completed the theory portion online.

 

[Hawkwood]

I just visited the website for 3 shops in the Ottawa area. One does not state a price, one shows $175CAD and the other shows $150CAD. Now, are these actually "additional" charges? I don't see anywhere that states they are additional charges. My assumption was that it was the price for the full course (with no e-learning).
...

I also saw prices for the "traditional" class, one of which was $175.

I could very well be mistaken regarding the shop where I saw the two prices identified, and likely am now that I have gone back and played with the numbers and exchange rates.

When you go onto the PADI eLearning site from the shop's website I looked at, you get a price of $264. The price charged by PADI in Canada for the Enriched Air eLearning. No problem.

That shop's website also stated a price of $195USD (why USD?) for the enriched air on the eLearning page. Confused as I was about the USD, it would appear that I mistook that for the "extra" charge the OP discussed. Going in with a preconceived notion, I found it. What I found instead was a confusing way of showing pricing, which only reinforced what I was trying to find. I read enough "murder mysteries" that I should have known not to do that.

My apologies.

I do agree with both Jax and yourself, that it would seem most likely that the OP was double billed for some reason.

At our shop:

"Traditional" enriched air class: $129
eLearning class: $264 - as one other mentioned, we don't charge for the practical exercises if they signed up for the eLearning through our "store front".