Diver0001:Well..... I'm not sure if the consumer you're describing is typical but the basic image rings a bell. This is a nice post because it shows that not only instructors and agencies are caught up in the vicious circle but also consumers.
Just yesterday I was sitting in a meeting with a bunch of people and we were talking about buying a product from an external agency. The agency offered us 4 alternatives, which you could call "bronze" "silver" "gold" and "diamond". Bronze was useless, and diamond was ridiculous but when the moment to buy arrived one of my colleagues said "I want the Gold. I want it tomorrow and I want it for free".
Naturally everyone had to laugh but the principle is the same. He's just a consumer. He wants a high quality product without waiting and without paying. Looks like the same things apply in many areas of life.
So who is at fault? The consumer for setting the bar for buying so high or the sales(person) for setting the bar for selling so low..... There is definitely a push-and-pull happening here and you can't just blame the instructors or the agency for creating the problem. Maybe the agency and certainly many instructors have gone through their knees but the issue was already out there.
Clearly, in the recreational sports market, those who sell are more vulnerable than those who buy.
R..
All pretty much true. Some combination of cost, delivery and quality is what a customer will settle for.
Who is the real customer of the agency? The diver? I don't think so. It's the shop and the instructors. If one agency pisses off a shop they can switch to another. An agencies courses are designed to be products that the agencies first tear customer (the shop) will buy and can sell. Is offering the customer a combination of cost, delivery and quality that they will accept wrong? Say it is the minimum allowed by standards. Say I think it's really lousy diving. No, I guess it isn't wrong. I do think there are a few people hurt every year who shouldn't be but it sin't some kind of public crisis that's causing an outcry. Most will survive it and be happy little trench diggers. Though it can be a problem for those who really want to learn to dive and think they're being taught. Those are some of the ones who end up in a DIRF. LOL