Divemasters: Beware the West LA Sport Chalet!!

[on_two_wheels]

I gotta agree with Bruce on this one. It's NOT that you can't dive or just that your cert has expired. Think of it this way; you provide a card with no expiration date and something happens. The family can sue but the shop saw all they needed to protect themselves from liability.

Now say you showed them an expired DM card. Family sues and this is revealed. Problem is that in the court, the jury isn't likely to have a diver. An ignorant jury alone may be enough for SC to pay out a LOT of money. Perhaps corporate requires it for this reason. Not to mention, they probably want DMs to continue paying fees & insurance so if it's a pain, you'll either renew or start using the card they want to see.

I know it's "cool" to show the DM card but the guy doing the fill probably doesn't care what level of cert you are. Just use the others.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It is also very simple. Take the damn sticker off the card! All it will say is DM. If they did not know that the cert does not expire they are too dumb to realize that it doesn't have one. Or they were. See what you did? Now a lot of other PADI DM's who decided to say screw it will go into that store, get the same butthead, and not get a fill. Way to go dude! Sounds like these people get the rejects from TSA that were rejected by McDonalds!

 

[Leejnd]

I gotta agree with Bruce on this one. It's NOT that you can't dive or just that your cert has expired. Think of it this way; you provide a card with no expiration date and something happens. The family can sue but the shop saw all they needed to protect themselves from liability.

Now say you showed them an expired DM card. Family sues and this is revealed. Problem is that in the court, the jury isn't likely to have a diver. An ignorant jury alone may be enough for SC to pay out a LOT of money. Perhaps corporate requires it for this reason. Not to mention, they probably want DMs to continue paying fees & insurance so if it's a pain, you'll either renew or start using the card they want to see.

I know it's "cool" to show the DM card but the guy doing the fill probably doesn't care what level of cert you are. Just use the others.

I respectfully disagree.

First of all, I think it's a little unfair (and mildly insulting) to imply that he showed his DM card because it was "cool". Knowing Jason, I'm quite confident that was not a factor. It was probably just the card he happened to have in his wallet.

I keep my AOW and Nitrox cards in my dive bag. That way I can be sure I have the right cards with me when I actually go diving. In my wallet I only have my OW card. Maybe Jason does something similar, so his DM card was the one he has in his wallet because he doesn't need it when he's actually diving. And any dive shop should be well aware that you can't get a DM card without having completed other lifetime certifications...so it's a perfectly valid card to provide to get an air fill.

As for the court case, sorry - that just makes no sense. SC would simply not be liable for damages for giving a fill to a legitimately certified diver. Unrelated expiration of DM insurance or membership have nothing whatsoever to do with certifications, and the right to get air fills. It's a pretty basic concept that any jury can grasp.

SC should not be denying services due to some remote, highly unlikely possibility of jury confusion about expiration stickers.

Besides, the manager already made it clear that this is NOT SC corporate policy. It was just a boneheaded, uninformed employee. Case closed.

 

[shoupart]

@ Jim: Unfortunately, it's not a sticker- it's printed right on the card.

@ LeAnne: Thanks. That is what happened- it was just the card I happened to have on me, in my car at the time. It was the first card I grabbed when I knew I'd be going to Sport Chalet to get a fill.

 

[D_B]

Employee ..OK

Manager .. No
He should know better ... what does he "Manage" and how can he if he doesn't know?
I would hope that he takes this opportunity to find out

I'm glad to hear the they ARE taking the opportunity to learn from this and inform their employees

 

[pluckydks]

I gotta agree with Bruce on this one. It's NOT that you can't dive or just that your cert has expired. Think of it this way; you provide a card with no expiration date and something happens. The family can sue but the shop saw all they needed to protect themselves from liability.

Now say you showed them an expired DM card. Family sues and this is revealed. Problem is that in the court, the jury isn't likely to have a diver. An ignorant jury alone may be enough for SC to pay out a LOT of money. Perhaps corporate requires it for this reason. Not to mention, they probably want DMs to continue paying fees & insurance so if it's a pain, you'll either renew or start using the card they want to see.

I know it's "cool" to show the DM card but the guy doing the fill probably doesn't care what level of cert you are. Just use the others.

I'm with LeeAnne on this one. If anything did make it to court, SC's lawyers should be smart enough to defend themselves by saying he is still a certified diver for life.

 

[ItsBruce]

I'm with LeeAnne on this one. If anything did make it to court, SC's lawyers should be smart enough to defend themselves by saying he is still a certified diver for life.

I've been away, but decided to make one (?) last comment.

Sure the lawyers would be smart enough to win that one, and would do so at $350 to $550 per hour. I would estimate that I could probably do it in 20 to 30 hours.

The question isn't winning or losing, or even the cost of winning. The question is whether a low level employee should be exposing the company to what might be a lawsuit.

Oh, and for the several people who quoted me above and said things to the effect "not my job," you did not actually say whether you will do the fill.