I believe that the biggest problem in the dive gear/training industry is the fact that training and gear sales are often provided by the same person or business. In fact, recreational dive training exists as it does, meaning hugely corporate, primarily to create a market for gear sales. Add to that the business model of the big agencies, well PADI anyhow, which is more-or-less a pyramid scheme with the primary intent of self-promulgation.
The gear sales side of this is rife with deceptive information, narcissism, and manipulative behavior on the part of the instructors. I realize that there are dedicated instructors on this forum for whom the quality of their training is paramount, but simply starting a thread imploring divers to 'avoid going cheap' is just another example of a dive educator engaging in sales. So why did you do it?
There is no substantial problem in recreational diving with people using inexpensive gear. The problem is that the whole industry is geared (no pun intended!) to acquiring new students, training them to the point where they will purchase equipment, and then repeating this process. When 90% or so of new divers do not continue, I'd say that's a pretty serious failure of education and training, unless of course the real goal of the industry is simply to sell new divers expensive gear. In that case, it's a rousing success.
I also realize that these few dedicated instructors who rightly feel that their skill is worth a premium price are likely getting squeezed financially by the glut of crappy teachers/salesmen that PADI keeps spitting out. This is worth complaining about, and if your thread was specifically about training costs, fine. But as soon as you start whining about the supposed 'problem' of divers using inexpensive or old gear, and THEN confuse the issue by tossing in some comment about service practices, you've lost credibility. It's a bit of a surprise considering your posting history.