Letter of Complaint for Splash DiveCenter, Alexandria Virginia

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Jeff Charlot

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Ubud, Indonesia
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Letter of Complaint forSplash Dive Center, Alexandria Virginia
Splash dive center is the only bad dive shop I’ve ever experienced. Of course some are better than others, but I’ve never had the misfortune of experiencing a bad one until now.
I have 21 years of service with the U.S. Coast Guard. Our mantra is that you are always training the guy below you to take your place. I have been training and educating for a long, long time. I’m a weapons instructor, boat operator instructor, ship driving instructor and a navigation instructor. I’ve worked with and for a lot of very competent instructors.

This brings us to Splash Dive Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

When I signed up to earn my Dive Master Certification with Splash Dive Center, I expected the level of excellence and dedication that my previous experience with competent PADI instructors had demonstrated. I didn’t find that to be the case. My DMC education was sloppy and mishandled. When I asked Janet Hays, the Owner/Instructor the reason why DMC’s had to do an equipment exchange at the bottom of the pool, she replied, “oh, it’s just hazing”. Well, no it’s not; she just didn’t know the answer. At times, I was simply ignored if I asked what tasks needed to be done, and when I asked who my instructor was and couldn’t get an answer.

This process was very unprofessional and disjointed.

The Owner/Instructor, David Hayes of Splash Dive Center organized a quarry dive on 01 April 2012 to run the four DMC’s through their last open water dives for their certification. As we were running an Advanced student diver through her navigation drills, both sets of DMC’s allowed the student to swim under a dock, an overhead environment which is a safety concern for the student and a failing grade for the DMC’s…all of us. Yes, even me. As we finished the Dive, David calmly explained that because we had allowed the student to swim under the dock and it was a safety concern, we had all failed that portion and would need to successfully re-dive it. But since it was late, we were cold and all had spent around $500 dollars out of our own pocket to come down and dive, he’d just scold us and score it as a passing score. The AOW student who obviously needed extra attention and training was certified on this day as well.

I am simply aghast at this level of unprofessionalism. Through Splash Dive Center, I, and three other people are now certified as Dive Masters. I have asked my previous mentor if I can fly back to San Diego for an undetermined amount of time and receive remedial Dive Master training. A friend of mine who earned her DM certification at Splash has already called PADI to complain about the level of incompetence at Splash and I have submitted a copy of this letter as well as I simply don’t want another student to end up with the experiences that I’ve had with Splash Dive Center.

Respectfully,
Jeffrey Charlot
 
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Must of been a pretty big boat dock to be considered an overhead environment. I think we sometimes get just a tad carried away this. So I swim under a dive boat is this now an overhead environment. So did you get your DMC?
 
I have a very mixed reaction to the post.

When the dive store owner was asked why you had to do the gear exchange, she could have looked at the question in two ways. One is, "What do standard say you have to do?" and the other is, "Why do the standard require that?" In fact, there is no situation in diving where you would have to exchange gear with your buddy. So the purpose of the drill is not to build any kind of specific skill you would need when diving. The purpose of the drill, in fact, is to assess in-water comfort, so in that sense, it IS hazing. She may not have been as flippant as you thought.

With respect to the "overhead" incident, I agree that the student should have been controlled and prevented from doing what was described. On the other hand, in what other circumstance are you going to be able to recreate that SPECIFIC incident, to retest that understanding? Although you all made an error, if you were otherwise doing very well, I can see the instructor feeling that a good scolding was sufficient. I am quite sure that there is no line in the PADI standards that says that, if a DMC allows a student to swim under the platform, he must repeat the student supervision exercise until he doesn't do it any more.

I don't know why you are so unhappy with your DM training, and there may be a great deal more to it than the two specific incidents. But it is definitely true that the goal of the instructor supervising your DM class is to produce someone who can safely assist with classes and guide dives, and if the instructors felt that your performance in general was consistently better than satisfactory, that there was no need to hold up your certification over nitpicky details.
 
I can appreciate you wanted to further your dive experience and certification, but just what does a divemaster do?

Most of them I have encountered stay on the boat. Instructors seem to be the ones in the water with the students

I think the biggest problem is that with your military background you are used to regimented training, and this was a laid back LDS
 
When I asked Janet Hays, theOwner/Instructor the reason why DMC’s had to do an equipment exchange at thebottom of the pool, she replied, “oh, it’s just hazing”. Well, no it’s not; she just didn’t know theanswer.

since you did not address it, what is the reason?
we did the equipment exchange at the bottom of the pool during our OW course as well as blind don /doff

based on that i would say she was right as well as what TSandM said




on a side note, what is with all the words blending together, makes it hard to read
 
The gear exchange is not hazing. It is a task loading exercise used to assess more than comfort in the water. If an instructor is using it for that something is seriously wrong. The comfort level of the diver in the water should have been well determined before allowing them to even begin a DM class. The exchange teaches the divers task loading and team work under more challenging conditions than they may be used to. It imparts lessons in decision making, patience, and critical thinking. It also gives candidates a clear illustration of why they need to know their gear by feel and more importantly other gear configurations. My DMC and I did a practice exchange a couple weeks ago. Swapped her jacket and conventional reg set up for my bpw and long hose. Which she had never been in before. For the first time it went smooth, considering she was also in a dry suit (2nd pool session on that) and I was diving wet. It showed that patience and taking time to think about what you are doing is critical under water. And that no matter what anyone says about tech or rec kit, gear is gear. It is nothing like hazing.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
 
As others said , gear exchange is not a hazing thing, it is to show comfort in the water and problem management skills. Will there be a actual incident where this is done? Not likely,but a simple issue as a loose tank in a bcd,lost fin,flooded mask is something that can and will happen.This is no reason to go to surface.Just solve the problem u/w and go on with the dive.
 

Doubler:
I did in fact receive my DMC. I don't feel that I should have. The instruction was just too poor to produce a quality DM. With my background I feel I can accurately assess my own level of competency and I'm simply not confident of my training level. I will need some remedial training with a competent instructor prior to acting in a DM capacity.

TSandM:
I have never written an unfavorable review before, whether for a restaurant or anything else. However my review was based on my desire to save future divers and DMC's the trouble that I went through. There are other, more reputable dive shops to seek out their certification from. I'm also aware of three DM's and one instructor who has cut their ties with Splash.

Dr Dog:
Yes I am a professional instructor, but I'm also easily approchable and can adjust my teaching style to meet the needs of the students, whatever their rank or position. Splash isnot laid back, they are unprofessional and incompetent.

Jim:
Excellent post and you are absolutely correct. I went to several instructors to find out the point of the underwater gear swap and it was explained exactly as you say. And I admit, it makes a lot of sense and I understand the need for a DMC to be able to do it. I did my gear swap the first time through even though my 'instructor' informed me that I would fail the first several times because, "nobody ever passes this on their first time through". Thanks for the vote of confidence, coach.
 
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Your welcome. If you ever get up this way look me up. Would be glad to dive with you. And I am hoping for a saltwater trip of some type this year. Either Ocean City, Va Beach, or outer banks of NC. It if happens I'll let you know and you can recommend an op in your area to use. Maybe join me in some wreck plundering.
 
I probably won't be heading north to dive, but if you get down this direction, Olympus Charters out of Morehead NC does a very nice charter with some great wrecks. I've dove central america, the caribbean, western US and Bermuda and the wreck diving out of NC topped them all. Diving with 30-40 sand tiger sharks made a big impression on me. If you decide to come down this way, give me a shout and I'll pack my bags and come dive with you!
Jeffcharlot@yahoo.com
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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