Hoag
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As others have said, the quality of the instructor is the primary concern. I can relate horror stories starring individual instructors from each agency. I can relate tales of excellence starring individual instructors from each agency.
It is definitely true that PADI has many more outlets worldwide, but once you are certified, that doesn't matter a bit. If you are going diving and need to present a certification card as qualification, any dive operation anywhere in the world will accept the card from any bona fide agency. If you move somewhere and decide to go on to higher levels of instruction, you can switch from one to the other without a problem.
My comment, which you chose to use only a portion of out of context, was alluding to the comments that others had made that if you are certified by PADI and you forget your c-card if you are at a PADI facility they can look your certification(s) up online.