PADI E-Cards

[buddhasummer]

Simon, +1. The only reason I have my DM e-card is because it came with my renewal but I did not pay extra just to get it. The easiest thing one can do is to just take digital pictures of your various cards and strore them as images on your portables/mobiles. it will provide you with all the back-up you will require

I never got the e-card when I renewed. Have emailed the twice but no repsonse. I certainly wouldn't pay extra for the e-card but if it's offered free then I'll take it. I won't be attempting to solve this anymore with Padi. Moving on...

 

[greeninkad]

I was robbed earlier in the week. A thief stole my wallet (on camera, no less) producing an interesting situation with the police. I sent PADI the following note:

I was just robbed of my wallet, and need to get a PADI replacement card. I went online and found my account, but with a $37 fee to get a new card. This didn't seem right, given that's it's a reprint of a $1 card. Can you please let me know if this is accurate, and if you might be able to show a little love given the situation. I've spent the afternoon canceling credit cards and licking my wounds.


Kind thanks,
Jared

-----------
The response:

Hello, Jared,
>
> Thanks very much for your message. We're sorry to hear of your loss and know how stressful that can be. I'm sorry I don't have better news for you but the standard replacement card fee you saw on line is indeed accurate and applies regardless of the reason for replacement. You might want to consider ordering a new PADI eCard for your replacement, since it can be stored electronically on your phone and contains an embedded QR code that allows dive centers, resorts and instructors to verify the information on the eCard against the PADI database. This helps prevent anyone from obtaining and altering your digital card for their own fraudulent use, but the cost of the new eCard is the same as the standard plastic version. Look for details on our website when you go to order your new card.
>
> I hope this is a little bit helpful, Jared, and that you'll soon be recovered and back underwater. Please let us know anytime we might assist you on your diving adventures.

> Sincerely,
> Mary Kaye Hester

> Mary Kaye Hester | Coordinator; Training, Quality Management & Instructor Development | PADI Americas | 30151 Tomas Street | Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2125
> Office: (949) 858-7234 x4009, (800) 729-7234 x4009 | Fax: (949) 267-1255 | mary.kaye.hester@padi.com | www.PADI.com
> facebook.com/padiscubadiver | twitter.com/padi | youtube.com/padiproducer

I thought that maybe she didn't believe that I'd been robbed so I sent her the police incident report to hopefully garner some goodwill...no such luck:

Hi Mary Kaye,

I'm attaching the theft report in case there's any question of my honesty.

PADI's charge is "PADI strives to be the world's most respected and
successful organization in recreational scuba diving and snorkeling."
As a respected business, I would expect that PADI would treat a proven
theft of an ID card as sufficient reason to offer a complimentary
replacement card.

I'm an active member on Scuba Board, and I would have been shocked to
have read about how PADI responds to the theft of one of their own
member's ID cards.

Feel free to have Drew Richardson give me a ring directly if he finds
this worth his time.

-------------

Her response...still asserting that her hands are tied...honestly, this is not at all what I expect from PADI...

Hi, Jared,

Thanks very much for the copy of the theft report. My apologies if you felt I was questioning your honesty but I did not doubt that you were being truthful. Unfortunately we simply do not offer complimentary replacements for stolen certification cards.

We sincerely thank you for choosing PADI as your dive training organization and appreciate your taking the time to let us know about your concerns. We hope your disappointment related to this single PADI policy doesn't keep you from continuing your training with us, and that you'll let us know anytime we might assist you in your future diving endeavors.

Sincerely,
Mary Kaye

 

[k ellis]

Judging by how many people they have going pro monthly (According to the pro website new professional members) Id say it represents less then 1 percent of all the new divers coming in world wide daily. PADI probably looks at it like if 1 million people buy this then we will make x million. I really wish I had it as good as they do and was able to sell someone a photo on their phone for 40 dollars.

Also the robotic answers have cost many of the companies I have dealt with for various reasons my business. If all you will do is copy and paste a letter thats tailored for the masses and reply to me then it shows I am not important to them.

 

[greeninkad]

Good news...moments after I posted my initial message, I received this offer from Mary Kaye in PADI Quality Management:

"After I replied to you I spoke with our Manager of Customer Service Florence Tuua and am happy to let you know she approved a one-time complimentary plastic replacement card for you."

 

[buddhasummer]

Judging by how many people they have going pro monthly (According to the pro website new professional members) Id say it represents less then 1 percent of all the new divers coming in world wide daily. PADI probably looks at it like if 1 million people buy this then we will make x million. I really wish I had it as good as they do and was able to sell someone a photo on their phone for 40 dollars.

Also the robotic answers have cost many of the companies I have dealt with for various reasons my business. If all you will do is copy and paste a letter thats tailored for the masses and reply to me then it shows I am not important to them.

I have found Amazon to be absolutely shocking in this regard. So much so, I have not picked up my Kindle for over 6 months after attempting to unsuccessfully discuss their selling of shark products. I would hazard that as they have so many million customers losing one does not overly concern them.

 

[scubamarketing]

Be happy, I've been trying to actually buy some member materials for 13 days now, but my local sales people never get back to me. Every email I send gets a response of "What is your PADI Member Number so we can best serve you?" Apparently they A) can't look it up by name B) can't look it up by email (I'm sending emails from the same email on my PADI pro account) and C) can't read the earlier emails that were forwarded that already include my member number. I guess they're making enough off e-cards that they don't want my money to certify divers...

 

[drrich2]

I have found Amazon to be absolutely shocking in this regard. So much so, I have not picked up my Kindle for over 6 months after attempting to unsuccessfully discuss their selling of shark products. I would hazard that as they have so many million customers losing one does not overly concern them.

I suspect part of it is that given the untold millions of Amazon customers, if even one in a thousand has some special cause to endorse or oppose, it would be very impractical for Amazon as a business to engage in a dialogue between upper management and all these people. Kind of like if everybody who had a gripe with Microsoft demanded to talk with Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer. Worse, if one of these people actually sent you an e-mail basically telling you 'no, we're not going to do what you want as we'd make less money,' then you'd probably post about it online, possibly get a media movement going, etc... Imagine someone with PETA claiming pet ownership is animal exploitation and trying to get Amazon to quit selling pet books, and an Amazon rep. firing off an e-mail stating 'Look, that's nuts, now let us alone,' and that e-mail going viral.

In other words, they've little to gain, a lot to lose, and there are untold hordes of people pushing special interest concerns, whereas Amazon is a business mostly interested in making money and leveraging itself to make more money for the long-haul.

As sympathetic as many of us on the forum are to blocking market outlets for shark products, I can easily imagine why they didn't want to interact with you personally about it.

Richard.

 

[Randy43068]

The best complaint back to PADI is to not buy the stupid eCard things. The whole idea of it is really stupid. Anyone can look up your cert online. You can also scan your cards into a PDF and put it in your email account, online or a copy on your phone. If anyone really needs to see your card, refer to that document. But really folks, how hard is it to carry a credit card size cert? Really...

 

[buddhasummer]

I suspect part of it is that given the untold millions of Amazon customers, if even one in a thousand has some special cause to endorse or oppose, it would be very impractical for Amazon as a business to engage in a dialogue between upper management and all these people. Kind of like if everybody who had a gripe with Microsoft demanded to talk with Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer. Worse, if one of these people actually sent you an e-mail basically telling you 'no, we're not going to do what you want as we'd make less money,' then you'd probably post about it online, possibly get a media movement going, etc... Imagine someone with PETA claiming pet ownership is animal exploitation and trying to get Amazon to quit selling pet books, and an Amazon rep. firing off an e-mail stating 'Look, that's nuts, now let us alone,' and that e-mail going viral.

In other words, they've little to gain, a lot to lose, and there are untold hordes of people pushing special interest concerns, whereas Amazon is a business mostly interested in making money and leveraging itself to make more money for the long-haul.

As sympathetic as many of us on the forum are to blocking market outlets for shark products, I can easily imagine why they didn't want to interact with you personally about it.

Richard.

You raise some very good points, things I hadn't really considered, thank you. I guess what really pissed me off, the icing on the cake so to speak, was the "cut and paste", computer generated, standard responses they kept sending me.

 

[k ellis]

You raise some very good points, things I hadn't really considered, thank you. I guess what really pissed me off, the icing on the cake so to speak, was the "cut and paste", computer generated, standard responses they kept sending me.

The Irony is when you send them a complaint and they respond with a letter that thanks you for enquiring about (Anything here) and then you write back asking to please answer the question. You then get the exact same email returned to you. So you come in here and copy and paste then several people say they got the exact same letter word for word. Thats enough to make it look like the email never even reaches its destination. It just has some mailbox that when it receives your email it just kicks it out and responds back with the robotic answer. Thats what makes me mad is that it makes it appear your concern was never even read.