PADI Society subscription...worth it?

[Token]

I while ago I subscribed to the PADI society...mostly for the sake of receiving their magazine, which I was buying anyway. A few months after subscribing [like 4 or 5] I started receiving notices begging me to renew my subscription, which seemed a little 'off' to me. I'm not greatly impressed with the magazine but I've been lazy about discovering everything they may have to offer.

So I dunno...does anybody here subscribe? Are their various 'services' of use? Pro or con?

 

[tplyons]

The only service I use is reading the magazine on the throne. The bag went straight to Salvation Army.

And yes, those renewal cards get REALLY annoying, but I think they keep the US Post Office in business.

 

[TMHeimer]

There is very little in the magazine for me since it's mostly travel and none of those places allow shell collecting. Once in a while there is a small article of some interest. When I stop DMing and let my PADI membership lapse I will not decide to pay for the subscription. I live in the boonies and mostly solo dive, plan my own vacations, etc., so PADI Diving Society does nothing for me. But they haven't sent me more than one renewal notice yearly (not sure why as pro PADI members get the mag. automatically) and they sent me a neat CARD!!!

 

[SDiverJim]

As others have posted...spend the dollars on DAN instead.

 

[nimoh]

I will never rejoin the PADI diving society due to their poor customer service.

I have actually resorted to sending back their requests for membership renewal blank, just so they get charged for the postage

 

[Ken T]

Never did receive my subscription "gift"...

 

[Bob DBF]

No.

After getting tons of ads with decreasing price, I finally broke down and got a subscription for two years for $20. They quit sending them after a year, but kept sending offers and renewals the whole time. The local Scuba fire starter has a better quality of writing and not everything in it is an ad.


Bob
-------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[nimoh]

Never did receive my subscription "gift"...

never got mine either...part of the very poor customer service

 

[DiverAmy]

My instinct was to avoid it. They already have plenty of my money. But the fact that I have never subscribed doesn't stop them from trying. Gotta' love persistence.

 

[MrChen]

Unlike the others, I do like reading the Sport Diver mag, but I'm new to the sport and like reading about all the gear they "recommend". I joined and really haven't seen any benefits besides the mag. And yes, they are constantly sending renewal notices and it wasn't long after I had joined that they started doing so. This confuses me because now I'm don't how long ago I joined. Usually you get notices when it's time to renew.

The bag is of pretty poor quality, but I found a use for it as my accessory bag (lights, gloves, hood, spool, etc). I doubt it will hold up long.

I don't know that I'll renew. I did sign up for DAN last month (with insurance) and will probably just keep renewing that membership.