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Bob,
You should have asked me before you assumed that I had not made a formal
complaint. I
only wish that I still had the emails that NAUI sent me.
My complaint went along the following lines- after all the poor quality
instruction,
before the instroketor would give me my extended range or Trimix c-card, I had
to complete
the gas mixer/blender exams. Since this was never my understanding when I
signed up and
given the lightweight nature of the blender courses, I was understandably
annoyed. The
funniest part of all was that the exams were photocopied TDI exams!
I contacted NAUI South Africa by telephone, essentially to be told that 1) the
instructor
could basically do what he wanted 2) it would take months for anything to
happen. I also
had an extended email conversation with somebody at NAUI tec. I can assure you
that it in
no way promised as swift action as the very "customer friendly" email from NAUI
tec that
was addressed to me and posted to this list but not to my email address. To
sum it up, I
had the distinct feeling that NAUI was closing ranks and firmly protecting the
instructor.
So what did I do ? Joined Tech Diver, found a DIR diver in South Africa and
started over
again.
Cheers,
Simon
n a message dated 4/30/00 6:50:49 AM Pacific Daylight Time, bdi@bd*.co*.au*
writes:
> Bob, you got any evidence to support this outrageous
> piece of blind optimism or are you just bullshitting and
> hoping it's true?
Billy,
It's not particularly blind optimism. Over the years I have seen
various agencies take actions when violations occur. I have known
instructors that were accused, sometimes rightfully, other times wrongfully,
and have seen the resulting process in action. A very easy piece of evidence
to offer might be PADI's quarterly publication of quality assurance actions
including the names of any expelled members.
As a more pertinent example, I'm attaching a CC I recieved from NAUI
Tech Ops concerning the commentary that appeared on this list. In all
fairness, it's worth noting that my understanding is that to date, "Simon"
has not bothered to file a formal complaint concerning this matter.
Does every agency adamently police their membership and pursue
complaints? I don't have a clue, there are too many organizations to have
personal knowledge of everyone. Do politics, economics and friendships
sometimes hinder the process? Sure, I'm not nearly enough of an optimist to
believe every reported violation is dealt with in a "squeaky clean" manner.
After all, anytime humans are involved factors such as emotion and greed will
play a role from time to time.
I'm also not so niave as believe that every bad instructor gets
caught. To be fair the agency dealing with the problem cannot simply act
upon the accusation of one person. The accused needs an opportunity to
respond and other evidence needs to be gathered. I have no doubt that some
get away with things due to the apathy of their students (or lack of
realization that they were "had") and a hesitation on the part of their peers
to "snitch."
Again, I'd like to emphasize that to date, the individual that
suggested wrong doing in the matter addressed below has failed to follow
through with a formal complaint to NAUI HQ.
Bob Decker
SportDiverHQ.com
*****CC from NAUI Tech******
Simon,
I have been forwarded your e-mail that went out to a chat line. I am most
concerned about you account of a NAUI Technical Instructor and a NAUI
Technical Training Center in South Africa. If you would be so kind as to put
your account of this incident (bogus training) in a email message to me
incuding the name of the facility and name of the instructor and the date
that this took place, I will take care of it from here. Please indicate the
agency exam that you were given as well as the what agency or xeroxed
training materials were provided to you as well as the agency c-card issued
to you.
I will assure you that actions from this department are swift and
irrevocable. We only have one center in South Africa and if what you have
described is correct....we will have none very shortly after receipt of your
formal complaint. Moreover any NAUI technical instructor that provides
training as you described will have his/her technical authorization revoked
immediatly.
The NAUI Mixed Gas Blender and Oxygen Technician course is given in an
academic powerpoint presentation that includes nitrox and trimix blending as
well as techniques for oxygen servicing. This usually takes some 6 to 8
hours. You should have been provided a NAUI Mixed Gas Blender and Oxygen
Service Technician manual. You should have had appoximately 4 hours of bench
time to include mixing trimix, nitrox, oxygen cleaning cylinders, valves, and
regulators as well as documentation of the oxygen cleaning process. NAUI
technical Operations views a blender as just that " a mixed gas blender" . We
do not differentiate between nitrox, trimix, or heliox for the sake of
another course.
If this is not what you received, then you may take this course at this
facility free of charge anytime you like.
Thank you in advance to your attention to this matter.
Best Regards
Timothy R. O'Leary
Director
NAUI Technical Operations
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