What Is Your Opinion Of A Cavern Instructor - - -

[CaptainSpeleo]

who charges his students $200.00 for a 2-day Cavern course, declines to sign off their paperwork and certify them because Peacock Springs closed before noon on Sunday because of Hurricane Dennis and only allowed them to complete 3 of their 5 training dives at Orange Grove Sink, then tells them to return next weekend at their own expense to complete their last 2 training dives?

This happened to my son-in-law, and he's highly pissed off about it, considering it's almost a 200-mile drive one-way, and he'll have to take another day off from work to finish the course.

Personally, I would've cancelled the entire class and rescheduled it, considering what the projected path and arrival time of Hurricane Dennis was.

[Cindy]

I thought cavern class had to be taught at two sites? Cindy

[kgault]

What did you expect the Instructor to do? He cannot certify them unless they complete the training. Is he charging them additional Instructor fees for the day? from the sounds of it he is only having them pick up their own cost to get back to the dive site. This is a standard practice for weather related cancelations for dive shops/instructors teaching Open Water classes.

Were the students already down to Peacock at the time the bad weather was predicted for the area (Friday night / Sat morning)? I know we did not cancel classes in the Panhandle till Friday and we were in the path of the hurricane.

It is only fair to judge the Instructor's behavior given the information HE would have had at the time. Ginne Springs and Cave Excursions East did not declare closings until late Saturday, with the first bad weather reported Saturday morning.

My opinion (from the limited information provided) is that the Instructor acted professionally.

Keith

who charges his students $200.00 for a 2-day Cavern course, declines to sign off their paperwork and certify them because Peacock Springs closed before noon on Sunday because of Hurricane Dennis and only allowed them to complete 3 of their 5 training dives at Orange Grove Sink, then tells them to return next weekend at their own expense to complete their last 2 training dives?

This happened to my son-in-law, and he's highly pissed off about it, considering it's almost a 200-mile drive one-way, and he'll have to take another day off from work to finish the course.

Personally, I would've cancelled the entire class and rescheduled it, considering what the projected path and arrival time of Hurricane Dennis was.

[RH]

Well 200 miles is nothing and 200 dollars for a weekend course seems to be the norm .I don't think he should have to pay for extra days to complete the course but we are only getting your side of this.If this is the only complaint and he's getting trained correctly and the instructor is doing a good job then he should look at it as he's getting to go dive and pick his instructor's brain more instead of whining about the drive.

[Moonfuzzy]

I agree with Keith.

I wouldn't expect the instructor to sign their cert paperwork with the course incomplete. It would be irresponsable to do so.

I wouldn't expect the instructor to charge anything more for the additional day.

I wouldn't expect the instructor to offer to pay their travel costs to get back.

It seems to me that the class should be finished on a day that is agreeable to the instructor and the students (not simply - 'come back next weekend').

If the students don't want to come back to finish the class MAYBE the instructor would agree to a partial refund. I wouldn't expect that, but it would be a nice gesture.

[jammer]

Well I am with Cindy I thought that Cavern had to be Two separate systems at least that is what it says in my cavern book and my instructor did my cavern course in Orange grove for mask off line drills in open water. Then P1 for fin kicks and lights out on line and lights out on line air share drill then back to Orange for pleasure dive on 5th dive. I do not know why istructor did what he did but you also do not know what he had completed and how close it was to park closing and it is a two day course. Did they do the two days or was it they did their three dives today and park closed? So unless we were there and heard the situation it is hard to speculate what the complete ordeal was or is.

[CaptainSpeleo]

When I talked to my son-in-law on Friday, I pretty much expected the class would be cancelled for the weekend because of the impending weather there, but he said it wasn't and that he had to be at Peacock Springs by 8:00 A.M. on Saturday.

I talked to him a couple of times by cellphone while he was there and he said that they were doing all their training dives in Orange Grove Sink and would be finished by Sunday afternoon.

He called me about 3:00 P.M. on Sunday(today) and told me that Peacock Springs had decided to close early, so they didn't get to finish their last 2 training dives. The instructor told him that he wasn't going to sign off on his paperwork and that he was running another Cavern class there next weekend and that he could return then and finish the last 2 training dives.

I can understand my son-in-law's reaction to this because it would've pissed me off too if I took 2 days off to take the course and spend money for a motel and then have to return again the following weekend.

I'm not trying to stir up a hornets nest here, and I probably shouldn't have posted it in the first place.

[Limestone Cowboy]

Frank, It sounds to me like the instructor did the right thing with regards to finishing the class. What did you expect them to do?

Drew

[jammer]

Well all I can say is if the training was not completed then how or why would you want the instructor to sign off on the paper work. Then who would be liable if the were improperly trained and signed off? I do not blame the instructor here if your son-in-law has to be pissed then let it be at the weather but the instructor can't help the weather or the parks closing.

[CaptainSpeleo]

Oh, I agree. If the course isn't completed, you don't get certified.

It just would've made more sense to reschedule the class when you knew that an impending hurricane wasn't going to cut it short. It rained practically the entire time they were there.