Yeeeee Haaarrrrrrr TDI

[ATA28]

Before you do your expensive course in the Red Sea, have a look at my eMail correspondance below with TDI and Ocean College

Me and the wife are both a little dissapointed.

So it would seem that with these people, a successfull pass and completion of the course does not garentee certification, the conclusion would seem to be to ask your instructor for proof that his instructor status is still valid and will be valid for the length of time necessary to process your application.

On a personal note, I was thinking about progressing from Extended Range to a Normoxic Trimix cert'.....who can I trust.

For a Red Sea operator to behave in this way is just CRAP.


First from TDI

Dear Matthew!
I am aware that the course was finished on the 9th of December, but what matters to us is when we received the pic to our office. In your case it was at the end of February, and the instructor is not renewed yet for 2005. Sorry to disappoint you.
Best regards
Olga El Sherif
SDI/TDI Middle East & Russia
Membership Services
PO Box 415, Hurghada, Red Sea , Egypt
Phone: +20-105467700
Phone/Fax: +20-65-3447520
E-mail: members@TDI-MiddleEast.com
Visit us at www.TDI-MiddleEast.com
Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday 2pm to 8pm

From: Matthew Bell [mailto:matthew.d.bell@talk21.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:40 PM
To: Olga El Sherif
Subject: RE: Nitrox cert card
Olga,
Just for information, the course was certified on 09/12/05 by Derek Simpson, no' 7768.
If this was last year, was the instructor in date then?
Thanks,
Matthew Bell

Olga El Sherif <info@tdi-middleeast.com> wrote:
Dear Matthew!
The PIC of your wife Julia is in our office, however we can not process it, because her instructor is not renewed, i.e. not in the teaching status. We are in contact with him, trying to resolve the situation. Sorry for the inconveniences.
Best regards
Olga El Sherif
SDI/TDI Middle East & Russia
Membership Services
PO Box 415, Hurghada, Red Sea , Egypt
Phone: +20-105467700
Phone/Fax: +20-65-3447520
E-mail: members@TDI-MiddleEast.com
Visit us at www.TDI-MiddleEast.com
Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday 2pm to 8pm

From: Matthew Bell [mailto:matthew.d.bell@talk21.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 1:33 AM
To: info@TDI-MiddleEast.com
Subject: Nitrox cert card
Hi,
My wife did a TDI Nitrox course at the begining of December with Ocean College in Sharm El-Sheikh, as yet we have not yet received any kind of certification card, what information do you need to check this and get a certification card issued.
Matt Bell

And from Ocean College

Dear Matt,
Greetings from Sunny Sharm El Sheikh!
I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this is causing, can you please forward me her name, name of instructor and exact date and I will be happy to investigate what happened.
I look forward to your reply and if I may be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Nivine W. Gouda
Ocean College

From: Matthew Bell [mailto:matthew.d.bell@talk21.com]
Sent: 15 March 2005 01:27
To: info@ocean-college.com
Subject: TDI Nitrox
Hi,
My wife did a TDI Nitrox course with you at the begining of December, money paid, course passed and no certification card as yet, (4 months).
Please can you tell us what info you need to check this and get a certification card issued.
Matt Bell

[Narked@50]

Absolute crap.

I would get onto Ocean College again and give them this information from TDI, at the end of the day you paid them, so your contract is with them.

I had a similar incident about a year ago and fortunately paid on my credit card meaning that my contract was with them, not the final party. I wrote to them and asked for a refund, and got it after about a month. The card arrived a few weeks later and they re-charged me. Job done.

Hope this is an option in your case.

James

[Lou]

I think that from that short series of e-mails you are getting your knickers in a twist a little early.

The one communication you had from Ocean College was polite and asks for more info to enable them to help you. You don't say whether you replied to this.

The brief exchange with TDI is understandable. They can only process when they get the paperwork from the instructor, and they claim this was end of Feb. They are already actively working to resolve the matter, it appears, even before you asked, and the last e-mail sounds like a misunderstanding of what you were asking.

There doesn't seem to be any suggestion, however, that the instructor was not able to qualify you at the time, just that he hasn't paid his subs for this year, and therefore can't submit students for certification.

If i were you I would restrain from slagging Ocean College over the internet until you are sure you are getting nowhere. What you have published doesn't seem to indicate you are there yet.

I really hope you do get it resolved though. It must be incredibly frustrating for you, but keeping calm and polite will probably get you further in these early stages
Best of Luck

Lou

[Conor]

That is quite nasty, what is the point of checking an instructor in renewed at the time of the course if they are going to go by what his/her status is at some point in the future that you do not know.

This is crap, if he is a valid instructor at the time of the course, that is when he certifies you and so should be the date he/she needs to be valid for. Its not the customers fault that the instructor/TDI faffed about for two months before settling the paper work. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR