PADI Anmeldelser 

Raped by an instructor

Minus a trillion
Absolute thieves

Dive with another company

We gifted our niece a PADI AOW eLearning course, all set and good to go.

She did her eLearning in our native language (not English) and found that the translations were really poor, something might being acceptable 15 years or more ago but not today and not from a supposedly reputable organisation like PADI.

What is even worse is that the eRecord can only be shown in our native language, if changing profile language settings to English then eRecord turns up as in-complete (not very ideal as she is planning to complete the practical part abroad). I really don’t see the logic here and why the eRecord validity should be dependent on the profile language setting. You should be able to get your eRecord proof in any language no matter the language used for completing the eLearning. Additionally the PADI account page don’t offer any ways to print out the eRecord (although stated possible), I had to use a snipping tool for this.

PADI, if you don’t master to deliver proper translated training material in and transferable eRecords from an offered language then DON’T offer the training in this language.

With this experience in mind then I find that the low scores generally given in Trustpilot is well deserved and I will for sure consider other training course options in the future than PADI.

Notre expérience a été totalement gâchée par le blocage causé par le Tour d'Espagne, nous empêchant ainsi d'atteindre notre point de rendez-vous. Malgré nos tentatives via mails et messages, le moniteur de plongée a catégoriquement refusé de nous aider à trouver une solution alternative ou une autre date. Son attitude désagréable et condescendante était flagrante, tout cela parce que nous avions réservé par l'intermédiaire de GetYourGuide et non en direct.

Notre activité, pour laquelle nous avons dépensé 180€, est devenue une perte sèche. Sa seule réponse a été un désintéressé "Ce n'est pas mon problème !" Je vous conseille vivement de choisir un autre prestataire de plongée, potentiellement plus aimable et compréhensif. Évitez cette expérience commerciale insatisfaisante et privilégiez des entreprises qui se soucient réellement de leurs clients.

It's almost unbelievable that you have to pay $55 as a certified diver just to have your certification card displayed in the app. In the past, you could still search for your certification in the online database and show it to the dive center whenever needed. Nowadays, only the dive centers themselves have access to that. PADI truly lives up to its acronym "Put Another Dollar In." Paying $55 just to have an e-Card displayed in the app is utterly outrageous. I definitely won't go along with that. Here's how you can bypass this nonsense: 1. Uninstall your PADI app. 2. Ask your dive center to look you up in the database and provide you with a screenshot of your certification. 3. Save this screenshot and use it for all your future dives.

Nach Erwerb meines AOWD im Jahre 2023 bekam ich - anders als bei meiner Brevetierung als OWD im Jahre 2005 - leider keine Plastikkarte. Stattdessen soll ich für diese schlappe 54 Euro an PADI zusätzlich zahlen. Die Brevetierung als AOWD kann - ohne diese zusätzlichen Kosten - nur als sog. "PADI-eCard" online oder in einer Smartphone-App angezeigt werden. Möchte ich nun umgekehrt meine in der PADI-Datenbank hinterlegte Brevetierung als OWD aus dem Jahre 2005 ebenfalls als sog. "PADI-eCard" online oder in der Smartphone-App anzeigen lassen, soll ich wiederum zusätzliche 54 Euro an PADI zahlen.

Für mich grenzt das an Abzocke.

I booked a holiday with them and must say they were very helpful. However, I had to cancel the booking due to personal circumstances. They ignored my request for 4-5 days, then on chasing, despite losing 30% (which I accepted and knew), they took up to a further 3 weeks to return my money. This is totally unacceptable and disappointing

Their website or what ever they are trying to do over the last 5 years isn’t working ! Being a PADI Member for the last 15 years and paying yearly dues, you would think they would be out of the beta version and on to the final product. Sorry to say they are still switching back and forth between the Pro Site and Customer service site!
I would give them the benefit of the doubt, because they are updating everything under the guise that they are promoting a healthy environment with decreasing paper waste and snail mail, honestly though it comes down to making an easy buck. Example : people were not in totally agreement that digital cards were the way to go and charged divers for it. When it failed they started to charge separately for plastic certification cards and giving the E card away as part of the fee that you paid for, knowing divers would pay for the plastic c cards because divers wanted that ! All this for reducing paper waste. Have you seen how they mail supplies and books.?
Just play sad, PADI Just fix the website, stream line it and stop wasting our time switching back and forth from the old site to the new site.
Also the job Board , start from scratch and redo it.

Eine physische Ersatzkarte kostet 60 Euro. Sorry aber das geht garnicht!!

Unverschämt ist, dass man auf der Website (bei Erstbesuch) seine cookies anpassen möchte und nicht alle einfach so akzeptieren will. Daraufhin kommt lächerlicherweise ernsthaft ein Ladebalken, welcher immer bei exakt 99%stehen bleibt. Man kann warten bis in die Ewigkeit. Habe das 3 mal probiert, mehrere Minuten gewartet..... War mir dann so zu blöd, dass ich alle cookies akzeptiert habe und siehe da, ich durfte 1 Sekunde später direkt weiter scrollen......
Verarschen könnt ihr euch selber!

***update**
Via the complaint and emails they have told me they took the auto renewal off. Hopefully that works. They also told me that you cannot stop auto renewals online, you have to basically complain and try to reach a real person. This, of course, is no where on the website, listed to help you deal with your payments. While the lovely person who finally stopped my yearly $240 unnecessary payment did so quickly, The website is still awful and I think that their payment situation is definitely unethical, if not illegal.

*** Horrible website. I've been trying to stop the auto renewal. It won't let me, won't let me update anything, and then the whole thing, after an hour of trying to make sure I'm not charged another 240 in November, just crashed and says "site maintenance".

I guess I'll just block padi on my credit card for any further payments?

Padi.com fire all your web devs and the company that is managing your website now and hire people that know what they are doing. It's actually not that difficult to produce a decent working website, but yours is the exception
For a website to be this bad in 2023 is unbelievable, I'd say it's 20 years since I experienced problems like I am experiencing with Padi.com.

Sorry PADI but your website is an insult to your customers. Look at the negative reviews. I will be switching to SSI moving forward. Its 2023, a modern usable working website is not that difficult.

What an appalling app and corresponding website. Nothing works, sends you around in circles, hugely frustrating and zero understanding of customer service or needs. Truly, how hard can it be to design a decent website that actually does what your customers want, which in my case is primarily to see my qualifications and see my ecards. Nightmare!!

Unterirdisch!!!
Nie wieder mache ich dort einen Kurs!!!
Ich versuche seit einem halben Jahr nach absolviertem Advanced OWD nach Bezahlung und Registrierung auf der App eine Plastik Karte Adv. OWD zu erhalten.
Zuerst hatten sie eine falsche Personalie?
Dann zwei Mailadressen von mir?
Nach endlosen Mails und Klarstellung (oder auch nicht)
kam heute die Karte nach einem halben Jahr!!!!!!! an...

Dafür ist dann aber auch ausser meinem Namen alles falsch!!
Geb. Datum, Datum des Kurses, Taucher Nr., Nr. und Namen des Instructors..
Damit ist das Ding wertlos!!
Kostet aber nur 54 Euro.. Dann geht's ja..
Unmöglich!!!
Nie wieder...
LG Mario

Hugely frustrating. I completed a very expensive course and did not receive a ‘card’ assuming it would simply be on my profile on the PADI site (which I have with my photo and certificate number). However they are trying to charge me for a replacement e-card at £42. They should already provide this e-card on your profile upon completion of their qualification. If I complete the course, I expect proof of the qualification as standard. Hugely disappointing here. A pure money maker and not much else. The one star given here is on the generous side

Habe meinem Mann letztes Jahr den Tauchkurs geschenkt- nach Abschluss hieß es, Brevet Karte bekommt er zugeschickt- denkste
Hat dann dieses Jahr für schlappe 79 Schleifen noch mal eine normale plus eKarte gekauft.
Nach 3 Wochen hab ich sie mal angeschrieben, wo sie bleibt- da hieß es : 4 Wochen Lieferzeit!!!
Na ja, für ne Plastikkarte durch aus normal
Jetzt sind 6 Wochen rum und immer noch nichts da.
Hab die Karte abgeschrieben

PADI centers providing really poor experiences and despite PADI being the provider of this courses they refuse to openly take action and help customer. Don't go to PADI unless you want to get drowned!

UPDATE
Following the bad reviews here they have reply to me bellow as you can see inviting me to have a private conversation. During the conversation they didn't actually offer a solution or something better but instead they have just tried to divert the conversation from public into private so less people to be aware of.
Don't do Padi but instead go any alternative!

I am 13 and I absolutely loved the diving experience the staff were great as I did it in the uk with my family. The training was easy to understand as it was thoroughly explained and my instructor George showed us each technique and skill to learn. Totally dive with PADI they are great and my family all loved it!!

Website and app glitches, happy to take our money and not deliver