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Reply's I have gotten to this letter Thank you for taking the time to respond and for caring! My goal is not revenge, but to assure that my story is made known so that others can prevent this from happening to them. My story is not necessarily to keep people away from Capt. Orin Oppermann But others like him who may be offering unrepeatable SCUBA Diving services. I would like to see my letter published in national SCUBA Diving magazines changing the names if necessary just so long as the story gets to the People it needs to… Back to SCUBA Letter Back to Baumbach History Main Page
Dear Mr. Baumbach: While executing a search of different Scuba Certifying Agencies, I happened to come across your article about your experience with Captain Orrin. I do not know him but I was embarassed and horrified by your experience. I have been certified as Master Instructor with PADI since 1985 and am distressed to hear that someone like that can not only take advantage of people financially, but can actually put their very lives at risk. Since you have become certified properly I am sure you know what I mean. I am not saying that Capt. Orrin necessarily provided you with unsafe or erroneous information, but what if he had? While I am also sure you have written everyone you can think of about this, I do have one suggestion. Since Capt. Orrin showed you his PADI Instructor Certification Card, he therefore made a representation to you that he was certified by PADI to teach PADI sanctioned courses. Since he never has been so certified, is that not fraud? Or perhaps misrepresentation? Can you not file suit against him for representing to you that he was qualified to teach PADI sanctioned courses when in fact he was not? While Florida may have no laws governing the training of scuba instructors, I am sure there are laws against the type of fraud and misrepresentation to which you were a victim. Perhaps though, enough time has passed that you are no longer interested in pursuing any legal recourse you may have. I have no other suggestions for you other than to congratulate you for your certification as a diver and I hope you will continue your diving education. I am not trying to sell you anything here, I live in Utah anyway and I would not recommend you coming here to dive for fun as you live closer to other places more renowned for diving. Please though, continue your vigilance in investigating those people with whom you are thinking about doing business. Sincerely, Jim Brimley PADI Master Instructor #24389
Since you are in the Plumbing business, you should have hit him over the head with a copper pipe. Good Luck and thanks, Paul Back to SCUBA Letter Back to Baumbach History Main Page
Dear William, Thank you for your email regarding Capt. Orin. It is unfortunate that your first experience with diving was that. I do not know if Capt. Orin is still active with any organisation, but if he is you should contact that organization and inform them of your problem and ask them what they are going to do about it. Today those things are more difficult to happen. Most major organisations belong to an umbrella organisation known as the RSTC. When something like this happens, it is very difficult for one fraudulent instructor to go to other organisation member of the RSTC. If the organisation to which Capt. Orin belongs does not take any action, you could try contacting the RSTC directly. They might be able to help you. As far as ACUC is concerned, we have informed our Head Office in Canada, who looks after our business in USA, of your problems, in case Mr. Orin tries to contact ACUC. Thank you for letting us know anf good luck Juan Rodriguez, Director of International Operations, ACUC ********************************************************
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06-18-97 10:33pm William, I'm sorry to hear what happened to you. There are many instructors (affiliated and Independent) who are wonderful and the certification cards you end up with are accepted in most parts of the world.
IT seems that Florida has some very strange laws . . . years ago, I also ended up on the "bad end of the stick," but, my experience was with a motel in Ft. Lauderdale . . . I called the Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General of Florida. After the contact, I had a stack of very nicely written letters, but the problem was never really resolved (the motel had suddenly "changed hands" so there was absolutely no recourse . . . funny, I was in Ft. Lauderdale - - now, nearly 20 years later - - and that motel hasn't even changed names! H m m m m Guess the thing to learn here is "BUYER BEWARE!"
WE ALL have to do our "homework" and know what we are getting ourselves into. In your case, this is why I've always suggested that when LEARNING to DIVE, use a local dive operation . . .that way, you don't have to spend the extra thousands to get back there if there are problems.
Hope you are able to resolve the problem! I'm glad that you posted the names, addresses and affiliations of those involved! Hopefully others will learn from previous mistakes! : ) fishbre396@aol.com from Newgroup rec.scuba Back to SCUBA Letter Back to Baumbach History Main Page
Boy, That’s quite a sorry tale. I can understand your anger.
[\] Robert Wood The St. Lawrence river - fresh, warm, visible diving. Yes when in the Keys in 1992 trying my last attempt with Capt. Orin I did go to another dive shop and get certified though PADI The delay was because of Capt. Orin word he would fix me up the next time I was their witch was in 1992. The reason for making my story known now is I now have Internet access and it is the 10 year anniversary. Back to SCUBA Letter Back to Baumbach History Main Page
William, I am sorry to hear your tale. Unfortunately, there are no boundaries in our sport that would keep people like this from preying on good people like yourself. If you have not yet, you should contact Florida Association Of Dive Operators 335 Beard St Tallahassee, FL 32303-6281 904-222-6000.
Good luck.
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William: Thank you for giving an account of your poor experience with someone teaching you scuba. Unfortunately, there are individuals out there who have no regard for taking peoples money and not giving value in return. We at ACUC have filed this gentleman’s name in our computer and if he chooses, in the future to attempt to cross over to ACUC we have a copy of your Email message on file. Once again, thank you for taking the time to let people know about this. I hope we will be able to rid our sport of this type of person. Yours in safe diving,
Dear Mr. Baumbach: Thank you for your e-mail received 16 June 1997. We apologize for the unpleasant experiences you had with Mr. Orin Oppermann. You were informed correctly that Mr. Oppermann is not authorized to conduct PADI training. In fact, he has not been a PADI member since 1991 and was never a PADI Instructor, only an Assistant Instructor. The information which you have provided to us will be placed in his professional file so that in the future, should he attempt to renew with PADI, he will be detoured by this information. May we suggest that in the future, before planning a dive trip, you consult the current PADI Dive Center listing (available on the PADI Web Site) so as to avoid disappointing scenarios such as the one you relayed to us. Again, we regret when situations occur which give Scuba Diving a bad name and hope that you continue to dive despite your unfortunate experiences with Mr. Oppermann.
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