IKO sad and pathetic, here is their latest stupid game

[kiwimike]

the only one that can fix this problem is the guy who created it, fred from iko. he even approached a friend of mine who is an iko examiner and tried to get him to put some pressure on me. all i ever wanted was to talk to fred to sort the problem out. days of staying up late phoning the DR to be told by his secetary he was in a meeting and he would call me back. he never did and never responded to a single email. the only emails i get are hollow threats that i am going to be sued. for what? telling the truth? now he is trying to get my website shut down because i am advertising to help my mate get people to get students for the ITC courses.

Hi Babel. Nothing you can do or say will change this dudes attitude. Just let him carry on ranting.

[kiwimike]

the only people i ever say anything positive about iko are those making money off it. one guy i know said 'i dont need that iko bullshit' right to an iko examiner. then he found he could make money from iko. he falseafied some teaching reccords to show he had lots of teaching experience and now he is an examiner. he is a convert now he is cashing in off it. sorry but i figured you were one of the guys profiting from iko. if you had ever had an iko school you would understand how difficult iko are to deal with. someone warned me about this before i became affiliated. not having to deal with their bullshit anymore is quite a relief. there is no need to pay to be iko affiliated. i just have one iko instructor incase someone asks for one which is very rare.
i have no interest in sueing iko. i threw away enough money on dealing with them already. posting about them on kieforum is theraputic. of course you dont have to read my posts but it seems many people do. please dont read my posts if they anoy you in some way. why would you do something that anoys you anyway?

wow 4 law degrees. you ever read john grisham?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grisham
he is an ex lawyer, and i have read all his books. his opinion of lawyers is similar to my opinion of iko..

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No, I am just the ordinary kiter with the ordinary annoyance if it comes to infinite rants about some company. The feeling is probably triggered by my 4 law degrees. And how would I be a sellout??

Wild guess: The only reason why they did not sue you is because you sit in Thailand. Because you dont have a valid claim, you dont sue them. Plus they sit in the Dom Rep.

[kiwimike]

come to my school and you will learn on a 2 line trainer kite to start . my company is bluelagoonpattaya.com while i am affiliated with the website you quoted i do not necessarily reflect their views. infact when that was written we were teaching with C-kites which could be flown unhooked which meant we could skip the trainer kite. i will suggest that this gets modified. as far as safety standards go my student safety record remains perfect after 7 years of operations
as far as them training instructors this is just a money making scheme or maybe a scam. the people who do this instructor training are beginner kiteboards many of whom can not kite properly but everyone wants the money from them paying to do the courses. more than 99 percent of them pass despite many realy not being suitable. if iko failed people they would risk people not signing up for future courses. i was contacted by an examiner regarding a beginner kiter who learned at my club. the examiner wanted me to sign to say the student had good riding skills and had some teaching experience at my club. both these things were a lie so i refused to do it. regardless the student sat the ITC and passed. clubs are better off training their own instructors who are addapted to different locations and conditions. i have been teaching for 8 years but if i were to go to a defferent club i would expect to do some further training for that location.
as far as setting standards for safe teaching and kiting i tried to follow iko rules through the years but they kept changing. having one set of rules for all locations and conditions is just plain stupid. i get contacted all the time by people saying iko is trying to enforce stupid rules on their clubs that just are not revelant. easiest thing is just not bother with iko and implement rules that apply to your location and conditions.

As I said Barbel. you can't change this dudes attitude. He and his cronies will criticise anything that is not their own. His school teaches four line kites off the bat, because "who needs to fly two line kites when you will be kiting with a 4 line kite". (One yank on a 4 line kite, connected to a harness, even with short lines will have more consequences than a 2 line kite) but hey, he is all safety there in Thailand. IKO and other recognised training institutions will teach you more or less the same standards, supply you with training manuals and lesson guidance, all aimed at giving the instructor the ability to teach his students to be safe and independent kiters. The couple of $$$$ they ask to be an iko school is negligible in the long run. Anyone accusing them of running a pyramid scheme should perhaps look up the definition of what a pyramid scheme is. The bottom line is iko and similar organisations provide the instructor with the tools to become a good instructor. It is up to the instructor to perform. The fact that one has to report back to iko regarding the students performance as well as the fact that students can report on instructors performance ensures quality is maintained. Anyway.... not that any of this will change the opinion of the Kiwimike followers. We need iko and similar organisations to maintain training and safety standards in our sport. Business differences should not effect the core of what these organisations work for. Trying to dis organisations on this or any forum just because you have a gripe with them sends a negative picture to the world out there about our sport. If you have a gripe go to court.

[Babel]

Dont get me wrong, I am not saying anything good about them. The rant is just annoying. Out of my view as a kiter there is no need at all for any of them, if its IKO, VDWS or whatever.

My view as a lawyer is the following: If you find someone stupid enough to buy your shit, there is nothing wrong with taking that opportunity. However, if they stop liking the shit or realize its worthless, they should just terminate the contract and be done. Why would IKO be reliable for your lack of wits when it comes to contracting with them? Nobody forced your hand to sign anything.

Example: I read a newspaper for almost a year. After I realized that I dident like it, I stopped buying it and ordered another one. However, I would never ever have the idea to go ahead and ask my money back...

And: Every lawyer thinks bad about all the others. Nothing new from Grisham...

[kiwimike]

Fair points bable. However i paid fees to am organisation to support my school. They refused to communicate with me a problem with one of their contractors. Then they cancelled my future itc courses without consulting me. Now they are trying to shut down my website. I was a loyal customer and they hung me out to dry.
You are a smart guy right? You must be, 4 law degrees. If reading something annoys you then you can choose not to read it.


e.
quote="Babel"]Dont get me wrong, I am not saying anything good about them. The rant is just annoying. Out of my view as a kiter there is no need at all for any of them, if its IKO, VDWS or whatever.

My view as a lawyer is the following: If you find someone stupid enough to buy your shit, there is nothing wrong with taking that opportunity. However, if they stop liking the shit or realize its worthless, they should just terminate the contract and be done. Why would IKO be reliable for your lack of wits when it comes to contracting with them? Nobody forced your hand to sign anything.

Example: I read a newspaper for almost a year. After I realized that I dident like it, I stopped buying it and ordered another one. However, I would never ever have the idea to go ahead and ask my money back...

And: Every lawyer thinks bad about all the others. Nothing new from Grisham...[/quote]

[kiwimike]

i used to believe in iko and i offered to be the thailand rep to make sure all the schools were following the safety standards. for 2 years iko never even contacted me. the local rep system was a great idea but there was no profit in it so it was discontinued. the way i was treated by iko even after i offered to give my time to help them sort out some of their problems really F**ks me off. now i have put my time into a free alternative www.kitesafeassociation.com. this is free. i will never charge for any schools wanting to be a KSA school.
i have attatched the file so you can print your own rider cards for your students.

[longwhitecloud]

good work