[gruntygiggles]

Timwilky, if you really want to get the message across to him, pm me, i'll give you my number and you can get him to call me. I used to work on the Exec Search side of a firm that was contracted to the UK's largest "trainer" for Plumbers........they've been doing it for years and I'd be suprised if it is not the same one your son is dealing with as it sounds exactly the same. I never sold any of those courses as not my thing, but I can tell you now....if your sone had done this 4-5 years ago, he'd have got a decent paying job at the end of it and would also have some sort of protection now as he would be employed, so even if he lost his job he would get redundancy. However, for the last 12-18 months, the plumbing courses are most definately the worst your son can do. They have dropped that standards so that they reach out to a larger demographic and furnish promises of £40k+ to appease the family members that they know will be paying the course fees.

It's ridiculous. If he was interested in a Sparky course, I'd say it was worth maybe looking into as it's not as saturated, BUT....he'd be better off getting a job and doing NVQ's at the same time, C&G's etc and they are all open to all ages.

It's a good job you've got the knowledge and sense to know a scam when you see one. Tell him from someone that knows from the inside.......the major companies offering these courses are laughing and I've heard it said by one of the salesmen that he "feels like he's legally stealing money everytime he sells a course"!

Good luck and give him a kick up the backside. Also the only CC he'll get with Mortgage arrears will have a stupid interest on it so his £4k course will end up costing £6-7k+