Softwash Course city & guilds

[Pjj]

Think about this logically for one moment. Michael has 10 folk with this City & Guilds Cert and fairly soon another 10 or 20 after each course. If it is illegal then we can all sue him and get our money back because of fraud and then C&G will sue him. Surely no one is going to be that stupid. We will soon find out if the rest of his courses are quickly cancelled. Anyway, us 10 will win, we will get our money back and 2 days of free training.

I fully understand what you are saying , but having just gone on the official c&g training site put in softwashing and it comes up with nothing ?.. 

What I don't understand is he states they were the first ever C&G Assured Softwash Technicians in the UK. Does that mean everyone before yesterday wasn't?

All very mysterious ????

 

[THL4KEL]

I contacted C&G last night to ask them to confirm - Training Centre - 800721, is a registered C&G Training Centre.

Automated email said they said they would respond in three days. Hopefully they can provide some clarification in the next couple of days.

Part of my old job was carrying out due diligence checks on training providers before they became approved suppliers for the company.

Hopefully it all turns out legit and Scottish doesn't have to get his money back.

 

[Pjj]

I contacted C&G last night to ask them to confirm - Training Centre - 800721, is a registered C&G Training Centre.

Automated email said they said they would respond in three days. Hopefully they can provide some clarification in the next couple of days.

Part of my old job was carrying out due diligence checks on training providers before they became approved suppliers for the company.

Hopefully it all turns out legit and Scottish doesn't have to get his money back.

My understanding is that all training centres start with a 0 

 

[THL4KEL]

From past experience I would not expect a certificate to be issued on the day of a training course. The trainer/assessor would have to send the coursework/test paper back to C&G and then a couple of weeks later the certificates would be mailed back to the test centre who would then mail the certificates out to learners/attendees. 

 

[Iron Giant]

So if it turns out it is endorsed ? Then Michael Conway will serve you with a writ Iron Giant and you will have to defend what you have wrote on this open forum in court. Then he will sue you for libel because he reads this forum each night. FWIW 

He can serve a writ on the Iron Giant ? , The reason I wrote it is there some suspicion shall we say that all is not what it's portrayed to be, as a mod and member on here I do not want other members or lurkers parting with the hard-earned cash under potentially false pretences, @scottish cleaning service with respect I had you down as much smarter person and people have already parted with cash since this post, not your fault I know but right now do you want other people to put money down for something and have to go to court to get their money back and if Mr Conway reads this forum every night then I am certain if he is running a City & Guilds assured course he would have no issue in making himself known and providing proof as he would have all the necessary paperwork and correspondence. 

Absolutely nothing wrong with providing training courses and providing a certificate at the end of it, but if you are not associated with or assured or endorsed in any way by an educational organisation or trade body then it's false to tell people that you are and that your course is and provide certificates with an official logo of an organisation that you have no connection with. 

My last word on this, I don't think he is on this forum as his name and face and are on the web with C&G plastered all over it as well so he is banged to rights so to speak. 

 

[Part Timer]

From past experience I would not expect a certificate to be issued on the day of a training course. The trainer/assessor would have to send the coursework/test paper back to C&G and then a couple of weeks later the certificates would be mailed back to the test centre who would then mail the certificates out to learners/attendees. 

That's how I got mine, we were told we had passed and we would receive the certificates by post. 

 

[Dave B]

Only 10 professional softwash technicians in the UK now and I'm one of them as we all passed. Regarding the course code, it says

STS22/02/2019

View attachment 16239

Professional doesn't mean you have had training

Professional (your profession) is anything you do as a job and get paid for hence all of us who get paid to Softwash are professionals 

Never heard so much rubbish in my life

He's training you yes but not making you a professional 

 

[kevinc250]

personally I see all this as, @scottish cleaning service did you enjoy the course?  did you find it informative? and did you feel that it was worth the cost and got value for money? (disregarding all this cg thing)

if you can answer yes to all three of those then for you it was money well spent on your behalf, and hats off to you, I have done the same course with mick a few years ago (not a cg one) and previous courses and, as with all courses you take from them what you want and then progress from there. the point I am trying to make is training, in whichever form is better than none at all and don't take to heart all the negative comments you are now more aware of surfactant based biocides than you were before-good on you

 

[Part Timer]

personally I see all this as, @scottish cleaning service did you enjoy the course?  did you find it informative? and did you feel that it was worth the cost and got value for money? (disregarding all this cg thing)

if you can answer yes to all three of those then for you it was money well spent on your behalf, and hats off to you, I have done the same course with mick a few years ago (not a cg one) and previous courses and, as with all courses you take from them what you want and then progress from there. the point I am trying to make is training, in whichever form is better than none at all and don't take to heart all the negative comments you are now more aware of surfactant based biocides than you were before-good on you

I agree with a lot of the sentiment, where I would disagree is if @scottish cleaning servicewere to apply to a large company, that has a very inquisitive H&S Dept, that want to see and check all qualifications,  to do some work for them and supplies, possibly, a certificate that might be worthless, or even fraudulent, then he has been seriously let down. Yes he has learnt something, and yes he knows a lot more than he did before, but I believe he wouldn't have paid the price he did if it didn't have the C&G certification with it.

 

[Iron Giant]

The last word honest ? I don't want this to appear as having a go @scottish cleaning service and yes he may feel he has got a lot from the course and it was worth the money, but I would like to think that as much as we members help each other we will also look out for each other and in part this what this post is about or has become on the whole from beginning to end us, lads, watching out for each other. 

 

[Pjj]

I agree with a lot of the sentiment, where I would disagree is if @scottish cleaning servicewere to apply to a large company, that has a very inquisitive H&S Dept, that want to see and check all qualifications,  to do some work for them and supplies, possibly, a certificate that might be worthless, or even fraudulent, then he has been seriously let down. Yes he has learnt something, and yes he knows a lot more than he did before, but I believe he wouldn't have paid the price he did if it didn't have the C&G certification with it.

I agree with both you and @kevinc250 it’s better to have knowledge and done a  course than not , I did purple rhinos softwashing course it’s not approved by anyone and no certificates are issued , if you want you can go on to be a certified operator with them and do all different levels of stuff , I learned a lot and it was worth the money similar to what Scottish paid , I was happy with that there is no recognised body doing certified training in this country for softwashing using hypo , time will tell what the score is with Michael conways course but that’s for using biocide not hypo , there is a golden opportunity there to be the first and only training organisation to offer training for softwashing using both bio and hypo products the two do work together well but it seams to me from my contact with ones that teach the bio way that they demonise anyone who uses hypo and only condem it rather than see the good points that it can offer , we are and will continue to use both methods and when there is one recognised organisation that does training for both products at the same time I will be one of the first to book myself and staff on it , but sadly I think it will be a long time before this is available .

 

[THL4KEL]

What would worry me regarding a fraudulent training centre is  -

If they were willing to lie about training centre status, what other misleading information could there be i.e. course content, does that link up to national guidelines for the specific course or not?

Has the Training been delivered by a qualified trainer who also holds the correct assessment qualifications.

Not just anyone can deliver accredited qualifications/ training courses, you have to the tickets for it.

If that was the case then I would not want to pay full training course rates for should be classed as an - Awareness Session delivered by a competent person.

 

[Pjj]

What would worry me regarding a fraudulent training centre is  -

If they were willing to lie about training centre status, what other misleading information could there be i.e. course content, does that link up to national guidelines for the specific course or not?

Has the Training been delivered by a qualified trainer who also holds the correct assessment qualifications.

Not just anyone can deliver accredited qualifications/ training courses, you have to the tickets for it.

If that was the case then I would not want to pay full training course rates for should be classed as an - Awareness Session delivered by a competent person.

Ime a  qualified first aid instructor and beacause that comes under the education department you now have to have a teaching qualification, the minimum they will accept is a “ petals course “ , I don’t know if it’s the same for all courses . 

With regards to training most of us train people , especially those that work for us , it’s as far as I know legal to set yourself up and run a training course and Evan issue your own certificate of competence but it’s not worth the paper it’s written on as it’s not approved or recognised by any training agency , providing the person doing the training is doing it correctly and safely and has practically been doing the job then they should know what they are doing and be able to train people how to do it . When I bought my first wfp system the company I bought it off offered a days training as part of the deal , it was ok but after 18 years using wfp I now realise how poor the training was I could now do a far better job as I have 18 years experience doing it , but don’t have any qualifications for cleaning people’s windows , I have had several from this forum come out with us to learn how to use wfp, gutter vaccing, etc , I don’t charge them just show them how to use certain bits of kit , I view this as helping fellow window cleaners , from my experience , but I cannot issue them with any certificates.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

For £490 I received 2 excellent lunches, met a great bunch of guys and was shown many interesting technics as well as equipment. I don't know how anyone can knock it as I have spent more at a race meeting in my younger days. Michael contacted P&G regarding their MSDA sheet on Fairy Liquid. In no uncertain terms should it be mixed with Hypo they told him in a letter. A softwash chap decided to premix a few chems before setting off for a nice little morning's work softwashing. When he came round at the hospital he had no recollection what had happened. Both chems gave off vapors and mixed together in the back of his van and produced muster gas. He was very lucky that he passed out at traffic lights and someone called an ambulance. I believe this nugget of info on its own is worth the whole course price because I know what chems he mixed. I would love to discuss in more detail but I am run off my feet and working 7 days a week to catch up. I want to buy a piece of equipment for 2 grand and I took on too much work not realizing I would be attending the course so I'm run ragged. The funny thing is, I don't do much softwashing or biocide because I mainly do pressure washing but its good to know  when describing it to a customer.

 

[Part Timer]

For £490 I received 2 excellent lunches, met a great bunch of guys and was shown many interesting technics as well as equipment. I don't know how anyone can knock it as I have spent more at a race meeting in my younger days

I've spent more on a night out and learnt many a thing, nothing you could certificate though. No one is doubting you've learnt, and that you think it was money well spent. What I, and a few others, question is the legitimacy of the certificate. 

 

[THL4KEL]

Just to update interested people regarding City and Guilds Soft Wash. I emailed City & Guilds to ask if the training centre was registered with them, quoting the details of Scottishes Cert I.e. training centre number.

For City & Guilds to confirm whether the training centre is approved by them they require payment of £44 to check this.

For City & Guilds to check the authenticity of any attendees certificate again there is a charge of £44 per certificate. 

Something to bear in mind if your ever recruiting staff who hold City & Guild qualifications.

Verifying personnel credentials with City & Guilds could be very expensive..

I did not proceed with payment, so basically none the wiser...

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just to update interested people regarding City and Guilds Soft Wash. I emailed City & Guilds to ask if the training centre was registered with them, quoting the details of Scottishes Cert I.e. training centre number.

For City & Guilds to confirm whether the training centre is approved by them they require payment of £44 to check this.

For City & Guilds to check the authenticity of any attendees certificate again there is a charge of £44 per certificate. 

Something to bear in mind if your ever recruiting staff who hold City & Guild qualifications.

Verifying personnel credentials with City & Guilds could be very expensive..

I did not proceed with payment, so basically none the wiser...

Aye, as wee John Conway was telling us, everything will become self funding. Your lucky it wasn't a premium rate call. Everything now revolves round money and it will only get worse.

 

[THL4KEL]

Update - 

Dear THL4KEL (I switched this to my forum name) (They never charged me £45 btw, I made a complaint about gaining this info)
 
Thank you for contacting City & Guilds Customer Services.
 
Please accept my apologies that you have been sent the wrong information regarding the confirmation of the centre.

I can confirm that centre number you provided is a registered centre of ours and matches the name given.
 
Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Services team on 0844 543 0033.

Yours Sincerely

Amy Collins
Customer Services
City & Guilds