I wish I'd have known mate. Our whole training side to the forums are based on feedback and it takes a lot of time to cut out the crap, lies, unfair comments and even keep public the fair comments that are negitive towards any of the training centres, as it's that fact that keeps us trusted.
....I do my best to get the right sponsors and I couldn't have guessed diamond were suffering. I just wish I'd have had some feedback like this before mate.
Dan, I appreciate the dilemma you may face, and my perspective on this is as a businessman as well as a tiler. A Training company does not get customers unless it targets markets where potential customers exist - your forum is a perfect market for all
Tile Training Groups - they will work hard to get highlighted on this forum. You did not not get it wrong with the quality of training provided by Diamond.
My experience is that I chose to train with them because of the recommendations on your forum - I actually contacted 3 companies recommended on this forum. Of the 3, Diamond dealt with me the most positively, quickly and had the best feedback. Of the other 2 - one did not even return my phone enquiry, the other phoned 3 days later (and they are both still recommended on here). I started a 2 week course with Diamond to supplement my house renovation work in April. I was so impressed with the instructors Sam and Paul, and enjoyed tiling so much because of what and how they taught, that I decided to take up tiling full time and booked the remaining 4 weeks to make the full 6 week course. I also noted that other students I trained with were similarly impressed back then. I interspersed the training with my work, doing a further 2 weeks in June, the final 2 weeks in August and have been full time tiling now for about 6 months.
I and many other students of Diamond will tell you that the training was excellent. I did note a real lowering of staff morale during the 6 months - but it was not really my business. I did wonder how long that situation would continue, but with the benefit of hindsight, the money problems were looming and I believe the staff and the training suffered because of that.
So overall, I do not think you made a mistake allowing Diamond to sponsor the forum. They provided excellent
tile training that only started to fall off during the summer - the quality of my tiling work is now professional
standard, and I am already getting close to professional speed by applying tips and skills passed on by Diamonds trainers. Are you now only going to accept sponsorship from long established training centres? What constitutes an established training centre? That may ultimately leave you asking only local authority colleges to become sponsors, and with the public expenditure cuts that may be fraught with danger too!
I see the other private colleges making hay from the outfall of Diamond Training, but in this economic climate we (businessmen) are all facing potential dangers of going bankrupt - and sometimes it is necessary to take some risks to survive. It may be that Danny (who I described as giving me the impression of being a wide-boy) was a bad businessmen, but that is a very difficult conclusion to reach without detailed analysis of the business he was running.
There are many other folk out there who will explore this forum looking to buy
tile training through this forums recommendations. Many will be satisfied. A few will suffer loss when another training centre fails (I do not think Diamond will be the last). By all means look at your system of accepting sponsors to ensure that folk are less likely to lose out, but don't be too hard on yourself.