[Servemagic]

Has any of you had anything to do with Property Professional who offer Energy Assessor job?

I am going for job interview soon but noted there is a sign of scum in internet.

Thanks for your help.

[uk jacks]

any sign of anything dodgy and walk straight out of there

[Alesis4]

I completed an interview with one of these training colleges/companies in Birmingham city centre in April 2009.
I am 45 years old and have been out of work for some time, so when I saw this advert in the paper, I thought I would like to have a go at becoming a qualified energy assessor. So I called them and arranged an interview.
The offices were very nice and the staff were friendly, I was quite impressed.
However, The first unusual thing that struck me was... in all the interviews that I've been to since I left school in the late 70's,I have NEVER had to share an interview with another prospective candidate alongside me, but here I was in an interview to commence a DEA's course with a total stranger. I was uncomfortable with this arrangement but went through with it anyway, since I was already there in the interview room.
We were asked a number of questions in turn and then were shown a couple of DVD's about what we were likely to be doing as a qualified DEA. Of course the focus was on the earnings potential and figures starting at around £37,000 per annum were quoted.
It all looked very impressive but alarm bells started ringing from the moment I entered the interview room.
On the plus side, the qualification that you gain once you pass the course is recognised and legitimate, I understand that you even get 'letters' after your name. (don't know how true that is) What these DEA training colleges/companies are doing may be legal, but they are also very
misleading.
What they don't tell you is that there are way too many qualified DEA's out there already chasing far too few clients.
In the interview, I was told the total opposite, and that in fact there were not enough DEA's for the work available.
The most disturbing thing of all is that they were willing to take over £3800 from me the very next day after I completed the
interview. There was no offer of financial help or advice whatsoever, bear in mind many of the people that were applying for
these courses would have been unemployed or on a low income.
I am so glad that I did my research because I was more than willing to get a loan from somewhere to pay for the course, (I wonder how many people actually did),because I didn't have that sort of money just lying around. I'm sure there may be a number of positions out there, but there would be way too much competition from other qualified DEA's who have alot more experience and contacts than any new-comer to the business. Just be aware that you have to generate most of your contacts yourself, and you would not have all those clients waiting as it was implied at the interview.

My advice? Stay well clear of these courses. These are not 'Fly-by-night, Del Boy' operations. These are very well crafted money making schemes in my opinion.
It doesn't appear to concern these people how you get the money to pay them,they just want it as quickly as possible.
If there is so much work out there, then why can't you pay them in installments after you get all this work that they promise is
available? It just horrifies me to think of the all the money I would have owed, and that I would've had no way of paying it back. I would've been screwed twice over... Not enough work, and I would've been nearly £4000 in debt at least.
We all know the saying "If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true" Just remember a diamond is very valuable, but if everybody had lots of diamonds then the value plummets. No different with the qualified DEA's that are out there now. The market is saturated and they are trying to undercut one another in order to get clients.
Don't waste any money on these courses, you'll regret it. Just look at all the horror stories of all the out-of-work DEA's that there are around.

[sumanrocks17]

Well last wednesday I have been to the interview with property professionals. I feel its was a time waste. After I been there, and was explained the things, there comes the fees part which is absolutely shocking.
For the whole course it cost almost £10,000.00.

Was a big joke!!!! and the time you have to spend there to do the course is not worth at all.

i suggest not to waste your time at all. Its a BIG Scam.

[Binkett]

I saw an ad in the newspaper about becoming a property professional. It is something I thought I would be interested in because I want to be a property developer and I thought this course may help. But, looking at the ad it didn't look right. Professional, but providing a telephone number only and no other contact details, plus the way the advert talks is all dodgy. 'Applicants are urgently required to train as assessors now, no previous experience necessary.' When something is advertised and worded with this sence of urgency and it's from an unknown/unfamiliar company, then (if you have experience applying to these type of adverts for jobs/courses) you can see it's very likley to be a SCAM. and what the real truth is, is that infact 'there isn't that much going on as we say there is, but we want you to be fooled by us because we want money from you before you start this job/course'. What about: 'CALL TODAY for an interview to find about a new career.. blur, blur, blur..' Should it be that easy to get an interview straight away without the normal process of finding out if you are suited to this job like what more genuin companies may seek before they do interview you so that no one wastes' their time. I don't think so. I was still curiouse about the company and decided to see if they had a website. Typing in 'Property Professionals' came up with different Property companies but then I found this site. When I say in the listings, 'SCAM' under the name, I wasn't surprised. It confirmed what I thought, so now I'm not going to bother phoning them. For anyone else out there who was also curious. Don't be fooled. Just like Alesis4 had said, 'if it's too good to be true it probably is'. Well that's so true.

[laurrennie]

I'm glad I read this. I had an interview on Thursday. I thought it was way too good to be true. I also noticed a distinct lack of incormation concerning costs of courses, but that was shadowed by the super enthusiastic phone interviewer. There are a couple articles online about this scam. What a let down!

[Senoj]

I too had arranged an interview for next week. I have just started my own company and was looking to supplement my income whilst I got my cmpany up and running. This does not sound what i was looking for. I was asked to come for an interview and take some tests. Does the company not find work for you? What are the fees for the training? I was led to believe that this was government type retraining. Further comments would be appreciated.

[phil.owen]

So far I have only read negative views about Property Professionals and the products they are promoting.

As a construction professional of 40 years recently made redundant, I was also a bit wary of the way the organisation and its products were being sold, especially to those with no experience in construction or related disciplines.

Are there any clients or graduates of this organisation out there who can give me a more positive viewpoint before I decide to commit time and money to them?

PhilO

[tuggs123]

I also read the ad in the newspaper, and even though alarm bells were ringing right at the start, i still thought it's worth a try, as i'm needing work badly. Yes the gentleman on the phone made it sound great saying that i already had alot of the qualifications already, so only needing a couple of the courses, he booked me an interview for Monday. Just when i was about to hang up i asked him a quick simple question, " is this commission base?" he didn't say yes or no and just said " wait till monday and all will be explained" and i hung up

I feel kinda stupid for ringing and arranging a interview as alarm bells were ringing at the start. My Qualifications are out of date, if this was gov training due to the new laws, i would have to re-do all my qualifiactions, so at a guess i would say this training is illegal, and they dont know what they are talking about.

Also saying that theres only 800 people in this country that are doing this job at this point of time and that theres too much work, is also lies. I have a Uncle who into all the building regulations, there isn't enough work to go around.

With the financial situation in this country at the moment , people are getting desperate for work and money, and some poor person i can imagine will take out a loan for this, hoping all their troubles will end. And at the end of the day they will just be left with a loan for thousands. This should be reported to Watch Dog.

I have cancelled my interview and i just hope people will do their research and read this before they hand over any money.

Thanks

[iwantajob]

Glad to have read this, I saw there ad in the paper. I have looked at there website and it just comes across as selling the courses with a possible job of getting work with no guarantee, sounds like money down the drain.
I would like to go into the the health and safety industry, am I better off investing in a NEBOSH?

[tuggs123]

To iwantajob

My advise to you is wait if you need full training as there are alot of scams going on, and trying to figure them all out is hard work.
If you really want to try in this in field, and you have money to spend on the training, have a think about becoming a NVQ assessor in H&S. There is tones of work in this field, and theres also money, aswell as meeting new people and good fun.
The training i think is about 2k BUT from what i can gather you can claim alot of it back from Gov once you have completed the course, unless it has changed. BUT as least the 2k will be going to something useful than some scam and wasted.
I have an A1 NVQ and can assess people in health and social care, which as from today have decided to go back into.

Hope this helps

[iwantajob]

Cheers Tuggs,


Thanks for the advise about NVQ assesors, which I have not thought of, but will look into it
I do have money but not really just to throw away. I know the NEBOSH is a good qual to have and I know some people who have this and are working in the industry. Its just getting the foot in after spending it! Especially with the recession any industry is tough whilst its an employers market.
I don't think Property Professionals is a scam but one of many companies who are making money by charging a higher premium on the cost of getting a legit qualification. No different with Universities. When I went to Uni there were no entry fees, now look how much it costs!

[mwjb1980]

I saw an ad in the M.E.N. and I arranged an interview with these guys last week. I was suspicious from the word go. I had a look at some reviews on line and found a lot of negative comments. However I thought I've nothing to lose, it's interview practise if anything.

My advice to you if you're in the same position as me is don't bother. I live round the corner from their office so it wasn't a special trip but if you are travelling some distance to get here you're wasting your time.

I was left hanging around in a red hot waiting room for over 20 minutes and eventually got called in to my interview by some random bloke. He spent ten minutes telling me how desperate the world is for Energy Assessors and how fantastic Property Professionals are as a company. He showed me around the place: lots of rooms with computers but nobody at them. The only thing worth looking at were some of the tasty office girls working there!

He then told me about the training and the cost...wait for it...£5000 plus VAT! They must be desperate for people if they're charging £5k+!....Oh but hang on it's subsidised, so it only costs you £4,000 plus VAT!

At this point I wanted to leave but was interested to see what the 'aptitude test' would be like. Very very easy is the answer! eg "How many sides does have an octagan have?" That's not an aptitude test!!!! I had 30 minutes to answer 30 questions and was finished in less than 5 minutes.

If you decide to go through with this and hand over £4,000, you're either insane or you have more money than sense, or both!

[micksherenow]

I came off the phone a couple of hours ago after arranging an interview in Tolworth. I live in Norfolk about 173 miles each way, and was preparing to drive there next week for an appointment/interview.

The advert was probably identical to those in other national publications and was in our local evening news.

I have been unemployed for 6 months after being made redundant and was hoping this would be a life line for us as a family!

The telephone screening by the recruitment director on reflection sounded more like a sales pitch, with a certain amount of fear of loss thrown in for good measure. He said that the positions were being taken up very quickly so I needed to come in for an interview sooner rather than later!

I asked about the cost of the course, and his reply was that it will all be discussed at the interview, and if I remember rightly mentioned something about being awarded scholarships or burserys.

Whatever the diatribe it seemed to infer that the cost was nothing to worry about!

We are certainly as a family not in a position to speculate to the tune of thousands of pounds, on something that may well be a dead duck.

The tone of the advert (and the sales patter!) promotes a very optimistic view without actually giving any figures of potential earnings or costs involved as does the website.

I do sincerly wish those that have already parted with their money and completed the course success.

I for one will not be joining them!

Interview cancelled!

[princessgreen]

non domestic energy assessor - Tolworth

To micksherenow, my interview was on the same day that you called. They told me they have been in business for over 20years and after I pass the first course I will sign a contract with them for 2years and will be given a regular income. They mentioned a scholarship to me but I have not yet signed anything. I have checked them out with ABBE and they are legit. I am very confessed - can't believe how they get away with lying!

1) There aren't many Energy Assessors so work would be easy to come by
2) You will earn on average £50- 500 a day depending on the work you want to do
3) £4500 fee + tax can be recuperate when you are qualified

I think WATCHDOG need to be informed about this company!

[Lunatic]

[Brickwall]

I recently went for an interview with them, first impressions were good the offices were smart the salesman ( director of recruitment ) was very friendly. I soon began to realise this was being turned from a job interview or so i thought to a nearly £5k investment into getting trained as a commercial level 3 energy assessor for POSSIBLE work for their sister company in the future!! 10K for the full course I think. I have done extensive research on this company and have discovered they have been involved in IT Training, Driving Instructor Training, Plumber training under different umbrellas. I have found on other forums people who have spent time and money training as domestic assessors only to find there is little work and prices are dropping. The qualifications are legit but their sister companys market share in terms of passing on work at a sustainable level leave huge clouds that i cant ignore. They talk of Non-Compliance by commercial agents in getting assessments before marketing them which is true but again how much of this work they can secure is very dubious. In short I will not be parting with a chunk of my inheritance on a punt!! at best. Join them at your peril.

[iwantajob]

I nearly went for this earlier this year. But consulted a friend who has been a commercial assessor for the last 14years. He warned me about there were more assessors than jobs to be done. Even then when you've got your qualification you would be competing with hundreds of others just to get experience. My friend who has 14 years of experience is struggling to get work in the current climate. If you really want to get into this area of work, shop around for training costs, wait until the economy changes and the jobs pick up.

[Werneroeder]

I was sucked into the trap and now after 9 months and £7000.00 later I still am not qualified. Are there any people out there that have been conned by these people, because I contacted Watchdog and hopefully they will do something about it. Please get in touch so we can stop these peolpe stealing any further money from someone else.

[trogg4860]

[Werneroeder]

hi trogg4860,
i am still in talks and am cancelling my contract with them. i contacted trading standards in kingston and sending them a copy of my contract, and we shall see what happens. i have also contacted ABBE but they are washing their hands in it, so i am going to ofqual. try and use Stroma, they are very good and very efficient and very accomodating, and much cheaper.
regards

[donorong]

I have been on this course and the only people who will benefit are Property Professionals. It will cost you upwards of £8,000 to £10,00 and in some cases more. You will not come out from it with sufficient knowledge to undertake home condition reports and thus may well render yourself liable to litigation. Only 10 days is spent on learning building construction and building defects. I have been in the architectural and surveying profession for 40 plus years and if you have no previous knowledge or experience you won't get enough of it from this course.

The trainers, whilst all being from a surveying background, when "teaching" just read, from a plasma screen, extracts from the course manual, which is provided for you. You could just as easily read the manual cover to cover and get the same information.

Generally speaking it appears that it is the intention to keep stalling you throughout all the modules so that you are obliged to pay extra at the end of the course because you run out of time, particularly if you have opted for the extra "bolt on" modules. There is a 12 month time limit on getting qualified and I don't think I know anyone that has achieved this and completed ALL the modules.

Furthermore as no one is implementing HCRs , or very few anyway,you won't make any money from them. Indeed the Conservatives have pledged to scrap the idea. Also they propose to make an EPC valid for 10 years, so no repeat work there. and with Energy Assessors cutting each others throats at the moment, charging as little as £10 what chance have you got. As far as EPCs for tenancies are concerned most letting agents and landlords that I know just aren't bothering.

Hope this helps. My advice, DO NOT waste your money. I have correspondence from over 30 ex students, NONE of which have anything positive to say about Property Professionals. Copies of their comments can be provided if you wish to read them.

[Werneroeder]

Yes it would be a great idea to forward me the students comments as this with permission will be used as ammunition against them. I am determined to fight them and determined to win.

[donorong]

Hi Werneroeder

If you contact me by email, use the search facility for my membership details, it's on there. I will then let you know what is happening as I have already instigated a poll to gauge the students opinions.

Some one above mentioned Watchdog, I have already tried to contact them but more of you need to contact them. They may take more notice if more people contact them. If you, or anyone reading this, have any contact details of people who have fallen foul of this organisation please contact me as above.

In addition it has been advised by the Citizens Advice Bureau to write to the CEO of PP. This is Allen Jackson at the Tolworth Tower address or again you can contact me as I am coordinating similar letters from students, with a view to sending them all together, recorded delivery.

Some of us have also written to our MPs as well as Trading Standards.

Keep in touch.

[Werneroeder]

Where do I find your email? I would like to join the debate and have again contacted Watchdog this afternoon. I know of and have details of four fellow studends.