Hi Theresa
Let me clarify a tad.
The problem isn't with i-appeal or ABX; as far as I'm aware it's a good course and ABX is a perfectly sound company about whom we have absolutely no complaints.
The issue is that if you haven't taken a pre-requisite course in facials at all, the extended training of the i-appeal course may not 'top up' the training which might make you 100% confident, competent and conversant with basic facial technique.
If I can perhaps compare it to my daughter's first motorbike, which I'm curently putting on the road for her (because the insurance requirements are perhaps similar); she can be insured to drive up to 50cc after Compulsory Basic Training, then once she passes the first A test she can drive up to 125cc bikes, then another test to go above that and so forth. The CBT is cheap and quite easy and fast to attain; the next stages up get a little tougher and more costly; but the CBT makes her safe to progress.
Now - and stay with me, boring though it seems, because the conclusion is in your favour - the 'basic' facial pre-requisites with BABTAC (as, I think, with all other Associations and Insurers) can be earned from two routes; national, state qualifications, or from independent training companies who are 'accredited' by BABTAC as effectively offering their equivalent.
Not all independents are accredited for the basics by all Associations and Insurers, because not all independents have registered with all of us! There is a small fee to get a course accredited to cover the (quite significant) time it takes for us to 'check the course out' to make sure it is up to standard, and I think we charge the same as our friends at Guild. But it seems that, for whatever reason, so far i-appeal have had their Guild accreditation, but not BABTAC's; so we can't say that the course your partner has bought for you is 100% safe!
I'm not criticising i-appeal - I'm sure it's fine - but we can't say to our insurers that it's a quality course but Guild, it seems, can.
On that point - it's worth noting that if you are approached by any insurer - especially a very, very cheap one, or a new one - just one of the questions you might ask is if they charge training companies and schools for course accreditation.
If they do, it means they take their responsibility to you - to try and help you be a good, safe therapist - very, very seriously. If they don't, it could mean they accredit anyone willy-nilly; which might mean that, by what would appear to be an implied recommendation from them, you could pay for courses which are (a) absolutely rubbish and (b) put you and your client at risk. And there are plenty of horror stories on this site about those!
So, whilst tearing my hair out and chewing the carpet, BABTAC wouldn't be able to take you as a member. But I am glad that you are considering Guild; obviously I am biased and I think BABTAC is better (!), and it is a fact that the two companies are very different in many, many ways. But I'm not going to 'sell' us on this thread because if I sadly have to lose a therapist to anyone, I am delighted you are going to Guild above any other company - especially a 'cheap' one!
Paul and Lynne Archer and their team have been around a long time and know what they're doing; I am sure they'll look after you.
Regards
PHILIP SWINFORD
Marketing Services Manager
BABTAC
, so before i booked the course i phoned babtac to make sure im covered, and im not! because iv not done a facial course eekk! im glad i made that phone call, so instead of doing i_appeal im looking for a facial course!
