Before any Junior Birdman* signs up for any course it is critically important that they carry out DUE DILIGENCE.
Visit those ATOs on your shortlist. Speak with the staff and most importantly the customers under going training. How any aircraft ? Reliable? Quality of instruction? Staff / Student ratio. The current students are best placed to give straight answers.
Management likely to say all “rosy in the garden”.
Read all contracts very carefully. They are invariably weighted heavily in favour of the supplier.
Keep a daily diary. Keep all emails. Follow up every conversation, if you express your concerns, with an email to them as if minutes of the meeting.
Any establishment which offers significant discounts for large upfront payments must be regarded as suspicious. It is not recommended and to the more discerning prospective customer be somewhat of a danger signal as to their financial state. Even if some form of Trust Account is mentioned, give it a wide berth.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: Your training is expensive. You need to get it right first time.
And despite this advice which was issued was Pontius was a “Pilot” (Pilate). [5th governor of Judaea] the vulnerable and gullible are still caught out. Some will then start a thread to explain their tales of woe. If only they had taken advice and spoken with friends who were in / completed training.
Note: The term “ Junior Birdman “ is a generic phrase not identifying any particular gender / non-binary status.