What a great idea! It is helping no-one, least of all the wannabes, to have bickering from professionals.
Bit of advice from a been there........it cost literally £000's less to train now than it did X years ago. Now it costs getting on for £20k to get a type rating. No airline can cater for that anymore - very very few anyway. Nowadays it is becoming almost essential that you have a type rating first. But which one? And for which airline? This is where a scheme for sim assessment comes into it's own, and if a company is undertaking that on behalf of airline or airlines it has to be be a good thing.
Bonding was a way of getting that £20k back. No-one liked that but the airline needs protection from the idiots who got on board only to leave the airline in the lurch - and £20k poorer! That is not right.
A wannabe, or anyone else for that matter, has to demonstrate that he is good enough to take on for training even though he is paying. £850 is not a lot find out if you can make the grade via a sim assessment, if your IR work is good enough, if you can scan correctly etc.,
The back biting here is an all out attack on the company, seemingly, from people who have a serious personal issue involved. My answer to that is you are way out of line. Decisions to spend one's own money is a personal matter. What the wannabes seek is advice not a lesson on how to air dirty washing or gripes.
They certainly do not want to participate in a contest with professionals slagging each other off or behaving badly. Your are certainly not helping anyone are you. As professionals we should NOT use personal grudges to attack a scheme that is ASSUMED to be a rip-off. I don't believe that it is. The company is actually very successful.
That said. Wannabes and those who are desperate to get a type rating here is my advice.
Do DUE DILIGENCE. Get all the information you need before parting with any money. Be sure you know what you are getting into by asking as many questions as you need to. If you are told that there is a guarantee of a job at the end of the training, which includes base and line checks, get it in writing. Then you need to know at what salary and what kind of contract. Again get it in writing. If the company has nothing to hide they will do it. If they will not do it - walk away.
Good luck.
Now, you professionals. Just take a step back and let those at the bottom of the ladder get on it if that is their want. Then, take your personal issues elsewhere and help not hinder. If you cannot help then don't say anything.