hi there poontang!
i went 2 OFT about two years ago and I was very lucky in some respects. I met the nicest bunch of people(students that is) and made some great mates, and if we had not developed this little support structure, things could have been different.
I was messed around a lot at the start getting aircraft slots etc.. and if I hadn't put my foot down, this would have continued. I thought the ground instruction led a lot to be desired. It was non-existant and as i said earlier, if there hadn't been for the fact a bunch of us got together and mucked in, we would have been bugg@red!
I could go on all day about my expereinces there, but basically I found-
1.They were always trying to pull a fast one were money was concerned.
2.The cessnas were in an apalling state of dis-repair, so much so that I changed my PPL course to the warrior as I didn't want to head home in a wooden box.
3.Generally, they just didn't give a f@ck about any of the students standard of learning, they wanted to take ur money and push u out the door.
4.loads of hidden little charges that they never told me about. No taxi appeared at the airport for me. I had to make my own way and pay for it too.
Too much to say, too little time...
In a nutshell, don't bother your arse.
Loads of guys I work with (and who are now professional pilots) went to EFT and it has a good rep.
I heard good praise for Naples too.
Generally, what ur doing is correct, ask around, get some feedback about a few different schools and take it from there.
Best of Luck with the CPL and ur future career
PG