Ciphe

[LUCIALIA]

How many people are members of Ciphe and ultimately do you think it is worth the subscription?

 

[tom609]

i have been a member for 25 years you do need some sort of organization to move the industry forward though it seems the subscriptions seem to go up every year without fail

 

[REDSAW]

i dont see the point????????????

 

[nicro3]

i dont see the point????????????

Agreed

 

[Whl4852]

I saved 20% at Worcester Bosch on my oil training, paid for its self already. I always ask for discount and say I'm a member. Personally I think it's viable, it makes good sense to me.

 

[LUCIALIA]

So what have you gained in 25 years then apart from a lighter wallet?

 

[tom609]

great advertisement gives the new customer peace of mind

 

[LUCIALIA]

I can see that side of it but is there anything else other wise it seems expensive. ...

 

[tom609]

you always have a lighter wallet with any organization it works for me, not for you ok

 

[TomLane]

I'm a member of CIPHE but yet to see any benefit to it yet.

I guess it works for some. There have been threads previously about belonging to trade bodies & there benefits etc. Makes interesting reading with the difference in opinions.

Some say that it gives a better image to the customer if you advertise you belong to a recognised trade body! Although most wouldn't have a clue what some of them meant!

 

[LUCIALIA]

Just trying to gauge other people's opinions

 

[REDSAW]

i save 100% each year by not being a member as i think mentioning to my customers that i am a ciphe member they will look at me vacant.
tell them i am 'gas safe' or even corgi for the old ones, then thats all they want to know!imo.

if i pay a membership to them what 'in my hand' will they give me back is what i need to know to consider it. or is it just someone else that wants a slice of your profits??

just a thought.....

if 'corgi' set up a plumbing 'organisation' for say £25 p.a then i do believe i would join!..as that will give me a right to say that i am 'corgi registered' on my adds. in return i can see an influx of 'older' customers who recognize the name and the benifit will be in my hand in ££.

 

[gasmanrob]

Im in two minds over joining either ciphe or aphc

 

[nicro3]

JIB, CIPHE, HVCA, APHC, WJA the grand order of water rats you pays your money and makes your choice

 

[Mike Jackson]

I've been a member for years. There have been times when if the subscription hadn't been automatically debited from my account when I wouldn't have rejoined but on the whole I get reasonable value from my membership. Like a lot of these organisations you get out what you put in. We have quite a few technical evenings in our branch and you can get a lot of useful information on these evenings. You also get to network with other local plumbers.

I think the value is likely to go up with easier access to things like the WIAP scheme and Water safe for registered plumbers.

 

[CES]

I'm a member of CIPHE too and have been for a few years, without it I would not have gained access to work under the Scottish Boiler scrappage scheme as you had to be a member of CLE, SNIPEF of similar. CLE and SNIPEF is even more expensive to join. I've also gained professional qualifications which although doesn't mean much when your on the tools, presents a professional image to firms later on in life when you may want to go into consulting or expert witness type jobs.

 

[Keefy]

That reminds me, I really must catch up on my paperwork.



Like a few here, I'm not totally convinced that your average customer will look any further than the pretty colours in the logo - let alone even care. I'm still debating whether or not to join 10 years after getting that form. Corgi on the other hand is still probably the name everybody still recognises and I did think that being able to tell a customer I had PLI through Corgi would look good in their eyes simply because it's a body they will be familiar with. (I don't have PLI with them by the way, got a better deal elsewhere).

Corporate customers or those in business themselves would most likely appreciate that you're a member of a recognised body but I think it's mostly lost on your average household customer. I will be having another think about joining Ciphe in the near future though - if I think I'll benefit from it.

 

[SimonG]

I've got one of them back home in the office. But it's only 3 years old, think it was when I first registered with OFTEC.