The certification is most recognized, along with their background check; as for membership, not so much. As has been stated, their hotline is less than reliable (you’ll get more reliable answers/guidance here than there).
It’s a shame too, because there are other courses that are far better, but this organization has managed to market themselves to the top; if you search here you’ll find many posts from folks who took their certification but don’t feel like they came away with a good, solid foundation of knowledge - they end up taking another certification course to “fill in the gaps”.
There are also other BGCs that cover the exact same information required, but again, the marketing has put them at the top - reliable or not.