Threads on behalf of.......

[unclebulgaria67]

Every day on this site, we see new posts added, asking for advice on behalf of a friend, a colleague, a neighbour etc.

 

They often only have some of the facts and can't answer questions raised. Answers are given based on the limited information available, with some frustrated replies and most of the time the threads are never continued.

 

I have recently heard in a discussion regarding Citizens Advice, that some of the staff are going into online forums to make posts, to try to find out information to help people. I can't remember where i heard this, but it may have been a radio phone in programme, where someone mentioned this in relation to CAB cuts and staff there not having the knowledge to help. If this is true, i wonder whether this presents an issue or not.

 

Perhaps the answer is to suggest to the people making these posts, is to get the person with the problem to register with CAG and to start a thread with full details.

[BankFodder]

Yes, we have had some instances of Citizens Advice coming onto the forum for information. Let me say that they do not come on officially – but some of their staff come onto the forum.

 

I don't see why they should be any problem with this at all. I also understand that there are times when Citizens Advice staff have advised people who come to see them to come to this forum for help. I am sure that this is done unofficially and I don't expect that Citizens Advice would condone it if they knew.

 

The problem of friends posting on behalf of friends is often a real nuisance.

 

Sometimes it works out all right, but sometimes it just becomes too clunky and cumbersome and at the end of the day the "friend" who is apparently being helped is not prepared to square up and take the necessary action.

 

Frankly there is really nothing to be done about it. This form has two purposes – one is to try and provide self-help encouragement to people who come here. The second is to provide a database of information for people who don't specifically come here and ask questions but who search the forum in order to get some idea of how they should handle their own situations.

 

We get anything between three quarters of 1 million and 1 million unique visitors per month. Not all of them stay very long, but I'm quite sure that a lot of them simply browse the information we have without making any contribution.

 

It's a shame that they don't join in – but it's very enough. If they get some benefit from the information we have here then that is fairly satisfactory

[Consumer dude]

Perhaps some people are not able to ask themselves as they may have a learning disability, for example..

[citizenB]

Perhaps some people are not able to ask themselves as they may have a learning disability, for example..

 

This is quite likely, CD. However, unless the "go between" is in a position to respond to contributions to the thread in a timely manner or even properly armed with the full story, it does make helping quite fragmented and can lead to frustration on both sides.

[Andyorch]

And yet we still have successes ....for a friend

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?437145-Advice-On-Recently-Bought-Vehicle-Not-Fit-For-Purpose***Judgment-paid-in-Full***/page10

 

Andy