Martin Lewis roasted for giving "diabolical" advice on C4

PINGA14

Martin_Discredited wrote: »

Moneysupermarket just reports the rates. Martin DOES advise.

The compensation advise is irrelavant. How can it be good advice to take a savings account with a 1% better interest rate than another if there is a chance they are in trouble. The 1% extra is not going to make anyone feel better about the lengthy process they now have to go through to get their money back.

The fact that he states he wouldn't have done anything different just compounds his discreditation as an Expert. Experts by definition ADVISE!
:money:

You are correct in stating that Martin does give advice. He gives his opinion on the pros and cons of a product and advises YOU to read the details and t & c's, and then make your own mind up.

ThrobsBlackHat

MSE_Dan wrote: »

The comparison you make between us and Moneysupermarket is interesting. Every mention of Icesave on our site for the past 6 months has been appended with an important notice, in bold, about the quirky compensation scheme it operated.

In that same time, no other Best Buy table or comparison site, that I saw, had the same policy of including this information every time they put a link to Icesave.

I can't prove it, but I have a nagging suspicion that some of these trolls who registered as users in the last 5 days are competitors trying to drag everything down

vulcan59

I just watched that video, having not seen the original tv news item. All I can say is that I thought Martin did a great job of trying to defend himself against some ridiculous claims.

Martin, don't give up and don't get down heartened by these ridiculous claims. You are doing a great job. :T

Martin_Discredited

MSE_Dan wrote: »

The comparison you make between us and Moneysupermarket is interesting. Every mention of Icesave on our site for the past 6 months has been appended with an important notice, in bold, about the quirky compensation scheme it operated.

In that same time, no other Best Buy table or comparison site, that I saw, had the same policy of including this information every time they put a link to Icesave.

You just aren't getting it. You are so intent on defending yourself that you can't see that the best way to do that might be to admit some wrong doing.

If you had also mentioned in your article on saving that Icelandic banks were in trouble back in March then a lot of people wouldn't have opened accounts.

Martin admitted on the news that he didn't want to tell everyone to withdraw their money as this coud have caused the bank to go under sooner. So he clearly thinks that his responsibilty lies with an Icelandic bank rather than his readers. So much for "consumer revenge"!

GeorgeHowell

ThrobsBlackHat wrote: »

I can't prove it, but I have a nagging suspicion that some of these trolls who registered as users in the last 5 days are competitors trying to drag everything down

Is there a viable competitor to this site ? I have never seen one. Sites like Moneysupermarket are useful but quite different.

I suspect that the idiots trying to blame Martin Lewis for their own misjudgement over Icesave are the same types who routinely blame the referee if their 8 year old son is on the losing side in a Saturday morning football match, and then give the kid a hard time over it when they get home.

rboysdad

How do I post on this site? I keep getting told to register then do it then write then get told to register!!

ThrobsBlackHat

GeorgeHowell wrote: »

Is there a viable competitor to this site ? I have never seen one. Sites like Moneysupermarket are useful but quite different.

It would benefit all sorts of comparison sites that are directly commercial if the reputation of this one took a battering.

Martin_Discredited

ThrobsBlackHat wrote: »

I can't prove it, but I have a nagging suspicion that some of these trolls who registered as users in the last 5 days are competitors trying to drag everything down

Speculate away. I am just someone who had money with KE who is annoyed about the advice I was given.

I didn't think Moneysupermarket was a competitor as you recommend using them n many articles I have read. Also aren't you non profit making? That would mean you don't have competitors.

Leon_W

Look, FairyElephant, I'm certainly not saying you should take advice only from financial experts. I'm very sure that you are quite capable of arranging your own mortgage, planning your own investments, sorting out your own pension etc etc as you sound financially savvy and are also a member of this site. That is your right to do so and I'm not knocking that in any way. By doing so though you have to take the knocks on the chin if something goes wrong.

What you need to remember is that not all people are like you. Some people need advice be it mortgages, investments or whatever, and getting any of these wrong can cost you dearly. That's why certain financial products are regulated by the FSA and anyone giving advice on these can be brought to book with compensation awarded if that advice is unsuitable.

You say....

"In this instance, no-one put a gun to anyone's head and made them stick their money anywhere.....we're not talking about children here - we are all adults and able to make our own decisions and have to live with the consequences."

Unfortunately in this day and age that just isn't good enough. Look at Fairpak. Those people didn't deserve what they got by any means and regulations should have been in place to protect them and they weren't. Now, I don't want to stereotype anyone here, but it is a simple fact of life that some don't even know how to tie there own shoelaces let alone understand highly complicated financial products, so in that respect they shouldn't have to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. They should be able to seek regulated financial advice backed by a compensation scheme if things should go wrong, and luckily for them, they can.

As for this whole Icesave debacle it will certainly teach a few people a salutory lesson whichever side of the fence you sit on. I just heard on the news that my local council had $40 million with some Icelandic bank or other and Darling isn't necessarily guaranteeing it !

I can feel a much larger than usual Council Tax bill coming on !

Regards

ThrobsBlackHat

Martin_Discredited wrote: »

Speculate away. I am just someone who had money with KE who is annoyed about the advice I was given.

I didn't think Moneysupermarket was a competitor as you recommend using them n many articles I have read. Also aren't you non profit making? That would mean you don't have competitors.

I am just a user of this site.

Lots of comparison sites would kill for the reputation and user base of this website.

MSE does not see them as competitors, but they would certainly see MSE as a competitor.