"Independent" advisors to declare interests?

point3

It's forum policy for company reps to ask for permission before posting, but what about those posters who are blatent salespeople, but who come on here pretending to give "independent" advice? Should they be allowed?

One prolific poster claims to be "independent", but his "advice" is far from impartial. It is true he is not openly advertising his firm or goods, but instead is using "dirty tricks" tactics. He doesn't promote his own lines, but instead tells tales of problems and complaints about the competition e.g. that they use inferior goods, that they are "cheap and nasty" and that they are prone to failure, etc.

I despair when forum members naively volunteer comments like, "I know nothing about mattresses" and "Is this mattress really 2 feet high?" and then ask for his "expert" opinion (often by P.M. it seems). Should these individuals be allowed to exploit the MoneySavingExpert forums for their own gain?

dmg24

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

Just report the offending posts/user to the abuse team and they will take a look...

... sometimes!

fermi

Please remember the the @abuse team are very busy.

If you have an issue with a particular poster then please include links to some of the "questionable" posts.

I've found that doing that, and making a good explanation to abuse@ with supporting links helps them deal with these issues as quickly as they can.

point3

Thanks for the replies. So I'm not the only one who thinks like this!

Problem is that the poster has been allowed to do this for so long, that it's almost as though he is "endorsed" by MSE as an advisor. He is nothing of the sort. He is a salesman.

dmg24

point3 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. So I'm not the only one who thinks like this!

Problem is that the poster has been allowed to do this for so long, that it's almost as though he is "endorsed" by MSE as an advisor. He is nothing of the sort. He is a salesman.

Agreed. I even know who you are talking about just by the descriptions!

This isn't the first time this has happened. There was a car hire broker who was allowed to pretty openly advertise on the Travel board, and it took several reports for any action to be taken. I would love to know how much business he got through MSE in the meantime!

dmg24

fermi wrote: »

Please remember the the @abuse team are very busy.

If you have an issue with a particular poster then please include links to some of the "questionable" posts.

I've found that doing that, and making a good explanation to abuse@ with supporting links helps them deal with these issues as quickly as they can.

I doubt that any of us need to be reminded how to report an 'offending' member, especially in such a patronising manner. :rolleyes:

fermi

dmg24 wrote: »

I doubt that any of us need to be reminded how to report an 'offending' member, especially in such a patronising manner. :rolleyes:

You would be surprised. :rolleyes:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: