Do we have enough BG's here?

blackmidnight

not sure why i just voted for six didn't really know but at least 2 more i think would be good.

renegadia

Was gonna post this in a new thread but figured it's relevant to this.

-puts on flak jacket-

How long is it considered to be a reasonable time for a merge request to be actioned, before requesting it from another BG. I just found one from 15th and I might be impatient and slightly out of line but surely 4 days is long enough when that particular BG has been around during that time? I wish I could say it was an isolated incident, but it very much isn't. I understand the "BG's are volunteers giving up their own time" spiel but things like this do make me wonder if we really are running on all three cylinders.

Anyway, to maintain anonymity I'll request again without bumping post.

LizB62

I'm with purple.sarah on this

The BGs are volunteers, and if they think they need more BGs, then that's what should happen.

They do a great job :-)

So, what do the BGs think?

Blulu

I've just added a link to this thread on Site Feedback, as if we're considering the rights and wrongs of this issue, then MSE would probably like to know about it. If not sure where to post, you might want to C&P so it goes on both threads?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57354659#Comment_57354659

divadee

renegadia wrote: »

Was gonna post this in a new thread but figured it's relevant to this.

-puts on flak jacket-

How long is it considered to be a reasonable time for a merge request to be actioned, before requesting it from another BG. I just found one from 15th and I might be impatient and slightly out of line but surely 4 days is long enough when that particular BG has been around during that time? I wish I could say it was an isolated incident, but it very much isn't. I understand the "BG's are volunteers giving up their own time" spiel but things like this do make me wonder if we really are running on all three cylinders.

Anyway, to maintain anonymity I'll request again without bumping post.

Hands up this is probably me.

My mum has been in hospital for 5 weeks undergoing major open heart surgery. This came out of the blue for us as she was rushed in as an emergency. I have been visiting hospital which is 32 miles away twice a day and my pm's have not been my priority.

Personally I don't think we need more board guides on this board. We already have 3 when some boards only have 1. These boards need to be looked at first.

Sorry for any pm's not actioned quickly enough. Now mum is home and I am caring for her myself I will have more time.

jaibaby

divadee wrote: »

Hands up this is probably me.

My mum has been in hospital for 5 weeks undergoing major open heart surgery. This came out of the blue for us as she was rushed in as an emergency. I have been visiting hospital which is 32 miles away twice a day and my pm's have not been my priority.

Personally I don't think we need more board guides on this board. We already have 3 when some boards only have 1. These boards need to be looked at first.

Sorry for any pm's not actioned quickly enough. Now mum is home and I am caring for her myself I will have more time.

Hope your mum is on the mend xx

I didn't comment on here when I spotted it earlier because I think it's up to the board guides

Blulu

Well divadee all I can say is some people come up with such flimsy excuses! Or to be slightly more honest - obviously you have NOTHING to say sorry for. With all that going on of course your mum takes full priority. Sending a giant {{{ HUG }}} to both of you, and hoping things go as well as possibly can.

I hope that you, and anyone here, would holler for help if needed.

If I'm honest, I do honestly think that there is room for something to be worked on here - again, with zero criticism towards anyone. If nothing else, perhaps there should be a system by which when a BG has a crisis, they can take time out, and, where the rest of us know not to pm them with requests for the time being? I dunno. I feel mean talking about it now. But in fact, it might well have been better for you without pm-ed requests building up?

Although I do take Jaibaby's point, I also think it's good to get a cross section of opinions.

Blu XXX

Blulu

Having slept on this, I want to say more. I think it would be helpful to separate two issues:

1) Are we happy with what the current BGs do?

2) Is the current system working as well as it could?

Right, issue number 1 is a no brainer. Our BGs give up significant time to do quite a lot of donkey work that really does keep the forum going. Any suggestions to tinker with the system should in no way be seen as a criticism of either MSE or of our BGs.

Having said that, I would be fibbing if I said that I didn't sometimes find the current system a little frustrating. This is why I hope that lots of people will be brave enough to comment. Yes the BGs opinions are highly significant, but they cannot necessarily know how well the system works from a user perspective.

Personally, I have virtually given up PMing the BGs with requests, because of how it works now. Firstly, you have to click on their names to see if any are around now to deal with your request. At the times I'm likely to do this, invariably no BGs are green lighted. So then I have to decide which red-lighted BG to contact and have to just hope they will get my pm soonish, and that they will deal with it.

Sometimes it can take a long time before the request is acted on, and sometimes it never is. Meanwhile, my hands are tied. I don't want to pm again and come across as nagging, so I have no choice but to keep my fingers crossed that my request has been seen and considered. Apart from anything, it can leave me (us?) feeling slightly paranoid, like, "Perhaps they're ignoring my request because they don't like me", or "Perhaps the request hasn't been done because I didn't do it right." Am I the only paranoid person using this forum? See, I knew you lot had it in for me

That is why I feel we need to include all opinions and perspectives.

For me, one thing that would probably encourage me to take a more active role in reporting forum issues, would be if the system was changed so that BGs replied with something like, "PM received, leave it with me". Or as was suggested a while back, instead of PMing with requests, perhaps add a sticky that we can write BG requests on, then the BGs can tick to acknowledge. Anything needing more privacy could still be pm-ed. It would take away having to work out which BG to contact, and wondering if a request has been received.

As always, NO offence intended to anyone

Barnabysue

I like the idea of a sticky to leave merge requests etc, but perhaps on this board rather than the comp board where there are already so many stickies. We have no idea what is going on in the real lives of BGs and if they are tied up with real life stuff or sick or on holiday then our requests may not be seen for days when sent by PM.

OneYorkshireLass

I report threads to be merged - although not as much as some other posters - and I have no real issues with the way things are now.

If they get merged, they get merged, if they don't then I don't mind ...