What makes people ask for advice in this forum and not via a bank or something?

Dyaess

Hiya,

Just interested to know what makes people visit a forum like this, or rely on it for finance advice from their peers, rather than going to a bank or something like the money advice service or citizens advice or something?

Muttipops

If you read a lot of posts on this forum, you will see them either answered by a Debtline Adviser or others with indepth knowledge of money matters, so it's not like asking a bunch of no idea what they are talking about chancers. Also, the advice often given is to speak to a debt charity so people are punted on that way anyway.
On here, nobody is trying to sell you anything, unlike a bank.


And I came on here myself in the first place to ask because some questions seem too trivial to ask the Insolvency Service or I sometimes want to know what happens in practice and what other peoples' personal experiences have been.


I think some come for support too, in times of great trouble or worry, when the banks and other institutions are closed and of course the banks often cause a lot of woe themselves.


No doubt just a few of the reasons!

enthusiasticsaver

Maybe because people want advice from others who have been in similar positions and don't trust banks to give unbiased advice. I always do my own research but find it useful to get others opinions whereas if I went into a bank I would think they were trying to sell me something to their benefit not mine. I say this from my own experience of having worked in banking for 20 years between 1978 and 1998. Sales targets overtook customer service in the 90s. Not sure if those who work in banking now though still have to follow same mantra.

sourcrates

The difference is we are not trying to sell you anything.

A bank exists to make money, not the best place to go for debt advice.

You would be suprised how many people are ignorent of there rights, or have no idea where to go for free unbiased advice.

Lots of us have had Hugh debt, and dealt with it, it helps if you have experienced it yourself.

Any advice given on this forum is mostly from personal experience and there is a wealth of knowledge on a lot of subjects.

And yes we normally recommend you seek professional advice from a free provider such as stepchange, National Debtline, or payplan, but sometimes the individual just needs that extra push in the right direction.

Dyaess

Yeah, that's so true. I didn't think about it like that, but yeah it's much more reliable. What keeps you coming back to this particular forum though? Are there other ones for finance that you'd use?

National_Debtline

Dyaess wrote: »

What keeps you coming back to this particular forum though? Are there other ones for finance that you'd use?

I think people realise that there are a lot of posters with experience of dealing with money related issues, either personally or professionally, and in general the atmosphere of this forum is very positive and supportive.

I think this is the most popular forum that covers financial topics. Legal Beagles and the Consumer Action Group forums are also pretty well known and cover some debt related subjects.

James
@natdebtline

sourcrates

Dyaess wrote: »

Yeah, that's so true. I didn't think about it like that, but yeah it's much more reliable. What keeps you coming back to this particular forum though? Are there other ones for finance that you'd use?

I came here myself for advice initially, and just kept coming back.

I suppose it gets to be a habit really, but if you can provide a little piece of mind to someone at 1 o clock on a Sunday morning, who hasn't slept for a week, because they have to choose between paying there credit card or eating, then that makes me sleep a little easier also.

tealady

I keep coming back because

1) I like a lot of the people who post
2) I enjoy seeing posters going from not knowing where to turn to having a plan
3) Having been in debt myself I hope I can help others.

sourcrates

tealady wrote: »

I keep coming back because

1) I like a lot of the people who post
2) I enjoy seeing posters going from not knowing where to turn to having a plan
3) Having been in debt myself I hope I can help others.

4) you make a nice cuppa !!!!!

lemonmoney

I ask advice here because I feel ashamed elsewhere. People here are normal folk like me who are hard working and usually professionals who just let stuff get out of control. I always feel like there is judgement at banks or charities.

I guess selfishly I like to see I'm not alone

datlex

I would say it is a place to brain storm. Get ideas. No one is going to sell you more debt here or pressurise you regarding payments.