An apology

MalMonroe

Scotbot said:

How does one know if one gets a warning? I  have a junk email address that I use for these sorts of sites and rarely check it

Eeeek! I've had two warnings and was sent an email in each case and my comments were removed. Even if I hadn't read the emails I'd have known because I wasn't able to logon here for two weeks each time. Completely locked out. 

user1977

NameUnavailable said:

The other thing I notice is that whenever someone resurrects an old thread they get a flurry of responses telling them that the thread they've responded to is X months/years old and to start a new one!

Which is usually good advice, as others will tend to start responding to the original query and overlook the fact it's an old one resurrected by somebody with a different question (or none at all).

prowla

davilown said:

So, like quite a few of you around here, I’ve been contributing to this forum for quite a few years now and have found myself replying to the same old questions in an abrupt manner lately.

It’s not that I mean to be rude, just that I wish people would actually search the thousands of previous threads before posting the same old questions.

I come from a background where being blunt is the most sensible option. Unfortunate, some see this as being rude, which I understand.

The same old questions that come up are along the lines of ‘Can I avoid stamp duty on my second home?’, or ‘why won’t the vendor pay for an electrical and gas safety certificate?’.

I’ve found myself being completely annoyed by this so think it’s time to say goodbye to Moneysavingexoert. Let’s be honest, it’s not turned out to how Martin would have actually wanted.

Thanks for all your advice over the years - @GM, Dave, and @Doozergirl to name a very few.

So to all I may have offended, I apologise.

Good luck to you!

Complaining about other people's posts and saying they should search before posting; well, the "let me google that for you" approach is a good way of killing discussion.

Being blunt - that's a good way of putting people off too.

Same old questions - well, has the law changed, have other people something to contribute?

Saying goodbye - well, people (and forums) come and go.

A criticism of the site.

"...anybody I may have offended" - reads like one of those passive-aggressive non-apologies.

In turn, I apologise to anybody who may have found it in themselves to take offence and/or mistaken bluntness for apparent rudeness in my post.

Scotbot

I have noticed a few helpful posters seem to have left, Adrian C and David something the Scottish solicitor among them. Adrian was assertive and we clashed on accidental landlords but I would never complain about an assertive or even aggressive post unless it was downright rude.

Suggestions on another thread that Crashy has been suspended. He was never rude but gave downright unhelpful advice on pricing which he wasn't qualified to give IMO as he has not purchased a property in the last 5 years or more. I would always point out his bias to new posters

It does dilute the usefelness of the forum if experienced folk leave

YoungBlueEyes

Yeah AdrianC, DavidMcn (..?), also where's davesnave? God they did make me laugh!

elsien

Doozergirl said:

elsien said:

Slithery said:

It will appear on your message inbox on this site.

And if you're particularly dense you don't realise that the lovely yellow/red colours are meant to be red and yellow cards...........:)

The what? 

My warnings were colour coded. A fact that escaped me at the time. 

canaldumidi

elsien said:

Doozergirl said:

elsien said:

Slithery said:

It will appear on your message inbox on this site.

And if you're particularly dense you don't realise that the lovely yellow/red colours are meant to be red and yellow cards...........:)

The what? 

My warnings were colour coded. A fact that escaped me at the time. 

Given my extensive experience,I should have been aware. But no.....

MysteryMe

We were all new posters once. Every question is easy or blindingly obvious when you already know the answer. 

If some are finding that they are incapable of posting in a tolerant or moderate manner then perhaps it's for the best they remove themselves from the discussion before the moderators do it for them.

getmore4less

The most amusement I get is when someone moans about a post it gets deleted but the moaner has quoted and it persists in their own post.

Check your own profile/notifications/messages to keep an eye on warnings if you don't check emails.

canaldumidi

MysteryMe said:

We were all new posters once. Every question is easy or blindingly obvious when you already know the answer. 

If some are finding that they are incapable of posting in a tolerant or moderate manner then perhaps it's for the best they remove themselves from the discussion before the moderators do it for them.

You're right in a sense, yet it's hard. There was a recent thread about how to pay a solicitor for a property. I initially posted about how TTs work, and the costs, and bank transfers/Faster Payments, cheques etc. The debate continued and later I added a (I thought) light-hearted post about taking in a suitcase of cash.

The OP clearly took this the wrong way but fortunately, so far as I know, did not aactually hit the 'report' button. Had they done so, I might not be here now!