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The following has been posted in all Public Appliance Advice Forums this morning.
“Advice in Public Forums.
This post will outline what the professional members of UK Whitegoods (i.e. the engineers) are prepared to offer in the way of advice to the public.
1/ Understand fully that Safety First is the watchword. We will NOT advise any member of the public to perform any sort of “live” testing on any appliance.
2/ Bear in mind that in the forums we are unable to see your appliance. Therefore we rely on you to accurately describe your problem, with the full model number of the appliance and preferably the serial number as well.
3/ Any diagnosis that we make cannot be taken as 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} gospel. It will be based on the training and experience of the engineers, and will more likely than not be accurate.
4/ Component failure/testing. Most electrical components, unless visibly blown or burnt, will need testing with an electrical meter. If you are unable to do this, it’s engineer time.
5/ Identification of components. Should a heater problem be identified for instance, it may be necessary to test the heater and thermostat. We CANNOT identify the exact location of these components for you. Our assumption is that you will have some technical knowledge, or your question would not have been posted. There are also legislative reasons for this.
6/ Where a response suggests that technical help would be the best course of action – WE MEAN IT! The combined knowledge of the engineers on the site amounts to thousands of years, so we will tell you this for a reason.
7/ Technical information. This is very often specifically copyright to a given manufacturer and will not be publically quoted in the forums.
8/ Please do not ask for wiring diagrams, schematics or for us to sort out any wiring problems over the internet. We cannot judge how competent you are nor the future readers of any thread, we’ll try to point you in the right direction but that’s as far as we can legally go.
9/ Be cautious of accepting advice from a new member as opposed to a long-term UKW member. We have some control over the membership, but not over the new members. If in doubt, ask.
Within these limitations we will do our best to answer your queries and questions.”
We ask that all contributors to the Public Forums bear this in mind.
Regards,
Chris,
Penguin45.Re: Professional Advice in the Public Forums
It may be of interest to note that with the plethora of help and advice the Internet can provide, forum type websites highlight the varied talents of the public at large in seeking help and advice.
No greater example is from this guy Steve : –
http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.p … 9&start=15
The conclusion most of us will draw from this thread alone is that Joe Public has to be treated with caution. Most of whom know how to operate computers, access the Internet and log on to the forums asking for help. However the vast majority of those that do so don’t even own a screwdriver let alone how to use it!
It’s impossible for anyone to assess the abilities of postees but it is fair to assume from the outset that most a clueless based on generalised observations. I would therefore suggest that before jumping in with two left feet and answering the persons post simply because you think you know the solution. But to think first that they might not grasp the essence of your reply or , more pertinently, even know how they might possibly deal with it?
It’s all too easy for us in the trade to figure out the likely solution based on the few clues given out. And many of us are all too quick to give forth the benefit of their knowledge. Some trade members have even provided strip-down component photo’s to show the postee where the problem lies for heavens sake!!!
All good clever stuff I’m sure but can be well lost on the majority of the general public at large. The example I gave earlier is quite typical -believe me. 8)
So be sparing in the advice you give, don’t assume anything, be cautious of not contravening the general rules on giving advice to the the general public who after all are our bread and butter. 😉
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