Giving advice on techical threads

[Mrsmopp]

Please please please unless you definitively know the answer, or have some direct experience of the problem, can you refrain from offering advice in the technical help threads.

One of the best things about our Forum is the help that members offer each other. However, I'm sure none of us would like to see another members car go belly up from incorrect advice given on the basis of guesswork or hearsay.

[princepugh]

Whilst I fully appreciate the sentiment behind this sticky, especially in terms of ‘guesswork’ I’m a little worried that it might discourage people from offering a reasonable opinion.

Undoubtedly, we’re all looking for the ‘definitive answer’ when posting on technical issues, however, there is always going to be an element of speculation when troubleshooting over a forum, even if the poster manages to articulate the nature of the problem effectively.

Speaking from personal experience, I expect a degree of speculation from any query thread I post and would expect such responses to trigger additional feedback from other members thus providing an overall balance. Surely it is then my responsibility to review all the feedback, seek further clarification and decide on a sensible course of action, which may well mean seeking and paying for a professional opinion from a trader in person?

As such, would it not make more sense to place a form of disclaimer/ reminder as a sticky, rather than something which might potentially discourage people from contributing?

Just my thoughts...