Important please read!

I missed the post that has caused the agro but I must say most of the banter on here is OK.

I thought the Jeremy Clarkson thread to be quite offensive particularly by some of the well known members on here.
As usual that was down to politics and we all have a view which we are entitled to but it gets out of hand on a forum like this.
This forum is about Motorhomes why dont you make politics and religion a no go area.

I follow another forum on rugby and they just dont tolorate bullying or offensive comments. They just remove them.

Some forums have a button to report offensive comments this could be linked to a warning system 3 knocks and your out! obviously after being assessed if it really is offensive by Phil.

This is still a great forum.
 
MORGANTHEMOON said:
Some forums have a button to report offensive comments this could be linked to a warning system 3 knocks and your out! obviously after being assessed if it really is offensive by Phil.

This is still a great forum.
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At the bottom of the post is a black triangle with an exclamation mark, which I think can be used to report a post.

Mary
 
Mmmm.....the way I look at this and you may not agree - you are entitled to your own opinion - is that if I find something offensive, then I draw it to the moderators attention by hitting the 'report post' button....it is then up to the moderator to decide to remove the post, close the thread, or even delete it.

I then have the choice to continue to read the thread, or read something else instead and ignore the offending thread...let the moderators decide at what level something is offensive as my tolerance level may differ from yours....

of course another solution would be for Phil to appoint a couple more moderators raising the coverage online so that any offending thread could be quickly moderated....it is unrealistic for Phil to be online for hours on end daily just in case a thread goes offensive.....after that any 'discipline' is up to Phil...it's his forum, and his call.
 
If you are concerned about a post that it is breaking the rules or members are baiting each other, please report the post and I will look at it. We really want a nice community without bickering and fighting. Lets try and be nice to each other.
 
Phil said:
If you are concerned about a post that it is breaking the rules or members are baiting each other, please report the post and I will look at it. We really want a nice community without bickering and fighting. Lets try and be nice to each other.
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Well said Phil
 
Firefox said:
Personally I don't care if there is a disagreement. Why even bother to read and post if you don't like the thread. How difficult can it be just to go look at some other threads instead? People do make such a fuss over a storm in a teacup!

As for people leaving because there are a few differences of opinion here and there, I don't subscribe to that point of view. There seems to be more people than ever posting and going on meets etc. It's a very poor reason to leave when there are so many other helpful threads taking place.

Celebrate the good and ignore the bad... that was my school motto :lol-053: ...actually it was "Virtue, Learning, and Manners" but I was never much into that stuff apart from the second one :p
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absolutly well said FF, i was one of the watchers and i have to be honest, i found it amusing, i didnt post because i would have got wound up, i have learnt my lesson on that one, if you dont like the topic, jogg on, simples
 
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In my experience, this issue isn't limited to this forum but happens on all forums. In the same way that we meet people in life who have views or a manner of speaking or behaving that we don't like or find offensive, that happens on forums too.

In life we can usually find ways of avoiding those people or to excuse ourselves politely or sometimes not so politely from a conversation with them, however on a forum that's not so easy especially if you are personally involved in a thread.

But there is the report facility and the ignore facility and so those are perhaps the best ways for forum members to deal with the situation. If sufficient numbers of people report posts from a particular member, then the moderator can take action as per their role. It's not a pleasant situation but it reflects human nature and I suspect there will always be people who thrive on and enjoy causing controversy and there are also people who, as a result of their own life experiences, sometimes may not even realise that their comments are controversial or offensive.

I didn't see the thread so can't comment on the contents but the fact that Phil has taken action and has posted here to explain his reasons seems to me to be a responsible and appropriate response.

PS. As a relative newcomer to the forum, I have found the forum to be welcoming, friendly and helpful, and have had alot of help and support from a number of members. There have been the odd posts which have on occasion got my back up but usually I choose to skim over them and take no notice. On the odd occasion where I've felt I would like to reply to a comment which has "got my back up", I've resisted the temptation to reply immediately and have left it a while before replying and thought about my reply and whether or not a reply would inflame a situation or whether there was any point in replying, and have tried to reply in a way that is clear, can't be misconstrued and which is not aggressive but tries to be objective. However, this has only happened on very rare occasions over the past 2 months since I've been using the forum. For me the vast numbers of welcoming, helpful and friendly members far outweighs the odd comment / member which I don't like, and I certainly wouldn't consider leaving the forum without contacting Phil to explain my reasons.
 
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Canalsman said:
Well there is a connection - because my primary school was New College School in Oxford. Then I went to Magdalen College School before starting my IT career in 1970. Retired last year - thank goodness - 40 years in IT is plenty!
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As sad story Chris, but not the most heartbreaking I have come across.

Once met a chap who had not made the grade for new college boys choir & ending his school days at Eton, tragic.

Dezi :pc:
 
I'm assuming that the post in question is the one that was about camp sites being like prisons? I saw it a few days ago before we set off to France but now it's gone. I have to say that I found it very worrying. I and my husband took up motor-homing just over two years ago as we travel regularly to our house in Lot-et-Garonne in France and it seemed a nice way to travel down and we could then use it to explore France and beyond.

Having used aires (only in the off season as they are too crowded in summer) we are now looking forward to some real wild camping, which we first did in the Highlands of Scotland last year and loved being in wild places on our own. But we still use sites and we like them. We don't use the big all singing all dancing ones as I suspect that they're more suitable for families with children who may want to stay there for some time, and why shouldn't they? We use French municipals and in the UK the Caravan Club and we find them all superb and good value.

I lookd at this site and was only allowed five views on my PC at home but decided that it may be a good one to join but the thread that I read quite worried me. I am told that I'm a sheep, or some kind of idiot because I also want to use campsites. I can assure you that I'm not! I'm a retired professional who has travelled the world and been to some places that are very wild and even dangerous.

So to sum up, I think that this site needs to make up its mind whom it represents. Is it just for those who totally scorn sites or is it also for people like my husband and me who are happy to wild camp but also use sites?

I found the rhetoric from some of those who are purely wild campers to be very hurtful and off-putting to newcomers like us and I wonder how many members it has cost this forum?

I would also add that I have never felt that any site that I've used was like a 'prison'. I have seen many aires where to me anyway, staying on them would have been more like being a battery hen, with no room to flap your wings a little, but if people are happy to use them, good luck to them and I will never criticise their choice.

So all in all this is an odd post as I've had to join this site to say that I probably won't be joining! I shall hang around a little though and see if the earlier views expressed by some people are typical of you all. If they are then it's goodbye I'm afraid!

Ruth, Cheshire and France (currently in France!)
 
RuthGS said:
So to sum up, I think that this site needs to make up its mind whom it represents. Is it just for those who totally scorn sites or is it also for people like my husband and me who are happy to wild camp but also use sites?

I found the rhetoric from some of those who are purely wild campers to be very hurtful and off-putting to newcomers like us and I wonder how many members it has cost this forum?

I would also add that I have never felt that any site that I've used was like a 'prison'. I have seen many aires where to me anyway, staying on them would have been more like being a battery hen, with no room to flap your wings a little, but if people are happy to use them, good luck to them and I will never criticise their choice.
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Stick with it Ruth ...

The aim of this site is to encourage and help people to enjoy the freedom that parking free of charge overnight can bring.

Our download section, for full members only, has over 3,700 places throughout England, Wales and Scotland that you can do that.

It does NOT mean you have to use these places - but you can if you wish to do so, and save a bit of money by so doing.

I think many of us use the less formal campsites run by the Caravan Club and the Camping & Caravanning Club, as well as so-called wild camping spots.

But each to their own of course.

The ethos of this site is quite clear, and enforced by the moderators, and that is to treat everyone with respect and courtesy whilst appreciating that people have differing opinions and viewpoints.

There's a huge wealth of knowledge to tap into here. I hope you stay around.

Regards

Chris
 
Canalsman said:
The ethos of this site is quite clear, and enforced by the moderators, and that is to treat everyone with respect and courtesy whilst appreciating that people have differing opinions and viewpoints.
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Yep
 
Well i'm sorry if i'm going to offend anyone but here goes, we often get called freeloaders for wildcamping, we get called sheep for going on a campsite, so what? what does it matter what other people think? if you like campsites, go on campsites, if you like to wild camp, wild camp, i really cant see what all the fuss is about, people will always name call, dont worry about it, i certainly wouldnt leave a very informative, friendly forum cos 1 or two people have a spat, thats the way of the world, ignore it and read something else that interests you.
 
RuthGS said:
I'm assuming that the post in question is the one that was about camp sites being like prisons? ...........
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I certainly think it would be worth you staying Ruth.
I too had the same thoughts as you but was too infuriated to reply in that thread (and didn't want to risk getting dragged into it). That thread came less that 24hrs after I became a full member and also wondered whether I'd done the wrong thing.
I like wilding, I also like to use full sites while on our main holiday, especially in France. I also tow a caravan as our motor caravan van is a two berth and when we take grandchildren or my 83 year old mother away then the caravan (and site toilets/showers) are a necessity.
 
Ruth this is not the first time that this nonsense has raised its head. My reply then is shown below & I have not changed my mind since.

Staying on the site will is worth it just for the helpful info freely given about motorhoming & other topics both in the Uk & abroad.

Dezi :pc:

"Like many other members of this site we spend 99% of my travelling time using wilding spots, or when on the continent free Aires. However common sense is not thrown out of the motor home window just because the Murvi is self sufficient on the habitation front. When we think a camp site is the better option we use it.

Recently we stayed for 4 nights at camping Della Serenissima just twenty mins by bus, stop outside gate, from Venice. It’s the third time in 20 years that we have used it & it’s perfect for our needs. True I have a wild site closer to Venice, but, when we visit larger cities for a few days & our trips are usually for 6 / 7 weeks we are prefer the luxury of hot showers, unlimited water, laundry facilities & the ability to empty & refill tanks before we continue our travels.

Our 6 / 7 week travels usually involve 4 / 5 nights on a pay campsite & as we get older this will probably increase, does that mean that I will feel obliged to leave Wild camping forums. NO.

Dezi" 27.11.2011
 
kimbowbill said:
Well i'm sorry if i'm going to offend anyone but here goes, we often get called freeloaders for wildcamping, we get called sheep for going on a campsite, so what? what does it matter what other people think? if you like campsites, go on campsites, if you like to wild camp, wild camp, i really cant see what all the fuss is about, people will always name call, dont worry about it, i certainly wouldnt leave a very informative, friendly forum cos 1 or two people have a spat, thats the way of the world, ignore it and read something else that interests you.
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Very well put Jen.

It's all about opinions. One has to be a bit thick skinned on forums. There will be people putting forward different ideas. We can all make up our own minds. Sometimes we'll be swayed by arguments, sometimes we won't. If someone says campsites are prisons that's simply their opinion. It is not "worrying" and doesn't represent the view or policy of the site in general.

To RuthGS, I have met the person who put that view forward in person many times and he is a great bloke. I prefer wilding but use camp sites occasionally. However, I don't think any less of him just cos he doesn't. It's like Techno, the guy who posts on solar panels. He used rivets to mount his, I used bolts for mine. I'm not going to throw a wobbly and leave the site just cos he tells me his rivets are a better idea or I should be using one kind of solar panel over another. If you are not going to join a site because you didn't like the opinion of one person, that's a very bad move. You likely won't be joining any forums because there will be people on every one of them you are going to disagree with on frequent occasions... it's the same for all of us.

It's also a very bad move because you will be missing out on a lot of information. On some forums you'll only get information about posh new motorhomes and mostly premium camp sites. Here you will get information about everything. Posh new rigs, premium sites, wilding locations, e-bay bargains, self build motorhomes, small 5 van sites, money saving tips etc
 
Firefox said:
Very well put Jen.

It's all about opinions. One has to be a bit thick skinned on forums. There will be people putting forward different ideas. We can all make up our own minds. Sometimes we'll be swayed by arguments, sometimes we won't. If someone says campsites are prisons that's simply their opinion. It is not "worrying" and doesn't represent the view or policy of the site in general.

To RuthGS, I have met the person who put that view forward in person many times and he is a great bloke. I prefer wilding but use camp sites occasionally. However, I don't think any less of him just cos he doesn't. It's like Techno, the guy who posts on solar panels. He used rivets to mount his, I used bolts for mine. I'm not going to throw a wobbly and leave the site just cos he tells me his rivets are a better idea or I should be using one kind of solar panel over another. If you are not going to join a site because you didn't like the opinion of one person, that's a very bad move. You likely won't be joining any forums because there will be people on every one of them you are going to disagree with on frequent occasions... it's the same for all of us.

It's also a very bad move because you will be missing out on a lot of information. On some forums you'll only get information about posh new motorhomes and mostly premium camp sites. Here you will get information about everything. Posh new rigs, premium sites, wilding locations, e-bay bargains, self build motorhomes, small 5 van sites, money saving tips etc
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and dont forget the odd spat now and agen lol, well said Vern xx
 
When I've been stuck for information, ideas or practical guidance, members on this site have delivered.
I became a full member when I realised I'd struck gold, and when I can I will help others on here in the same way.
Stick with it Ruth
 
I regularly go on another forum for a band that I'm really keen on. That site is predominantly used by young people and you should see the things they all say to each other! You take your life in your hands if you express an opinion there. This site is so quiet and peaceful by comparison despite the odd snippy remark - I come on here for a rest! I've never met with anything but friendliness and welcome here.
 
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