Too many chiefs?

[BoyElectric]

I'm a new member to this site and while I like it very much, it seems to have a flaw. When you ask for advice you usually get several different "expert" opinions and this can be just as confusing as not knowing anything at all.

It's great to have a large amount of experts on hand to give advice and I realise that opinions between experts will differ, but is it not possible for these experts to list their accreditations and affiliations so us Indians (sorry, native Americans ) can get a better idea of who's opinion to trust and which path to follow.

Discuss.

 

[RF Lighting]

How would that work?

I could say that I have all sorts of qualifications which I don't really have.

I'm not prepared to prove it by posting copies of my certificates which contain my personal details on a public forum, and I suspect many others would be of the same opinion.

Just because you have the paperwork, doesn't mean you know what you are talking about.

The majority of posters I read, (mainly in electrics UK), seem to be in agreement, and if someone posts something incorrect they will soon be corrected by other members.

 

[Bahco]

Gift horse and mouth spring to mind!

You want free advice and also you want evidence of qualifications too!

Can't see you being too popular.

 

[jefoss]

ok (stands up, clears throat)

hiya, im jef, a tiler, i have 3 phd's one in david beckham, one in icebergs and the other in sweden

i have been a tiler since 5 o clock.

i drive a renault espace and like to speed,

i have 5 children (3 girls, 2 boys)

my doctor says im important, at least thats what i thought he said.

i have 2 knees and and 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.

now, what advice do you need??










( some of the above may not be true)

 

[joe-90]

I suppose he wants free advice from his solicitor too?

 

[Richardp]

Hi BoyElectric
you'll find when you ask for advice that those with a bit of knowledge on the given subject will give way to those that really know their stuff, we all know who the real experts are and if anyone gives bad advice everyone else will jump on it to put them straight, I'm constantly staggered by the level of help and support in here, dare I say, proud!!
p.s don't listen to Joe

 

[BoyElectric]

Now that I've stopped laughing . . .

OK OK OK, points taken and understood.

Jefoss, you are in the wrong business - try stand-up comedy.

 

[mattylad]

Ah but guys, he does sort of have a point.

If a DIYr comes here to ask for advise & gets advice given from someone who is not really qualified & that advice is badly wrong then he wont know that the person is not really qualified to give that advice (I'm making this up as I go along so bear with me) yet if the qualified tradespeople had some form of additional identifying marking (like a signature line or extra mark in the left hand area) that could show that they are qualified & know (or should) what they are talking about, then the OP would be able to go away knowing that they have been given what is more likely to be correct advice
than if they got it off some chap in the street.

Obviously we can all make it up, but some who give good advice are well known & it should be possible to identify them for this.

This should however come with a disclaimer that they are just giving free advice, not knowing the full facts or situation and do not accept any liability in any way should the advice seeker screw up in any way.

As an example, someone could come on here, ask if its OK to plug a 5kw appliance in via a 13A plug, I could tell him that Yes it will be fine & he could then go away having been advised that its OK but not really knowing if it was correct advice. That would obviously be wrong advise & he cant really trust that the advice I have given is right. however if say RF was to give the proper advice, while accompanied by a "qualified tradesman" marking in his profile he could go away knowing that he has been correctly told that no he cannot.

If you get what I mean.
Does this make sense?

Of course, there should be no need to post qualifications & this would need doing only to the lead admin or some way to protect the full identity of the qualified guys who spend their time helping us DIY'rs.

But it does sound like a scheme of this sort could be a good thing.

Or could it?

 

[roughcaster]

Boy Electric wrote,

try stand-up comedy.

He probably can now, but a few weeks ago he couldn't. He had his knackers "tweeked". Sorry Jeff, couldn't resist that one.

Roughcaster.

 

[Softus]

I have no qualifications, I never know what I'm talking about, and I'm always wrong, so don't believe anything I write.

 

[Trazor]

I have no qualifications, I never know what I'm talking about, and I'm always wrong, so don't believe anything I write.

I have all the qualifications, I always know what I'm talking about, and I'm always right, so don't believe anything I write either......

 

[^woody^]

There is a newish member who posts in the roofing section, and every one of his posts starts with his long list of credentials

Anyway, opinions are just that. They may work for specific cases, but its up to you to decide if they are the right ones for your situation.

Once you have some of these opinions, you can then ask more and filter the chaff out.

You could always ask for a specific thing to be cited - ie b/regs or a particular standard clause etc.

But after a bit, you will see who knows what they are talking about

If it helps, I have a spirit level in bricklaying

 

[WDIK]

i have some qualifications too.

cycling proficiency

swam 25 yards


green cross code.

so bring it on what was the question

 

[^woody^]

i have some qualifications too.

so bring it on what was the question

OK what does this mean?

And don't google

 

[imamartian]

this is ridiculous.... if you want to know what size screw to use to secure deck boards, or whether a compression joint is better than a pushfit joint then you will have at least a bit of common sense when it comes to DIY... and importantly.... like ANYTHING with the internet..... don't believe it, but use it.....

at the end of the day.... the whole internet.... DIYnot included can be usurped (never thought i'd type that word lol), so use it as an aid, not a bible !