johnandrew70 said:
Its funny how none of the moderators have come on here to defend the Mag or Haymarket, Maybe they agree with what is being said here.
On 2 occasion's i have been told by the moderators that i am not allowed to do certain things, 1 because i wanted to sell my Awning (advertise) on here (the forums) and was told that Haymarket do not allow its members to sell items on the forum, Probably because they arent earning anything from the sale, and the 2nd telling off was because i put a link on here for my facebook group which is for Caravan and Motorhome owners, Probably because they are afraid that my group would get more interesting and informative that there Mag,
As has been very kindly pointed out by experienced forum users, moderators are not employed by Haymarket.
We are ordinary caravan owners like every other forumite (although Damian also happens to be a highly qualified caravan engineer and so is a good person to seek technical advice from), and we volunteered to help out with the forum to foster it's smooth running.
It's not our remit to stifle genuine feedback about PCv magazine which I'm sure is in any case welcomed by magazine editorial staff.
I heartily dislike having to prevent genuine forum users from advertising their spare accessories on this forum but I don't set the rules.
I've asked repeatedly over the years if we could be given a classified adverts section but for various reasons of which I have no knowledge this has not been possible.
The problem with adverts on the forum itself, rather than in a separate section, is that it would be easy for the various message boards to become bogged down with adverts which those reading or replying to forum posts would have to wade through before they reached the post that they were looking for. Forum members would soon tire of this, and moderators would tire even sooner of having to spend hours removing unauthorised adverts from commercial companies and worse from the website and forum.
The complaints mentioned in this topic about adverts in the magazine bear this out exactly.
It fell to me to remove your Facebook link, but if you felt that you had been 'told off' I'm sorry that this was your impression because I'm not a normally person who tells people off.
I tried to explain to you at the time the reason why your Facebook link couldn't appear on this forum.
It was mainly because Practical Caravan have their own Facebook page which they would prefer to promote, (and which private adverts appear regularly on as they do f.o.c. in the magazine so 'making money ' from your sale is not the issue) and the link breached rule 6 of forum etiquette which reads: 'You may not transmit any advertising or promotional material'.
Read more at http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/new-members-say-hello/49375-forum-etiquette-please-read#oBGxSr7PXj8lgm7j.99
If you'd care to look in the website
Terms and Conditions and scroll down to sub section 6 there are T&Cs which would prohibit a link to your FB page in 6.1.4 and 6.1.5
If you disagree with my actions or you felt that I was rude to you or handled the situation badly or unfairly you are perfectly free to bring the matter to the attention of Lizzie Pope who is the administrator of this forum, but I have to apply the rules to all forum users without fear or favour.
As for criticism of the magazine, feedback is often asked for by editorial staff and I'm pretty sure that this thread will be seen and taken note of.
As a reward for my voluntary moddying efforts I'm given a magazine subscription free of charge which was one of the reasons why I hadn't had my say, but I can see that some of the emphasis in the articles has shifted.
There used to be the old regular cycle from the build up to the shows when new models were discussed and compared which generally lasted until Easter when the main shows were around February - March.
Then the articles shifted to being about places to go, then in high summer there'd be beaches and sandcastles followed by caravan maintenance in Autumn.
The winter months dealt with preventing frost damage and things like caravan covers and next seasons must haves in time for Christmas when there might be a few articles on foreign touring and then the whole thing would begin once more....
Many of us are getting a bit long in the tooth now and we were comfortable with the old routine.
I'd certainly agree that the magazine might benefit from more in depth articles on maintenance, used caravan buying and what to look for, how not to be cheated etc and one or two articles for newbies on correct towing technique from a safety point of view wouldn't come amiss.
I enjoy the humour provided by Martin Roberts, maybe he could pass on some tips about doing television journalism, but let's not forget that there has been a great influx of younger families who have dismissed the old fuddy duddy image of tourers so beloved of the media and maybe the magazine is trying to move with the times and cater for some of the younger families or to promote a younger image in general?
We all have an opinion of the magazine, the website, the forum etc; and there's nothing at all wrong with expressing it here on the forum, constructive feedback is always welcome.
Nigel Donnelly moved on to What Car and is to be found living the high life in hotels when he's in nice locations, driving great cars and hopefully enjoying every minute of it.
No doubt the job became his because his new bosses could see what a great job he did on Practical Caravan magazine.
Alastair Clements will I'm sure prove equally as popular, and over time will guide the PCv magazine in a direction that will suit young and old alike.