Unsolicited Marketing PMs

Initially I CBA, but .............. To put the other side of the story out there ...............

I, as you know danraj, was one of those 'selected' to receive your attentions ............. I guess as a result of this post ?
 
A rhetorical question at best in the 4th line. I didn't expect any suggestions. I certainly wasn't looking for a self-promotional PM.
IF anyone felt the urge to reply I would have expected it to be in public.
I already had a plan in mind.

The PM itself was no big deal, (irritating nonetheless), but polite, and not overly pushy.
I ignored it at first till I read the mods post.
As this was the 2nd PM promoting their platform from a Rep I've received in a short space of time, and assuming it was part of a far wider campaign, I then forwarded it to 'the authorities'.
A breach of forum etiquette at most. No 'punishment' was required. Just a nudge in the direction of the rules.

Feel free to self-promote on your own board. You're on the front page, many on here will have spent a great deal of time assessing potential platforms anyway.

FYI, I have previously looked at ReBS and decided against.

The fact that you don't seem able to take this quietly and with good grace is what has suceeded in **ssing me off and prompted me to post.

This is all well and good, but on the basis I might not think much of a particular member, I may find it interesting what he/she has to say from time to time and wish to read their posts, furthermore, i do not want to stop people from sending me PM's, I would however be averse to receiving a pm from a rep when what they have to say could most likely be said in the open.

Maybe a better option is to put in an option where anyone related to a platform can be blocked from sending PM's?

@danraj

1. I was one of those who you sent a PM. It was perfectly polite. Nonetheless, I don't want to receives PMs from reps asking me to take a look at their platform. Next, the reps start sending me PMs for every new loan they have or every new cashback offer etc. My inbox would be full of platform rep rubbish not the PMs I actually want to read from other lenders. There is far more efficient means to show your wares: Just put a post into the thread where everyone can see it. Job done.

2. "I've written to the FCA asking for regulation of this forum because I've noticed an increasing number of minority shareholders, trolling competing platforms ..."

ROFL. The delusion is strong in this one. I've been FCA regulated for twenty years (when they were still the SFA and FSA). The idea that they would want a bulletin board used by retail investors to be regulated is a fantasy. Are share bulletin boards regulated by the FCA because some of the posters happen to own these stocks? No.

In my view, the only people that need to be regulated to comment on this forum are the reps. You platforms love to band around your "FCA compliance" but I note virtually none of you are regulated at the personal level. If the directors of these platforms were all SIF (significant influence function) coded (CF1 etc), like directors now are at banks for funds, you'd all then be personally liable for violations by their company or employees. All the employees should have at least CF30 to interact with customers. I reckon the level of BS spread by some platforms might reduce exponentially. Perhaps I'll write to Andrew Bailey and mention that ...

P.S I don't have any share in any P2P platforms. Terribly overvalued equity for businesses that can't turn a decent profit despite margins that would make a hedge fund blush. 

NO!

If I ask a public question, I expect a public answer. Then all the forum benefits from the knowledge and everyone is equal.

PMs exist for private conversations, and I cannot understand why, in promoting your platform, you would want to restrict the audience unless you have something to hide - which I assume is not the case, and if it was then it would likely breach FCA regulations!

danraj

What you meant to say of course was:

" I apologise that I have upset members by sending PMs which may have been unwanted. In future I will only communicate by PM if the respondent specifically requests it. I will make sure that the rest of REBs staff are aware of this and include this in our internal policy documents."

Bien sûr. As per my post on Sept 1st, I apologise to any recipients who didn't appreciate my message.

I'd also like to express my gratitude to those who did appreciate my private message and proceeded to communicate with me.

It's not publically clear as to who does and who does not appreciate private messages, so how does one reach the grateful recipients while avoiding the rest?

Open your door for members to contact you by making an open post "inviting them" to engage in a conversation with you should they wish to, just ask them to drop you a line with their questions and queries.

It's hardly rocket science, and i doubt very much that it flaunts any rules, be it forum or FCA