Yes nikmacuk, the old chat 'room' was actually one of the forums, and not at all like the new chat room, which I believe will result in bad and uncorrectable advice being handed out to enquirers.

My concern is that the apparent great emphasis on the new chat room could damage the reputation of the whole website.

Peter

nickmacuk I'm not a "newish" member. I've been around for a while and I do recall the old chatrooms, I was not aware that that is what was being referred to though, sorry.

Re the link BHIC isnt that another thread that changed its theme I got the impresion it started as a query regarding Gen Chat which is different to the Chat room

You are correct Nick the original poster IMO was referring to Gen Chat being brought back.
The Gen Chat forum was closed in Nov 2005 along with the Chat Room
Mark said: (which I understood to be in reply to an enquiry about a Gen Chat forum.)

There are no plans to bring General Chat back.

I think some of you are getting confused between the two.
We had a Gen Chat forum at the bottom of the main page, just like all the other forums, but we also had a Chat Room....just like the one that has now been re-instated....although I might add with better software.

I cannot see why the newly re-installed chat room will be detrimental to the site. some members have made friends with other members over the years and whilst the aim of this site is to exchange information, with the emphasis to keep "on topic", so that members do not have to trawl through pages of chit-chat before finding the relevant info, this policy can take the opportunity to have "small talk" taken away.

We are not robots just passing on information....HT is a community with humans behind the keyboards.
The chat room has given us back the opportunity to say hello to a group of people who have become our friends....in real time.

Neither the previous General Chat or the Chat Room were detrimental to the holiday forums...more like some people (not the system) that had an hidden agenda to get both closed.
When they both finally did close, the people who were loyal to this site missed it terribly, but they still continued to keep posting on the holiday side.

I say a big thankyou to Van and Mark for giving us back the opportunity to say "hi " to people who are friends and now being able to have a conversation with more than one, at the same time....in real time
Another string (back) in the bow of HT

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Its certainly looking good, and I hope that members enjoy using the new chat facility.

Unfortunately I cant use it at work, and I get lost in chatrooms as by the time Ive thought of something to say, the conversation has moved waaaaaay on and I get totally lost!!

However I know there are loads who do enjoy them, and I think it will add a personal dimension to the holiday forums.

With regard to the old General Chat forum"¦"¦"¦"¦ since it closed I come on here to help as much as possible in the Majorca/Tenerife/Uk forums and sometimes the DIY section, Im not an expert but I try my best!

I feel that the problem with it was that there were certain personalities who couldn't understand that other people's opinions were just as relevant as theirs"¦"¦"¦"¦and they were always "right""¦ .and instead of talking calmly and debating they felt the need to shout other members down, causing ill feeling and threads being locked.
Everone's opinion is as relevant as anyone else's but you always get the odd one who just cannot accept that..............unfortunately its the minority that get the majority into trouble!!!

I can only imagine how hard it must have been for moderators and admins to monitor this"¦ .it would have been a full time job in itself!

Have fun with the new look forum

Another string (back) in the bow of HT

Or the straw that broke the camel's back!

I've made my point which I'd rather not argue, but even now I see evidence of advice being sought and given in the chat rooms. The problem is that in the forums advice is subject to scrutiny of other members, but in the chat rooms this cannot be the case.

It's a case of here now and gone minutes later, be it good or expensively bad and misleading.

'Quality control' are the modern buzz words - the chat rooms can't have it by their very nature.

I'm waiting for the first complaints on the Holiday Complaints Forum -

"I asked if the Hotel Salmonella in Spanish Costa Land was any good, and was assured it was in the Spanish Costa Land chat room. This was all wrong, we came down with the trots and couldn't leave the room for 12 out of our 14 day holiday. What can I do about it?"

Worse still, it could be asked on another website.

The ones who will be delighted are the dodgy travel agents and tour companies whom I am convinced keep a nervous eye on us at all times. Anything that is likely to damage our reputation is good news for them.

Peter

Peter, I take your point, but if someone uses the PM facility then they still could be given mis-information...again without any scrutiny.

I've been in the chat room every day since it opened and strange as it may seem, I have been talking about everything but holidays.
Some of the conversations have had me in stitches and have been a real tonic.
I think (hope) most people would still post on the board, invariably people want the opinions of more than one poster, with the scrutiny that you refer too, which enables them to make a decision...just like the reviews.

Unfortunately I cant use it at work, and I get lost in chatrooms as by the time Ive thought of something to say, the conversation has moved waaaaaay on and I get totally lost!!

Me too Tootsie, but this new chat room enables you to go off into another room when the one you are in becomes hectic.
I can't type quickly and the joke has passed me by before I get to reply

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

but if someone uses the PM facility then they still could be given mis-information

"But I submit M'Lud and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that pms are private and seen ordinarily by no one apart from sender and the recipient.

The bad advice which has caused my client substantial financial loss and aggravation, was in a public chat room which it was the duty of the defendant Holidaytruths.co.uk to oversee, so as to minimise as far as is reasonable, the chances of such bad advice being given."

The case rests.

Peter

The bad advice which has caused my client substantial financial loss and aggravation, was in a public chat room

No, the chat room is not public viewing, as far as I'm aware...you have to be a member of HT.? and make a certain amount of posts before entry?
I think that would be classed as a private club.
You're just being silly IMO.
The previous Chat Room did not cause any legal problems for HT that I know of...and I would give a bit more credit to the owner of this site if I were you.
I cannot for ONE minute envisage a man who has spent years building this site up from scratch with the support from a team of people....
Who is gonna throw it all away for a poxy Chat Room and run the risk of HT being referred too in a court of law.

If you have a "downer " on the room, then so be it.

I rest my case.

sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I was employing humour not to be taken literally or too seriously.

Peter

Apologies Peter, I failed to see the joke.
Atleast I now hope that you are aware of the difference between the General Chat forum and the Chat Room

Yes nikmacuk, the old chat 'room' was actually one of the forums, and not at all like the new chat room, which I believe will result in bad and uncorrectable advice being handed out to enquirers.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

No problem Sanji.

Peter

Forgive me for interupting here, but I started this Thread with the intention that it would be a general 'Thank You' to Van and his excellent Team of Mods for all the hard work they have put into HT over the past few weeks, and if any other member wanted to add their sentiments about the apparant 'Make-Over' of the HT boards as a whole then they could.

But it now appears to be veering way with the discussion leaning towards the 'advantages' or 'disadvantages', or possible legal implications of the new CHAT facility, which was not what I had intended when I started this thread.
That is why I provided the LINK in my earlier posting so that Members could discuss CHAT in the CHAT Thread. I would not like to see my Thread *locked* as a result of what some members are saying about CHAT here, so if possible, can I respectfully ask that we get back to the original intention of my Thread, and that being to pass on comments of thanks and appreciation to Van and his Team please

Thank You.

Very happy to do so. It is a shame that what started out as a very positive thread has changed in this way.

Many thanks to Van and all his brilliant team of Mods and Admin for the work they do for us all here. I am sure they give up many hours of their own time to make this board the success it quite clearly is.

As well as what we all see publicly here i.e. all the merged posts and redirections to helpful information I know there is other work that goes on behind the scenes. Long may it continue and I for one would like to raise a glass in thanks.

A sense of perspective, please. This is what I said -

A voice of dissent about the new look and the apparent emphasis on the chat room facility.

It goes without saying I am a great fan of this site and cannot praise highly enough the Admin Staff and the Mods.

I am entitled to hold an alternative view with regards to whether the chat room is a good idea or not. I don't disagree about how good this website is, and have never disputed all the hard work put in by the Mods and Admin.

That's all, and it's called freedom of speech.

Peter

Peter, I appreciate what you are saying. I'm sorry if you have misunderstood me, however, as I have said above, this thread that I started was meant to be to convey my thanks and appreciaton to Van and his Team for all the excellent work that has taken place on the HT Boards over the past few weeks.

However, the dicussion appears to have veered way off course to debate the pro's and cons of the new CHAT facility, and with all due respect to you that has nothing to do with "Freedom Of Speech" because this thread was not started with the intention that Members could discuss what they thought about the new CHAT rooms, or whether or not they thought it was a good idea.

If members wanted to pass messages of thanks for the introduction of CHAT here, that is fine, that was what I meant. I did not intend for this thread to go into the pros, cons, whys and wherfores about whether or not reintroducing CHAT was a good idea, or a big mistake.

May I respectfully ask that you direct your concerns about CHAT in the CHAT thread, or PM Van or a Mod where your points will be likely to receive the appropriate response from the appropriate people.

I am sure you will appreciate that HT prides itself quite rightly so on its efforts to keep discussions on track and on topic, but my Thread has nothing to do with the new CHAT facility, and therefore any discussion of CHAT could be seen as being

So, please, can we just confine this Thread to messages of thanks and appreciation for all the backstage staff.

but my Thread has nothing to do with the new CHAT facility

Gary .. you entitled this thread "*New Look* Boards. A Message Of Thanks" and you specifically mentioned the introduction of the new chatrooms, which after all is the "New Look". It is inevitable and understandable that other members may not consider them a welcome addition to the site and may wish to comment, even if it is not to offer thanks and praise.

You also appear to have re-adopted that bad old habit of filling your posts with words in CAPITALS or BOLD text for no apparent reason. You may receive a message of thanks from the Mods & Admins if you could dispense with that habit again. You may receive something else if you don't !!
David

Point taken. Sorry David

We do, of course, appreciate all the messages of support and ALL posts here are ones of appreciation for the admin/mod team. We are also of course always willing to listen to any concerns members have- after all, we want you all to remain HT members