Naming and Shaming Policy

1. Naming and shaming is a difficult area for any forum because of the possibility of legal action being taken against both the poster of the comment and Car4play. However, naming and shaming on Car4play is permitted.
   
2. Moderation will tend to err on the side of caution for "shaming". Naturally "praising" will receive a lighter touch.
   
3. Any post of which a relevant party complains will be hidden immediately. We will endeavour to post a message explaining the complaint and action taken so that posts do not mysteriously disappear. Unfortunately, not to remove posts in such a way would be to run too high a risk of legal action. This applies even when the comments were fair, true, justified etc.
   
4. In particular, it would be helpful if posters could try and give fact-heavy accounts of their experiences, as opposed to judgement-heavy. In this way, forum members can make their own assessment as to the experience, and the chance of defamation is minimised. Hopefully this will also lead to more balanced and readable posts.
   
5. Judgment-type statements are more liable to being moderated than factual-type statements.
   
6. Likewise any abusive statements (unjustified, excessive, or otherwise deemed inappropriate) will be snipped in accordance with normal moderating standards.
   
7. Examples:
   1. Fact-heavy:
      Last week my (brand X) car's handbrake failed. I rang X and waited 10 minutes on the phone. I found the experience very stressful.
      
   2. Judgment-heavy:
      X are a useless company. The handbrake failed on my car and they are the worst company in terms of being contactable (I waited 10 minutes on the phone trying to get through).
      
   3. Abusive
      X are a bunch of complete losers. The handbrake failed on my car and it is easier to get through to a deaf person than their company. I was waiting so long on the phone I thought they were relocating their call centre to India as I rang.
8. In replying to posts of this nature, it would be helpful if forum members could lean towards constructive replies as opposed to criticism of the original poster or a doubting of the experience described. Asking questions is fine, but repeated and aggressive asking may be snipped.
   
9. This policy, as with all others, will be under continual review and may change at any time, with a view to ensuring that the site remains a pleasant place to post and read.

We hope that this policy will allow a degree of naming and shaming and strike the appropriate balance.