Is it appropriate to use a forum to provide technical support?

We have a client who feels rather strongly that a forum should not be used for technical support:

Why is this so hard for you to understand. A forum is not tech support. I sent a message and a private file to you so that you could supposedly fix the problem. ... I didn't ask that my words be put on your forum, and in fact doing so violates the privacy of the email I sent to you. I don't want the response posted on the forum.

Here was one of our responses:

When we receive an email request, we often post it to our forum, so that others may learn from the responses and also help with the solutions.

I am sorry that this method does not work for you.

We respect your privacy by not listing your name on the forum.

I am going to ask other forum users what they think about using a forum for support, and also post this on the SketchUcation forum so I can get opinions from their users.

What do you think? Is it appropriate to use a forum to provide technical support?

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Permalink Reply by Boothy on September 2, 2010 at 11:31am

Needs a life - cannot see what the problem is ! - there is usually more than one answer to a problem - posting a problem on the forum is much more likely to provide an holistic solution - more help the better

Boothy

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Permalink Reply by James D. Smith on September 2, 2010 at 12:45pm

As you said, we all learn from the various questions and responses, sometimes finding out about problems we didn't even know we had. If someone is that sensitive I guess they should start their info request with a privacy request.