Message for Linda/New Member Needs Technical Assistance

[mariaf]

Hi Linda,

I received an email from a guy named Matt who said that he activated his account on 9/2 (or at least thought he did) but he is unable to post and has no way of contacting you so he reached out to me (after seeing my email address). His screen name is Mattwilly. Can you look into this for him? He said he was diagnosed w/scoliosis and I am guessing could use the support of the members here.

Thanks!!

[LindaRacine]

Hi Maria...

Unfortunately, while I can moderate posts, I have no control over member status. His status is showing up as awaiting moderation. I think Joe O'Brien is the only one who can approve new users. He is flying to the SRS meeting today, but will hopefully get to the task soon.

--Linda

[mariaf]

Hi Linda,

Just wondering if Joe was back yet and if you happen to know whether or not he had a chance to approve Matt's membership yet.

Thanks.

[LindaRacine]

Looks to me like he's been approved. If he's still having trouble, please have him contact Joe directly. Thanks.

[mariaf]

Thanks, Linda. I'll shoot Matt an e-mail to let him know.

[mariaf]

Hi Linda,

Two more folks have contacted me by email with similar problems - one registered back on August 11 and is still waiting to be approved. She said she sent an email to 'scoliosisadmin' but to no avail. Her user name is Karen5. The other member, also waiting for several weeks registered as "Fifa". Both mentioned surgery dates in November so they are, understandaly, very anxious and in need of support. Can we do anything to help them? I can forward you the e-mails if you like. Thanks!

[Karen5]

Yay I got in--thanks for helping, Maria!

[LindaRacine]

Maria... All I can do is send a message to Joe O'Brien. I would prefer that you contact Joe so I don't have to do the middleman thing. Joe's user ID is Joe O'Brien.

--Linda

[mariaf]

Linda,

I haven't had much luck in the past contacting Joe (or getting a response from him), but if you prefer I don't go through you, I will certainly honor your wishes. I get that all you can do is reach out to Joe - it just seemed like you had better luck with that than I did, but no worries. And hopefully, nobody has this issue again soon!

[mariaf]

Linda,

Just a thought (because I really feel for these people waiting a long time for access to the forum), but these folks reach out to me because I posted my email address. If Joe doesn't want to publish his email address (which I totally understand), perhaps one could be created solely for this purpose and posted someplace here on the site? This way, every few days it could be checked to make sure nobody is having trouble accessing the forum?

Just a suggestion since this issue has arisen a few times now - and like I said, I remember what it's like to desperately want to talk to others in the same situation when one (or one's child) is first diagnosed. Thanks.

[fifa]

Hi, everyone!

A big THANK YOU to MariaF. Sorry to have e-mailed you privately, but I was at my wit's end. I registered on August 24, 2014, and have been waiting impatiently.

My surgery is scheduled for November - will post that separately.

Again, thank you.

FIFA

[Karen5]

At the bottom of each page is a "Contact Us" link, and it gives an email for Mr. O'Brien. That's the email I finally used and got a response from to get my account activated. If anyone else is having issues getting their accounts approved, I would suggest clicking that "Contact Us" link and emailing Mr. O'Brien directly.

[mariaf]

Fifa - Absolutely NO apology necessary - that's why I put my email address out there and I was happy if I was able to do anything to help you.

Karen - I never realized the "contact us" link went straight to Joe's email - thanks for that info!!!