Just a question

Tester46

I was banned for 7 days apparently flaming a mod, who had just flamed me. I absolutely don't believe that I flamed the mod. But I do absolutely believe that the same mod did flame me in an earlier post, to which I replied. Anyway, as suggested here before, I sent a polite PM to the mod in question asking him to reconsider and lift the ban. I got no response - he simply ignored my PM.

Now, it seems a bit unfair to me that a mod flames me, I reply, he gets the hump and bans me, I PM him asking him to reconsider and he just ignores me, doesn't even have the courtesy to reply to say no.

My question is, is there any avenue of appeal, or are we simply at the mercy of the moods and humours of each individual forum mods? If we are, so be it. Just a question.

Beruthiel

muffler wrote: »

Oh dear, I go away for a couple of hours and come back to a couple of posts by Tester46 that contain at least 3 breaches of the charter.

According to muffler you breached the charter at least 3 times.
So it would seem that both Mods are in agreement with your ban.

Tester46

Beruthiel wrote: »

According to muffler you breached the charter at least 3 times.
So it would seem that both Mods are in agreement with your ban.

Ah well, I deliberately didn't want to go through the ins and outs of the particular ban, which is why I didn't mention the thread or Mods in my original post. But since you have decided yourself to raise it and have quoted Muffler...

1. The Original Thread & Ban
First, I didn't see Muffler's posting before now. I notice Muffler didn't specify what my "at least 3 breaches of the charter" are.

Second, what lead to all this was I was trying to help the OP in the thread by responding to his question. I was very quickly put down by Muffler, as I suggested a different approach from his. I offered to explain my suggestion further to the OP if he wanted to PM me (as I had had enough of being hassled by Muffler for trying to help the OP). Then in comes Smashey out of nowhere and he says in response to my offer to the OP - "Touting for business are you?". I thought that was well out of order and said so. Smashey got the hump and banned me. I then PM'd both Smashey and Muffler and asked them to reconsider. They both ignored my PM.

2. My Actual Question
In circumstances like this where the mods decide to ban a user and then they just completely ignore a follow-up PM, is there any avenue of appeal?


Forgive me for being cynical, but now that Muffler has been quoted by Beruthiel (even though I deliberately didn't identify the thread), I suspect this thread will simply become like so many others where a user has the timerity to ask a critical question of the Mods - the Mods collectively justifying their own behaviour while insisting that I am completely in the wrong. So be it.

Tester46

Tester46 wrote: »

2. My Actual Question
In circumstances like this where the mods decide to ban a user and then they just completely ignore a follow-up PM, is there any avenue of appeal?

Anyone? This is not an irrelevant question - there is a more or less similar issue raised today in this post.

muffler

You flamed/baited another user who in this case happened to be one of the mods.
You then continued to argue with a mod on thread
You posted a link to a business.

Add to that a distinct lack of knowledge in the area of legal searches for tile/ownership, giving poor advice and generally having a bit of an attitude problem. smashey banned you but I am giving you the reasons why but your ban is up in any event.

Finally you are indeed in the right place to have the matter reviewed. The SMods will deal with this and they will look at both sides of the argument so to speak and give you their "decision" based on the facts presented and the details contained in that thread..

Tester46

muffler wrote: »

You flamed/baited another user who in this case happened to be one of the mods.
You then continued to argue with a mod on thread
You posted a link to a business.

Add to that a distinct lack of knowledge in the area of legal searches for tile/ownership, giving poor advice and generally having a bit of an attitude problem. smashey banned you but I am giving you the reasons why but your ban is up in any event.

Finally you are indeed in the right place to have the matter reviewed. The SMods will deal with this and they will look at both sides of the argument so to speak and give you their "decision" based on the facts presented and the details contained in that thread..

1. I never intended thrashing this out again here. That is why my original post here didn't mention the thread or the mods involved.

2. I did not flame/bait another user. Smashey was not part of the discussion at all until he came in with his smart "Touting for business are you?" comment. I reacted to that. Why isn't Smashey being punished? Answer - he's a mod. As you know from the PM I sent you explaining it, I stand over the normal English language meaning of the words I used.

3. I didn't argue - I reacted to Smashey's smart remark. The difference is he was entitled to make an arbitrary and insulting remark because he is a mod. I had already signed my ban-warrant the second I decided to challenge him. Are you saying that any difference of opinion (i.e. argument) with a mod on any thread is a bannable offence?

4. The "link" I posted was simply a suggestion that you contact that business to ask them if all their customers are illiterate, as you had suggested. I have no link to that business - it is simply one example of a law searchers office, of which there are many.

5. Believe me, I know more about finding proper legal title to land in this country than most people will ever know. As I made clear in my posts, my suggestions re: planning searches were simply a good, free place to start. I know it can regularly help - I used it to find the original owners of my own house. I never suggested it was a complete solution.

6. As you have decide to give your two cents in this thread, why did both you and Smashey just completely ignore my PM to you, when that is the recommended (in this forum) way to discuss a ban?

7. Can anyone answer my original question (above) please?

Tester46

I have just read my last post. I really don't want to re-hash the original thread with Muffler or Smashey. Life is too short. If anyone can answer my original question, I'd be very grateful.

I accept that from time to time I will pi** off the mods and from time to time they will pi** me off. I will have to accept a ban in the former cases and just suck it up in the latter cases. So be it.

2. My Actual Question
In circumstances like this where the mods decide to ban a user and then they just completely ignore a follow-up PM, is there any avenue of appeal?

seamus

Tester46 wrote: »

2. [/B]I did not flame/bait another user. ... I reacted to that. Why isn't Smashey being punished? Answer - he's a mod.

You reacted to that...flaming. Why would smashey be punished? He asked you a question about your post's intentions as he's entitled to do because he's the moderator on the forum.

3. I didn't argue - I reacted to Smashey's smart remark. The difference is he was entitled to make an arbitrary and insulting remark because he is a mod.

You reacted badly to a simple question. All you had to do was answer it. I wouldn't consider it "arbitrary" or "insulting".

6. As you have decide to give your two cents in this thread, why did both you and Smashey just completely ignore my PM to you, when that is the recommended (in this forum) way to discuss a ban?

Depends on the content of your PM. If it was just a rant or overly aggressive or insulting, I would just ignore it too.

7. Can anyone answer my original question (above) please?

The one about how to appeal? You're doing it. In any case, your ban has been lifted, so what have you to gain at this point? If the ban had been for longer than a week I would have said it was harsh, but I get the impression that the purpose was to have you calm down.

You may not have much experience with bulletin boards in general (I may be wrong), so my advice would be to approach it in a much less adversarial way. Aggressive language and refusals to see when you've done wrong won't help you at all, even if you're in the right.

Read the charters before posting and be aware of what does and doesn't go. In general, you can take it for granted that a handful of things aren't appropriate in any discussion:
1. Posting advertisements or offering commercial services when they haven't been asked for.
2. Flaming another user (for any reason) - there's a "report post" function you can use instead of responding to flaming.
3. Questioning a moderator's decision. You should PM the moderator instead (and come here if you're still not happy after that).

I accept that from time to time I will pi** off the mods and from time to time they will pi** me off.

I don't see how. There are literally thousands of people who come on here without managing to annoy the moderators and break the rules. It's not that difficult. You might just need to address your style of posting.

Tester46

seamus wrote: »

You reacted badly to a simple question. All you had to do was answer it. I wouldn't consider it "arbitrary" or "insulting".

"Touting for business are you?"

Really? A simple question? Do you really, seriously believe it was just a simple innocent question and wasn't loaded at all? By way of example (and I stress only by way of example) if I said to you "Seamus, child molester are you?" are you seriously telling me that you would look on that as a simple, not-loaded question, to which you would blithely answer "No, I am not a child molester, thank you for your inquiry" and think nothing more of it?

This is exactly why I said above:

Forgive me for being cynical, but now that Muffler has been quoted by Beruthiel (even though I deliberately didn't identify the thread), I suspect this thread will simply become like so many others where a user has the timerity to ask a critical question of the Mods - the Mods collectively justifying their own behaviour while insisting that I am completely in the wrong. So be it.

I have the answer to my question, so I'm leaving this thread now. Thanks.:)

seamus

Tester46 wrote: »

Really? A simple question? Do you really, seriously believe it was just a simple innocent question and wasn't loaded at all? By way of example (and I stress only by way of example) if I said to you "Seamus, child molester are you?" are you seriously telling me that you would look on that as a simple, not-loaded question, to which you would blithely answer "No, I am not a child molester, thank you for your inquiry" and think nothing more of it?

Indeed, because being asked whether or not you're looking for business is *exactly* the same as being asked whether or not you like to abduct and abuse children.

I see that you have a particular way of loading your posts so that it appears as thought you're being oppressed by "da man". Which is probably why you expect to get "hassle" from the mods - you inherently seek out to provoke anything which even looks remotely like an authority. That's fine, plenty of people do. And without those people there would be little change or turmoil. But you can't be surprised when your words and actions result in consequences.

Tester46

seamus wrote: »

Indeed, because being asked whether or not you're looking for business is *exactly* the same as being asked whether or not you like to abduct and abuse children.

I see that you have a particular way of loading your posts so that it appears as thought you're being oppressed by "da man". Which is probably why you expect to get "hassle" from the mods - you inherently seek out to provoke anything which even looks remotely like an authority. That's fine, plenty of people do. And without those people there would be little change or turmoil. But you can't be surprised when your words and actions result in consequences.

Thank you for that psychlogical profile of me. I didn't realise you knew me so well. Yes, even though I wasn't aware of it, I am clearly feeling oppressed and hassled by "da man".

I'm off now to seek help for my psychological problems...:rolleyes:

Viva La Revolución!

muffler

Just to add that your other account, rosullivan, which you used while your Tester46 account was banned has now been permanently banned. I didnt see the reason why you had to use both accounts to post in the same thread a couple of days ago.