Banning of members

dj_efk

A2OC Donor
United-Kingdom
Here’s a question I have to our mods, hope it doesn’t cause offence in some way:

I notice that a few members have been banned in fairly recent times, even though they appear to be posting interesting content and / or in a respectful way (I.e. they don’t appear to be offensive and contribute). Examples are Louis (A2 Louis I think?) with the FSI called Boris, and just recently ChrisA2, who had only been around a very short while.

I’m just curious as to what are the common reasons for a member to be banned - without asking for details on the specific examples mentioned - Just so I / others can bear this in mind and don’t somehow fall foul of the rules in future and end up getting banned myself!

This is a wonderful forum and resource a I have experience with a lot of different ones and this is one of the very best - therefore I would not want to be without it.

Again, hope I’m ok to ask for this to be clarified.
 
Theres no harm in asking. I wont comment on individuals but generally its breaching market place rules, in relation to car and parts sales, or using rude or offensive text in posts. I will add that a member exclusion is generally the last resort with a lot of team effort behind the scenes to resolve any problems before a ban is implemented. These decisions are in effect not taken lightly and generally turn out to be correct. The recent facebook activities tend to bare this out.
 
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Is there a common theme of marketplace breaches?

For example I made the error of contacting members privately when responding to ads instead of replying in the thread itself - I hold my hands up and admit I didn’t read the rules at first. Did I risk a ban?
 
No you didnt but in the interest of club ethics and friendliness it's best to be open and honest on the sales threads.
 
I've often wondered the same thing.

I'm a moderator on another forum and in the sixteen years I've been on there I'd be amazed if we've banned more than five people.

In fairness I'm sure we have far fewer members and for many years a high % knew each other from other circles, work done or social events.

We have the opposite on For Sale sections: threads aren't open to replies which keeps the sections clean.

I'm sure I have also replied to ads here via PM's with the mistaken view that to do otherwise clogs up the core message of the thread, although if anything's come of it I have always posted up to say so.

Will know for the future!

EDIT: now corrected 'Far Sale' to For Sale, although Far Sale is probably quite appropriate at moment ...
 
I'm not a moderator and have no insight into any recent cases, though have discussed such matters with members of the admin team over the years. A2OC likes to cultivate an inclusive, familial atmosphere, and banning people isn't something anyone enjoys. It's an absolute last resort after all other avenues of conflict resolution have been explored.
The A2OC marketplace is a necessary component of the club. If we're going to keep A2s running into the decades to come, we need parts. Unfortunately, the marketplace is also the greatest source of inter-member conflict. Parts not being in the advertised condition, people believing they had 'first dibs' on something that was then sold to someone else, people running a behind-the-scenes auction to try to sell for as much as possible, etc, etc. More often than not, these buyer-seller conflicts are resolved in a reasonable and adult manner, but sometimes no amicable solution can be found.
Nobody is going to be ostracised for slipping up. :)
 
I'm not a mod, but having known all of the moderation team for many years, there's not a single narcissist amongst them. They are all really nice people who are easy to get along with (I've been on holiday with most of them). My point is, that none of the decisions made by the team are a result of anyone's own powertrip and are in consoltation with the other members of the team.
 
I don’t think mods generally have a narcissistic outlook it’s sometimes how they interpret the rules and I know from memory last year one did cause chaos in how he did it , I’ve been a mod on a few and still am and very rarely have to jump on people unless it gets really out of hand . Most rules tend to be self regulating if pointed out I’ve found over the last 10-15 years I’ve been doing it . The “ beefs” tend to be something that’s spilled over onto online most times with people . You do get the odd plant pot that doesn’t read the rules which I’ve been guilty of on different forums so you soon learn
 
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