Why a recent thread was deleted

Posted By: Phil Herring, TSBB Kahuna
Date: 5/27/09 2:58p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

Given the modest traffic on this forum you probably noticed I removed a substantial thread which wandered off into accusations and name calling. I'm well aware that removing the thread brings up a couple of moral conundrums (is that the plural of conundrum?): - If customers of a manufacturer are being mistreated, isn't it the duty of a forum to document it? - Is it fair to delete comments that are critical but leave comments that are positive? These are difficult and complex issues. So you know where we're coming from, these are the principles that guide our judgment in customer/supplier disputes: 1. Bias. I admit to having one. I know first-hand how much damage reckless forum posts can do to a small business. We consider all manufacturers innocent until proven guilty. 2. Fact, fiction, or half and half? I've been managing forums for 12 years now and in my experience, facts are frequently -- and conveniently -- omitted when these skirmishes erupt. By both sides. Often, accusations are made vindictively because one party didn't get what they wanted. Which leads to principle number three... 3. This ain't journalism. There are no fact checkers, editors, or anyone else who can verify claims. 4. Inappropriate venue. Our forums are not an appropriate venue for resolving commercial grievances. Fortunately, there are much better processes available, like arbitration, small claims court, the Better Business Bureau (well, they were at one time anyway), or in extreme cases, your neighborhood county sheriff. They all have ways of handling points #2 and #3. 5. Cheaters. If you feel the need to blow the whistle on corporate wrong-doing I urge you to resolve the issue directly, or if you can't, employ a process in #4 that can. Once an objective third party has issued an opinion you are more than welcome to quote it or link to it. But please do not ask us to publish and archive unverified accusations in our forums. Let me be the first to acknowledge that this is an imperfect policy. In fact, it's probably contradictory in some ways. But hey, ya gotta throw down the gauntlet somewhere. I realize this will probably spark some comment and that's great! I only ask that you limit the discussion to forum policy and not re-hash the topic just deleted.