I really didn't want to give this thread further life, but I thought there were some questions in sconehead's post that needed addressing...
sconehead said:
I received a pm off Klink a while ago which gave me a link to Replica Watch Scams which is allegedly run by Fakey. Is this what all this is really about along with the CM affair?
Yes, that was the major issue. He turned in Fakemaster for promoting that site via PMs here (which is a violation of the rules) and suggested we punish him accordingly. What Klink did NOT tell us, is that he was participating in the same endeavors and on a MUCH larger scale than Fakemaster. Throwing another member under the bus for punishment in order to draw attention away from yourself, all while participating in the exact same infraction, is a ban-able offense, IMO. We are, after all, here to try to protect our membership to the best of our ability.
sconehead said:
I have actively backed this forum on other boards and hope I have made the right descision as I'm still on a learning curve which seems to be climbing ever steeper.
I think you have made the right decision, scone, but only YOU know that for certain.
sconehead said:
Regarding CM, why didn't the mods just give out his contact info right away to diffuse the whole D4M situation?
As I stated in the other thread -- "Why didn't
Klink simply post China Mike's info instead of stirring up all this drama?" That would have seemed to be the much easier resolution to all this if that singular issue really was the crux of his disagreement with the staff, no? Yet, Klink didn't post the information, he just went on several tirades accusing the staff and D4M of all manner of lying to/taking advantage of the membership.
The staff has never posted any contact info for ANY dealer/wholesaler who did not expressly ask for the information to be shared, and even then ONLY after vetting that dealer and verifying his/her business policies. As long as I am on staff, this policy WILL NOT CHANGE.
sconehead said:
Why did all and sundry, who now inform us they knew better, congratulate Klink on his 10000th post and even saw fit to give him a special sig under his name?
Honestly? It's because Klink PM'd nearly every staff member with a "woe is me" message about how much he's contributed to the forum and how no one from the staff recognized his "accomplishment" of 10K posts, and how much that saddened/disappointed him (even though two staffers had already posted in his 10K thread congratulating him). The staff decided it was easier to try to pacify him than to bear more rants about it in the open forum. That's the truth.
sconehead said:
Why do the mods feel the need to ban somebody for life without giving some sort of public 'cooling off' period?
We've all witnessed those sort of actions before and it seems a bit, well, Geeky, if you know what I mean.
I do know what you mean, and I'm offended at the parallel you've just drawn. Klink was given a "cooling off period", 7 days. During which time LOS reached out to Klink more than once, and was patently ignored. Also, look at Pugwash's post. If you want to broaden the scope, Klink has been given a "cooling off period" of over a year. ANY other member that did what Klink did back then would have been permanently banned THEN. Klink has known he was on his third strike for a long time. I'll make absolutely no apologies for the decision, how it was made or how it was carried out. Now, when the staff here starts banning members because they participate in certain threads on other boards, then you can draw parallels.
sconehead said:
Just like the Hont affair, any info about Klinks wrong doings, apart from his obvious recent attacks at the admins and Klink-speak in posts, should be made available to all members of this forum, a forum which to date I have considered the most honest and open of the bunch... :?
And there you have it, above. I believe most of this has been posted in the various "Klink threads" at some point or other. I don't think I can really be more open or honest than I have been. Hopefully that's enough to satisfy you and any other members. If it's not, there isn't anything else the staff can do, I'm afraid.
