Sparkle Sparkle Removed!!!!!!!!!!!

[baltneu]

Today I received the new brush from Sparkle Sparkle.

The cover letter said they had been removed by the Administrator of this site, because many of us sent PM''s or emails to test the new brush. The Administrator thought this was a violation because Sparkle Sparkle was "promoting" their product.

Maybe they were and maybe not. If you are going to remove a sponsor, then you need to be fair to all sponsors.

It was not long ago that I remember Jonathan at GOG, promoting his new Jubilee. He gave specs, pictures, and he was the only one at that time to have the cut! If that was not promtion of his business, then I do not know what is! Was GOG removed? I don''t think so, and I do not think they should have been. I am sure we can all think of other examples.

Hope many of you will react to our administrator to restore Oliver Passe and his company, many of us agree it is the best stuff out there, and if you disagree, you can state that too. That is what this forum is all about.

Hope the administrator of this forum has the BACKBONE to leave this post. We shall see.

 

[pricescope]

Baltneu, I hope I do have a backbone.

First of all, I ask you, guys, to revisit the forum policies and forum agreement. Please note among other things a request to address all the moderation issues via PM or emails.

Since many people was involved in this issue I just have to publish basically what I emailed Oliver and Ame after the incident.

For the record, Oliver is not banned and welcome to participate with educational content. However, I had to explained to him why what he's done is unacceptable and he admited his mistake.


The main reason for the rules is to protect the quality of the forum we all enjoy from degrading into a classified board with many vendors pushing their products. Nobody would appreciate it and the quality of the conversation will evaporate. Consumers will be the first ones who'll loose as well as the good and helpful vendors.


Sometimes even good vendors get excited about their product and attention it gets among the forum members. In these cases I have to intervene and remind about the rules. The Jubilee thread, btw, was locked very quickly the same day...

Forum users just do not see how often we have to intervene with the vendors who are regular on the forum and especially advertisers. Some take it with understanding some get offended... tough luck.

Btw, those members who do appreciate the quality of the forum, help with moderation and reporting cases of spam and abuses. For those of you, guys, who just having fun with freebie stuff - I'm sorry that we had to kill the fun.

This case with Sparkle is the first time when a vendor had used the forum to solicit reviews for a product from the forum members both publicly and via private messages. This is very serious abuse of the system because any praise for this product can be a result of promotions and should be removed.


That is why I ask not to post reviews on SparkleSparkle products on the forum. It would be an advertising for the product resulting from a rule breaking act.


Finally, if you have any questions about forum moderation, please PM or email me instead of posting it on the public forums.


Thanks for understanding and cheers.

 

[pricescope]

Since we are talking about this, I just wanted to express publicly our deep gratitude to those members who help to keep this environment clean and promptly report cases of abuse, unfairness, and other things that shouldn’t be here.


I believe all together we were able to build a great community with great people, which everybody enjoys. So instead of turning against each other in the difficult cases, let’s try to resolve them in constructive, not negative, manner.

And although I hate seeing self promotions, I had to thank my wife Irina for the full time helping with the moderation and following from 400 to 800 daily posts.

 

[icelady]

It really makes me angry that Oliver finds it necessary to send a cover letter to people on this forum stating that he has been removed by the administrator when according to Leonid he has not. He has been promoting his product here on the forum and I am surprised that the PS vendors that are trying to sell the SparkleSparkle product they have purchased for their inventory, are not up in arms about him sending free product to everyone.

Furthermore, I would be more accepting of an endorsement made indepent of free samples being offered. To me that is similar to PS vendors being allowed to offer discounts or free product in return for an endorsement of their business. Pricescope is above reproach on this issue. When it crops up, Leonid is quick to squelch it.

I must commend Leonid on the thankless job he does here on Pricescope. It is not an easy job and I am glad that he and Irina have taken it on!

 

[pricescope]

>>...he has been removed by the administrator

Oliver hasn''t been removed or banned. Just those posts that breached the rules.

 

[MissAva]

Here here! i have been very luck in finding this site and I have learned more here from reading about others choices and experinces then I could have ever hoped to otherwise. Leonid we are all gratful to the fabulous work you do here and the valueble experince your offer. Thank you.

 

[movie zombie]

thank you, irina! 400-800 of these messages per day?!

peace, movie zombie

 

[Kaleigh]

Irina,
My sincere gratitude for all that you do here on Pricescope. It is no small task and we applaud you for all that you do!!! Leonid you continue to keep this forum fair and informative. Great job all the way around!!!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 4/25/2005 9:44:23 PM
Author: icelady
It really makes me angry that Oliver finds it necessary to send a cover letter to people on this forum stating that he has been removed by the administrator when according to Leonid he has not. He has been promoting his product here on the forum and I am surprised that the PS vendors that are trying to sell the SparkleSparkle product they have purchased for their inventory, are not up in arms about him sending free product to everyone.


Furthermore, I would be more accepting of an endorsement made indepent of free samples being offered. To me that is similar to PS vendors being allowed to offer discounts or free product in return for an endorsement of their business. Pricescope is above reproach on this issue. When it crops up, Leonid is quick to squelch it.


I must commend Leonid on the thankless job he does here on Pricescope. It is not an easy job and I am glad that he and Irina have taken it on!

Well said.
Its just the right thing to do not to allow that kind of stuff here.

Thanks L and Irina.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Who said he was a sponsor?

Did he pay Leonid? as sponsors usually do?

And it is about time you outed Irina, Leonid the Lion Heart!!!!

Some of who know her know how much effort she puts in to make this a nice freindly village. Some of us can even guess who typed the messages.

Why not a Mr, and a Mrs (or Dr and Drs) Administrator?

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 4/25/2005 6:46:32 PM
Author:baltneu
Today I received the new brush from Sparkle Sparkle.

The cover letter said they had been removed by the Administrator of this site, because many of us sent PM''s or emails to test the new brush. The Administrator thought this was a violation because Sparkle Sparkle was ''promoting'' their product.

Maybe they were and maybe not. If you are going to remove a sponsor, then you need to be fair to all sponsors.

It was not long ago that I remember Jonathan at GOG, promoting his new Jubilee. He gave specs, pictures, and he was the only one at that time to have the cut! If that was not promtion of his business, then I do not know what is! Was GOG removed? I don''t think so, and I do not think they should have been. I am sure we can all think of other examples.

Hope many of you will react to our administrator to restore Oliver Passe and his company, many of us agree it is the best stuff out there, and if you disagree, you can state that too. That is what this forum is all about.

Hope the administrator of this forum has the BACKBONE to leave this post. We shall see.

Baltneau, I don''t know what was on your menu today, but whatever you''re eating, please eat less of it. Your posts today have been infused with a very aggressive tone that is unbecoming. Also, it would be behoove you to appreciate the nuanced difference between backbone and OFFENSIVE. One is admirable...the other is not.

It would be especially nice if, before you hop on the judgment throne, you did just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle "fact-checking" first. If you had, you''d have learned:

1. S/S was NOT banned. Period. In all my time here, I think MAYBE only one person has been banned, and I cannot even remember if he was actually banned or simply got frustrated and chose not to come here anymore. Banning is NOT the norm on this site, and it''s not even an *occasional* thing.

2. Please appreciate the importance of selecting proper terminology. S/S is not a "sponsor". Sponsor means they finance something, and they typically get publicity in return. S/S doesn''t donate money to Pricescope. NOR are they a paid advertiser, as many of the other vendors are here. They do not add to the Pricescope coffers at all. Let''s be clear on that.

3. GOG did post some information here about the Jubilee......but it was at the request of forum participants who were interested. Even in that instance, GOG was treated just as Oliver was now......the violating post was locked/removed and Rhino was asked to refrain. No preferential treatment here at all.

4. You hope the administrator has the "backbone"? You should hope he has the indulgence not to bounce your butt for such a smart-aleck comment. In case you''ve forgotten, Pricescope is NOT a democracy. It''s Leonid and Irina''s creation and their baby, and they can run it as they see fit. The fact that they *do* try to be fair and diplomatic about it is a testament to their character, but don''t interpret that as a license to question his chutzpah.

On a side note, Oliver''s response to this doesn''t garner much respect from me. Even if he misinterpreted Leonid''s request and mistaken thought he was banned, he''s still wrong to appeal to PS members about it this way. Bad business.

 

[Mara]

I agree, baltneu, your tone was aggressive and VERY rude to the moderator and owner of the forum...I would heartily hope you would think to apologize once you come to your senses. Some of the phrasing you used was very inappropriate and uncalled for.

As others have already noted, there was no banning or 'removal' of anyone....Oliver was simply warned to not self-promote, as have other vendors when this issue has come up before. I'm sure no one has any idea of what goes on behind the scenes as Leonid and Irina work to keep PS a happy place for all of us consumers. Definitely a thankless job most days.

I also agree that it was bad form for Oliver to send a cover letter to a customer, stating incorrect information that was intended to stir up trouble, very unprofessional. But hey, it got the desired response from at least one hothead...

 

[pricescope]

Thanks, guys. I really didn''t want it to turn that way and that is why we ask to address such issues via PM''s to avoid misunderstandings.