We Will No Longer Post On The Bonanza Forums

Due to an incident on 11-04-10, we have had enough. Seems that Bonanza wants their members to think that they are able to express themselves but that is clearly not the case.

Here is a post from Bonanza forums written by Mark that states, in part:

"Hey everyone,

Each day one of the first things that we do is browse the forums to get a sense of how the community is doing, what is new, how everyone is, etc. The past couple of days we have seen a couple of posters that stated that they were “afraid to post” or “hesitant to discuss sensitive matters” in the forums for fear of being DMV’d (Disemvoweled, suspended, etc, see definitions below). So that everyone in the community is clear, that is not how we roll. We totally want you to talk, discuss, and have constructive conversations and carry on as you always have. The idea that we do not want you to disagree or the be “only cheery” is not true and not realistic. That being said, we are very intent on having one of the most friendliest and empowering communities online, which we are. Does that mean that you cannot disagree with someone? Not even. Bill and I disagree all the time (mostly about Racquetball rules and the best Nachos in Seattle). But when you do disagree (on Bonanza), you need to disagree constructively and in a professional manner. We want to make sure that we are fostering a community that is welcoming to all, buyers and sellers, because lets face it, there is enough dreariness in this world to go around."

http://www.bonanza.com/forums/4/topics/136442

We got disemvoweled and a forum violation on page four in this thread:

http://www.bonanza.com/forums/9/topics/138465?page=4

If you don't like clicking on links, you can click on the below screenshot to enlarge it to see the missing vowels:

This is what was written before the disemvoweling:

>>Why does the Rush banner show up in my booth? We hope that Rushes are going to become one of the differentiating features of Bonanza — so we don’t want these to be an event that is buried where it won’t be seen. We will be closely monitoring if and how the Rush announcement affects buying behavior, but given how many buyers visit from search and click away after one page, we figure it can’t be a bad thing to give them a second place to glance at if the original item they came to see didn’t meet their buying criteria.

And of course, any buyer, whether logged in or not, can hide the Rush notification with a single click.<<

If Bonz is going to leave that banner in our booth and take no consideration that we work hard to bring buyers to OUR booth (our time and effort with no help from Bonz to bring them to our booth) then we will NOT be renewing our premiere membership.

Bonz has no right to put that banner in our booth to take our customers out of our booth. We don't want our visitors/buyers seeing that banner in our booth! We can NOT hide that banner from our visitors/buyers by clicking anything.

We don't want that banner in our booth and nothing is going to change our opinion.

To keep taking away our control of our booths and business is wrong on every level.

Bummin' more and more about the so-called upgrades of the site because they are not considering what is best for the sellers but seem to be only concerned about bells, whistles and taking more choices away from the sellers.

I am sorry - I thought the Rush could be a great opportunity for Bonz and the sellers but if the above statement is the case, that means Rushs will only be good for some sellers at the expense of the rest of us sellers.

Here is a screen shot of the post to prove the above is what was written. Please click on the graphic to enlarge it:

After we got the violation email we sent this to support:

Just thought I'd say how childish that was to violate me and DMV me for my opinion on Bonz destroying our businesses with their bells and whistles.

It's ok, I won't post in your stupid forums no more but you can bet my blog will be busy being filled with posts this weekend when I have more time...

And just for the record, I won't DMV Bonz management but don't be surprised if I call out any spin you may post.

I am angry that you are taking our businesses out from under us and you should have expected some of us would speak out.... But of course, you probably did and kept that nasty violation button hot and ready.

Have a great night!
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Then Mark waits 3 days to respond with:

Mark, Nov 07 23:21 (PST):

Really sorry for any trouble in the forums. We really enjoy having you in the community and sincerely appreciate your support in the forums. We hope that you reconsider your position and that we see you participating soon.

Regards,
Mark
The Bonanza Team
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Who the heck is he kidding? Why would anyone post just to have him or other Bonz management humiliate them in the forums?

This wasn't the first time they slapped me/us around in the forums but you can bet your bottom dollar that it won't happen again.

Those forums are a joke.
The rules they use are a bigger joke.
Their rule enforcement is not consistent and causes further issues. (If you aren't a favorite with management, you best look out!)

Just simply stated, the post that Mark made that states we shouldn't be hesitant to post in the forums is a bold faced lie! We know all too well - how they "roll," as Mark put it.

Some forum members have not only been told that "Bonanza may not be right for them" (basically a suggestion to leave the site) due to issues they have had in the forums and others have been threatened in private emails. We can promise you, you can not speak freely there.

Things have gotten even worse than ever before since Bonanza got the money from the investors. It seems that any member is now expendable. We are not needed.

If you use Bonanza forums, be aware that you may find trouble lurking for you.

For those that don't know, what we write on our blogs can also get us into trouble with Bonanza management. If they happen to read anything negative about them or the site, sometimes they respond in a manner that is not so kind. Yes friends, Hitler and his cohorts may have been reincarnated so please be careful.