Edit: Dec 24 because the flaggers are running amok again. It’s a shame that even at Christmas, there are still people who just can’t stop themselves from behaving badly.

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First, I’d like to express a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who offered their support through words, private messages, and the use of the #FreeRacingRox tag while I was locked away in forum jail.

I hope (but doubt) this show of support will serve as a lesson to the “Mods” that people can stand together respectfully even when they disagree or don’t like each other. Not everyone who supported me is my close friend, but you don’t have to be friends to have respect, or to stand together against injustice.

You must all be curious what happened, so here it is.

As most of you saw, my exasperation with the Mods hit its limit and I basically called them liars (in big bold letters ) here:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/for-the-love-of-cookies-do-not-launch-the-new-forum-in-the-4th-quarter/1309475/19

I believe my exact words (using the h1 tag for emphasis) were ‘Please stop lying
to us!’ but that part of my post seems to be gone now. Interestingly, the rest of my post remains.

My frustration had obviously boiled over with the Mods’ repeated false, misleading, and deceptive posting activity. The way I expressed that frustration was over the top and so I apologized for it.

The gist of what I was given as the reason for my month-long suspension was my ongoing criticism of the Mods and what they post.

My take on that, as you might imagine, is that if they didn’t post stuff that was deserving of criticism, they wouldn’t be getting criticized. It seems obvious.

My position has always been that we should ALL be working together toward a common goal - helping the users who come to the forums seeking help with their problems.

It’s also my position that the Mods as a group, at least half the time, fail miserably at this, and more often than not seem to have little interest in working with us and frequently actively work against us. If it truly is their goal to help, then they should want to be aware of when they fail, and try to do better.

Instead, they simply shut down the people who shine a spotlight on their failures or question what they do and why they do it. Believing perhaps, that if no one points it out, no one will notice it.

Until/unless the Mods learn what is needed from them here (as opposed to what they want to provide), I will continue to call them out for their failings.

I will NOT however, publicly help forum users any longer and the responsibility for this lies squarely on the Mods’ shoulders. The group of them that decided to suspend me are fully responsible for the fact that no sellers will have forum access to my knowledge or expertise any longer.

When you need help in areas I specialize in, and can no longer get it - blame your Mods. Next time you see them talk about what a great job they do and how they are here to support you, remember this

Of course, I’m nothing special, but I do have specialized knowledge in areas such as shipping template set-up, shipping automation, how Buy Shipping functions, proper brand authorization, and IP complaints. I’m not the only one with this knowledge, of course, but the Mods have driven many of us away, not only through unjust suspensions but with the entire new NSFE forums that nobody (except perhaps them) wants.

Now I want to be clear. There are some Mods who deserve and have earned my respect. It’s a short list.

• @CR_Amazon
• @KJ_Amazon
• @Gary_Amazon (I suspect the person posting under the Gary moniker now is not the same person I got to know and respected, so my respect is for the Gary of
  before, if they are different).
• @Desi_Amazon

I’ve had PM exchanges with @CR_Amazon (you’re still, and always will be awesome), @KJ_Amazon, and @Gary_Amazon and each has earned my admiration and respect.

I’ve never had direct contact with Desi but have developed respect for him through his posting activity. Unlike many of the Mods, he writes his own posts, interprets users’ questions correctly, and provides guidance that’s relevant to the issue at hand. for Desi.

A shout out to @Charles_Amazon as well for following Desi’s example in many of his recent posts.

My feelings are mixed on the rest of them. Some have lost my respect entirely as a result of our PM conversations, others I don’t know enough to form an opinion.

One Mod-related issue that does need to be explicity addressed from the time of my suspension is here -
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/a-note-on-forums-guidelines/1325059/41

I found this post by Mod Kelly suggesting they were ‘protecting my privacy’ to be offensive and insulting.

To be crystal clear -

• I did not give Moderator Kelly permission to speak on my behalf in this regard.

I found it particularly insulting that they had the nerve to add “Thank you for your understanding and respect of your fellow seller community.” when it was Kelly themselves, who was lacking respect for me by making this post insinuating they were speaking on my behalf. They were NOT. It was particularly distressing since I had no ability to counter their invalid claims so they were able to say whatever they liked and I couldn’t post anything to counter it. I did raise the issue with another Mod (supposedly a supervisor) but it was not addressed.

To say the least, I felt disrespected, dismissed, and mistreated - both by the post itself and the dismissal of my objection to it.

Continuing on the subject of the Mods -

• Mods almost certainly do not post under their real names
• Not only do they adopt false identities, these may be intentionally misleading you in the hopes you will make false assumptions about their genders, ages, or other demographic data
• More than one person may post under the same forum identity over time. I’ve mentioned that I don’t believe the current person posting as ‘Gary’ is the same person I’ve communicated with, and I also suspect that Susan/SEAMOD may be someone new as well.

Always take anything that comes from Amazon with a grain of salt and a heavy dose of skepticism. Not everyone you encounter is the person they seem to be or acting with personal integrity.

Some interesting things I observed while I was forced to sit out include:

• The Mods know less than I ever imagined about which of us are the ‘good guys’ and which are the bad. They can’t tell us apart, and they don’t seem interested in learning.
• They seem unaware that some users create phony posts about made up problems specifically to try and stir up trouble
• While they have the goal of making the forums ‘nicer’, they don’t seem to realize that they’re often getting played by the folks making the phony posts mentioned above. The posts are designed to elicit criticism and negativity, then the posters run to the Mods to complain, and the Mods foolishly take them seriously. SMH.
• None of the Mods stepped up to try and answer the questions that would normally have been addressed by me during my forced time out. Remember that, next time they tell you they are here to support you. They shut me down, and did nothing to fill in that gap.
• They often don’t understand the very policies they’re tasked with enforcing. During my time-out I asked for clarification on one I was accused of violating. The Mod actually said to me that he’d check on it and get back to me! (He never did, of course) Why in the world should a Mod have to check on a policy it’s his job to enforce? If he doesn’t understand the policy himself, then he sure as heck isn’t qualified to enforce it. I was quite shocked by this.

In summary, what I came away from this experience with is that -

The Amazon Mods do not deserve my support.

Therefore, I will no longer be publicly helping any users in these forums and you can blame your “Community Managers”.

For those sellers who do plan to continue participating, I encourage you to remember, and continue to share, my message:

• Do not trust Amazon
• Do not believe what any Amazon representative tells you. They are frequently only talking heads and do not understand the information they are passing on to you. This includes Mods, Seller Support agents, Escalation “specialists”, Account Health “specialists” and the like.

Best of luck to everyone, happy holidays to you all, and thank you again for all of your support. It’s a shame the Mods didn’t listen to your voices.