kebechet

As you know, F_S, this isn't directed at you. =P I felt I needed to clarify.

DING! My turn.

I can’t fucking believe this. Now I’m getting emails from people ASKING me to step in on the Heaven & Earth debacle. Do these people really want me to come into the thread and rant? You want to know why I haven’t spoken up? Two things: first, I was trying very hard to show someone more respect than they have shown me or our company, and second… the great, all-powerful, and almighty entity that is my attorney. He has a fantastic way of shutting me up.

I can’t add anything to what Filigree has already stated in her blog, suffice to say that I think it is very telling that the Heaven and Earth thread is perpetually rife with drama.

I’m sure Michelle is a delightful person, but I do not agree with her business practices. I think that her attempts to circumvent the forum’s regulations are shady, and I think her explanations for the origins of her products are tall-tales. This is my opinion. I have seen bottles on her site that cost less than a dollar to purchase from a local company that are being sold for $10+ dollars, and are being touted as imported goods. This isn’t the way we do things at BPAL, but who am I to judge another’s company? I kept quiet for many reasons, and it is PREPOSTEROUS that people should email me and ask me to defend my silence. As if being quiet or respectful or attempting to shut up and allow people to work things out on their own is some sign of weakness. Give me a fucking break, please. We’re in the middle of the busiest time of our year, and the last thing I have time to do is blather about my issues with another person’s company.

It is just such a pitiful cop-out when people blame the moderators for a kerfuffle that erupts. Can’t take responsibility for your actions? Blame it on the mods! While I think that loyalty is commendable, it is ridiculous that one would ignore that she has repeatedly violated the terms of service on this forum, and I think it is preposterous that Shriekingviolet’s motives or the legitimacy of the forum suspension are in question at all. If you are of the mind that this forum is run in that fashion, you don’t need to be here. The truth is: that is BULLSHIT. The administrators and moderators here are nothing BUT fair, and they jump through HOOPS to make sure that people are given a million fucking chances before any measures are taken. On just about any other retail forum, official or unofficial, posting with the sole intent of shilling is frowned upon, dupe accounts and sock puppets are a no-go, and let me tell you… it boggles the mind that anyone would think that the deliberate violation of the rules here would go unnoticed.

Personally, I think the issues that were brought up in the H&E thread have been extremely HELPFUL to the company’s owner, and, as an example, if I were in a position where my right to muscle in on someone else’s intellectual property was in question, and if I had no knowledge of how trademark law, IP law, or copyright law worked, I would truly appreciate being notified before someone was forced to hammer me with a cease & desist.