Banned from PCGS Forums for saying...

[Jesh]

I got banned from the PCGS forums for saying 'I got screwed' with my ASE sets.

What a joke. I got banned before from there and then 'unbanned' for having a CAC logo as my avatar, and it was in their list of available avatars!

Some people!

[Lehigh96]

I personally believe that PCGS would like to shut down their forum but don't want to deal with the massive backlash. By banning members individually, they accomplish the same goal of ridding all dissent over a long period of time and are left with 100% kool-aid drinkers.

It is amazing that I have not been banned from that forum, although I don't mix it up like I did on Cointalk.

[Jesh]

Well I sent Don an email, I just don't get that guy. He deleted a whole thread on the ASE's that was HUGE. Here's the email he sent me when I asked him why I was banned the first time:

"Greg,

We didn't like the CAC avatar. However, I didn't know how to get in touch with you.

If you agree to change the avatar (nothing against CAC but this is a PCGS forum) I will reinstate your account and the post.

Don"

I think he is ban-happy. Still awaiting a reply from him.

[mingot]

A forum that deletes threads/bans accounts about CAC without actually having a rule about not mentioning CAC are complete idiots.

(and it is not obvious that they're doing these delete/bans under the "dont promote competition" rule, because the last time I checked CAC does not slab coins)

[Jesh]

A forum that deletes threads/bans accounts about CAC without actually having a rule about not mentioning CAC are complete idiots.

(and it is not obvious that they're doing these delete/bans under the "dont promote competition" rule, because the last time I checked CAC does not slab coins)

Well this time I was banned for saying 'I was screwed' that out of the 5 ASE coins, I couldn't make a full 70 set since my grades on one of the coins were all 69's and 68's.

Being banned for the CAC thing was really stupid too. He still hasn't replied to me.

[Jesh]

Here's his reply!!

From: Don Willis [mailto:dwillis@pcgs.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 12:50 PM
To: xxxx, Greg
Subject: RE: Banned for? 25th Anniversary ASE Set Thread

It is totally inappropriate to post that you "got screwed on my grading". That is what got you banned.

We are as fair and objective as we can be. Look at all the grades posted.

You may say it casually and you seem to like the phrase. We take it much more seriously - it is what we do.

[mingot]

Well not much you can say.

It is their board.

They do moderate it terribly, though.

I wonder sometimes if it's just because of the crap software they use, laziness, or just not knowing how to properly administer a forum. Or some combination of all of those.

It's not like moaning about grades coming back lower than expected is unusual around there. People are disappointed all of the time. And your expression of the disappointment could very well be directed at the mint and not at the graders. When you got the coins back did you look at them and actually disagree with the grades?

Anyhow, if you got a few 69's that should have been 70's and you can live without the first strike, resubmit them. Photograph them first. If you get a few 70's back you can at least respond and tell him that you did get screwed the first time around and got screwed in grading fees the next time, too. It won't get you unbanned but being able to tell him that you were screwed might make you feel better. I dunno.

[mingot]

And I do fully expect to be banned at some point for something ridiculous. And this is with me not even intentionally trying to be a line skater... Well except for the one time I called them out for not just making a rule about cac thread poofs.

[Jesh]

Well I told him that I was not saying that PCGS screwed my over, but in general putting together a full set I got screwed. If I didn't like PCGS I wouldn't strictly use them! I am more than happy with their grades, as most of my coins I buy I resend there and they get upgraded! I didn't tell him I am more disappointed with the mint, and it has nothing to do with their graders.

Whatever, it doesn't make a difference, as I can concentrate more on getting this place running. It seems to many people are unhappy with the moderation there but nobody wants to leave, it makes no sense. However, getting a solid user base here is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated.

Like I said, I got banned once for the CAC thing, and it was on their list of avatars. Then he tells me 'he couldn't get hold of me'. Ummm? Time to upgrade your software!

[Lehigh96]

The problem is that all of the CU forumites who get banned immediately go ATS to the NGC forum. They know that it exists and they know many of the members of the CU forum also post on the NGC forum. I don't know if any of them know that this forum exists. I think we need to somehow circulate the Coinforums.com logo so that people will check it out. We also need a reason for an experienced member to stick around such a quiet forum. The gallery might be such a feature that we can exploit for this purpose. I will try to come up with some ideas for this.

Is there anyone who would be willing to use the Coinforums.com logo as their avatar on the other forums. Personally, I am rather attached to my current avatars and don't want to change them. I also don't post enough on the other forums to have it do much good. Can we somehow include the Coinforums.com logo as a link in our signature lines on the other forum?

Perhaps we would have to hide it with other logos. For example, what if my signature looked like this:

I LOVE

But instead of a simple logo photo, it would actually be a link to the forum.

Just kicking around some ideas in my unemployed head. Let me know what you guys think!