One of the things that *does* get me angry is an organization that take a cavalier attitude towards serving the customers of the service/product it provides. I unfortunately have run into that just recently.
Absolute Write (AW) is a fantastic source of information for writers, and what I'm about to describe does not change that. Their forums are great. The Bewares, Recommendations & Background Checks (BR&BC) forum alone is worth the visit, even if there were no other resources there. One of the traps you'll see subjects of posts there carry out is to take professional criticism personally.
Unfortunately, the Webmaster has fallen into the same trap. She has decided that I'm a troublemaker. I have been banned from there. I'm not posting to claim innocence. I can't. The Webmaster has refused any and all communications asking why I was banned. If you look up my name, I'm labeled as "banned for trolling."
I have asked what it was that I did to earn the ban via the Contact Us link on their site. I have been told that I am not owed an explanation. And that none will be given.
This refusal to engage in basic customer service is infuriating. I am willing to correct whatever it is that I've done. The commonly accepted definition of a troll is:
someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.No one at AW can show where I have engaged in any such activity. CORRECTION: They will not.
That is EXACTLY the sort of cavalier attitude that many of the subjects in BR&BC engage in when they discover themselves listed in that subforum. It's sad to watch such an excellent community managed so unprofessionally.
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