What to do when a moderator wrongfully removes a post?

Question

So I had a post update on a topic I find very valuable and useful get removed... If you check out my post about probate lists, it was pretty much reposting that with an update on results over the course of the last year and growing to 25+ deals/month with the information given in the post.

It had very little to do with promoting my products, and a lot to do with a valuable topic. I have taught people for free how to obtain the leads, however, I do offer a product for people too lazy or too busy to be taught... that's besides the point... the topic was removed fro self promotion when I was simply giving really good information and personal experience.

What's worse is that the moderator talked down upon me as an individual for trying to provide real value to the community. After reviewing the said Moderator's profile, he had started a umber of discussions promoting himself quite bluntly looking for services... Some moderator, right?

Anyway, just wondering what I can do about this. There is no policing the police, corrupt or not... I just wish they didn't attack something actually helpful to many. What a shame.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

Hi @Troy Lilly .

I took a look at the post that was removed, and edited it so the advertising language is gone and reposted it.

Also, the moderator who removed your post started those other advertising posts before he was a moderator - they're more than a year old and have since been removed from the site.

Our rules can be a little tricky, but they boil down to: No advertising of any kind in the forums. This includes ANY mention of what you do or what your company does, any offer of any product - free or not, and any offer to help through a service you provide.

This keeps spam and clutter out of the forums, and the information flowing freely.

And there IS policing the police. If you feel that a post was removed in error (moderators ARE human and we do make mistakes) then POLITELY ask that they reconsider. Don't attack them for enforcing the rules.

If you don't like the answer you've received from them, feel free to contact me. To be honest, I'm probably going to back up my moderators, who I have hand-picked and whose judgment I trust to enforce the rules that Josh Dorkin put in place for this site. However, we all make mistakes and I am happy to review.

In this particular instance, I removed your advertising language and reposted because the bulk of the thread was interesting and informative. But that doesn't mean that you can advertise or promote your services in a thread that also provides information.

JD Martin · Answer

I don't want to encourage posting in this thread (complaining about moderators is not generally an allowable topic anyway), but you are always free to contact @Mindy Jensen if you have any questions about permissible topics or threads that have been moderated. Moderators aren't perfect but knowing most of them they are all trying to do a good job, and all moderators are volunteers. There are thousands of posts on BP, almost every day, and keeping advertisements, deal-making and fights clear from the forums is not an easy task; if threads weren't moderated the forums would quickly become virtually unusable and unattractive to the majority of people here that are just trying to learn more about real estate investing.

Troy Lilly · Answer

@Mindy Jensen you’re the real deal! Thank you for your time and attention and the timely response along with the extra yard to get my post back up!

Troy Lilly · Answer

@JD Martin Thank you for a timely reply. I'm sure they are, and like the police they are necessary to keep a clean and usable environment like you mentioned. But in order to make sure they are being fair and to prevent them from future abuse to the future, I felt it necessary. It has been dealt with, and I appreciate your response.