There is an inherent vulnerability for the providers as this is not a "hobby" to them, but their careers.  Thus, to allow a spurious allegation to be posted or published in a review can really do some harm.

TER realizes this and often pulls down posts which could harm a provider's reputation unless there is some pretty clear and convincing evidence otherwise.

This may appear to put TER at the mercy of providers but overall I think the mods and management do a fairly good job of balancing the two sides.

Providers get no more, and no less consideration from me either.

I am a hobbyist myself, and my time is worth every bit as much as a providers time, I try to be fair, but I don't consider providers some how "more important" or "more vulnerable" than a hobbyist.

I hold providers and hobbyists to the same standards, there might be a couple of "White Knight Moderators" out there, but I aint one of them. Providers get no special consideration on the boards, not from me at least, not even the hot ones. lol

I was not refering to criticism of a provider as a reviewer might state in a review or even a mini-review; but rather libelous assertions as to her character, and activities that would rightly get someone banned from TER.

I noticed that I recently had both a review and a board discussion deleted concerning questionable practices by a provider.  What say you all?  Is TER slanted towards providers or can hobbiests have honest discussions without being censored?

The vast majority of posts that don't get approved on boards I moderate are provider ads that don't meet the TER guidelines.  Second place would be posts that I move to a more appropriate board.  Lately, spam would be third.  Far less frequently would be posts discussing a delisted provider or personal info of a user.  At times, pulling those gives the appearance that TER is favoring the ladies.

In the six years that I've been here, I'd say the site is less geared solely to guys, but the folks here do their best to be fair.  In fact, most breeches in confidence seem to be from back channel discussions rather than site policies.

END OF MESSAGE

I know each mod is different, but I'd personally leave up negative comments regarding a provider.  Provider ads are different in that people aren't allowed to interfere with those, but if its not on her ad, it's fair game.  I would hope she would offer a rebuttal (I've emailed a few to encourage that) and let the room decide.  It's important that people get to express their feelings so that we can all learn from each others mistakes.

Caveat:  I don't read a lot of what is on here any more.  My real life takes up too much time.  So I do not attest that my obervations are statisticly significant nor are they the norm.

OK, mouthful of caveat over with.

Used to be in the Dark Ages the board was heavily slanted against the providers in my opinion.  That is based on knowing their sides of things quite completely.

Since I started passing through these parts in the past year I would say I have seen a much fairer ballance on most boards.  I would say it still tilts towards the men but less so.  Two mods have already stated they do not see it that way and they have far more complete knowledge than I do.

Some things to remember.

Because a post was removed does not mean it was removed for the reason you think.

In any community people are treated differently because of their reputations.  That is probably true here too.

Whether you think a post is removed "unfairly" may depend upon which side of the argument you stand on.

In all I think the fairness issue is handled better than it used to be by a long shot.

I'm new to TER but not the hobby.  I reviewed a girl 2 weeks ago, who had been on TER for a few years, but with reviews dating back to 2007 - 2008.  My review was not a flattering review.  2 days later, I'm told my review was not accepted, because the girl was delisted or unlisted or something like that.  That means she had opted for a no review policy, but was not allowed to have a listing or ad.  I checked, and her old reviews were gone, yet they were there 2 days earlier when I wrote my review..

The only explanation is someone notified her of the bad review before it was posted, to give her the option of blocking it by delisting.

If she was no longer providing, it would be one thing, but she is still advertising, with photos so old I didn't recognize her when she opened the door.  That is a clear bias towards the provider, at the expense of the hobbyist looking for accurate information..

-- Modified on 9/24/2010 6:13:00 AM

-- Modified on 9/24/2010 3:30:16 AM

I edited out your links.  Whatever the reason for a provider's delisting, they can no longer be discussed on the boards.  That includes links of her in 2 places for comparison purposes.  BTW, that wouldn't be allowed on this board anyway.  That kind of post belongs on a regional board.

TER's policy on delisted / banned providers hasn't changed.  A woman can ask for her profile to be pulled in exchange for no longer advertising or posting on the board.  Ripoff profiles don't get pulled.  Since I don't have any super secret access to the reviews, I can't speak to the timing in your particular case.

As I read your reply, I realized that if I had thought about it, what you say about the links would have been obvious, but I didn't think past answering the question.  My apologies.  

I'm not sure why the post wouldn't be allowed on this board regardless though, considering I was directly answering the OP question, the links were to back up my answer, and there are handy URL text fields under the message area for links and pics

New board, new rules.  I guess I have lots to learn.