Well some of you might have noticed that I was recently banned for 10 days for “National Intoleranceâ€. This is because of the post at Notece that copyrights are changing? - Off-Topic/General Chat - CS-Cart Community Forums
First of all, if I offended anyone because of my posts, I want to apologize to you. My posts were truly and honestly meant as a joke. If some of you don’t have as much of a sense of humor as me and took this seriously, I’m sorry.
But, I have some problems with how things were handled.
If I did a post that offended someone, that is fine. The fact is, I offend at least one person everyday. I can live with this and have come to accept it as a flaw in my personality. But, if I offend someone, there are better ways for CS-Cart to handle things rather than a flat out 10 day ban.
If a person posts an offensive remark on the forum, here are some things that CS-Cart can do:
[list=1]
[]Notify the person with a PM and let them know why their comment is offensive and give a warning.
[]Ask or require that person to edit or remove the post and give a warning.
[]Remove the post yourself and give a warning.
[]If after a warning, the person is still offensive, give a ban.
[/list]
You will notice that a warning is what is in common in all of those solutions. I received no such warning and I feel that is total BS.
I have over 1,700 posts and have been on the forum for almost 5 years. I’m an active member in the community and frequently donate addons and mods to the forum. I’ve spent countless hours freely contributing my time and knowledge to help out other members. I’ve never received any warnings (that I can remember), and I usually try my best to be a good community member and not post offensive things.
I don’t feel it is right to ban someone like me without even as much of a warning. If I’d been warned before than I can see it, but this is not the case.
I had no knowledge of me being banned until I woke up in the morning and had TonyK Skyping me to try and find out what was going on. Tony had Alex on the “other line†and was trying to mediate the situation. Tony did his best to get Alex to realize that the whole thing was a joke, but unfortunately Alex didn’t see it that way. I really appreciate Tony doing this for me and I wish it would have worked.
I also had numerous other emails and Skype messages expressing people’s surprise to me being banned. Everyone I talked to was supportive and didn’t see CS-Cart’s reasoning. I really appreciate everyone’s support, thank you.
I’m not trying to whine about this or try to sound sad about it. If this was something that I agreed with, I’d feel more badly about it, but the fact is, I don’t feel this situation was handled correctly and I hope CS-Cart will re-look at how they handle things like this in the future.
Thank you,
Brandon
[quote name='brandonvd' timestamp='1315363920' post='121112']
Well some of you might have noticed that I was recently banned for 10 days for “National Intoleranceâ€. This is because of the post at Notece that copyrights are changing? - Off-Topic/General Chat - CS-Cart Community Forums
[/quote]
Welcome back Brandon. Looks as though some nationalities have a different sense of humour to others. I actually thought the post regarding banning you for “national intolerance” was a joke as well. Oh well, it takes all sorts I suppose.
Thanks Lyn, I appreciate it.
I agree, there is definitely a difference in a sense of humor between the nationalities and the more I work with people from all over the world, the more I realize this. There are all sorts of great people out there that all have their own sense of humor. I know I can be a smart ass and sometimes this can go over other people of other cultures. But, on the flip side, I don't sometimes get their humor. I actually had to ask a guy on this forum if a comment he made about me was good or bad because of the language thing, and he was from England.
It definitely takes all sorts and that is one of the cool things about this community. I just hope CS-Cart considers what I said about the warnings instead of just flat out banning someone because of an “offensive” comment.
Thanks,
Brandon
I am Russia close neigbour 
yet I see nothing in brandonvd post…
What actually annoys me alot is that support is getting over open community forum for marketing, support…
It was a good Joke I thought funny
“National Intolerance” I am intolerant of my nation every day…WHY? taxes,
Brandon, you were unfairly treated…how were you to know it was wrong, you were never given any warnings and most everyone who read it seen it as a well used joke,OK perhaps not Mr Roman Abramovich but most everyone else, maybe it was the dreaded “M” word 
.
John
Oppressed
Mistreated
Mis Goverened
Over Taxed
Under Rated
But hey thats the UK
SMILE
I think it's obvious how I feel about it. I also though Cs-carts repsonse was a joke… see last post in the original topic.
Anyway, welcome back Brandon! You are certainly one of the most important users here!
Thanks guys, I appreciate it.
Hopefully CS-Cart will explain their actions better and maybe they do actually have a good reason. I still have yet to get any real explanation of why I was banned. I got that little bit in the original post and a couple of small lines from Alex through Tony on Skype, that's been it.
I really do appreciate the responses though and I'm hoping that if the posts keep going this way, maybe CS-Cart will take a step back and realize it was just a joke and maybe actually get a good chuckle from it.
Thanks,
Brandon
Welcome back Brandon! CS-Cart's decision was only a negative for this community. You have helped many, many people and you did NOTHING wrong in your post that they banned you for.
For me, the intolerance of CS-Cart has thrown up several “caution” flags for me. Not really to watch what I say on the forum, but flags of distrust in them because of their over reaction from a simple comment. If they over react on something as simple as the comment you made there, well, then the conspiracy side of my brain kicks in and thinks really crazy things about how they may over react on any issue.
If your only income source is site powered by cs-cart better remain silent and anonymous
[quote name=‘clips’ timestamp=‘1315405244’ post=‘121165’]
Welcome back Brandon! CS-Cart’s decision was only a negative for this community. You have helped many, many people and you did NOTHING wrong in your post that they banned you for.
For me, the intolerance of CS-Cart has thrown up several “caution” flags for me. Not really to watch what I say on the forum, but flags of distrust in them because of their over reaction from a simple comment. If they over react on something as simple as the comment you made there, well, then the conspiracy side of my brain kicks in and thinks really crazy things about how they may over react on any issue.
[/quote]
Well, last thing im gonna say about this, is I think we shouldn’t make to much of it either. They are probably just being very careful when it comes to comments about nationalities even when they are jokes.
I suggest we all leave it to this… move on… and spend our energie on getting the economy back on track.
Brandon,
Best I can figure is you must have caught someone on a bad day that doesn't know you as well as some of us?
Guess we all need to be more cautious and aware that we are dealing with many different cultures here on the forums & things can easily be taken out of context?
To me, it isn't so much of me being banned for whatever I did, but it is how CS-Cart did it.
I just don't feel it is right to just come out and ban someone for 10 days without any warnings or any kind of real explanation.
Like I said, CS-Cart could have easily warned me and asked me to remove my post or remove it themselves. I'd understand the lack of warning if I've been warned before or am constantly offending people, but this isn't the case.
I just feel CS-Cart could have handled the situation better and I hope that they consider this in the future.
Thanks again,
Brandon
[quote]I just don’t feel it is right to just come out and ban someone for 10 days without any warnings or any kind of real explanation.[/quote]
Well, have to say I was quite surprised as well.
I still think it was the ultimate joke and they were “just messing with you”! 
Brandon,
Yeah really, what else should they expect from an American
Disclaimer:
This was meant purely as a joke as I am American as you can see from my location.
Glad to see you back as well Brandon. You've helped me tremendously in my short year as a fellow "CS-Cart"er and I'm truly appreciative of that.
On a side note: As a fellow American, I'm not offended by much of anything as it seems just about anything goes in this country.
Take Care,
cmund
Ohhhhh…ohhooo…geeeee…trying really hard…just going to keep my mouth shut! 
Welcome back Brandon!
Stu
ЗдравÑтвуй Бренден,
Я подозреваю что твоё знанее руÑÑкой культуры на таком же уровне как твоё знанее руÑÑкого юмора а законов. TÑ‹ типичный американец который думает что знает обо вÑём. Ты Ñчетаешь что чем больше Ñ‚Ñ‹ здеÑÑŒ пишешь, тем больше твоё муржÑкое доÑтоинÑтво и как будто у Ñ‚ÐµÐ±Ñ ÐµÑÑ‚ÑŒ право говорить другим как им делать Ñвой бизнеÑ. ПоÑтому Ñ Ñ…Ð¾Ñ‡Ñƒ тебе Ñказать от вÑего Ñердца: ТЫ ÐЕ ПРÐÐ’!!
Hello Brandon,
I am not sure if you can understand what I said above so I figured I would also put it in english. I think you were judged harshly and should have been banned for no more than 6 days, 8 days tops. Your post count alone shows that you have some value to the board. I have appreciated all the help you have given me over the past few months and I am sure that everyone else feels the same.
Do not make the same mistake, it hurts all of us.
6,8,10 … what's the difference? It could have been handled via PM. I run numerous forums and I only resort to banning if the person is a continuous problem and they don't stop after I ask them to.
Tony was just making a joke, or at least trying too. He might need to work on his punch lines though.
He wasn't being serious about what he said.
Thanks,
Brandon
[quote name='racingsolution' timestamp='1315696826' post='121419']
6,8,10 … what's the difference? It could have been handled via PM. I run numerous forums and I only resort to banning if the person is a continuous problem and they don't stop after I ask them to.
[/quote]
My post was a joke, what was written in Russian doesn't come close to what was written in English.
This is an issue that should not be handled via the message boards. This is an issue between Brandon who I have the highest regard for and the people who chose to ban him who put out a great product.
I make my own rules when someone uses my sites, that doesn't mean I don't listen to suggestions but it does mean I make the final decision.