[TominScotland]

Of course, the way to encourage the likes of Ian back is probably simple – if BT were to ban all those hiding behind handles which suggest addiction to cheap fizzy drinks – Irn Bru, Lam Brusco and those other ones I won’t mention here…….

[Stringfellow]

I am an occasional contributor to and regular reader of a defence industry related forum that sometimes attracts people who are opposed to the industry and who post to abuse the rest of us. What is remarkable is the poor quality of argument, I saw one post that was along the lines of “You sell guns, do you know guns kill people ?”

Here there are clearly individuals who for one reason or another dislike other posters but I am reminded of the great Jim Rohn who said,

“If you have rules about how OTHER people should behave or what they should think you are going to have a frustrating and unhappy life”

[canucklad]

LP surely BB surely means…..Le Impuissant !!

[JohnHarper]

I have certainly been the victim of this sort of behaviour in the past. Within my first five posts I was accused of being someone else by a prevalent poster. I found it all quite bizarre.

Since then I’ve posted at some times and not others. It really depends on what else I have to do and where I am.

I post because there is useful information and some of the debate is amusing – just how many seats are there across on the EK A380!! Yes there is frustration from some posts but all in all there is far more good than bad.

It’s difficult to determine right from wrong but I do think one particular poster antagonises people quite deliberately.

Just my opinion.

[AllOverTheGaff]

JohnHarper – 28/03/2013 10:29 GMT
It’s difficult to determine right from wrong but I do think one particular poster antagonises people quite deliberately.

+1

Rgds.
AOTG.

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

Hello Ian

Firstly, I respect your decision as I have been there.

This is the first Internet forum I have contributed to and still is. I started posting as charlesQ last May and since then I have written some complete and utter drivel 🙂 and made quite a few gaffes. I have also been highly entertained, infuriated with myself and not with any particular poster, and I have learned an awful lot.

In the meantime, I wish you and your family safe travels and, like all of us, I hope to hear from you in the future.

[VintageKrug]

Here we go again, another hundreds-of-posts thread conveniently aligning with the school holidays and a time when the BT moderators will be sunning themselves in their summer villas.

I normally avoid responding as it only fans the flames.

Ian’s resignation was in response to posts made by others, there is an inference that it was directly connected with me, which is not the case if you read his last few posts.

[Unfortunately his last few posts illustrating this fact where he was attacked when he censured BigDog. and others in the thread where BigDog accused me of spouting “diarrhea” seem to have been redacted:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/members/Ian_from_HKG/content/forum-posts/page/1]

…if only the moderator was as fleet footed when it came to the multiple personal abuses evidenced in the post below this one…..

Recently being accused by BigDog. at some length as being a fraud for not posting trip reports rather took the biscuit; he himself has posted none.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/A-Virgin-virgin-verging-on-Virgin?page=3#83938

BigDog. aggressive behaviour is the reason Ian departed; the usual cabal of CallMeIshmael/TetedeCuvee aggressive behaviour towards me, and constant post-stalking, lead me to take some time out in January 2012 last year – quietly and without fuss.

Even in my absence the usual suspects decided BeckyBoop was me and started a most appalling and aggressive series of posts against her, so I returned to put the record straight.

BigDog. joined this forum on 1 July 2012; I think we have all seen clear evidence of a fall in standards on this forum since he joined. TetedeCuvee was removed from the forum on 23 June 2012, leaving just one week between tete leaving and BigDog joining. I am certain these leaving and joining dates are completely unrelated; others may have less confidence.

[VintageKrug]

I am quite certain there are people posting here who have posted previously under other handles; the posting style and topics they focus on are exactly aligned. You can even see just one week in the demise of one poster and the re-incarnation under another handle.

I generally avoid these threads, as they do little to enhance the reputation of the fourm, but as the BT moderators see fit to let them run and run, despite having nothing whatsoever top do with travel, then it seems only fair to illustrate some of the appalling statements which have been “let ride” on this forum.

Henkel.Trocken – 13/05/2012 11:21 GMT
[To Hippocampus]
Did you have lessons in being offensive, obnoxious and arrogant or are they natural qualities?

Henkel.Trocken – 13/05/2012 11:12 GMT
Lovely bit of apologising VirtualKrug! Has your simulator crashed this morning so that you had time to look up and post all those links?

Henkel.Trocken – 13/05/2012 11:21 GMT
No doubt my points will receive an apology too as VirtualKrug clearly has nothing better to do today and his little friends Becky and the Hippo are out to play too.

Henkel.Trocken – 13/05/2012 14:58 GMT
[to VintageKrug]
You really need to get a life

…and even this week we have similar examples:

“Why fly BA to Dubai??
25/03/13 | Forum post by Henkel Trocken in reply to AhMrBond
Have you tried it Krug? I thought not, just another ill informed post.”

…and accused me of telling lies in this post:

“Henkel.Trocken wrote – 20/03/2013 14:26 GMT to VintageKrug
The obsession with promoting BA at all costs even with half truths and at time downright lies”

—-
For the above poster to accuse me of personal attacks is, frankly, extraordinary. It would test the patience of a saint not to react to the constant insults they freely mete out, so I think my few remarks have been tame in comparison to what’s been heading in my direction.

More examples:

“BigDog. – 20/11/2012 19:28 GMT
Why bother posting a comment on this thread at all? As you claim to be not interested, best just let it pass instead of showing yourself up as an arrogant, condescending boor – again.”

BigDog. 20/09/12 wrote | Forum post (in reply to VintageKrug):
As the vast majority of your assertions/predictions prove to be totally wrong.”

“BigDog. – 20/08/2012 22:29 GMT

@VintageKrug 22:16 “It was in the FT this morning, so I don’t see what all the secrecy is about”

Edited to add..
1:00am no response. I hope it is an error and not yet another example of a pretentious post by VK.”

Here’s another:

“BigDog. – 18/08/2012 23:55 GMT

Unlike yourself Vintage Krug, I prefer to base my opinion on verifiable events or referenceable evidence.”

…and another:

“BigDog. – 17/08/2012 10:53 GMT

[Vintage Krug]…. this pompus, bombastic, drama queen on his simulator.”

—

BigDog. 18/09/12 | wrote to VK:
If it isn’t on your Sim City, learn to use google.

—

BigDog. – 12/09/2012 13:49 GMT wrote:
..and whilst the vast majority of us enjoyed the Olympics and Paralympics VK was busily participating here….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss

… so now we know he’s called Nigel – who would have thought.”

Only yesterday, BigDog. stated:
“More diarrhea from VintageKrug” (though appears to have edited his post, as it no longer comes up)

How is that in any way acceptable? It is not, and the moderators must take action when personal attacks are made.

I usually ignore the snide remarks, they don’t annoy me, but they must be bothersome for others to read. However, there comes a point when they do become the norm, and that is not acceptable.

there are a slew of other posts in the same vein as those previously committed to the forum by the usual suspects TetedeCuvee/ CallMeIshmael/ Bruce98/ Saviour_Monk it really is hard to keep up with who everyone is these days.

It’s really up to the other BT posters to set out what they believe to be acceptable.

[AsiaPacific]

I belong to a number of forums on different sites for a range of interests. I am at a bit of a loss as to why the moderators do not just ban people who continually harass, and inflame and make personal comments to other members. Other forums either ban or ‘sin bin’ people in the cooler for a while — suggest it is considered here quickly , as losing good members like Ian is a real loss to this forum.

In response posters claiming ‘patience beyond that of a saint’ … a little personal introspection and a mirror would be a great start to improving this forum .

[Stringfellow]

‘AsiaPacific’ – Yes I fully agree.

The defence forum I mentioned earlier in this thread does exactly that. Offensive posters get one warning and then are banned for one week to allow them to cool off. If they repeat the style of posting they are banned permanently. They can of course rejoin with new names & email (and some do) but the process takes time and they mostly give up after a while. What does surprise me is that I would have hoped on a forum focused on business travel the level of maturity would have been higher.

[VintageKrug]

It is a great loss to lose people like Ian. I have crossed swords with him in the past, but then again this is only a forum for entertainment, and people will come and people will go.

He left after being attacked for pointing out that BigDog’s statement that I was was posting “diarrhea” was unacceptable.

Their choice, and they are of course free to rejoin using whatever handle they choose, should they wish.

I see no point in permitting navel gazing threads threads such as this; they are not travel related and are expressly against the clearly stated purpose of the forum.

The pursuit of what appears to be a personal vendetta from some on this forum is an extraordinary waste of time, and should not be tolerated.

They more than often appear around the school/university holidays or at weekend, when the BT staff are away and have more important things to deal with.

Much better to ignore these threads, and get on with positive contributions, ignoring the bullies and the trolls.

Sadly, they are amongst the most compelling on the forum and attract the most responses, which says quite a lot.

[FormerlyDoS]

“It has made some of the forums simply boring. I can’t be bothered reading through pages of accusatory and repetitive bitchfighting.”

I read Capetonianm’s comment, then I read the post at 28/03/2013 10:58 GMT and had exactly the same reaction.

[JohnHarper]

I doubt that any poster, myself included is totally beyond reproach in this forum. I know at times I get frustrated with posts/posters and sometimes say so bluntly and less than politely.

It is my view though that the posts made at 10:58 GMT are the root cause of the problem. I’m not going to cut and paste them and therefore risk that they may be deleted even by the time I make this post so I will state clearly that they are made by VintageKrug who seems to be on a vendetta against two other posters and names a lot more all of who he seems to have problems with.

I don’t see confrontation between any two other posters but I see it between that particular poster and several others. This was also the person who accused me of being someone else. That he names a list I think is rather telling. If I was having confrontations with so many people when others aren’t, the first place I would look is in the mirror. I don’t suppose that has happened.

It seems that people who disagree with a particular school of thought are attacked and if they confront the poster back, usually with facts they are accused of being a bully. All very emotive stuff.

In my earlier days when I read some of the more outlandish claims of the poster in question I asked for sources and evidence, none was forthcoming but I was attacked for asking.

After a while, I came to the conclusion that the poster in question was a troll. That’s how I regard him to this day. I’m not sure why he is tolerated as he seems to bring far more bad than good.

Just my thoughts.

[canucklad]

VK……Your comment at 11.07 started of so well…….All of us who have posted on this thread have recorded our disappointment that a valued contributor has chosen to leave our happy gang……..so much so that some of us have indicated that we would like him to reverse his decision….

As a reasonably frequent traveller to his part of the world his advice is most welcome…

So please don’t assume I’m Sigmund Freud or even Frasier Crane…..but….your 1st effort ……well …..my diagnosis is….

Mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically worked into an organized system. It may be an aspect of chronic personality disorder, of drug abuse, or of a serious condition such as schizophrenia in which the person loses touch with reality

The point I’m making VK is incredibly simple…….I find your posts mostly enjoyable, informative and son occasion amusing………So this, I repeat this is not a personal attack on anybody……

I just wish you had elected to avoid bringing up examples of exactly why Ian has chosen to stop contributing ….

Your a bigger man than that!!!

[seanyjmuclhr]

I say “rise above it” and just enjoy the forum for what it is – a great source of news and information about business travel-related items.

Getting personal and attacking others does no-one any good. That’s why I just ignore the emotive posts about the endless tit-for-tat.

Safe travels.

[Author]

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