So I have been visiting this Steam Group, Group Buys, every once in a while. In the group people can split their bundles and sell games for shared price to other members. It worked pretty well and it has been the only group I actively followed. When a new bundle got released and I didnt want to buy the whole bundle, I checked the group and tried my luck reserving games which I wanted.

2 days ago, just when the new Humble Bundle was released I checked the group since I wanted to buy only one game which was in the BTA tier and found this message on top of the group's discussions:
"You have been permanently banned from all Group Buys discussions. You have been banned by a forum moderator. Reason: "Multibuy isnt alowed.""

I was like, WTF!? I tried to contact the mods on Steam, one of them accepted my invite and I asked him to show me where I made a multi buy? He couldn't say and started his "investigation". then he said I have been asking for the same game (Spec Ops the Line) in more than one threads (which is common practice in the group, because you don't automatically get what you asked for the in the first time, some people post in the very same second as you do and the groups credo is first come first serve, so you're out if your posts is right after someone elses who requested the same game) and apparently I didnt activate it, which was not true either, so I told him to check my account again (not that there is any group rule that says you have to activate all games/bundles you bought on GB, but whatever dear mod). Then the guy claimed I was using multiple accounts. I was like WTF!? again. He asked me why I use the phone to contact him, I told him that I'm lying in bed and that using the steam app to chat with a steam member isn't a crime, but he interpreted it as an evidence that I must be fishy or something, and said to check back with him the next day, because he needed to ask another mod or something.

well then, the next day I got back to him again with my steam app (since I have guests at home this week, I dont sit on my pc for the whole evening as I usually do) and this guy was like: "ha, got you! - you're on the phone again and at the same time talking with me with your other account". I was once again like WTF!? This was enuff, I tried talking to him in a normal way, asking him to show me where I did go wrong, he couldn't and instead made up something. I basically told this wannabe Sherlock to go to hell (in a rude way) and if this is the way they manage their group, fine, then I will be using a different account to access the group in the future (I have enough ASF bot accounts) and unfriended this idiot.

I tried my luck with another mod right after that but it looks like he will not do anything about it either, since he will not interfere with the other mod's decision. So I'm fucked for nothing now.

I was never using multiple accounts. I was never buying any games twice in that group, I buy for me and not for reselling. they pretend as if I made multiple Indie Gala bundle Happy Hour reservations on several threads for reselling the games. my bundle leftover thread is here http://steamcommunity.com/groups/groupbuys/discussions/10/521643320352058628/ as you can see on page 4 I sold hundreds of games between May and September, because I made so many multi buys (this was irony if you didn't get it). There is actually no real way to tell if someone bought games multiple times UNLESS the seller states who they sold their games to in their first post (just saying!). I cannot prove shit, but they can't do either - and still I'm punished for nothing (and apparently another person is punished too, the person who the mod mistakenly thought to be me (or vise versa) when I talked to the mod yesterday). I can't do nothing about it now - all power to them.

Well life goes on, I will get over it (although I dont understand it, I always try to be fair and have clean rep / no bans etc.) and finish this chapter now, I'm wiser for the next time (not really since I did nothing wrong - I just wrote that last sentence because I needed a word with an x to complete the giveaway puzzle:).

Did you ever get punished for something you seriously did not do (in real life or online)? Share your story here and good luck to all who enter the giveaway.

BUMP WHEN SOLVED!


EDIT 2016-09-24:

I started a steam group just for fun to see what mods/admins can do. They certainly cannot see IPs so they cannot see whether someone uses multiple accounts like that mod said. Thanks for nothing mod. Mods can on the other hand see your post/history and what you deleted. As stated in the discussions here, I used to delete obsolete posts of requests where nothing came out of it rather than editing the posts, and now I see how that might have caused suspicion in my case. I didn't know that one shouldn't delete their posts, there is no such rule! A warning would have been more appropriate here.

I also learned that the group's admins do not really moderate the group anymore and only 2 mods are pretty much in charge of the group. Guess I have been in touch with the one who banned me then, and couldn't show me where I went wrong so he made up multi account accusations. I got this information from a friendly fella who has been in that group for 4 years.

Nevertheless, an admin reduced my ban to 30 days now, which is still too harsh but I can live with that, as I'm still uncertain whether to join that group again, knowing it is moderated buy some power hungry trigger-happy person.

I will leave this thread open for another 48hrs to give peps the chance to enter the giveaway.

Thanks to everyone who supported me in the past two days.

8 years ago*

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Did you ever get punished for something you didn't do?

View Results
yep
nope
life is not fair

Solved ;-)

8 years ago
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sorry mate, you're the "chosen one"

8 years ago
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While I don't feel a permaban was appropriate in your case, you definitely did several things wrong. Going only by what I have learned about your story (from you and others), this is how it appears:

  1. You posted a request in several threads at once without intent to buy what was requested. That is a clear rules violation.
  2. You failed to provide adequate information to the sellers so they would know your requests were either "pending" or situational.
  3. You failed to post updates to your requests (or even update your request posts), choosing instead to delete them and leaving the sellers to wonder what the heck was going on with your request(s).
  4. You failed to take responsibility for your mistakes, both with the sellers and with the Moderator. This got you into trouble.
  5. You failed to deal with the Moderator in a respectful manner. This got you permabanned.

Mistakes can be corrected and learned from, but only if they are acknowledged. If you truly feel that you did nothing wrong, that you have treated everyone fairly and respectfully this whole time, then you are not perceiving things as they are.

8 years ago
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1) my intention was to buy from the first person I talk to with. several threads are max 2 to 3, not 10.
2/3) i deleted the post where sellers didnt even noticed I posted because they were offline. in other situations i would just say, sorry bud, already got it by now from someone else.
4) I asked the mods where i did go wrong, they made false accusions (multbuyer/multi acounts) without showing me where. I really wanted
to see that posts where I did something terriblly wrong. they could have told me.
5) I got perma banned before I even talked to a mod. I have not been warned or showed where I did wrong.

I cannot acknowledge some mistake that I didn't do. I'm not a mulibuyer as they make it sound and I'm not a multi account user either. period. I didn't even realize you couldnt ask in several threads for the same game as other people did the same and I have been in the group for longer than 1 year, I don't read the rules every week, and it never seemed to be an issue. I use common sense and only buy 1 copy since that's fair enough. a warning would have been nice. that's all i'm saying. I tried to resolve the issue with the mod in a normal manner, but I had no chance, because the mod didnt want me to have a chance.

8 years ago*
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I agree that a permaban may have been too heavy-handed, but the mistakes you made were based on your failure to understand the rules and how your behavior affects other people. It's a harsh lesson, but one from which you can learn.

8 years ago
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Oh yes, been there. I don't feel like doing a story time about ones that actually caused gray hairs but here's couple funny ones:

  • Got a warning (along with two other users) for talking about League of Legends and linking official artwork of the game in our discussion. These were deemed NSFW by a mod and we got in trouble for those. So basically we did do something, we just seriously did not agree that the official art was NSFW, specially since people had avatars of the same artwork and there was much "worse" stuff shared in earlier discussion without any warnings.
  • Two and half years after leaving this same community, I was accused of harassing the same mod on their own website (that I did not even know existed) despite there being plenty of more likely subjects.
8 years ago*
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Got it :)

8 years ago
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Do you still have this bundle ?
I will take one, via PP

Ah, crap, full!
1 spot in waiting list, please..

Sorry to say but i think you will missed that a lot :p

8 years ago
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Closed 8 years ago by falloutdude83.