MURF,
I think you are referring to this -
12. Flaming: flaming or personal attacks are not allowed or tolerated. Should anyone use inappropriate language, start a personal attack, or engage in hate speech, they will be banned from all further discussions. It is forbidden to make accusatory or slanderous comments against any other member without substantiated evidence to back up the claim.
I am referring this issue to Admin to deal with, so no more discussion of that in this thread please. However I am recommending to them at least a warning for richard as several people have felt that his comments overstep the mark. If you are reading this richard then please moderate your posts from now on, or you risk being banned.
Now on to my personal opinion, rather than a moderators one - I think it is OK to voice your opinion on any given establishment on any particular day but care must be taken; for example it's OK to say 'I didn't like this bar because I found the drinks too expensive and the music too loud' - an opinion and a justification has been given. What is not needed are opinions on the other patrons as these will change from day to day, nor strong opinions based on just one visit, as this can be both misleading (they may have had all the staff call in sick for example) and as MURF says harmful to the business. Hopefully the majority of readers of this forum will recognise a lone voice criticising amongst many praising as being just that - a small minority that is unhappy about a place. Maybe their standards are higher than the rest, maybe they got out of the wrong side of the bed, maybe they are pining for Isaan, whatever the reason their opinion on that occasion is still valid but somewhat devalued, especially if they are continually negative about several places. richard did well in retracting his remarks about Buffalo Bills, and credit must also be given to Bill for his response, but some damage must have been done and that is why reasoned posts not rants are required; hopefully though the old adage of 'any publicity is good publicity' still holds true.
Finally, the first resort of someone who has been unhappy with a place should be to speak to the boss there and then; most landlords and restaurant owners will want to know if their staff have been slovenly or not doing their jobs well, and I think they should be grateful if someone tells them what they are unhappy about, rather than reading it on here and seeing their takings go down.
