I accidentally got banned during a spam cleanup, but it got fixed. :)

So did I! You can imagine my surprise when I logged on to a message that I had been banned forever for an unstated reason.

Me too!

I'm going to recommend Reddit again as a great place to talk about Greek Life. It's a well moderated site and it's easy to create new subreddits.

Nothing is being "pushed out."

If you go to the main forums individually instead of just clicking see new posts, you'll see if people have posted there. The posts that are new since your last visit will be in bold.

I know this is frustrating but incorrect assumptions about how the board works don't help.

Ya, I think that's a legitimate issue. It sounded like he was paying out of pocket to run the site. After years of spending money and countless hours running this site, and then not being able to raise enough money from the thousands of members here, I don't really blame him for checking out a bit. I'd probably be pissed after that.

Anyway - I wonder if he'd be willing to sell this site. I also wonder if there are more creative ways of monetizing the site. Seriously, is there a way we can make each new member pay $1 to join?

Thank you mods, for cleaning up all of that spam!

Yes I understand that, I worded it poorly. They are still there to be found, but not if you select "New Posts". I apologize for angering you.

It was lovely to be here later in the day today after the spam was cleaned up.

Wow -- in 6 minutes, over 30 new spam posts!

I wish there was a limit to how many new threads you could start in a day for new members. If there was a limit of, for example, 2 a day (especially for people who have been a member for less than a month), I think it would deter the spammers from coming back and clogging up the board. The mods would have time to BAN a spammer and they'd have to re-register as new member, then have a 2 thread a day limit again. The cycle would continue until the spammers realize posting here is a waste of their time.

I don't even know where to start...
The PayPal claim is now closed because I got a response from him (which he asked me to keep private because he was going to
get on in a few days and post something....) and gave him the benefit of the doubt, but now I regret closing it. I don't know if I'm more disappointed that nothing is changed or pissed that I dropped it. $35 down the drain.

So John is not dead, dealing with a life threatening illness, in jail or completely incapacitated?

I take back all the times I stood up for him.

Nope. Responded within 12ish hours to my claim, I'd say.


You know...the email he sent me was personal information but here's what he sent to me/PayPal in the claim center, for anyone who's interested...

My response here will be a bit more formal simply in the case that it is reviewed by PayPal staff regarding the claim. I will follow-up further via email with a more personal message.
First, I would like to note for PayPal staff that this payment was for virtual / intangible services, not a physical good, and is not covered by the PayPal buyer protection policy.
Regarding the claim that I abandoned my website, GreekChat.com, that is not correct. This is going on the 18th year GreekChat has been online and while I am not active in discussions recently I can assure you that I would not abandon the site/community. GreekChat has not had any downtime that I am aware of and functions of the site continue to run properly.
I will send you a personal email after posting this response to the PayPal dispute with additional info & discussion.
Sincerely,
John Hammell

Thanks to whoever is doing such a great job keeping getting rid of the spam each day. It is much appreciated. I see it creeps at night back like a sick sort of infection, but your efforts are appreciated.

Yes, it's been a lot better lately! I don't regret supporting the site, because I've gotten a lot of enjoyment, camaraderie, and information over the years. I don't like the spam, but I still feel I'm getting the information I've come to appreciate (recruitment and colonization news, especially). Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute content and those who moderate.

TPA85 - That's interesting. He mentions "discussion" in this post. Has he followed through with having a two sided discussion with you?

Many of us mods have volunteered to take on a supermod position in order to be able to ban spammers-because as regular moderators we can only delete spam, not ban the spammers. No response.

Sort of.
I filed the PayPal claim,
He responded the next morning via email AND deactivated my GC premium account,
He also posted a separate message in the claim center,
I responded, saying I was dropping the claim and to please reinstate my premium account,
Nothing.

User "aselifys" is posting in threads now.

GC says he was on and active yesterday....

Well then, I suggest he get with it and fix the problem or allow others to do it to help out.

The spammers are back!!

I should like to again express my thanks to the mods/super mods who've been diligently attacking the spam. Thank you so much (said in my very best, most sincere voice).

^^^^^ LIKE .. If there were a like button, I'd click it

Thank you!! Thank you!! for the continual cleanup!!

Did the "What do you feel like saying right now" thread get deleted by mistake? That's one of the few threads I still visit and it looks like it's gone (looks like I lost ~3000 posts as well).

And now we have Ubersomething bumping a gob of old posts!

Attention mods, I hoped and there is a poster by the name of Seeenges posting spam in various messages.

I at least prefer spammers to bump legit threads instead of making their own nonsense.

Oh we know.

It seemed like things calmed down with the spam for a hot minute.

We've had major spam/hacker attacks on our university records page...now, in addition to a user name and password, faculy have to click a box that saya "I am not a robot" and then click on pictures that fit a given question, like: "click on all the pictures that have a tree." What a pain, but I'm sure it helps.

New spam ... now in Chinese!

Another Thank You
 

I just wanted to say Thank You to whoever has been diligently removing all the crap spam from GC so it's actually usable. I know it must be a big pain in the ass, and I hope it doesn't become an annoying burden to continue with it if no other spam solutions are implemented.

This right here :(

:(

WTF?! I shouldn't have to see graphic pornography if I open GC at work or in public! Or even in my home! This is beyond ridiculous. John needs to take responsibility for these boards. I'm disgusted.

The silly spam is bad enough. No one should have to put up with outright vulgar spam. There is no excuse for this.

It's filthy. We get hit with this nastiness periodically...there was one of 3 old men a few years ago that I'll never be able to unsee.

So. Gross.

I don't know what you're talking about, sigmagirl.
Here is an excerpt from one of the messages he sent me (and PayPal) during my claim:

"Regarding the claim that I abandoned my website, GreekChat.com, that is not correct. This is going on the 18th year GreekChat has been online and while I am not active in discussions recently I can assure you that I would not abandon the site/community. GreekChat has not had any downtime that I am aware of and functions of the site continue to run properly."

See? No problem at all and the site is running just as intended.

Nope, graphic pornography is clearly making sure functions of the site continue to run properly....