All I've got to say, Dave, is lighten up.
I know that you have made MilesBar your personal crusade since you started posting here on FT, which is entirely your perogative. But, lets look at what we know so far:
You stated that lots of people are losing their hard earned money on MilesBar, while in fact most of the people are Gold members, which to my recollection are free. The Platinum members who have invested their money are of course, at risk, but isn't an investment in anything?
You state that MilesBar refuses to reveal their supplier of the mileage being offered. I work for a multi-billion dollar company that wouldn't divulge the identity of their key suppliers for any amount of money due to "strategic agreements" and the retention of "market advantage". By looking at it from MilesBar perspective, what's to prevent Dave in New Orleans, once he learns of their supplier, from cutting a better deal with them for his new business, MilesBanner.com?
I have become a Platinum member of MilesBar through my adult decision that this could be something worthwhile in the long term. All businesses have their kinks to work out, from refinement of their press releases to developing a better website. I'm willing to stay the course for a while, and see what happens.
What will it mean to me to cough up $12.95 a month for half a year, not much, which I trust is the general situation for most of the platinum members. While I appreciate the work you and others have done, and I have read with interest, I have made this decision of my own free will, and will continue to deal with the consequences of it. I personally don't think much of anything that tells me they are going to protect me from myself, whether its seat belts or MilesBar.
Again, my commendations on the work you and others have done to uncover this information, but again, provide, but don't interpret.
tovaz