Mikel at Webflyer

This question was submitted by chexfan:

"Will any candidate admit to making any mistakes or doing anything detrimental to FlyerTalk?"

VPescado

Absolutely.

We are all human.

I've posted fares on Mileage Run that turned out not to be bookable. I have said things in haste in a thread that I regretted - and later took the opportunity to edit them.

Most every candidate has made these sorts of mistakes.

I will say, however, that I've never commited any infraction on FT serious enough to require a time-out. Not all of the candidates (including some of the front runners) can say that.

John C

Mistakes? You mean other than running for TalkBoard?

Like VPescado said, I am sure we have all made posts we wished we could take back. I do recall responding in a way that I later thought was overly flippant after Delta announced some program changes. Even then, it wasn't bad enough for me to feel compelled to edit it out. I just wished I had given a bit more thought to the matter before hitting the reply button. I also remember being slightly embarrassed after receiving a gentle chiding for referring to a "fair" instead of a "fare". Overall though, while my writings are not nearly as prolific as those of many candidates, I am generally proud of the quality of my posts. In specific response to your question, I have never to my knowledge done anything to the detriment of this site or community.

CameraGuy

I was involved in some pretty serious flame wars and was the recipient of a "Lifetime" ban that Randy very graciously commuted.

Since that commutation, I have been suspension free. I learned my lesson and have kept my promise to Randy that he would not regret inviting me back.

I wish I could say that the other members (Including 2 TB Candidates) who were involved in those flame wars learned their lessons, but the number of suspensions they have earned since would not support that hope.

~Matthew~

The worst thing I have done is probably not searching enough threads before asking a question.

missydarlin

I'm sure I've been snippy in the AS forum on the occasion that a poster wants to lay blame at the foot of a customer service rep that they should be taking some responsibility for themselves.

I also almost ruined the last SeaDoo by not confirming the restaurant reservation the week before. I found out 3 hours before dinner that they weren't expecting us til the next day.

I may have put Randy Petersen into bankruptcy with my share of a bar tab that he picked up recently.

So yes, I've made mistakes.. but I can definitely say that I've never intentionally or to my knowledge even accidently that was detrimental to FT.

doc

Certainly. While I earnestly try to avoid them, I've unfortunately made AT LEAST my share, and probably more, having posted over 45,000 times as my seventh anniversary as a part of this fine community approaches. My apologies.

Yet I'm not sure the FT servers can handle a complete listing of all my gaffes.

Probably one of the most common, and the most difficult to avoid, was/is in unnecessarily responding to what I perceived as a personal attack(s). My personality is to stick up for myself and not to ask others to intervene. So its tough to fight ones nature.

Oh... spending too much time on FT, and consequently posting too much!

We all make adjustments in our lives, however, online as well as off!

Mark

Cholula

You had some help on that bar tab, missydarlin, so I'll have to share in the "blame".
I have never done anything that I would consider detrimental to FlyerTalk.
As others have stated, I've made a few posts that would have been better left unsaid.
Otherwise I feel I have been a good citizen of the community. (Where's that angelic smilie when you need it??)

gleff

It's impossible to hit 11k posts without any mistakes. Probably most of my mistakes I catch before I hit the 'submit reply' button. I exit posts all the time . . . fortunately.

Biggest mistake? When I was testing the senior moderator function for Randy I thought I was hitting reply to a thread in the Starwood forum, instead I hit the 'edit' button on one of 777 global mile hound's posts and I completely eviscerated it by mistake. I sent him much apologies!

NOLAnwGOLD

Not searching hard enough before asking a question or not noticing that another thread is already open on a topic....I try to make sure that any info I pass on is correct and based on fact or at least put out the disclaimer, "this is my experience" or "someone else might know more"....hopefully my info/advice has be accurate and helpful...sorry if I have mislead....

stimpy

Well clearly my very first mistake was choosing Stimpy as my handle. But like all of the mistakes I've made on Flyertalk, I stand by it. I won't go back on anything I've posted here. I might have changed my mind later, but that was what I was thinking at the time.

civicmon

I've said incorrect stuff and made inappropriate comments.. sure.. but who hasn't?

nsx

Within a few days after I became moderator of the Southwest forum, I posted a dollar-denominated travel credit for sale at half price. This is permitted by the airline, but not being a user of Coupon Connection I was ignorant of the FT rules that (a) trades belong on CC only, and (b) cash transactions are not allowed on FT, regardless of whether the airline allows them. Another member explained this to me. I read the rules and I had to agree that they prohibited my post, as harmless (actually helpful) as I thought it was. It's Randy's site and Randy's rules.

The result: my very first action as a moderator was to delete my own thread! How embarrassing.

Can you guys top that?

VPescado

I think a particularly interesting aspect of this question is if there is anything in this campaign that you've done, that you know think was a mistake.

I'll go first:

In my own case, I extended some discussion regarding a particular moderator's actions (see debate question 3). She had no way to defend herself in that thread, as she is not running for TB. I later updated my post with my regrets.

Anyone else want to admit to any campaign mistakes? Perhaps 'fess up to vigorously bumping old threads to get your sig noticed (and increase an already enormous postcount in at least one case)? Admit collusion with other candidates (which actually isn't very sinister in itself as long as you are upfront about it)? Maybe bribing Randy with drink chits?

peteropny

I've certainly been guilty of posting a question without doing a thorough search. However, less of this "mistake" has happened in the recent past. I'm sure I'll do something similar again in the future though