I have never used the MA agency so I have no personal experience with them. However, I don't believe a poll should decide whether or not Jeff/MA comes back. I think based on the logic of what the Mods have already posted he should be allowed back. Here is what the Mods posted:
as I said in my last post we have no control over anything that happens in the hobby away from MERB. If anyone is on the receiving end of threats or physical abuse, that becomes a case for the police, not MERB moderators. If, however, someone threatens a member on the board or by PM, then yes, a suspension would be the result. The length of said suspension would depend on the nature of the threat.
Most of the posters who have rejected the return of MA have done so on moral grounds, or on safety grounds. However those issues are not within the regulatory purview of MERB, as stated by the Mods. There are many bait and switch agencies advertising on MERB, and there is also a bait and switch sticky warning against those same agencies. In the past, calls to strip those agencies of advertising rights have been uniformly shot down by the Mods.
While physical threats stand on a different footing than bait and switch tactics, they are the purview of the Montreal police department, not MERB. In effect, those who are calling for MA's permanent ban are asking the Mods to strip a proprietary right which in theory only law enforcement has the right to take away. In effect, these posters are requesting the Mods to behave as police officers and enforce laws that may not have been broken. My question to them is, will you also pay these Mods to have the salary of police officers (including meal money for donuts and coffee every day)?
I think MA made a grave mistake, and they have already been punished badly. Many posters have already commented they will not do business with them and I am sure they will not. Everyone here is free, based on the information provided here and elsewhere, to use them or not use them.
But to permanently ban them based on the posting of a threat- one we have no evidence was ever acted upon - in effect allows the Mods to act as police officers by proxy. I don't recall any advertiser ever being permanently banned by MERB, and it is basically for the same reasons. The Mods are not here to make morality judgments or law enforcement judgments regarding advertisers, and a permanent ban in this case does one or both, which is unprecedented, even for the so called bait and switch agencies who advertise on MERB, and who have been well established as bait and switch agencies for many years.
MA should be free to conduct their business and win back, or totally lose, this community. This community is free to use or not use them. They are only paying for the right to advertise. We all have information to make a decision and use them or not.
There has been a lot of posts about threats to clients and girls. To me a lot of this falls under the heading of rumor, innuendo and bullshit, and I don't know how much is true and how much isn't. On the internet with fake handles anyone can claim anything. If someone has proof of threats and the making good on threats, go to the Montreal police department and shut the fuck up! Otherwise I will assume you are a blowhard with an agenda. If criminal laws are broken you don't whine on a board, you go to the cops. The real cops.
All that being said, I am troubled by the episode and the very poor judgment of MA, and I hope they learn something from this affair.