But don't we love the board drama?!
Thor's idea is a good one. But at the same time, why not make it transparent, rather than have it be decided by un-named Mods in a back room? Do it in the open. As others have suggested, expose the guy, and let it play out. If the client did indeed infract, he should be admonished, and, if warranted, banned. But don't exile the idiot forever, right off the bat. A good public shaming, and then give them another chance, everyone makes stupid mistakes, unless it's a pattern / repeat offender.
I've always thought one of the negatives of TER was the lack of transparency in these debates. I've had multiple reviews challenged by agencies in the past on TER - some of them were subjective / matter of opinion issues, but in most of these instances, the agencies were just flat-out lying. Luckily (?) for me, TER has always sided with me, correctly, but in a few of those cases, I could just as easily have lost the challenge. There will always be a risk that 'justice' isn't properly served in these 'he said/she said' situations. As a consumer, I'd much rather see these exchanges than not.
The last time I experienced this on TER, I learned after the fact from other local board members that the agency in question was not just challenging me, but many other regulars. It was a pattern. (That particular agency was fantastic and the best for well over a year, and then it imploded when the owner went on a drug binge, and went ape-shit over all his regulars for the slightest negative comments.) Likely I would've still tried G's services, because the track record was that good, but I would rather have seen the trend. The uptick in challenges would've been a valuable data point.
Anyways. For the SP, if she has nothing to hide, let the idiot post the review. And have the spat go down on public record, so others will be discouraged to do something similar in the future. Then again, if the SP has a history of these episodes, maybe that SP is trying to leverage her board position to weed out all bad reviews. We've all seen, at least I have, popular SPs and agencies leverage these tactics. :nono: (Slightly veering off topic, but isn't it un-natural for SPs to have a flawless review thread?? I've always taken it as a sign of an unhealthy board when there is so much consensus. It's possible but rare for an SP to have a flawless record. With the diversity of tastes among hobbyists, and the adage 'everyone has a bad day', it's just not realistic...)
Regardless, these 'spats' / debates are another data point for every individual reader to take into consideration for themselves. In the case of Tina and Zoe, both ladies have impeccable integrity, and I have zero doubt they say truth.
