Quote:
Originally Posted by CCDMan
Just how would they know who is who? Unless one is really dumb, one would not use the same username with Amazon (or any site that you do "real business" with) and a forum. I use the same username and avatar on a number of forums but for everything else I use different usernames, passwords, avatars, etc. Not just different from the forums but different from each other. I have a seldom used but still accessible Gmail account for forums and other casual things and my regular email for "real business" like Amazon.
This is a minor hassle but is just good privacy and security policy, if nothing else. Given the number of scammers and crazies out there, many on forums, I really do not think it is a good idea to be posting ANY information that allows folks to identify and locate you. This is why I hate the idea of standards like "Open ID". Although I am sure that with enough effort, anyone can be found and identified, there is no reason to make it something that is so easy an Amazonian caveman can do it. <G>
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From what I read it didn't seem to be a mass banning of people simply because they were members of a forum. There were many people who were members of slickdeals who got banned because they used tips for abusing the system they read about on the site. They would do things like share Prime accounts with strangers where they are supposed to be limited to family. They would register multiple accounts to use "one per household" coupons multiple times. They would complain to get special discounts even if they didn't really have complaints. Some folks were even buying items they thought would sell out by holding them with a check then auctioning on ebay. They would then have the item shipped from Amazon to the buyer directly. On the surface you might say it doesn't really make a difference to Amazon who got the item, but that sort of thing increases CS contacts from the confused buyers, which is expensive, and when speculators buy up the in-demand items, the regular customers lose out.
It sounds like there were also folks with excessive returns lumped into this and some that may have gotten tagged unfairly. However, it wasn't some witch hunt against a given forum and its members. They tracked people by behavior. Personally, I have no problem with banning customers like this as long as they are fair about it and don't cut off access to previously purchased items. For Kindle owners, I think they should ban them from everything but the Kindle store and suspend their return privileges.