Special Messages from Castrobear

(From Scott McGillivray)

Dear Gregory,

R.I.P. Beefeditor on Bear411.

Yes, I am one of those who, effective today, is canceling my Bear411 membership.

You may delete my profile; I won't be back. I paid for a whole year of membership, and I'd like a refund for the portion of the year which I'm not going to be using. But since I've been unable, for months, to get even a response to a simple customer service question from you, I'm not going to be watching my mailbox for a refund check from you.

You clearly haven't learned from your mistakes; you only seem to grow more paranoid, more resentful, and more selfish the longer your site is in existence.

I feel sorry for you, because you had a great thing, and you've somehow allowed greed and bitterness to poison it into a punchline.

Bear411 may, at one point, have been the "Biggest" or the "#1" Bear chat site on the web, but it won't be for long; not as long as you continue your unprofessional and discriminatory behavior.

- You cannot censor chat messages between your members (yes, even those which contain mention of other bear-related websites and businesses who compete against you in the marketplace) and expect folks to rally behind you. Don't deny that you do, because it's been proven that you do. I know first-hand that you do because I tested it yesterday. Your censorship techniques are not "Spam" filters, as you flagrantly testify. Don't pull out that tired yarn. People do have legitimate discussions about varying aspects of community life to share with each other, and it's not your place to censor what those discussions may or may not include.

- You cannot market your website as a "service to the community" and then pick & choose members and events based on their appearance or on whether or not they choose to put your stupid banner on the front page of their website. Bear411 isn't a "community" website. It's "Gregory's" website, featuring Gregory's radically skewed interpretation of what a "bear" is.

- You cannot ignore customer service inquiries from paying members. Customer service means just that; customer service. I've sent you dozens of messages, asking questions about my account, my profile, etc., to which I've received absolutely NO reply from you.

- You cannot arbitrarily change, edit, or delete member profiles or photos without notifying them in advance, without just cause for doing so. (And, no - a t-shirt with a magazine's logo on it is not "Just cause", unless you're prepared to delete every profile photo on the site which contains a logo)

You cannot do these things, and expect people to continue to support you, Gregory.

I suspect the few hundred "testimonials" you've conveniently managed to solicit from members are from people who haven't yet seen the true nature of how you treat your members, or how you run your business.

But they will, sooner or later.

Sooner or later everybody will see what you're doing. They'll see the discrimination and divisiveness that your attitudes promote, and Bear411 will become a page in Bear Community history.

I wish you well, even though your treatment of me has been deplorable. I used to sing your praises; when I first discovered Bear411. My attitude has changed as your vision has changed, and now I'm more than happy to steer folks away from your website, to friendlier, less discriminatory and more community-minded forums.

I'm not threatening you, so don't bother having your attorney send me a "cease and desist" letter, as others who have challenged you have received. (Yes, it's a small world, and much of your arrogant, threatening communication to members and former members is now public knowledge, thanks to the world-wide web. I've seen letters from you, letters from your attorney, emails from you, even messages sent from you on Bear411 to members - in their entirety - thanks to the magic of "Print Screen" technology. Some of these messages contain out-right lies, as I've seen firsthand. Your dirty laundry is all out there now, and more and more people are seeing exactly how you treat people, and the community. These angry, threatening communiques suggest an angry, bitter, arrogant personality; not the smiling, friendly "BuddyBear" persona which you project in public.)

I'm on the Lazy Bear Weekend Board of Directors, and the last straw for me was your greediness with regard to the size and/or placement of your Bear411 logo on the LazyBearWeekend website. For you to have been so petty, so ridiculously petty about such a thing in the face of a fundraising powerhouse which has raised nearly $1Million for AIDS-related charities over the past 11 years is, in my opinion, simply reprehensible. What's worse, you blatantly LIED to a Bear411 member (who asked why the Lazy Bear Out To Sea event was no longer in the Bear Guide) by telling him that Lazy Bear Weekend had not supported Bear411... well, I know for a fact that you lied, and it's completely bullshit.

Shame on you.

Harry Lit is a dear friend to me, and an angel to this community, and I know for a fact, having worked with him for years, that he bends over backwards to treat everybody fairly and with respect.

By stabbing him in the back, you really went over the edge, Gregory.

What goes around, comes around, Gregory. It saddens me to say this, but all of the negative, poisonous energy you've sent out will come back to you.

Scott McGillivray
BeefEditor on Bear411