I, too, have been banned from B&B- just today. Entirely and indefinitely. They've even gone so far as to delete a number of my threads.
Backstory:
I have, with the help of a few contributors, successfully created and launched a digital and for-print magazine devoted to the art and science of wet shaving. It's called- Against the Grain. It originally started as just an idea on B&B- it soon gained momentum when members of the forum started to express interest and volunteering their time to write articles and review product for the magazine. It became clear that this would become a reality so I started to work diligently to make sure that their enthusiasm was not in vane. I made it very clear from the beginning that I was not in this for money- I was in this to create something that we all, seemingly, wanted to see.
Shortly thereafter I received a threatening letter from a mod that I was spamming members asking for contributions and asking for money for content that B&B was supplying for free- a violation of their Terms. After an explanation that I was not in this for money nor spamming, I heard nothing again for a few weeks. On the day of launch, when I made the announcement in a post at the bottom of that same thread, I received no warning or notification that the mods were pulling the thread. Poof- gone. Some asked questions via e-mail, "Where is your thread," "What happened with the magazine," to which all I responded as best I could, not knowing what was going on.
The mods asked for a copy of the magazine to "review it." In the meantime, I published it to those that subscribed and got nothing but rave reviews, I am proud to say. We had accomplished what the mods at B&B would later call "impossible" and "a waste of time." After 3 weeks of no communication, one of the mods finally said that I was never to mention the magazine again on B&B for it was undermining their site. Fine. You win. I stumbled across a thread that I did not start and was not participating in- folks were asking about the magazine and were wondering how to get information. I posted the following:
"I am the originator of that magazine and thread. If you'd like more information please e-mail me..."
I awoke this morning to find my account banned permanently. B&B and Michael Ham's book (Leisureguy) are the two things I attribute to my entrance into this wonderful hobby and I can no longer say I respect and appreciate one of them. Michael- you're cool. Such a shame.