Quote from Baron:
I'm simply asking that you notify me directly at this time of the people you are referring to. (aside from Marketsurfer, as he was banned yesterday for good.) You don't have to do it publicly of course. A simple PM is fine.
In regards to you other assertions, I immediate ban people who spam on their first post because history has shown me that when people spam on their first post, it's the only reason they are posting on the site to begin with. However, when a user has a past history of normal posts, and then all of sudden starts spamming, we give them a warning because their history tells us that they aren't just on the site to spam people. I don't think there's anything weird or irrational about that logic of site management.
Where the real problem comes in is with people like marketsufer, who posts thousands of legit posts, and then turns into a spamming, self-promoter. When I discover his spam, and send him a warning or suspend his account, he calls or emails with an apology and a promise that he won't do it any more so I let him back on the site. But then after a few months, or even years pass, the cycle repeats itself. Where I went wrong was giving him a third chance after he had already demonstrated that he couldn't keep his promise after the previous ban. That was my mistake, and I won't make it again.
So in summary, there really isn't a "buddy system" like one would think. I really have zero tolerance for spammers. Often times, I may get busy doing other things and therefore miss when legit posters all of sudden start spamming. But make no mistake about it, if I end up finding out that somebody is promoting their commercial services without being a sponsor, it won't be long before they are warned once and then banned if they keep it up, no matter how many posts they have.
I started out liking Surf. But he always seemed to be buddy buddy with a number of the most annoying self-promoters on the site, like Tim Sykes. Dunno what he got out of that...