I asked a source for some references and got this for a response.
He seems to dislike mod's. I thought I'd post this on a few boards to see what others thought of his response. Although the guy does make a case to justify his thoughts, the mod's that I've had correspondence with seemed to be helpful, knowledgeable, and all around good guys. Personally I think the mods are very beneficial to the various boards and don't want any of them to take offense to my posting this response from a potential source who I will not name on the open board....those are the rules, right.
I also edited out the names of four other potential sources in the email.
Here is his response :
Hi,
If you want references, you should go with another source. Nothing personal. I do not give out addresses of any of my clients. I stopped doing that about 6 months ago. I found out that other sources were e-mailing me and asking for references, when in fact they just wanted my customer addresses so that they could e-mail them and try to get their business.
I do not "hang out" or advertise on any boards (except once a month to say the latest month list is out.) I found out a long time ago that moderated boards are nothing but a way to extort free gear from sources. Most sources are willing to pay the price of "favorable bumps", but I will NEVER give ANYONE free gear just so they will say nice things about me. That's extortion plain and simple, and I will NEVER succumb to extortion. You may not believe that's how it works on moderated boards, but I have e-mails from moderators to prove it. Basically, it's pay up or be shut out. I'd rather be shut out.
So, if you are looking for references or favorable bumps from moderators, you are better off finding a source from one of those boards. But I must warn you, ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE, can get praise from a moderator if they pay the dues. And yes, that it includes scammers. That's why every other week a moderator's "proven source" turns bad. They were never proven to begin with. But the moderator doesn't care that 50 guys got taken for $20,000. All they care about is that they got their free gear. I hate that system. Don't believe me? hand out on one of the boards for 3 weeks. Write down all the names that the moderators back or bump. Wait 2 more weeks and tell me how many of those sources disappeared with people's money.
Don't get me wrong, there are some good sources on those boards. *******, *****, ******, and **** to name a few. They have been around a while and have proven themselves. But the whole "moderator-bump" scam is nothing but extortion. Maybe the guys listed above are willing to pay their "dues", but I'm not. I won't even get into my suspicion that moderators are involved and get a cut in these "rotating scammers". I don't have proof of that.
Sorry, I'm rambling. I guess the way the system works pisses me off and makes me go off on tangents. Sorry about that. You might be better off going to one of those boards if you need moderator references. Just be careful when choosing a source. Make sure the guy has been selling there for at least 6 months before sending him any money. That seems to be the normal duration of these moderator bumped scams. After 6 months, the source is probably legit. Hope this helps. Just be careful out there