I can appreciate the insight regarding my story about being banned, but it did happen and it's part of why I'm pissed off. I started writing my blog as a way to capture my personal history, even the less glamorous aspects of it. I never really gave much thought to the fact that people I don't know would even read it. To a large degree, it's still my personal diary and I hate the idea of altering my reality for the benefit of anything. If the fact that I had my account suspended causes me to lose credibility, then so be it. If I felt like I could do serious harm to Runner's World through my actions, i would frame the entire story in a different light, but I don't see that happening. 

Either way, the advertisers spend money based on website traffic. It won't take long to see that the traffic has dried up at RWOL.

I actually sent an email directly to Rodale this past Saturday.  Here is what I wrote, word for word:

"I'm sure you may not have noticed, or at the worst, you may not care,
but the user forum at http://www.runnersworld.com/ has been attacked by
spam over the last couple of days, that's it's completely unusable at
this point on Saturday. And, in fact, it's driving a lot of your loyal
users away. Yes, I understand that it's a free forum and that we do not
pay for this service. However, this is also a reflection of your brand
and your company, and right now, the impression that users are getting
is that you do not care about them, or that you don't care what is being
posted on your website. Most of the spam is for online streaming of TV
shows and sporting events, but I did see one x-rated spam post as well.
I realize this is a holiday weekend, and probably no one is monitoring
the Runner's World website. At the very least, someone should shut the
forums down. As it was stated to the user community, a recent upgrade
to the Pluck software was supposed to be quick and efficient and help to
control and block the spam. As it is, the forum is now very hard to
read visually, the site in general, is often very slow, and the spam has
taken over most of the user boards. Again, this is a DIRECT reflection
on Rodale and Runner's World, and if it were my company, I would be
extremely angry. Yes, I also understand that spam posts are still
traffic, and give you ad hits, but honestly, your true customer base,
the loyal users of the forums who have been there for years are
leaving. Many of us are magazine subscribers as well.

Thank you for your time.

my name"

And this is the canned response I got from them today...

"Thank you for contacting Runner's World Magazine.

We appreciate the time you took in providing us with your feedback. We highly value our customers' thoughts and ideas. We will forward your message along to the appropriate department for future consideration.

Your complete satisfaction is our goal. If we did not answer your inquiry to your complete satisfaction or if you need additional assistance, please call us at 800-666-2828.

Sincerely,

name removed"

It's like they didn't even bother to read my message.  How's that for customer service?  Horrible if you ask me. 

 

 

 

It's like they didn't even bother to read my message.  How's that for customer service?  Horrible if you ask me. 

As I have clearly outlined in my blog, their customer service department is made up of one stinky monkey banging away on a laptop. We should expect no more than this.