laurie has to earn money from this site to keep it going; that money comes (mostly) from shop and brand sponsorship.
no matter what you think about the issue of shop owners' behaviour, you can't expect laurie to allow his only paying customers to be attacked

or would you prefer to pay a fee to access the fora?

Welcome to Seabreeze tomthepom - hope you enjoy your time posting.

Clearly you're upset with a particular store, and I'm sorry to read that.

The question you asked "what happened to free speech on SB" would suggest it's gone, which is not the case.

Over 200,000 posts and less than 100 deleted/locked is evidence there's plenty of free speech.

Every game has rules, and as you're new here .. please have a quick read the Forum Policy
www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Help/ForumRules.aspx , and you'll find the Seabreeze "Rules of the Game" .. all built through years of experience.

"Overseas Purchasing / "Why Are We So Ripped Off"

In this case the poster has discovered he can buy an item overseas cheaper than in a shop here in Australia. Now they want to share this with everybody, and also want to infer that because the price is different that "Australian businesses are ripping us all off".

Posts of this nature will be locked/or removed as they always stir up bad vibes and arguments. Like clockwork, pro-shop crew come out versus the anti-shop crew, and it's on, and has never ended well. Ends up being just a bunch of angry people arguing over a $100 difference. It's not been worth it, and everybody goes home unhappy, so we nip it in the bud before it starts.

And

"Problems with Moderation?
Q. I've had a post or thread removed, should I post about it?

A. Do not create a thread or post complaining about the moderation action. Complaint Topics or posts will be deleted.

Creating multiple Topics or posts complaining about moderation, or creating Topics or posts to abuse or insult moderators, will result in immediate penalties being applied.

Q. If I shouldn't post about the moderation problem, what should I do?

A. The correct first step if you wish to discuss a moderation action, is to politely contact us with your viewpoint.

Moderators are human and are eager to develop good relationships with all forum members.

Moderators understand firstly that they can make mistakes, and secondly that members make mistakes.

They also understand that there can be miscommunication. Approached politely, and with a constructive attitude most issues have been quickly resolved."

Thanks


p.s. Tomthepom - "Been reading things here on and off and it looks like you can write bull**** about rag heads, jews, ****s" ... we don't see everything, so if you see anything you reckon is inappropriate, click the flag above the post to alert the admins.

p.p.s See the full forum policy here:
www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Help/ForumRules.aspx