Blocked from fb group for weird reason. WTF?!

[Winchester100]

There’s a fb page that’s used by parents of older teenagers for advice and support regarding higher education.

I joined it about 18 months ago when DD was in the lower sixth. It’s been pretty useful, I’ve sought advice, given advice, congratulated and commiserated.

last week I found myself blocked because a parent asked if anyone knew a company that could offer a particular service that’s a bit niche. They were struggling to find anything. I said my company could do it, and offered a whopping discount for group members.

it’s a successful business and I don’t need to advertise much. I don’t usually offer discounts but it’s been a lovely supportive group and it seemed a nice thing to do. I’d be pleased to be signposted to something I’ve struggled to find, then be offered a whopping discount just because I’m a fellow parent.

I was blocked for ‘advertising.’

My husband is a member of the group. He noticed several other recommendations/ advertisements for services in the last week, but presumably this isn’t ‘advertising’ because the poster doesn’t own the company.

And there’s no whopping discount for group members!

Im slightly flabbergasted. Anyone else had this??!!

No but no advertising is usually in the group rules. Did you read them? Most people don't. You could message and apologise and see if they will let you back. It sounds like a one strike and your out.

Seems a bit harsh. I would understand if they had a no advertising rule and you had put your own post up advertising your business, but you were just answering a question and doing something nice for group members. I'd maybe have expected your post to be deleted and a DM from admin buy to block seems ott.

Depends on the wording/tone of your post really.

If it came across a bit salesy, I can see why they felt it breached any rules against advertising, even with the group discount being so generous.

In general though, I’ve found the volunteer mods on any forum are a great example of a minuscule bit of power going to peoples’ heads. My BIL once got a temp ban from a Florida holiday group for saying “shit” in a lighthearted comment.

I know many groups that don't allow you to advertise your own business or will block you if you recommend a family member's one without stating who you are to them. Recommendations are different to advertisements.

In this case you could have posted "My business does that, feel free to pm me." But you didn't, you crossed the line from answering the OP's question to a blatant sales pitch when you offered a discount to everyone in the group.

If that is the rule then the post asking for recommendations should never have been approved to be posted on the group.

Thanks for your replies.

The post wasn’t a direct post, it was a reply to somebody else. I actually said ‘it’s definitely possible to find that, I run a company that does that.’

The poster then said ‘please can you link’

So I posted a link and said ‘get back to me if you need to, I’ll do a discount.’

The rules say ‘no self promotion.’ I would take that to mean you wouldn’t put a post up advertising your services. I didn’t think, I just replied and posted a link when asked to.

There’s no way of asking to be let back in, I’ve been blocked and cannot actually see the group in a search.

Seems a bit OTT

It's not an unusual rule. You might get added back in if you message one of the admins and apologise and explain you weren't aware.

Basically when you run a FB group you find that there will be people who come in and constantly badger members about their company, offer discounts etc, they also don't bother to engage on the page any other way and the whole page becomes a giant advert and it's off-putting for members so a lot of FB groups pretty quickly instigate a blanket rule of no promoting your own business on there.

Recommending someone else's business as a satisfied customer is an entirely different thing which is why it's usually allowed.

It doesn't sound like you were being the typical spammy annoying self promoter, but they might just have a policy of one strike and you're out. Perhaps they previously had a one warning system and found that it was too complicated to remember who had been warned so it's just an instant ban now. But I expect they would reinstate on a genuine not realising that was a rule.

And if you did want to go back in the group, I'd double check whether you're actually allowed to ask people to PM you as well as often that is also not allowed.

Thanks for replying. The problem is, once you’re ‘banned’ from the group, you can’t even see it on fb, so you can’t go and ask the admin.

there wasn’t even an admin message button . It’s a shame because it’s a good group, and my main profession is healthcare related (which my business is not). I work in ADHD and autism, have been in the nhs for 25 years, and I’ve often given advice on this that parents have found helpful.

seems a shame to kick me out

Ask your husband to message them?

This is pretty standard tbh. And asking them to PM you for a discount is on pretty dodgy ground too.

That group is well known for banning for no proper reason, I wouldn't worry about it

Don’t stress. People often gets banned for stupid reasons. It was probably the self promotion. I am part of a local group so many people have been banned someone started a rival group than basically just trashed the women who runs the popular group. It’s very entertaining to read the posts.

Their loss OP.

It was self-promotion, so I can see why they did it.

As your DH is in the group at least you can still access the content. Just make sure he follows the rules or you'll both be out!

You could just set up a new fb account with a different email and user name and reapply.
I have been blocked from a group because the admin is a power fiend and doesn’t like being challenged on misinformation.

Totally bonkers!

You just need your DH to tell you the name of one of them if you wanted to send a PM. Or ask him to do it like someone else said.