What Comic Forums, Conventions, Stores, Sellers, etc Have Banned You And Why? {SERIOUS} 6 6

[D2]

I’ve been banned from the CBCS forum. 

[rlextherobot]

When I was in High School, the comic shop I had been going to closed, so I started a pull list at the only other store that was close enough for me to walk to at the time. The place was run by a notorious crank who was allegedly associated with the HA's (and supposedly was also selling coke out of the back of the store, but I suspect that was just a rumour) and who routinely yelled at his own staff, customers, and anyone else who happened to earn his ire for basically no reason. He was a real dirtbag, the kind of guy who would mark up a comic on your pull list if it was hot before you got a chance to pick it up. Didn't like the place, but that was our only option, so once a week my best friend and I would hold our noses and go buy our books, hoping it was one of the days the owner wasn't around to condescend and sneer at us for our purchases.

Then one day a new store opened, about a ten minute walk away. We went and checked it out, and it was a paradise - cool comics, a friendly environment and an owner who genuinely cares about making his store a place for fans and collectors to feel comfortable. That store is still open to this day, and despite having left my hometown twenty years ago, I still buy as much as I can from them via mail because without that place nuturing my love for comics and teaching me about the medium, I would have left the hobby ages ago.

Anyway, my friend and I elected to go to the bad store, buy our pull lists and close them. We walked into the store, and tbh I was very nervous - I was kind of a meek kid and the idea of being yelled at by an adult was scary. We politely let him know we were shutting our pull lists, and as expected he went volcanic, screaming and yelling about how he knew we were going to the new store, how we were screwing him over after he had done so much for the community, how he was gonna run them out of business and we wouldn't be welcome back, etc. Finally he demanded we pay for the books he had preordered for our lists, at which point I just walked out. My much less shy friend followed, but as he did yelled "F--- you, I'm taking my business to Strange Adventures up the block!" loudly so the other five or six folks in the store browsing could hear him. Apparently at least a couple of them opened pull lists there that day too. Only thing the owner of that store could do, so taken aback at getting told off by a kid, was to sputter out a "You're banned!" at us, as if we'd ever go back. That place closed down a few years later, and I sometimes wonder what happened to the guy, and if he ever made the realization that it was his own lousy attitude that led to his downfall.

Oh, and I got banned from a karaoke bar for having a drunken argument with the manager over a bill. Their loss, my version of Rainbow in the Dark was a crowd pleaser.

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by rlextherobot

[FineCollector1]

As big a D as I am, I'd expect to be banned from more places!  I can't think of anything beyond a few forgettable Facebook groups.  I guess I need to get out more...

[CAHokie]

On 7/30/2023 at 10:48 AM, rlextherobot said:

When I was in High School, the comic shop I had been going to closed, so I started a pull list at the only other store that was close enough for me to walk to at the time. The place was run by a notorious crank who was allegedly associated with the HA's (and supposedly was also selling coke out of the back of the store, but I suspect that was just a rumour) and who routinely yelled at his own staff, customers, and anyone else who happened to earn his ire for basically no reason. He was a real dirtbag, the kind of guy who would mark up a comic on your pull list if it was hot before you got a chance to pick it up. Didn't like the place, but that was our only option, so once a week my best friend and I would hold our noses and go buy our books, hoping it was one of the days the owner wasn't around to condescend and sneer at us for our purchases.

Then one day a new store opened, about a ten minute walk away. We went and checked it out, and it was a paradise - cool comics, a friendly environment and an owner who genuinely cares about making his store a place for fans and collectors to feel comfortable. That store is still open to this day, and despite having left my hometown twenty years ago, I still buy as much as I can from them via mail because without that place nuturing my love for comics and teaching me about the medium, I would have left the hobby ages ago.

Anyway, my friend and I elected to go to the bad store, buy our pull lists and close them. We walked into the store, and tbh I was scared - I was kind of a meek kid and the idea of being yelled at by an adult was scary. We politely let him know we were shutting our pull lists, and as expected he went volcanic, screaming and yelling about how he knew we were going to the new store, how we were screwing him over after he had done so much for the community, how he was gonna run them out of business and we wouldn't be welcome back, etc. Finally he demanded we pay for the books he had preordered for our lists, at which point I just walked out. My much less shy friend followed, but as he did yelled "F--- you, I'm taking my business to Strange Adventures up the block!" loudly so the other five or six folks in the store browsing could hear him. Apparently at least a couple of them opened pull lists there that day too. Only thing the owner of that store could do, so taken aback at getting told off by a kid, was to sputter out a "You're banned!" at us, as if we'd ever go back. That place closed down a few years later, and I sometimes wonder what happened to the guy, and if he ever made the realization that it was his own lousy attitude that led to his downfall.

Oh, and I got banned from a karaoke bar for having a drunken argument with the manager over a bill. Their loss, my version of Rainbow in the Dark was a crowd pleaser.

 

Great post!

I will never understand small business owners who treat customers and employees  like  for no reason. A small business survives off the local community, loyalty, and word of mouth.  

[Cat]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:01 AM, Artboy99 said:

does it count if I have banned myself from a comic store?

Oh yeah, I've had to do that too. I went with my LCS from 2003 until about 2016. Things had been great, great relationship with the staff, they gave me great discounts, cheap items that other boxes had abandoned, the owner, who we'll call John, knew my tastes so well he'd chuck stuff into my box for me to try. If I didn't like it I just had to bring it back next time and he'd refund me for it. I never refunded a single thing. His recommendations were always just that en pointe. He always made sure I had access to rare stuff if I wanted it, best covers, etc, a dream relationship. 

So what went wrong? They got in a new guy handling the backend, and he was awful. My titles would go missing for no apparent reason, replaced with weird stuff I'd never been interested in, like a Wrestling magazine. The new guy claimed I ordered it but even John said wildly_fanciful_statement to that. But he kept the guy on, and my pulls kept getting worse and worse. Suddenly all my perks were gone, which was a loss, but that just put me on the level of a regular customer so okay, that's fair. But I'd never get my cover choices. One morning I was there and a woman was complaining how she didn't get the correct cover for one of the X-books, and hey, looking at my copy, neither did I. He said there was nothing to be done, we didn't get any of the other covers. I pointed out I'd just been told the same thing about my cover, the one she's holding. So we solved it ourselves and swapped covers. Simple. But why lie about it? 

The situation worsened, with now maybe half my monthly pull list getting pulled, threat getting slipped for no reason, always the titles I collected most like Transformers too. Or if they were there it was battered to hell and shoukd not have been sold. These mistakes occurred for a few months until I was ready to finally quit, despite my long loyalty to the store. I simply wasn't getting what I was paying for.

Things further deteriorated as John started blaming Eg my spending habits. I wasn't spending as much as I used to, and that wasn't good enough anymore. It was a bad time for the store, so I was expected to buy more from them. More what? Anything. Mm hmm. Claiming I was asking for too much, had too many books (about 12 a month, hardly a massive stack) and anything that went wrong was my own fault and they were sick of catering to me. So I said well, if this is what it's like to be catered to, I'm not a fan of catering*. I'm out. Then he yelled at me on the way out I'm expected to stay for 3 more months before closing my box blah blah blah I yelled back you just made it pretty clear you don't want me as a customer you don't get it both ways, and I walked out, never to return. 

I now get my copies by mail order. They're cheaper, the guys and girls I deal with are lovely people to deal with, they help me out if I get confused on a title (this does happen because my medical condition gives me brain fog so I can get a bit forgetful at times as to stuff I've asked about) they know about it all and they treat me with respect and kindness, not just a wallet. Sure, they make mistakes. But they'll always make it up to me. Next comic is free and free shipping on the entire order. Good enough to keep me placated. And it made me regain my love of comics. I didn't realised just how damaged thst relationship was until I was away from that first store. And keeping all communications in email form means we can see exactly where something broke down in a chain of communication, whether it was me or them. Fantastic. They know I love Transformers and JSA, I'm on instshokd for any related items, and they even know which Transformers characters I'm after cover-wise. Such a pleasure to deal with. 

 

*No idea what he meant by being catered to. I just wanted the books I ordered each other in my box. Apparently that became too much work and caused me to become a problem customer. This was not unique to me. Several of his long-time customers quit around the time I did, having had enough of him and his new attitude and incompetence. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Cat

[Sigur Ros]

This will be the first comic-related site I get banned from.

[mrlatko]

Like everyone here, I have dealt with many, many comic dealers in person at shows over the years.  Last year I had the first interaction that resulted in me being "banned" from somebody's booth at a toy/comic show.

I blame myself, because I could have just remained silent, but honestly thought we were just pre-negotiating.  Still think this guy overreacted.  This was mainly a toy show with some comic dealers.  This vendor had a short box with some decent BA/SA keys.  I price checked a few of his books using GPA and noticed he was basically double GPA on desirable but common material.  There was a Hulk (1st Rocket Raccoon) 9.4 without a price, so I asked him about it.  He said, "Well, I use GPA to figure out prices, so let me look it up".  I thought this was hilarious because none of his prices remotely reflected GPA.  I had to be a bit of a smart a** and said "It doesn't look like you used GPA to price some of these".  Really just wanted him to be aware that I knew what GPA was.  He said "What do you mean?". I said "Well, you have the FF 48 priced at double GPA.". He took the Hulk out of my hand and said "Ok, we're done here.  You insulted me."  So I insulted him by pointing out the facts? I thought to myself, is this guy serious?  I apologized but he wasn't hearing it and came up with "I've been selling comics for 20 years and will be selling for another 20!"  I have no idea what that was meant to convey.  I tried again to smooth things over, but he was determined to act the petulant child, so I left him and moved on.  The next time this show was held in 4 months, the same guy was there and he didn't even remember me.  So, I am no longer banned apparently, but would never ever try to deal with this guy again.

Was I the bad guy?  He sure seemed to think so.

Edited August 1, 2023 by mrlatko

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/30/2023 at 3:48 PM, rlextherobot said:

When I was in High School, the comic shop I had been going to closed, so I started a pull list at the only other store that was close enough for me to walk to at the time. The place was run by a notorious crank who was allegedly associated with the HA's (and supposedly was also selling coke out of the back of the store, but I suspect that was just a rumour) and who routinely yelled at his own staff, customers, and anyone else who happened to earn his ire for basically no reason. He was a real dirtbag, the kind of guy who would mark up a comic on your pull list if it was hot before you got a chance to pick it up. Didn't like the place, but that was our only option, so once a week my best friend and I would hold our noses and go buy our books, hoping it was one of the days the owner wasn't around to condescend and sneer at us for our purchases.

Then one day a new store opened, about a ten minute walk away. We went and checked it out, and it was a paradise - cool comics, a friendly environment and an owner who genuinely cares about making his store a place for fans and collectors to feel comfortable. That store is still open to this day, and despite having left my hometown twenty years ago, I still buy as much as I can from them via mail because without that place nuturing my love for comics and teaching me about the medium, I would have left the hobby ages ago.

Anyway, my friend and I elected to go to the bad store, buy our pull lists and close them. We walked into the store, and tbh I was very nervous - I was kind of a meek kid and the idea of being yelled at by an adult was scary. We politely let him know we were shutting our pull lists, and as expected he went volcanic, screaming and yelling about how he knew we were going to the new store, how we were screwing him over after he had done so much for the community, how he was gonna run them out of business and we wouldn't be welcome back, etc. Finally he demanded we pay for the books he had preordered for our lists, at which point I just walked out. My much less shy friend followed, but as he did yelled "F--- you, I'm taking my business to Strange Adventures up the block!" loudly so the other five or six folks in the store browsing could hear him. Apparently at least a couple of them opened pull lists there that day too. Only thing the owner of that store could do, so taken aback at getting told off by a kid, was to sputter out a "You're banned!" at us, as if we'd ever go back. That place closed down a few years later, and I sometimes wonder what happened to the guy, and if he ever made the realization that it was his own lousy attitude that led to his downfall.

Oh, and I got banned from a karaoke bar for having a drunken argument with the manager over a bill. Their loss, my version of Rainbow in the Dark was a crowd pleaser.

 

If I don't like the service or toxic personality types at a comic store, I just simply leave and buy elsewhere, no dramatics. With no pull list it's interesting to observe how long it takes these people to notice that I'm no longer buying at anywhere near the same level that I used to, due to entitlement issues, believing that I'm far more dependent on their service than I am in reality, and the general assumption of unassailable self-importance.

Until it gets to an extreme level of physical assault, as described in my previous post, or an abusive, overly-sarcastic verbal meltdown, I don't mind using these thugs for an occasional scrap or two that I can't find anywhere else locally.  Just quietly transfer over to the good guys and graze plentifully in greener, happier pastures.

It's a simple food chain dynamic, but that doesn't mean that the prey component of that can't take back a high level of control, and the vicious predators can't sometimes falter and starve, held away, irrelevant, at a safe distance.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[Buzzetta]

I buy one title.  That's it.  

Nobody will pull my copy of ASM with each release and I fully understand that.  I am also not going to deal with driving around "hoping" that a book is in stock on release day.  So?  I just order from MCS once every few months. 

[oldbsturgeon]

On 7/27/2023 at 5:37 PM, MAR1979 said:

I'm a fan of Byrne's pre 1988 work, and super fan of 1977-1980 so consider being banned an honor as it's forum for the highest echelon of sycophant losers.
 

As for me, was banned from a somewhat well known in certain circles, Mastering Engineer's music forum, for mentioning i did not see what the big deal was about "The Monkees".

When I was in 4th grade both myself and a buddy also my age were banned from the local Friendly chain restaurant. I've no remembrance of exactly why but I suspect we were making "Big Beef" jokes. My buddy told his connected Dad, who told us he would take care of it "his way". 2 days later went back no issues.  Man I've probably not thought about that in the last 25 years.

ah the hoffman forums...It's so busy there I'm surprised they had time to notice something you said

[MAR1979]

On 7/31/2023 at 1:37 PM, oldbsturgeon said:

ah the hoffman forums...It's so busy there I'm surprised they had time to notice something you said

A bit more context. My comment about not getting what the big deal was about The Monkees  in that forum was in a thread one week prior to Davy Jones passing.  I was banned the day after he died. One of the trigger happy mods likley viewed the thread saw my post could not be bothered with looking at the date it was added and it was game over. The post like me disappeared from that vile narrow-minded forum.

P.S. The Monkees SUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK! In addition Neil Diamond did "I'm Believer" far better than them and Anne Murray's rendition of "Daydream Believer" was superior to theirs.  It's entirely my opinion and feels good to get that off my chest in a public forum   

As for my banning from Friendly in 4th grade; if you don't want  8-9 year olds making fun of your menu items then don't name a burger 🍔 "Big Beef" or a wiener 🌭 "The Friendly Frank" !  Although the later wasn't as funny as a  joint near a relatives back then called "Larry's Wiener Works".

Edited July 31, 2023 by MAR1979

[Stefan_W]

I used to go to a small store in Ottawa that has comics along with assorted other things. I bought a lot of stuff there along the way, although most of the books were not really in good enough condition for me so it always took a lot of digging through boxes to find a couple of gems. When the owner found out that I also sell comics he refused to speak to me or sell me any other comics. He was actually visibly angry when I came into his shop.

It has been a few years since this happened and I still don't completely get that type of attitude. Most of the people who buy the most stuff for me do it to resell at a profit, and my attitude is more power to them. As long as I am happy with the price I am getting then all is good, and if they manage to also make a few bucks they are more like to come back and buy more. 

[october]

On 7/31/2023 at 1:43 PM, Stefan_W said:

I used to go to a small store in Ottawa that has comics along with assorted other things. I bought a lot of stuff there along the way, although most of the books were not really in good enough condition for me so it always took a lot of digging through boxes to find a couple of gems. When the owner found out that I also sell comics he refused to speak to me or sell me any other comics. He was actually visibly angry when I came into his shop.

It has been a few years since this happened and I still don't completely get that type of attitude. Most of the people who buy the most stuff for me do it to resell at a profit, and my attitude is more power to them. As long as I am happy with the price I am getting then all is good, and if they manage to also make a few bucks they are more like to come back and buy more. 

Screw you for selling comics at a profit that I sold to you at a profit! Only certain people in the product foodchain are allowed to make money. Rules are rules.

[Gaard]

On 7/30/2023 at 8:08 PM, mrlatko said:

Like everyone here, I have dealt with many, many comic dealers in person at shows over the years.  Last year I had the first interaction that resulted in me being "banned" from somebody's booth at a toy/comic show.

I blame myself, because I could have just remained silent, but honestly thought we were just pre-negotiating.  Still think this guy overreacted.  This was mainly a toy show with some comic dealers.  This vendor had a short box with some decent BA/SA keys.  I price checked a few of his books using GPA and noticed he was basically double GPA on desirable but common material.  There was a Hulk (1st Rocket Raccoon) 9.4 without a price, so I asked him about it.  He said, "Well, I use GPA to figure out prices, so let me look it up".  I thought this was hilarious because none of his prices remotely reflected GPA.  I had to be a bit of a smart and said "It doesn't look like you used GPA to price some of these".  Really just wanted him to be aware that I knew what GPA was.  He said "What do you mean?". I said "Well, you have the FF 48 priced at double GPA.". He took the Hulk out of my hand and said "Ok, we're done here.  You insulted me."  So I insulted him by pointing out the facts? I thought to myself, is this guy serious?  I apologized but he wasn't hearing it and came up with "I've been selling comics for 20 years and will be selling for another 20!"  I have no idea what that was meant to convey.  I tried again to smooth things over, but he was determined to act the petulant child, so I left him and moved on.  The next time this show was held in 4 months, the same guy was there and he didn't even remember me.  So, I am no longer banned apparently, but would never ever try to deal with this guy again.

Was I the bad guy?  He sure seemed to think so.

You should've asked him if he had a FF 48.

[Buzzetta]

On 7/31/2023 at 7:15 PM, Tons Of Style said:

I was banned from a Whatnot stream for pointing out that PGX is shady. Turns out the streamer is an employee of PGX East

 

 

[Nick Furious]

The Donkey Show in Tijuana is not the place to go if you're inclined to defend a lady's honor.  It's got nothing in common with the trained animal shows at Seaworld or Universal Studios.   

[unclezebo]

On 7/31/2023 at 8:45 PM, Nick Furious said:

The Donkey Show in Tijuana is not the place to go if you're inclined to defend a lady's honor.  It's got nothing in common with the trained animal shows at Seaworld or Universal Studios.   

[ADAMANTIUM]

[unclezebo]

On 7/31/2023 at 9:10 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

[Dr. Balls]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:08 PM, mrlatko said:

He said, "Well, I use GPA to figure out prices, so let me look it up".  I thought this was hilarious because none of his prices remotely reflected GPA.  I had to be a bit of a smart a** and said "It doesn't look like you used GPA to price some of these".  Really just wanted him to be aware that I knew what GPA was.  He said "What do you mean?". I said "Well, you have the FF 48 priced at double GPA.". He took the Hulk out of my hand and said "Ok, we're done here.  You insulted me."

Part of my daily routine is “lowballing” people on EBay with current GPA offers.