Members of cleanitup
Many of you are aware that in the past few months I, like many others have been involved in some acrimonious discussions with other members. Nothing unusual in that I hear you all say that’s the nature of cleanitup.
But for me personally it became impossible to contribute to any topic without the original topic being returned to, so I became embroiled once again in a dispute that wouldn’t go away, in the end I became reluctant to post, only doing so with trepidation.
I pointed out at the time that members who are anonymous and are intent on causing trouble can do so with impunity, while the rest of us who contribute in an open and honest way leave ourselves vulnerable. I have also pointed this out more recently in an email to the forum administrators, without a response.
This situation has escalated to the point where it has now involved my son who is just ten, this is totally unacceptable, this cowardly act is beyond any right minded person and if by any chance they are reading this I hope they are ashamed of themselves.
My family have had to endure several weeks of this; I have said nothing on the forum or to the administrators others than highlight the possibility of this happening as I hoped if I ignored this pathetic and cowardly behaviour it would go away, hopefully when they got tired.
My reasoning was, people like this thrive on a reaction, and only by ignoring it would it go away sadly I was mistaken, because of this I now have things in place so if it continues they will hopefully be located and prosecuted.
I would like to emphasise that although I am at present in a disagreement with Robert Meldrum on one of the topics, I am not accusing him of any wrong doing in this regard, however I think his recent remark that he thinks carpet cleaners like me are “con merchants” was disgusting.
If anyone cares to read that topic I believe I did nothing to deserve such a response, I found that remark particularly offensive as it questions my integrity by likening me to someone who extorts money from vulnerable people. Robert now claims that the accusation was not about me but in the context of the topic if it is followed in the discussion it was clearly directed at me.
As I said the situation as a whole has now escalated to the point of harassment, my gut feeling is that it is someone on the forum or someone who has found a way of accessing anonymously maybe they have taken advantage of the situation in the hope that Robert will be blamed; the present lack of scrutiny of members by the forum has made it possible for this to happen.
Sadly I find myself unable to continue as a member, for want of a better phrase “it’s just not worth the grief” The most recent contribution by me made me realise that although I tried my best to keep that particular topic on track it descended into a personal attack upon me and as a result for the first time in 5 years and 1376 posts I felt so angry I wanted to “chin” someone.
Maybe I am feeling a little defensive at the moment, understandable I would suggest, I can take being called a bald headed effing “ C U next Tuesday” but I am not playing childish games anymore with people that seem to relish the prospect of confrontation. The harassment that has resulted as a consequence of this type of behaviour makes it impossible to remain.
On a brighter note I would like to think I have made a positive contribution to cleanitup, judging by the guys that have phoned me for advice, usually newbies looking for someone with fresh knowledge regarding the pitfalls of starting up; I think I have achieved at least that.
Lastly I want to thank everyone that has helped me over the past 5 years, you guys really did save my life, in May 2008 I was in hospital with pleural pneumonia, I spent five days in hospital at the lowest point in my life.
I was desperate to get out of a job that was literally killing me with stress, my brother in law mentioned that a friend of his was a carpet cleaner, somehow I stumbled on cleanitup and thanks to your support, help and guidance I started up my own business, no way could I have done it without the help of you guys.
I hope I can remain in contact with the many friends I have made on cleanitup; no doubt I will be requiring some advice from “the experts” from time to time.
Kind regards
James Roffey
F.A.O Forum Admin
I would like the forum members to be aware of my reason for leaving, in case they should be targeted in the same way, I am unsure if I delete my account whether this post will be deleted also. Would the forum admin email me as to whether I can delete my account without this post being affected?