Account Deletion/Ban Requests

Have you ever had a member ask you to delete their own account or ban them from your forum? I have had some people ask me to ban them, which I personally like is silly - and deleting of an account is really dumb, in my opinion. I suppose people do this so they feel like they don't have the need to come back to the forum anymore and can use their time for something else in real life, but needing to have your account deleting or banned to do so is just sad. So, anyone else?

 

I've had users e-mail me in response to a newsletter or some kind of account notification and tell me "I don't have a linnie anymore, please delete me". To accommodate such users, I have a "Retired Users" group where all users who want their account deleted or no longer want to receive any correspondence from the site are moved to.
Members with invalid e-mail addresses and bounced e-mails are moved to this group as well.

Their account is still accessible but is just about as limited as an unregistered user.

If a user doesn't want to take part, they can just stop visiting - it's really not a difficult concept, but some seem to think it is.

 

I have a usergroup just for them and troublesome members while the staff is deciding weather to infract or not. Read Only -- They can browse the forums but cannot post anywhere.

Normally I'll drop them in the Read Only group then change their password to something random and email address to one of my catch-alls.

 

My 'troublesome-users-awaiting-punishment' group can post, but posts are forced into the moderation queue. I also sometimes put members I"d like to keep an eye on in this group.

 

What about if they want you to delete all of their posts or pictures or something like that. What do you do then?

 

See: http://www.adminaddict.com/forum/member-staff-management/i-own-them-so-delete-all-my-posts-688/

 

If a user asks to have his account deleted, I delete it. I can't think of any reason not to do so.

 

Does it not disrupt the peace and harmony of your community? Look at what happened when Nexialys' account was deleted at vBorg - imagine that happening every single time a user wanted his or her account deleted.

 

I too delete members accounts if they request. I can't think of one good reason to have an account active if the member wants it deleted/banned for any reason or another.

 

It hardly ever happens. In fact, I've never had a big poster ask to have their account deleted. But, if they did, I'd still do it. Why would it cause problems? If someone asked me about it, I'd simply say they asked to have their account deleted. What more is there to say?

 

I've had members request account deletions as well - I've come to the conclusion that it's more of a "compulsive" action if anything. For example:

Younger members (in particular) tend to become agitated when their parents tell them to stop visiting a specific website (it's happened before). Because of this, they will sometimes feel the need to "erase" everything they've done thus far for the sole purpose of peace of mind. By removing (or banning) their account, you are satisfying their need and they will therefore feel better about their decision. They'll also know (in their mind) that because their account was deleted, they won't be able to log in.

I've also had members ask me to change their password so they wouldn't be able to log in. It's a bit of an OCD thing, if you ask me.

 

I will ban on request. But we never delete accounts, unless pruned.

 

It has happened to me on more than one occasion.

I require a legit reason for deleting their account, though.

Most of the time, I'll just move them to the banned user group so that their posts won't disappear from threads.

 

I never bother. It has never happened yet and I'm assuming it never will. It's kinda strange that one would feel like deleting or banning their account; after all, one day the user might change his or her mind and come back, which would be bad if all their posts are gone.
It's also just extra work for the staff...if a member asked me to do it, I'd say (like above) just delete the bookmark and forget about my site.

 

I've seen a couple of users in this thread say they don't do it because the posts will disappear - I assume this is not a vbulletin site you run? Just wondering because unless you click a few extra buttons when deleting the user in vbulletin, the posts will all remain in the forums with the user's name attached to it.

 

In IPB, deleted users' posts show up as guest postings. Haven't used the newest version yet however, so I'm not sure...
I think all posts are deleted if you remove a user in MyBB. Haven't needed to delete anyone yet, so can't be certain.

 

Bing Chris, that's certainly the ultimate reason. Or so I've found to be in the past.

 

My forum's policy is that accounts are never deleted. In vB deleting an account doesn't delete the posts, but it is no longer possible to search on that user. I feel that tidy forum management means keeping everything searchable. And yes from time to time we have needed to do that, even if we didn't think we would. It's good that on vB the posts are retained as otherwise it messes up the continuity of threads.

People sometimes want accounts deleted because they are upset about something or because they are having problems breaking a forum habit. If they really want their account off-limits a special usergroup is an option, and/or I can change their password.

This policy is highlighted in the FAQ along with the admonition to think before posting, because whatever is posted will be on public view for a long time to come. We do not clean up user messes by deleting things they now regret. And they can't storm off and take their posts with them.

 

Never had anyone asking for an Ban but I have had people requesting the deletion of their account, and I can understand in some cases since people might not want information about them left on the site. I don't delete account but i do remove information about them.