Deals Forum Moderator Canceled After Expressing Sympathy for Deal-Targeted Company A moderator on the prominent deals forum site DansDeals Forums has been booted from the site after he posted that he will refrain from allowing site users to access a certain coupon because "I want [the company] to make [money] when I patronize the business."
The now-former moderator, who went by the username AsherO, added that he did not want users to "50BM" the company - an acronym for "50 Browser Method," a tactic deals buffs use to utilize a single-use coupon multiple times.
AsherO was summarily fired. In a statement, site administrator JJ Eleff, a younger brother of the site's founder, wrote that dissuading users from getting deals is "contrary to what we stand for as a consumer-first brand," and that "there is no room in our company for soft-heartedness towards big brands." He also compared the post to an incident in which a Spirit Airlines employee was fired for doing a favor, a story that was
previously reported by DansDeals Magazine.
The move is surprising as AsherO is one of the earliest members of the forum. His journey to being a moderator began in 2008, when he posted an the forum's first thread,
"I wanna be a mod too." That became a real-life dream for the aspiring leader, but that all came crashing down with his post this week.
Some forum members are angry over the unexpected dismissal. "This cancel culture has to stop," forum member Euclid said. Others, led by member PlatinumGuy, assert that it's a free country and that forums owners can fire whomever they please.
It is unclear what AsherO plans to do going forward, though it's likely that he plans to devote his energy to building up his new
hat company.
Rumors have circulated that the firing was done without the consent of site founder
Bentzion Friedman, as the founder, known by his nickname Daniel Eleff, seems to have been abducted by American Airlines, possibly in retaliation for the notable blogger's activity which has
seriously impacted their profits.