To your point I think many of us come on here and ask questions knowing we can get FREE advise. Many of us want to hear how to fix our problems even if they are not our own. I would say more than half the post are question based and that's why I like ready on this forum. Heck it might be good business for OSO to pay people like BUP to help us all.

I can list quite a few commercial memberships who I have called for advice or left VM's to never hear from them. John was active on this site and provided SOUND KNOWLEDGE! That speaks for something and if squeezing a small independent mechanic for $500 in membership is breaking OSO - well then sell more screen available in my display to pop-ups. (I think you have about 30% left) Your missing the point - advise in this hobby has a value and a key contributor like BUP should have been recognized and afforded some membership. This versus the dude who pays you a membership - treats customers like crap and doesn't contribute to the site knowledge base.

Banned? This is almost laughable. I think whomever specifically made that decision should offer some kind of explanation at the very least to him so he has a chance to make it right or offer some explanation.

Did he scam someone? Did he sell junk or incorrect parts to someone? Did he take thousands of dollars out of someone’s pockets and outright rip them off? Did he call someone bad names? Plenty of people still in here that have done all of the above since I’ve been here... maybe I’m wrong.

Can anyone honestly do a search on Google regarding engine issues and NOT come up pointing to a thread ON THIS SITE that has him offering free solutions or advice?

Before I knew of him I did that exact same thing and it was a LOT of help to me. I can only imagine how many others that do not come here regularly Google a problem and are directed to THIS site, read his comments and are better off for it. I’m not saying that there aren’t a lot of others on here that do the same, but the main reason people STILL visit this site is for the content. It’s not like Facebook where people pull random $&@% out of their rear ends for answers. This site has some people that actually know what they are talking about and can help others for the greater good of the sport keeping them and their families on the water. Banning such people (and there are a lot that don’t come here anymore I’ve noticed) is just a nail in the coffin for this site. Very sad.

I’m not buying the comment about him wanting credit card info for advice. If that’s the case, why would he spend so much of his time on here and FB for that matter giving FREE advice to many? (BTW he does not even have a way to charge cards so there’s that...). I can also echo what was stated above about payments. The last few times I have had to bug him for a week or more about sending me a bill so I could pay him so not so much driven by money in my opinion.

I’m pretty sure the bulk of his income has nothing to do with anything that the “paid” advertisers even sell. I can only see four paid advertisers in the “vendor directory” BTW so not sure what that’s all about. Maybe someone in charge needs to add a spot on the site that members can see a list of the “paid” vendors because I sure as heck could not find one anywhere other than the four I mentioned. IF in fact there are more than four, they are being ripped off because Joe Shmoes like myself cannot see anywhere on the site where I should go to buy my parts or services from and be treated well for being a member.

If it’s about being a paid or non-paid member, vendor or non vendor banning resources and people like BUP makes a strong case for not subscribing or for people to become vendors either way. Everyone that doesn’t know him just lost a INCREDIBLE resource to help keep them in the sport.

Ban Eddie, Mike Tkach and Haxby too, I want Phil to be our exclusive source of Tech advice :D

Can someone please just start a go fund me page so we can all chip in to buy him a 2 year membership?

Somebody should do this.....I lack the ability to understand GOFUNDME stuff. Just message me the link when its up and running.

Independent Marine Mechanic running a huge business by himself always available to help people and then comes here and provides FREE advice....If that isnt the definition of an ASSET to a forum like OSO then I do not know what it is.

PS: Just spoke with John and although disappointed he cannot share his wealth of knowledge with others on this forum any longer. He is more than willing to still dispense advice.

Many of my motorcycle forums went the same way where in the beginning so much talent contributed to the community for free until it was such a hassle they eventually left and a poo flinging peanut gallery was all that was left contributing to any traffic at all to the site.

This isn’t a comment about OSO’s decision to ban the BUP as it’s someone else’s baby with its unknown liabilities and challenges so it’s none of my business how they run it, but just observing the trend of internet message boards in general.

Short of ten years ago every single question I queried on the internetz led me here and I truly enjoyed hours of reading about in-depth engine building that you just couldn’t find anywhere else, but now the knowledge base has pretty much ghosted this site.

OSO is still my favorite place in the cyber world, but I’ve gone from checking every hour to once or twice a month, and I know that I’m not alone in my habits. I’d think that the drop in site traffic would concern advertisers more than some dude helping members. He could get a bit cranky at times, but how many people care enough to always spell out period instead of just leaving a dot?

Can the ban just be a temporary time out for like a week or two.This is not a life sentence.

Unfortunately, a member had a hard-on for BUPs posts and hit the "notify admin" button all the time on his threads. Internet Brands probably just got tired of the noise. I was ignoring the messages. His info is invaluable to the forum.

so the question is then what needs to be done to resolve the ban? How long is this ban. I know you can’t give out and maybe you don’t know who it was that was doing it. But valued information doesn’t come easy. We’re a community how can we as a boating community have his back and make it work? He’s helped a lot of people and I would like him to be able to continue to help others. I don’t have Facebook so I can’t turn to that avenue of help and it sounds like it’s not very helpful all the times. I always turn to oso when I’m in need of help. And it’s because of people like him that we get the answers and we get to learn something in the process. I know the website isint free to host or maintain but I feel like something should or can be done to make all of this right.