He got banned because he had two accounts. He has a huge wish list and one account was just not big enough to accomodate him. (Actually even two accounts were not enough for his wish list which has about 1000 books on it.)

Anyway, how long does a ban last? Is it permanent? Or just for a few weeks? He emailed PBS but they didn't say how long the ban was for.

TPTB are rather quiet about the specifics of these things Gayle.

When we sign up, we have to click on agreeing with the posted rules.  Which are quite clear on one account per person, real name only. 

Terms of Use

It probably will depend on how ticked off they are about him ignoring the Terms of Use and if they think he will do it again. If they think he will just try to sneak around the rules again, they will probably leave all accounts locked. They will definitely only let him have one account back if they do lift the suspension. They don't give specifics about that stuff, but usually a temporary suspension will be lifted once the member has talked to the Team and the issue is resolved satisfactorily. They do not take multiple accounts for one person very lightly though.

Thousand + WLs? What was he trying to do? Start a business? If that was the case then TPTB really take a dim view of that.

-RD

You say that he had 1000 books on his wishlist. That implies that he had at least FIVE accounts.

Thomas, she said that he had more WL books that two accounts could hold, so I think he only had the two.  What I don't get is why the hell didn't he just do like the rest of us who have more than 200 WL books?  You add the remaining ones to your RL and/or tag them separately. 

It may have been one of the accounts was from a long time ago before the WL limit.  Who knows.  However, if someone is not willing to adhere to the rules set by TPTB, then, yes, they deserve to have their account banned and not reinstated until they are willing to do so.  As suggested, the reminder list is how many of us cope with the 200 limit.

It may have been one of the accounts was from a long time ago before the WL limit.

Wouldn't have mattered. All accounts were trimmed down to 200 after many warnings by the site to trim it down to 200 yourself, because after a certain date anything over the 200 number would be trimmed by the site.

And that's what they did. So there aren't any 'holdover' accounts.

  However, if someone is not willing to adhere to the rules set by TPTB, then, yes, they deserve to have their account banned and not reinstated until they are willing to do so.  As suggested, the reminder list is how many of us cope with the 200 limit.

I'm not even sure I want them back at all.

They hit their 200 limit, then knowingly cheat and try to play the system so they can get more WL'd book offers than anyone else. Screwing everyone in those extra lines from that extra account.

I think the site would be better off without them.

Thanks Cindy!  Wasn't sure what happened to those that hadn't lowered their own wishlists.  I know it was very hard to do, but I still did it.  I do have to agree with you about not really wanting someone back that knowingly cheats the system, I was just trying to be polite ;)

I'd say he'd be very lucky to get even one account back.  TPTB don't take flaunting of the rules well.  Especially if the person knowingly broke them.

A PBS account is a privilege.  Abuse it and it's taken away and most likely won't be returned.

I know it was very hard to do, but I still did it

I was lucky, because I was up around the limit but hadn't gotten over it yet. So didn't have to do much juggling around. I can only imagine how painful it was for a lot of people. A lot of people seemed to have several hundreds to make decisions over.

You can actually have over 200 now, but from what I can tell it's a case of a WL book going lost or arriving RWAP. They put you back in line for it even if you've hit 200 again while the book was on it's way. Which is nice for the site to make an exception in those cases.

Not positive about PBS but, from what I know of other websites that don't allow multiple accounts, breaking that rule is a permanent ban. As for here, having multis is a way to skew the system in your favor. Putting yourself in the WL queue for hundreds more books than others are allowed is very unfair and makes me sad.

I'm wondering if he also got the 2 free credits on both accounts.  Which really not be cool.

Gayle - all the answers here are just guesses.  If you really want an answer use the Contact Us link and ask using feedback.   They may give you the answer or not, but that's where you should be asking.
 

Wow, that is a lot of WL'd books! And I thought I had a lot.

But I have no idea how long a ban lasts.... I would assume you'd have to talk to TPTB about it, like others have already said.

I would assume you'd have to talk to TPTB about it, like others have already said.

Or have the friend contact them, himself.

Thank you all for all the information.

I don't know if my friend knew about the account limitation. I know that he wasn't getting books to resell. He just loves art books. That is what his wish list consists of: hundreds of art books.

He is a good guy, just a little obsessed, that's all.

Anyways, I just thought that maybe PBS had a policy about account bans and a set time limit on how long bans lasted and that if they did, the experts on here would know about it.  But I guess not.

But I will not be contacting PBS. My friend can do that himself. I do hope he gets back on again though --- he used to buy credits from me!

I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner but I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday.

I would be willing to bet that there is no set time limit for bans, otherwise there would be no incentive to follow the rules because you would know that in x amount of time you would be able to have your account back. The team is big on communication so likely they will be looking for him to explain himself. Ignorance of the rules is a pretty flimsy excuse, but if it was an honest mistake they may give him another chance. 

I'm sorry that you've lost a buddy on here for the time being, but I have to say that I am glad to hear that the team is on the lookout for this kind of thing and that they are enforcing the rules.