Suspended Users: A enhancement suggestion

I recently suspended a user not realizing they could un-suspend themselves. 

To resolve this, I also created a Membership Level: "Suspended User" and gave them very limited access to the site. They didn't like this, so they deleted their account.. A move I didn't expect. 

My question is why is a suspended user able to delete their own account? or even change their membership level for that matter?

If it's something they can switch on or off themselves, perhaps "Suspended" isn't the best word, as it usually implies the user has done something wrong, and the status would be a punishment, ie: a Suspension.

I didn't want to ban the user, I wanted to suspend them for a period of time. Maybe a better word for it would be "Hibernate" or "Away".. that way the user can come back whenever they please and other user will know they are away from the site for a while. This way a new user level/role for Suspended can be created and would be like a ban, but would expire after a set period of time.. 

Just a suggestion.. my membership level is working as a workaround for this.. this is just my thoughts :)

Quote · 5 Jul 2011

I'm not a big fan of suspensions. For your site to have teeth, I believe permanent bans are the only way. I usually warn people when they make a mistake, then if they continue to violate the rule, I ban them --- permanently.

I make a huge spectacle of it so everyone knows the punishment. My site is very topic specific and to be banned is a real slap in the face. In the 8 years I have had my two sites, (the old and the new) I have banned a total of 3 people.

They are still banned today and their bans can still be found on the site.

Suspensions are seen by many as a 'spanking' and they carry no real clout. Mean what you say and do as you promise works the best. It's also pretty easy to catch people who keep signing up with multiple personalities. Even though the details are different, the character of their posts remain the same. Just watch the IP's and you can ban specific servers.

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Quote · 5 Jul 2011

I think it'd be better to have the current suspension feature replaced by a "deactivation" feature, and have suspensions be something set by the administrator for a specified amount of time.

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Quote · 7 Jul 2011
 
 
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