I asked about the vendor program because I'd either like to know that there is a methodology in place or not. If not, I'll do more footwork in researching these companies and their reputations.
Again, I hope this comes out with respect. I'm appreciative of the guidance here, but I'm confused about the vendor page.
I understand, hope this clarifies. Being a Vendor Member does not carry an inherent endorsement of the business. Vendor Members pay to be able to advertise and post in the Vendor section - without having a Vendor Membership, businesses are not allowed to advertise on HBT.
Vendors will be and many have been removed, though. If a business is ripping people off, taking money and not delivering service or product, they will be removed.
Dissatisfied customers are not sufficient to remove a vendor though, for three reasons.
First, every business has dissatisfied customers. If you look in the Company Review section (which is not limited to Vendors), every one of the widely respected large, national homebrew supply stores has negative reviews, some of which are stridently negative (I'll never do business with these so-and-so's again!)
Second, there is a greater tendency to post negative experiences (to warn others ) than positive experiences, although some HBTers are good about praising businesses that deserve it.
Third, there are niche businesses that provide value to customers in a certain way that will necessarily dissatisfy another customer. For example, a company that offers cut-rate prices but does so by having no inventory (using drop shipping from the manufacturer or supplier) will get lots of negative reviews from people who wonder why it took 4 weeks to get their order. But, that business's niche is people who don't care about getting their purchase speedily, but do want the very lowest prices possible.
So, to summarize:
1) Vendors pay to be Vendor Members, it is not an endorsement
2) Vendors are removed for ripping people off but not for having bad reviews or dissatisifed customers
3) the Company Reviews section is a powerful tool and completely separate from the Vendors section. Any company (including Vendors) can be reviewed here and reviews are not censored. The only limitations are that posts be actual reviews from actual customers - not self reviews and or commentary on other members' experiences.
I'm going to lock this now, because this is really about HBT policy, set by the site's administrator and not really appropriate for back and forth discussion (including by moderators like me). I appreciate the questions you raise, though, and hope this explains it. If you or anyone has any follow-up questions or thoughts, please PM me.