Banned for telling someone to read their medication sheet, then muted for asking why. Moving my business away from Pomegranate.
TL;DR: Received a 3-day ban on r/pomhealth for telling a user to read the medication's included temperature sheet. When I politely asked for clarification on how this was "medical advice," the mods dismissed me because the ban "had already expired," refused to answer the question, and then muted me, again. Moving my business away from Pomegranate.
I am writing this because Pomegranate seriously needs to look at how its volunteer moderators interact with paying customers. Even if a moderator believes a ban is fully justified, there is no reason to be unnecessarily dismissive, rude, or hostile when a customer politely asks for clarification as they're encouraged to do.
The Background:
I received a 3-day ban and a "final warning" for allegedly providing “unlicensed medical advice.” The exact comment that triggered this was:
“There should have been a temperature information sheet in with your medication. It will tell you all you need to know.”
The ban message claimed this comment was inappropriate because it involved advising users about “when/how they should titrate, what dose they should be on, and the viability of their medication.”
The Interaction:
The ban message explicitly instructed me to reach out if I had questions, so I immediately messaged the mod team to politely ask for clarification.
- My first follow-up: After receiving no initial response, I checked in again.
- Their first response: “Look into... What? The ban? It was temporary and is expired, nothing to look into. So long as you don't break the rules again you'll be fine.”
They completely ignored my actual question. I messaged them back, remaining polite despite their tone, and explained that I just wanted to understand the rule so I could avoid making the same mistake in the future. I also noted that my comment had been visible for 21 days before it was suddenly removed alongside every other non-mod comment that had been removed 19 days prior to mine (approximately 10) when the thread was locked.
- Their second response: “Again, the ban has already expired, there will be no further reviews made. I'm sorry that it took us 21 days to see the comment - we are incapable of seeing every post made in real time. Good day.”
Then they proceeded to mute me from contacting the mod team for 7 days. Not sure why it says to reach out with questions because they get defensive and mute you if you ask a genuine question.
Why I am leaving Pomegranate:
I was telling someone to refer to the official information sheet that came inside their own medication box. That is not "unlicensed medical advice." It feels entirely like my comment was just swept up in a bulk deletion when they decided to lock the entire thread, and rather than admitting that or explaining the rule, the mods chose to power-trip and shut down communication.
I have been a loyal, paying customer, but this experience completely changed my perception of the company. Pomegranate didn't lose me because of a temporary 3-day ban; they lost me because they allow moderators of their affiliate subreddit to treat paying customers as if they are completely beneath them. I will be taking my money elsewhere.