I’ve been around the grey community long enough to see plenty of group buys run badly. This announcement briefly posted, then deleted, still stands out as one of the most unhinged “customer updates” I’ve ever read.
It was posted by an organiser from the GB known as PAE (“Peppin Ain’t Easy”). And really, it sums up the spirit: a culture where people were reportedly wary of leaving negative feedback publicly, because doing so allegedly invited unwanted attention until the review disappeared. The number of negative experiences people shared privately, while asking not to be named, was, frankly, impressive in the bleakest way.
The screenshot is hard to read (desktop capture), so I’m transcribing it verbatim below.
Transcript (verbatim)
@everyone Just a few things + some. Please do not send me an email asking about the status of your order, do not text or call me about the status of your order. All info is in the private channels. OPEN A TICKET! We are tired of repeating ourselves. Also do not ask me what the total of your order is. READ THE BUY FORMS! I do not thoroughly break EVERYTHING down for my benefit. It is for your benefit. USE YOUR EYES AND YOUR BRAINS! Sorry I seem irritated BUT AM IRRITATED. This is EXHAUSTING. 1, Mal and Steph are 3 ppl handling thousands of ppl. Please use your BRAIN. Please use COMMON SENSE. PLEASE USE GOOGLE! And before opening a ticket PLEASE think to yourself, can I figure the answer to my question out on my own. Most of the time the answer is yes. You just have to take some time to LOOK... The ticket numbers are ridiculous and many are asking questions that can easily be figured out on your own by doing some due diligence. We are over hand holding. If you are new to the grey market, spend a weekend or a few weekends and go through channels, READ manuals. LEARN! # peptide-handbook-and-useful-inf... I do not put this info on the server for you to ignore it. Everyone was new at some point but the amount of info available to you on discord to research should help you if you take the time to USE it. Also, for the newbies READ THE FAQ’S. Then read them again and then read them AGAIN. You should have ZERO questions on how we run things here if you retain the knowledge that Steph spent ALOT of time putting here for you. This goes for the non-newbies as well that cannot seem to comprehend our process. I, Mal and Steph have full time jobs and 2 of us have children so spending all of our weekends and evenings as well as half of our days in here answering questions is nonsense. If you take offense to my announcement, then maybe this is not the GB server for you because I say what’s on my mind and do not sugar coat for people’s feelings. I am stating facts it is as simple as that, with all of this said. We are at 52 kits on R30. Need to sell at least 10 more. I will be tagging everyone i do not have marked as paid in the private channels for all buys. Money is tied up in PayPal and I have used every penny of my savings to cover what I can on the buys. R30 is a high-priced buy and T30 is a high-count buy. I cannot pay for R30 until everyone has paid. There is no more extra money to cover the buys, in order to get them moving. After R30 payment will be due at the time of filling out order form. If you have an issue with payday conflicting with your ability to pay, then DM me. I am not a complete asshole, I just need to know so i can make notes on my spreadsheet. Also PLEASE do not use full GLP1 names. The reporting and bans of cashapp, PayPal, telegram and discord is not just a crap thing to happen but also affects me personally considering now cannot access those resources to pay my actual friends and family for shit. That convenience is over for me. And if you join one of my buys you have liability and risk just as much as I do if shit goes sideways. I am already risking everything taking the responsibility on ordering and paying extremely large amounts of money. Not to mention possible tax liabilities. Anyone who does not like this, again this is not the server for you, And I do not give a shit what so and so from another server does. There are plenty of ppl I have refunded one on one due to certain circumstances. But if you join a buy you are locked in the shit show along with the rest of us. PERIOD! If you do not read this message because it is too long, and you do something that is listed in this f***g book. Don’t get pissed off if we go in hard on you. READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Customer Service Manifesto from Hell
There are many ways to run a group buy.
Some involve logistics.
Some involve transparency.
And some involve screaming at your customers in all caps.
This one chose the third option.
Let’s begin at the top.
“USE YOUR EYES AND YOUR BRAINS.”
Nothing inspires confidence in a financial transaction quite like being told you are intellectually insufficient.
Before we even get to money, shipping, or timelines, we are firmly in lecture territory. The tone is less “organiser” and more “detention supervisor who’s had enough.”
We are informed that:
Questions are exhausting.
Reading is mandatory.
Thinking is apparently optional, provided you agree with the organiser.
Customer service, reimagined as boot camp.
The Gospel According to the FAQs
“READ THE FAQs. Then read them again. Then read them AGAIN.”
There is something poetic about demanding obedience while insisting everything is transparent.
If the system is so clear that every answer is obvious, one wonders why the message needs to be this long.
When clarity requires shouting, it’s usually not clarity.
The Financial Tightrope
We move swiftly from irritation to urgency:
“We are at 52 kits.”
“Need at least 10 more.”
“I cannot pay until everyone has paid.”
“There is no more extra money.”
This is where things shift.
The organiser isn’t simply coordinating a buy. They are floating it. Personally. Publicly. Emotionally.
The message becomes less about process and more about pressure. The underlying message is clear:
If this fails, it’s because you didn’t pay fast enough.
Nothing builds trust like collective financial guilt.
Liability, Risk, and the Hostage Clause
“If you join a buy you are locked in the shit show along with the rest of us. PERIOD.”
And there it is.
The accidental thesis statement.
A group buy is now formally defined as:
A shared “shit show” with no exit clause.
This is not how reputable commerce works.
This is how shared risk without shared control works.
The Emotional Finale
The closing paragraph escalates from frustration to full existential fatigue.
We are told:
Don’t complain.
Don’t question.
Don’t misinterpret.
Don’t expect softness.
Don’t forget it’s exhausting.
And yet, join the buy.
It reads less like an announcement and more like someone realising mid paragraph that the structure they built requires constant defence.
The Takeaway
Tone is not cosmetic. Tone is diagnostic.
When organisers frame participants as burdens, when transparency is replaced with intimidation, and when financial pressure is personalised, you’re no longer in a community buy.
You’re in a hierarchy.
And hierarchies without accountability age badly.
Even though this announcement was deleted it was up long enough to give everyone a good idea exactly what you’ll be getting yourself into if you join a PAE Group Buy
For anyone assuming PAE must be out of business by now: nope. They’re still running group buys, and they still have glowing reviews everywhere, (except my server). Which is convenient, because nothing says “trustworthy” like a business with only positive feedback. If you ever see a vendor or GB with a spotless review record, don’t relax. Squint. Hard. Because you’re not just looking at “good service” you might be looking at a place where the bad experiences don’t stay up long enough to become reviews.
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