Can you blame a business for protecting their interests on a forum they own?
Not at all - my issue is with the fact that posts which do *not* violate their forum rules are deleted without any warning/notification and this also includes posts that discuss alternate products (eg, solar panels, rear view cameras, etc).
I first started creating/managing forums more than 10 years ago and, with the exception of duplicate posts and/or posts that clearly violate forum rules, I have always contacted the author of a post that is considered problematic to explain the issue and ask them to amend their post. Fortunately, and with the exception of forum members who are hell-bent on expressing a particular point of view or being difficult, my experience of dealing with issues in this manner has been that forum members respond cooperatively and positively.
... but at least they could have answered the owners request for help with some sort of reply
Agreed - posts are removed without any alternatives being offered ...