I'd give a private forum six hours, tops, until the first quotes of posts leaked out.A client is pissed enough at a vendor to then go buy their own vendors account, just to fuck with the vendor?200 vendors and no one would leak a post by a competitor that out of context makes him sound bad?As Cardinal De Richelieu is claimed to have said, "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him."So there is no way they'd remain private, and there is no way that what would leak out wouldn't cause a whole new class of shitstorm drama on the forums.What I would suggest is a separate forum, viewable by anyone at all, but only vendors can post in it. They can discuss matters without interference from non-vendors, but not free from scrutiny.A sub-forum or thread where prospective vendors could post to ask questions ABOUT VENDING only, and not for clients to raise issues and strictly moderated to stay on topic.Is it perfect?Nope, but so far I see it as the most workable solution.Throw in a couple of unicorns and maybe a rainbow or two, add a little stock and simmer for a while, and baby you got yourself a stew going there!