Paid $40 for a throwaway account on a watch forum and got banned in 3 days

I got banned from a big watch forum last year over a single post. The mods said I was "sourcing" even though I just asked where a guy got his strap. I had already paid $40 for a VIP account there two weeks earlier because I wanted to sell a couple of old Seikos without the 50 post limit. So I'm out the cash and the account in less than a month. What kills me is the rule list never said anything about asking about straps, they just nuked me and kept the money. I even emailed support twice and got nothing back. Has anyone actually gotten a refund from a forum after a ban, or is that just money gone forever?