How they work is to get you for a small thing, then hit you again, and give you a worse punishment, then hit you again and ban you. Of course permanent bans are hard to justify, so when you come back there is the next round of punishments.
On another site I saw how moderators refused to provide support to a member until he proved his toe size. The managers joined in the conversation and only added insults.
Yeah, moderators are hard-working, generous people who devote their time to making the world a better place. But it is just not worth being on a site where the moderators have your name down.