Christopher Mahan stated for the record:
I would add that admins should not email users privately since we want to be able to trace their activity. If the administrator is contacting the user via private email, it becomes a game of "he said", "she said".
I agree most emphatically, but will add that some users forbid such openness, demanding that "private messages" remain private.
I ignore such demands -- all messages sent to me related to arbitration matters are promptly forwarded to the ArbComm mailing list.