And I take it as a huge compliment for the people involved that they could improve their performance to such a degree that a once dissatisfied member will then return to applaud their efforts.
Well, I am not sure if its the "improvement" in performance as you called it, or the fact that this time the performance happened to be "suitable" to the OP's agenda that earned the applause.
P.S. I think the mods do a thankless job, and for the most part do it pretty well :)