BuddyPress.org

it’s almost certainly a problem with your setup, and nothing to do with the core BuddyPress code.

As I suggested, check your bp-custom.php file first of all – it goes in the /plugins folder – did your developer put any functions in there that modify the behaviour of your site?

p.s. are you sure you are using vanilla BuddyPress – you (or developer) haven’t modified any of the core files?