notmyfirst

I have been delighted with Dr. Abate's courteous treatment of me and very satisfied and grateful for the quality of his rooms in Rome. <BR> <BR>Oh, sorry, wrong public relations campaign!

jen

Notmyfirst, you hit the nail on the head. It seems that whenever someone with a product or service to promote is flushed out here, there's a rush of robotic, scripted responses in defense of that businessperson and his/her motives and character. As Neal Sanders pointed out during the Dr. Abate fiasco, this is what PR firms are hired to do --- damage control.

LKM

Flushed out, tried and hanged all without a single word of defense from the accused. Sounds like Salem.

JM

Oh we've heard from the accused all right. Take a look at all those defenses with pseudonyms. That's her, posting incognito and praising herself.

Mags

Well!Well!Well! <BR>Thank you Margo for the most valuable book ,Hello Spain. <BR>Three of us just returned from a most wonderful vacation in Spain and thanks to your book, which I ordered rom Amazon our nineteen dayvacation cost us each under us$400 (hotels and car rental)! We all earn modest incomes and would never have been able to have such a vacation without this book. Thanks, Margo... for all the information. <BR> OK Ellen????????????? Perhaps you SHOULD read one of Margos books!!!!!

no

Anyone else sick of this pro-Margo PR campaign she has going here? Write to Fodor's and complain that she and her cohorts are using this forum to promote her books and website. She and her friends are advertising here, and that's a violation of Fodor's policy. Write to Fodor's!!!

Mac

I must agree with the first Ellen. Issuing lists of links and inviting everyone to visit your site and read your books is advertising. I can go to the bookstore on my own and choose from any number of travel guides without having to come here and find endless promotions (under the guise of helpful travel tips) from the various authors. What next? All the Frommers and Lonely Planet authors promoting their books and sites here? More travel agents trolling for commissions here? <BR> <BR>These people don't seem to realize just how obvious their promotional efforts are. They all sound alike, including the sorry attempts to swat away any criticism of their dealings. <BR> <BR>I enjoy this forum because I get can get real travel accounts from real travelers. Those who come here to gain something from their posts are not real travelers; they want to influence my decisions in order to benefit themselves, and that is not what this forum is about. <BR> <BR>I plan to write Fodor's. Hope others will too.

frank

No advertising on this site?.... must be a random array of letters that keep forming "Fodor's" on my browser...

Just

That's cuz they own the site, brainiac. If you owned a business and hosted a site, would you allow all your competitors to freely advertise their wares on it? If so you wouldn't be in business for very long.

anonymous

While I appreciate Margo's detailed information and find her helpful, I was taken aback when I posted a message within this forum along with my real email address. What a surprise when I received an email from Margo on my home address answering my question along with information on how I can purchase her books! Needless to say, I'll be posting anonymously from now on! <BR> <BR>**Margo, I appreciated your helpfulness but found that to be a misuse of this forum.

kk

Dear anonymous, I think what you just wrote clinches the argument. Margo is misusing this site.

noname

It also demonstrates the reason that so many people post here anonymously. Other people and companies use this site to gather e-mail addresses for their own target marketing purposes. I received six different unsolicited travel newsletters, endless hotel advertisements and finally cruise ship ads! I'll not post my real e-mail address here ever again, thanks to shisters like Margo. Boot her off this forum1

Randy Malpaso

I think Sheila from Scotland is a travel agent too. It stands too reason, no-one would type out all those lengthy replies unless they were trying to intice you to visit there. <BR> <BR>no-one has that much time on their hands.

Captain J T Kirk

Geessshh. What's the big deal? As long as she provides some useful information, who cares if she writes tour books? I mean, she's not here trying to get us to buy her books, is she? She's just dispensing information. maybe some of us don't think it's useful info (I don't know - I frankly don't remember reading any of her posts), but she's trying.

Cindy

Well, Captain, I think it is a serious abuse for someone to lift an e-mail address from this forum and use it to try to sell someone something. I don't use my e-mail anymore for that reason. Before I knew better, I did receive an e-mail response from one of the regulars on this board, and the information was very helpful. But that person was being helpful, not selling something.

emailfodors

I e-mailed Fodor's yesterday about Margo and got back an e-mail response that they will look into it. All of you who object to her advertising (which is what it is) should contact Fodor's. They will check it out (as in MauiHeidi) and remove her postings.

Jane

Such nasty hostility! Lately it seems I'm finding more and more mean-spirited and very personal attacks on my beloved website and I think it's really unfortunate. This forum is about sharing a love of travel and helping others. As far as I'm concerned, cowardly insults are far more prevalent and unwelcome than Margo's innocuous postings. <BR> <BR>That said, I do believe there is no place for advertising on this forum, and perhaps Margo should eliminate her tag line. It would be wrong to allow her to keep the pitch - however inoffensive - because I fear it would open the floodgates to others with less tact. <BR> <BR>Personally, I'm very grateful that Margo took the time to answer my questions in such great detail. She was a great help in planning my recent trip to Italy and I'd be very sorry to see her run off the forum. Evidently there are many of us who have benefitted from information she has provided - why is that so awful and unforgivable? <BR> <BR>Please leave your ugly comments off this website and let people enjoy the Forum in peace.

fakename

Yet another Friend of Margo above who wants to ensure that she keeps right on using this forum for her own marketing and sales purposes. Give it rest, you sound just like all the other "I'm so grateful for Margo" zombies. <BR> <BR>I've e-mailed Fodor's too. We'll see how long she lasts here.

Sheila

Dear Randy, <BR> <BR>Actually I'm a solicitor (that's attorney in US speak). And if you think what I post here is long, you should see what I'm doing by e-mail. I'm yet to e-mail anyone from here(with one exception) without an invitation; and given your tone, don't quite know whether to be insulted or flattered. <BR> <BR>I can't remember any posts from Margo; but the thought police have sure as hell run her off from here.

Walter

I was trying to stay out of this but these are my observations. Margo used to post on the Frommers Forum, the same "cut and snip replies". She always mentioned "I write a travel guide" or something and had her website always attached. Her actual answers to anything outside of her snipped messages were usually vague or wrong esp on travel questions (like Rome-Florence by train 3hrs). And she was and still is pushing people to buy all their (Italy) train tickets thru RailEurope Why??? I remember responding to her post on Frommers where she gave a person 4 websites for their Italy question, IIRC 1 was for the EuroStar (Channel Tunnel train), 2nd was unknown, 3rd was in Italian only, and the 4th was also way off base. When she 1st started posting here she didn't include her website but I knew it was only a matter of time before she started to spam this group. My opinion has always been how could she be so clueless on basic Italy travel/tourist questions but *so* detailed on her hotel/B&B posts. If her info helps people find lodgings that's fine but she is only doing it to promote her book. IMO that is wrong on this forum. Regards, Walter <BR>