Selena

Do a search on Paris hotels here (Margo's on just about every one)and notice that her voluminous and overly detailed responses are indeed repetitive and cut and paste. She's been able to operate here for a while with no protests, so she has grown bolder. On one post she left her Hello Europe web address, then on later posts she left the address plus the title and prices of her books! Agents and authors always focus on the things that will earn them commissions or kickbacks - hotel and restaurants - and that's where she lurks.

Jane

Selena, Walter, Cindy and others who are grown-up enough to identify yourselves - <BR>Thank you for rationally and sanely defending your point of view sans histrionics. <BR> <BR>My interaction with Margo had been very low-key and I didn't realize she was now posting prices to her books. That IS a step too far. If she is willing to help out as others do on this forum - there are other travel writers who post here regularly without advertising - then there should be no reason to keep her from responding to questions. However, given that she seems to have gone from low-key to hard sell, my suggestion may be naive. (Margo, I hope you prove me wrong.) <BR> <BR>I still have to enter a plea to please stop the "blithering chat-roomesque fodder" that has lately corrupted this forum - we'd all be better off without it.

marie

Jane, I find your posts blithering, ill-informed and useless. Please stop posting. We'd all be better off without you. <BR> <BR>Now, can you take it as well as you can dish it out? You're no arbiter. Post your opinion and stop trying to judge and censor others.

Paul

Marie, <BR> <BR>You are not helping by insulting people for no apparent reason. <BR> <BR>Can all of the rude people please go back to the USA forum? We are not used to this sort of poor behavior on the Europe board, and it is most unattractive.

Jane

Marie, <BR>God loves you. Sleep well tonight. <BR> <BR>Jane

LKM

As this particular thread long ago became a lost cause for everyone, here is one reader's (final) observations: <BR>&gt;Is Fodors Forum free of charge?: yes <BR>&gt;Does Fodors pay 10's of thousands of <BR> dollars/year for its upkeep?: probably <BR>&gt;Does Fodors state policies?: yes <BR>&gt;Does Fodors list an email address for <BR> contact?: yes <BR>&gt;Did Margo overstep one of these <BR> policies?: probably <BR>&gt;Is Margo the devil incarnate for <BR> (allegedly) breaking the rule?: no <BR>&gt;Is Margo a normal, knowledgeable person <BR> just trying to make a living?: probably <BR>&gt;Did she get over-zealous in her attempt <BR> to do that here?: yes <BR>&gt;Does she have an email address for <BR> contact?: yes <BR>&gt;Are some persons in everyday life <BR> rude?: yes <BR>&gt;Are some persons on this site <BR> rude?: yes <BR>&gt;Does that make it right for everyone <BR> to be rude?: no <BR>&gt;Can most of life's trivial problems <BR> be solved in a logical way without <BR> vitriol?: absolutely

Joe

Yes, as someone else on this forum quipped, this is a delicious collection of pots and kettles calling each other black. Your continued posts perpetuate the very thing you are all now complaining about, but that's the whole point, isn't it? To keep the arguments going and the insults flying. That's why we all keep coming back. <BR> <BR>If you come to Fodor's and post insults about other people's opinions, posts, whatever, then like Marie said, be prepared to take what you so readily dish out. <BR> <BR>Back to the original topic now. If you continue to allow Margo to conduct business here unfettered, you open the flood gates to everyone else who has something to sell you and will readily use this place to do it. Go check out any other well known travel site out there. They're all full of lurking travel professionals. It's nice to come to this forum, and unlike all the others out there, I usually don't have to wonder what the motives are behind the suggestions.

frank

Go gettim Sheila!Enquire as to whether his mother can sew! <BR>Randy, Scotland is a small country full of warm hearted but violent people. <BR>Sheila dispenses both feelings with equal generosity, not for gain.I'm sure she realises your comments are a friendly wind-up, anyway you're probably insured. <BR>This is the funniest thread I have ever read on Fodors! <BR>Strange how possesive & protective people can get about a site...any psychologists out there? <BR>

Falcon

For obvious legal reasons books find it easier to say something positive about a joint (place country etc) than pointing out the "dodgy" things to watch out for. That's why forums such as this are of use. One can share one's experinces and one can identify a "dodgy" place by finding many references about it. <BR>* <BR>Anyhow - one thing that i haven't been able to find in any book is an answer to my current apprehension about my fortcoming business trip to Belgium and the Netherlands. I have tried to postpone it in order to avoid the soccer "hooligans" which are roaming the streets. So that i can take alternative measures,could anybody please tell me if in Brussels and Amsterdam there is any soccer played there? <BR>* <BR>I

Sheila

Violent! I'm not violent! If you say that again, I'll hit you! <BR> <BR>Actually, I don't really understand what is going on in here just now- no just in this thread. The agressiveness is amazing. I think that may be the answer to the culture question....Americans fel able to be verbally abusive when the rest of us pale and shrinking violets prefer to be restrained and chunter into our coffee instead. <BR> <BR>Who IS Margo anyway?. <BR> <BR>

ilisa

Yes, Falcon, soccer is being played in Brussels and Amsterdam. The European championship is happening right now, with the final to be played on July 2 (can't remember which location).

David

I remember a day (it now seems so long ago) when there actually used to be nice, helpful, informative postings on Fodors. Now, we seem to spend most of our time attacking people (rightly or wrongly). That's really a shame.

Donna

Okay, people, what am I missing here??? In the posts that Margo responds to, where does she say, 'Buy my books'? She doesn't. Are you saying the information she posts isn't informative? If a person asks about a hotel, she supplies valuable information about the rooms, rates, and location. she doesn't even say, 'Stay at this hotel'. If you were searching for information regarding a hotel, wouldn't this type of information be of interest to you?? Give her a break. You don't have to buy her books or visit he site. Lighten up, folks. This is a travel information forum!

David

From a Paris hotel post and the free breakfast is Spam & Eggs. "Free breakfast when you show owner/manager Christian Tourneur or staff this book. Métro: École Militaire. <BR>http://www.HelloEurope.com" <BR> <BR>

Mel

David- <BR>Did you get that information from one of her postings on the forum or did you go to her site?

Anonymous

Donna - I'm sorry but you seemed to have missed my point written earlier within this post. It's not a matter of just not buying her books or ignoring her responses to questions. My experience with Margo was that I had posted my real email address along with my question within this forum. I RECEIVED AN EMAIL DIRECTLY FROM MARGO on my home email address answering my question ALONG WITH INFORMATION ON HOW I COULD PURCHASE HER BOOKS. <BR> <BR>So, this isn't just a matter of overlooking her advertising (and she is!) within this forum, it's also a case of her lifting email addresses for a direct sell of her books. <BR> <BR>I agree that she has useful information but I don't appreciate receiving blatant advertising/spam at home as a result of posting a question. It's a direct violatin of this forum.

SensibleAnswer

Enough already - please please just e-mail Fodor's and they will remove Margo and her book selling techniques from the Forum. It's easy - once they get some input from you all she's history.

sal

First of all, why in the world do people come to these type of threads and post pleas for everyone else to stop posting! I laugh every time I see one of those "peacmakers" posting a "let's get back to travel" post. O.K., you first, buddy! Show us how it's done and DON'T post here! <BR> <BR>You'll notice that the most helpful of the Fodorites (like Wes Fowler) never post on threads like these. They ignore them, which, if your goal is REALLY to make them drop down and disappear, is what you should do. But that's not the goal for the so-called peacemakers. They want to chime in their two cents and criticizing everyone else for doing the same. What a bunch of hypocrites. If you post on threads like these, like me, you're here to argue, period. <BR> <BR>As an aside, I received an e-mail from Fodor's this morning saying they are looking into Miss Margo from Hello Europe. Her days on this foum are numbered. Did you get that, Margo? Bye bye! No more book pitches for you!

aregular

what a bunch of self-important, jealous, anal retentive nitwits! I emailed Margo after her first posting to aks who she was & for some help since she seemed knowledgable. She admitted that she is a travel writer, did not offer to sell the book & gave me some specific travel info that was helpful. She is hardly Rick Steves or Karen Brown; in other words, I doubt she makes enough to make a living on her book. Did it ever occur to you angry, prozac needy types that she might just enjoy helping others with travel info? I know I do. I wish all the nasty folks here would just go away. Maybe you need a nice trip to Europe (make it one way).

Art

I told my self that I would no longer post to this type. Yes I've just become a Hypocrite. <BR>To: ([email protected]) (last posting) <BR>Please don'nt wish the nasty folks one way to Europe. It would ruin it for the rest. <BR>You all know that it so easy to delete unwanted e-mails, you can even set up spam detectors so I don't think that its a good reason to be anonymous. <BR>I wish you all great travels. <BR> <BR>Art (My real name)