Inadvertently gave bad advice. Now what?
 

Recently someone posted looking for a US &quot;cottage type&quot; beach vacation for late May-just a couple with no kids. I was intrigued by the request so did a web search &amp; came up with some options which I posted. (I was fairly clear that I had no personal experience with any of them.) The poster responded with a big thank you about one of the places I mentioned saying it looked perfect.<BR><BR>After that I did a search on tripadvisor.com and discovered the place is dreadful! I reposted with a URL to the reviews and then offered several options I found right here on Fodors under hotels in the Keys. It doesn't appear she's seen these latest posts. (I topped it once). I tried emailing her with the name she signed on the last &quot;thank you&quot; post adding an aol address. It evidently got sent but no reply from recipient. I feel terrible at the possibility this poster will have a disastrous trip. What would you do?

I'd post a &quot;911&quot; message that includes the original poster's name in the message title. If she's still reading the forums she'll probably spot it. If not, you did your best. You mention having made it clear that you indicated no first hand experience with the properties when you posted - that's enough caveat emptor to prompt any reasonable person to do more research before reserving.

Can you send a note to the Fodors people? If she is registered, they must have an email for her. While I'm sure they would not give you her email address, they may forward it to her.<BR><BR>For what it is worth, I would bet she would read all reviews she can find before she leaves or books. She may stumble onto the bad reviews on her own.<BR><BR>Hey, at least you tried.

I normally won't recommend anything on this forum unless I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.

I frequent message boards to get advice from people who have actual experience with the places they advise on. I'm alarmed to find out that that is not the case. <BR> <BR>Next time I make a request for information, I will be sure to request that only those who have actually been there respond.

Don't beat yourself up. Everyone makes mistakes. And this person surely did some homework of their own and found out the facts before they made their reservation. If they didn't, then they will learn a lesson. Don't worry about it. Enjoy the boards and continue to help people when you can.

Don't worry about it. No one in their right mind would base a vacation on the advice of one total stranger. They should take advice and do their own research from several different sources. If they listen to just one person who they don't know they deserve what they get.

Angeleno, I remember that post and she prefaced her comments by saying: &quot;no personal experience&quot;. T'were me reading, I'd hold no one responsible but myself if I got there and found it was terrible, in fact, even if she had said she had been herself and loved it, if I went no further than that in my study, I have only myself to fault. We are at all different levels of travel experience and what suits one perfectly, may be the worst possible choice for another...and vice versa for the same couple.

One traveller's treasure is another one's trash.

Thanks to all of you for advice. I've taken GoTravel's suggestion for now. If that doesn't work, I'll perhaps follow with Owen's advice. Angeleno, your attitude is proof no good turn goes unpunished.