Is it just me, or is there a new crop of posters on this board who live to burst people's bubbles? I know we're here to give honest feedback, and sometimes that means telling a poster "yes, that hotel is really bad. Try to stay elsewhere." But I'm talking about responses like "hotels that cheap are always bad", or "if TripAdvisor says it's bad, it's bad". This kind of "advice" is so general as to be useless. Does it satisfy some nasty urge to ruin someone else's day?

E....you are right I have noticed this too....But, you gotta get over to the "Other" board.....The rant from the reservations clerk......How do you spell "obnoxious" and nauseating....

Forget about it.

Screw off! (Just kidding; I couldn't resist.)

I saw that post this morning, too, Beach Boi. I was so dumbfounded that I didn't even want to waste my time responding. What was up with that and what was it supposed to accomplish? Sheesh!

You said it! Not just in the terse either.

BeeachBoi,
Thanks for pointing out the "Other" board topic.

I've had some bad attitude issues for a while. I hope it hasn't come out too much here. Maybe it's rubbing off on others.

Glad I could share..That chick has a llittle 'tude, huh !! Thinks of the "down time" she had..Classic case of job dissatisfaction and lack of self improvement..

Somedays, y'all really confuse an old woman...where is the attitude on that other board..and which other board???

But, anyway, you know the full moon is on the 19th...only 3 days away....it gets me kinda cranky and nutso.

BeachBoi: Wow, no kidding about the attitude! I worked in the tourism industry, and all I can say is that she's in the wrong field. Her job is to answer questions, politely and patiently, even if she thinks the questions are stupid, even if she thinks the callers are stupid. It's her JOB. And yes, you do hear some questions that just seem patently stupid, but so what? Every one of us has asked a dumb question at one time or another.

Time for her to move on and find a job that she will actually enjoy rather than despise.

iceeu2.....Go to the "Change Forum" box as if you were going to switch to any other forum..Keep clicking beyond "Cruises"..You will see "Other Topics".....Click that and its 4 or 5 down with only a few responses...the rant from the hotel reservations "person"...

I'm really surprised there haven't been more responses. Obviously, there've been a lot of readers! Wonder if she has any idea how much people have had to say about it on this board!

I agree that she doesn't seem to "get" why she's there. She definitely needs a better attitude and a better work ethic. But I think all of us who've worked with the public have had days like that! It might have been smarter on her part to cool off a bit and perhaps vent somewhere else.

A few weeks ago some of the people who post in the northwest were belittling the suggestions of others, but I haven't noticed those put-downs lately.

I think harebrained comments such as "cheap hotels are always bad" give more information about the people who write them than about the relationship between cost and worthiness.

I'm glad others are concerned about civility and rationality on this site.

'cuse me? but that 'belittling' mentioned above came when some people were making out-of-date suggestions which would be misleading to people following the advice today.

there's just plain nasty, which is not so helpful. but i believe posting contradictory opinions when i know a post is not true or entirely correct, is OK and part of what creates good balance on the board.

This thread is starting to cover a lot of different issues. Regarding the original question about "bursting each other's bubbles" yes, I see some (but thankfully very little) of that. It is particularly sad when someone proudly posts about a great apartment they found or wonderful meal they enjoyed only to be put down for others as if they had a complete lack of taste for liking it. I would chalk that up to the fact there are always a few losers out there who make themselves feel better by trying to act superior to others, particularly in regards to "taste".

But yesterday there was a whole series of nastiness that happened on the Europe board when a new poster posted a rather long question all in caps. When a regular poster answered starting with something like "let me say this as nicely as I can" and then apologized and explained thorougly why that is regarded as yelling, several posters started attacking -- not the original poster -- but rather the old timer who was tactfully trying to help. This happens often. Finally, the answer came out when the first "attacker" made it clear it was that old time poster she doesn't like and tried to pretend that there was something wrong with his post. We get a lot of that. I'll never understand why when someone tries to help a new poster by giving helpful hints (kindly and tactfully) on how to get better or more responses, others start belittling those who try to help. Why do some people actually prefer new posters to "live in the darkness" about understanding how the forum works instead of kindly helping them out or backing up helpful suggestions.

Regarding that reservation clerk on the "other" forum, I can't believe she actually says that people shouldn't call and say they only want rates, when it seems to me that is one of the primary functions of her job. But there are a lot of people in jobs they are totally unsuited for.