25 Oct 2010

“On the home page for a travel outfit called Cooking Vacations, tourists are beckoned by the image of fun tools they can wield on their Euro excursions: two forks, a spoon and a knife.

But company owner Lauren Birmingham Piscitelli uses another implement to describe her experience with TripAdvisor.com, which reviews Cooking Vacations and thousands of other vacation businesses on its website. “It’s a double-edged sword,” she says.

“Usually clients who arrive already ready to complain before any program starts are the ones that will tell you they are not happy. And, as soon as they go home, they will write on TripAdvisor,” said the Boston-based Piscitelli. “Or, clients will threaten you to credit them (a refund) or they will go to TripAdvisor.”

Read the full article by Bill Briggs on msnbc.com – click here