Many bloggers are shady. A few are scumbags.
We know this.
But, man, some of you readers are worse.
I gave a recommendation for an award booking service on Friday. How did I come up with my choice?
- They’re honest.
- I respect how they do business.
- They answer questions people have.
- They do complicated bookings well.
- I only get positive reviews about them from readers.
That’s it. I’m not an expert reviewer of every company on the internet. With other competitors, I’ve heard (from readers) things like the following:
- No person you can talk to on the phone.
- They didn’t respond to emails.
- Complicated bookings were totally ignored.
- Quoted prices were jacked up later.
- Customer service was awkward or rude.
- Some bloggers advertised “their” service, hired other people, and took the credit. I know this because their employees emailed me complaining about how little they were paid and how badly they were treated.
Guys, please understand…if you know of better choices, all you have to do is tell me about them. I would happily do a post about multiple good options. But, of all the emails I received from Friday’s post, most were negative. And not one included a name of a good competitor. Most of the time, I love reading emails. But this was a waste…a lot of incoherent whining.
I understand how blogging works. 90% of you really just show up to take something from here. Deals or entertainment. I get it. By definition, that could be considered a greedy perspective. But that’s how it works. I have no problem with it. I signed up for this and enjoy helping when I can. 5% of you are shockingly, incredibly generous human beings. I know if I ever asked for something here, you’d do your best to give it to me. That 5% completely blows my mind. And the remaining 5% of you are either crazy or totally illogical. You will literally complain at every possible opportunity. These complaints don’t even have to make sense. In fact, they rarely do. You hate bloggers, airlines, hotel chains, and mileage programs. I’m a person known for keeping it real, so you have a hard time whining about posts here. But, when given the opportunity, you jump all over me too. I don’t know how I can say this more clearly – I don’t know what’s wrong with this 5%. But I don’t like them. I don’t respect them. And they don’t have anything meaningful to say.
What would happen if I actually wanted something from you guys? I don’t think I’d even be able to keep up with the complaints. So instead of emailing the crazy 5% individually, I’d like to do it here this time…
Dear Crazy People:
I recommended Shrewd Travel because Andrew is honorable. Period. What other reasons for having an opinion are required in your crazy heads? You want more? Ok, every single bit of feedback I’ve received about them has been positive. On the other hand, I’ve gotten feedback for other award booking “companies” and the reviews suck. If that’s not good enough for you, do you actually have anything to add? Since I can only share information I know, how about giving me some other good options. Oh, right…you don’t actually have anything to say.
You don’t like the idea of paying a person to book flights for you? Well, neither do I. Personally, I’d never use an award booker myself. For me, it’s a waste of money. I’m not their ideal client. The internet is full of information and I prefer to learn stuff myself. But think of it like hiring a realtor. In a hot market, some sellers show effort and get educated about contracts, marketing, etc. They end up saving big money on commissions. Good for them. Others don’t have that kind of time, so they hire a dude to handle everything. That’s what an award booker like Shrewd Travel does. They book complicated itineraries for people who don’t have the time. It isn’t for everyone. Definitely not for me. Most of us would rather save money and figure it out for ourselves. But there are nice people out there who want to hire someone. They ask me for my recommendation. So tell me, what would you have me do? Not have an opinion?
You know what, forget I asked. Your answer will just lead us into another one of your nonsensical circles of craziness. Wow, I think you’ve finally done it. I’m done humoring you. Why not find another blogger to annoy? It shouldn’t be hard to find one of those. But when he tries to screw you over, just remember I was the guy who gave a shit.
Nah. Y’know what? I don’t need you to remember that. Please just leave.
Sincerely Happy To Be Done With The Crazy 5%,
MileNerd
