PMs

"Please", 'thank you" , politeness and good manners in general are becoming relics of a bygone era.

Many people are just used to saying "alexa.., I want....

I get those, too - people ask for information and then after I spend some time on the response, I never hear back. I think a lot of it is what Joe is saying - people nowadays do not bother to acknowledge and thank others for help. I can't tell you the number of gifts I've given to relatives and friends for showers and birthdays where I never received a thank you or acknowledgement. I'm sure motivations differ - some people may be lazy or procrastinate and others just don't think it's important.

But by the same token, people here on the public forum also do that. How many times have we responded to posts from (usually) first time posters who never bother to come back and acknowledge or thank those who took the time to help. It's not just the PMs.

For me, I keep doing it because I enjoy it as I know you do. It's nice to be thanked but I think for most of us it's the joy of sharing our love for travel with others. Hopefully even if they don't respond, they still appreciate it. :)

Well, I don’t worry about people saying thank you - I do know how the internet promotes a feeling of anonymity. But I have just received a number of PMs with the same question, so I began to wonder about whether or not they were even real people. And wondered if that had happened to anyone else.

And again - several people have asked and we’ve discussed my information. So I don’t mean any of them!

I'm curious too. Do the PMs sound human? Do they give their name in their message?

I sometimes wonder if new posters have the setting in their profile that alerts them if they receive a message.

When I've tried to confirm I'm talking to a real and sincere person, I cautiously try to engage them in conversation.

They do sound human. And everyone is polite. But they all ask the same question: contact info for my driver in Jordan. Which I have his blessing to provide. So our regulars (several) respond and one really nice lady messaged with a report on their trip, which I loved. I am hoping to meet her at some point. But 50-75% have never posted even once and I never get a response…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry they are bothering you TexasTravemom, ms. G.

I have a theory that that could be the same person, maybe even the driver, signing in as different new names to build traffic some how, hmmmmmmm... how's their grammar and spelling?

I got a few PMs during the train strikes and I communicate with friends, but nothing like yours, certainly nothing repetitive...

TexasTravelmom, I get it - that is a little weird if they're all asking about your driver, but like you said, it's probably first time posters who read your trip report and want that information.

One thing you could do is ask Andrew to have a look at them to see if he can spot any irregularities. He would have access to their ISP and could see if many are coming from the same place. If there is some bot or spammer targeting members here, I'm sure he would want to know.

Good thoughts! Am sitting on a plane in London at the moment (about to have no connection for the rest of today), but when I get home I may go back and take a count just for curiosity.

I sometimes wonder if new posters have the setting in their profile that alerts them if they receive a message.

CW, the default setting when you sign up for an account is that an email is automatically sent if someone replies to your post. However, if you send a PM, you will not be notified of a response unless you actively change the settings to allow it.

in London and you didn't call?

I could call right now from the plane while we are delayed! LOL! Just transferring through from
Madrid to DFW this time. But I’ll be back end of November for a week in London!

I can't tell you the number of gifts I've given to relatives and friends for showers and birthdays where I never received a thank you or acknowledgement.

So true and sad! We send so many gifts to people who do not live nearby and I only want to know ‘Did they receive it?’. I don’t even care if they liked it, LOL!

As a suggestion, post this info with a link or email address, on your trip report and then anyone who wants it can have it without bothering you.

Ms. Jo for the win! Great idea!!

Well, that is bizarre. I like the suggestion to contract Andrew and let him take a look when he has time.

You could also ask a question back first and see if you get a response, or just ignore totally. I suspect totally ignoring would be difficult for you!

Welcome home, lol!!

Here I was hoping that PMs meant discussion about the next UK Prime Minister.

1. Indeed - Ms. Jo for the win. I am going to go back and include it.

When I wrote my report, I hadn’t asked permission to include it and somehow it didn’t feel ok (and I was probably wrong - after all, it’s a business). A few months ago, I did ask and receive approval - so that has changed.

1. I sure hope no one hears me say I mind getting PMs with questions! Nor do I think I need a thank you! I was mainly wondering if I was missing some kind of internet problem I didn’t know to look for.

2. I did go back and count and my perception wasn’t exactly right. I have received 17 requests for the contact info in the last year - and 8 of those responded in some way after I sent it. So the rest were from people with no posts on the forum, who didn’t reply, for whatever reason.

3. Nigel, I try hard to avoid politics, so I am ill-equipped to ask a question about Prime Ministers (except maybe “Who is it now?” ) Sorry to be so boring…. LOL! And yes, a long day but home, Pam!

Someone posted about the forum fading away. Not with you super posters!

There’s a legacy of tens of thousands of posts from the authors here and someone wants to ruminate about PM inquiries? It’s all fascinating where the art of responding outpaces the actual subject matter.