my friend was brought to balerang bridge with this driver who was recommended by my singaporeans cheap and realiable but before he had bad experience with trip advisor as alot of indonesian travel agent in batam price but those who pm and are travel advisors or travel agent surfing for business pls get hold of yourself
*i also want to let this forummers know that the trip advisors should put discipline to this wolves
Thanks for your message.
I don't really get your point. So you are saying some people from Batam sent private messages to your friend offering their services? Did your friend get cheated? Can you provide more details so others may take caution?
Thanks!
Yes i think so Chandrana. He meant people from Batam read our forum too, and when chances arises, pm them their own contacts for businesses.
This is what i understood.
dragonstar can provide more details or screenshots?
yes chandrana and yihanz you are correct my friend paid like 1juta for the 1 day trip alone we singaporeans dont do this kind of things and the indonesian chinese lady was in singapore and we believe its operating in harbourfront i have reported to the singapore tourism board about this and best part she is part of destination advisor.
Edited: 1:46 am, March 05, 2013how do you know she is part of the advisor in Batam forum? o.o
she show my friend the trip advisor certificate so my friend just took it forgranted and how do i know people here are not part of it
Okay, we don't have a female destination expert here in Batam forum. There is only me and Richard.
If it's a member of TripAdvisor, then there is nothing we could do. Anyone with internet can just make an account here.
Finally, I am not aware of any TA certificate. At least, I don't have one. And just for your information, TA destination expert is only as good as the forum goes. We are not given any privileged to use our status to do any business in the name of TA.
Most likely your friend got scammed and I am sorry that it happened.
Wish you and your friend better travel experiences ahead.
Cheerrsss
Hey Chandrana, yes there are TA certificates. Inside Isabella Massage outlet, there is a TA certificate hung at the pillar there.
mr chandrana not to be rude TA certs can be made and posted everywhere so how do i know which one is genuine or fake
Forum users must be very cautious of people representing themselves as being a Tripadvisor 'authorised' business, or a Tripadvisor 'representative'.
I have heard some people turn up at hotels and restaurants and 'announce' themselves, then expect special treatment.
Apparently some people also turn up at a hotel, restaurant or other travel related business demanding special treatment, sometimes they may threaten to write an unfavourable report if they do not receive it.
Business owners should of course just ignore people like that.
You can be somewhat certain that Chandrana and Richard don't behave like that, and neither do I ( I am a DE elsewhere in Indonesia).
If one of us did behave like that the condemnation and derision we would receive from others in the community would be somewhat overwhelming, it is unlikely we would be able to continue in that role.
TA would also strip the DE tag, and likely disable the account.
So rest assured, Chandrana and Richard maybe cheeky, sometimes lighthearted and entertaining, but on other levels they are quite serious and focussed, they are just not going to support the sort of behaviour you have described.
What is happening is people are scamming, and misrepresenting themselves.
Some 'merchant' participants can get a certificate that recognises their business has been included in TA reviews.
It would take 5-10 minutes to scan one of these, change the details and print one.
Alternatively someone could just download a copy of the logo, use the same typeface and make up something for themselves.
If someone solicits through the PM (personal message) feature, and they appear to be soliciting for business them please report it on the open forum, or send a message to TA administrators using the form available here http://www.tripadvisor.com/GeneralSupport
Dragonstar, unfortunately even currency notes are counterfeited, just trust your own intuition, and use the Forums here to ask a question when unsure, or just curious.
Also others depend upon the feedback given by fellow forum users, so don't forget to provide your own feedback from your travels, that can assist others, as does your Post here today.
Edited: 3:39 am, March 05, 2013Yes you are right too, certificate can be duplicated easily. Oh well...
As long we receive good service, it doesnt really matters if they have the TA certificate or not.
I believed that with lousy services, even with TA certificates pasted everywhere, they still wont be able to get any business.
Cheers
