College a waste of time? Depends on the student. But just maybe, if you study and apply yourself, you can pull your head out of the sand!

Argueing the point that the outfitter rating site is a good/bad idea is beside the real point. Its already out there. Good idea/bad idea doesn' t matter. Time to deal with reality instead of tilting at windmills.

Beaverjack, you stated that " Sites that post unsolicited reviews ain' t scientific or fair." Isn' t that what these forums are? You' ve probably been to the gear review and guns forums. What you read is a lot of unscientific opinions on what has worked/not worked for a bunch of unscientific posters. Unsolicited? The outfitter review site is soliciting opinions the same way someone on the gear or gun forum solicits opinions.

A few tidbits you might pick up in school, or perhaps the school of hard knocks - one " aw sh*t" wipes out a hundred " atta-boys" . And a dissatisfied customer talks way more people than a satisfied customer. (can' t recall the exact stat, so I' ll leave it vague).

An outfitter can bury his head in the sand and pretend that the internet ain' t out there. Good " strategy" - look what it' s done for the record companies! Or maybe, just maybe he can embrace it in his follow-up contact with his guests. See what they liked/didn' t like. Accept or reject their feedback as he/she sees fit. After all, that' s their right. Got good feedback? Mention these sites, send an e-mail with the link, encourage (not nag) them to share their experience. You' re always gonna have unreasonable, unhappy customers. Gotta do the best you can to mitigate the situation.

Someone mentioned a hunter who was unhappy because he was fed fresh caught fish. For the amount of money he was probably paying, perhaps he should have asked what the meals would be like, if it was that important. Certainly there was enough time for the outfitter to manage his client' s expectations in letters/calls before-hand, telling his customer what to expect, how to prepare. Heck, what if you were allergic to fish? You' d be glad to find out ahead of time what you' d be eating. What if your customer was allergic to fish? You' d be glad that you took the opportunity to let him know and avoided that disaster. Outfitting is a service, so it' d pay to go the extra mile to make certain you' ve done as much as you can to make your customers happy.

Monitor the sites (we all seem to be on this site often enough! ) See a negative review? Call/e-mail the poster. If you' re following up with your customers it' s likely that you already have talked to them. Is it a crank? Posted under the wrong outfitter? Contact the site host, see what you can do.

The internet is a business tool, just like the phone or magazine ads. You can use it, or ignore it. Choice is yours.