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Thread: Community Policies: Travel agents and travel industry representatives

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    Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix
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    Community Policies: Travel agents and travel industry representatives

    We welcome the participation of travel agents in our community and discussion forums, regardless of your advertising relationship with MousePlanet. All travel agents and travel industry representatives (including hotels, airlines, transportation services and restaurants) are expected to abide by the same MousePad Community Policies as all other members, which include guidelines about solicitation, member privacy and personal attacks.

    These rules apply equally to everyone, whether you advertise with us or not, and members are subject to disciplinary action for violations of our Community Policies. Our goal is to make these guidelines as clear and comprehensive as possible, to avoid any conflicts between agents and to provide the most welcome atmosphere possible in our community.

    • Travel agents are encouraged to post information about Disney-issued discounts and promotions, so long as these offers are not agency-restricted and do not require readers to book with a specific agent to receive the offer. For example, it's perfectly acceptable to post about a new Free Dining promotion at Walt Disney World if that offer is available to everyone, but it is not acceptable to post about an exclusive discount or benefit available only through your agency. Regardless of the content, posts may not include or end with a solicitation, like "contact me for more information," or "call me to take advantage of this offer."


    • Travel agents who book Disney Cruise Line vacations may not include or mention your agency-specific shipboard credit or rebate when posting about DCL prices, offers or packages. (ie, you may not post "Disney is offering $400 off category 9 rooms, and I'll add another $200 shipboard credit if you book with me!").




    • Agents and industry representatives may post their company name, contact information, phone number, Web site(s) and/or small image in their signature file. (Click here for more information about signatures) This will appear at the bottom of every post you make, and is the ONLY place such information may be posted. It is not appropriate to put your contact information in your posts ("Call me at 555-555-1212 for more information,"); solicit contacts via your posts, ("Click the link in my signature for more information," or "Send me an e-mail if you want a quote."); or link to your commercial Web site in your posts. (This includes business pages on social media sites like Facebook or MySpace). If your signature is properly created, everyone will know you're a travel agent; if your information is helpful, people will be more likely to contact you on their own. Blatant advertising is not only likely to turn readers off of using your services, but is also a violation of our Community Policies and may result in the suspension of your MousePad account.


    • Agents and industry representatives may not, for any reason, use the e-mail or private messaging features of MousePad to make unsolicited contact with a potential client. If a MousePad member says, "I'm thinking about booking this trip, what advice can you give me?" it is NOT appropriate to contact them privately, even if you're "just being helpful." Any advice you have to share should be posted to the open forum so all members can benefit from your experience. Any member who receives an unsolicited message from a travel agent is encouraged to report the contact to the MousePad moderators, and we'll take the appropriate steps. If a MousePad member initiates the contact with an agent, you may continue the discussion.


    • The public MousePad forum is not the appropriate place for an agent to communicate with their client(s) about specific trips or inquiries. If you have established a relationship with a member and/or have booked a trip for them, please use other channels to discuss their trip particulars with them.


    • We also ask that agents refrain from publicly identifying members as your client. If a member wishes to share that they have booked a trip with you, that's their decision, but it's not appropriate to post, "Hey SusiePadder, are you getting excited about that trip I booked for you?" Please respect member privacy in all cases, and do not share details about your clients.


    • Representatives of Disney-area hotels, restaurants and transportation companies are welcome to answer direct questions asked about your property or business, but may not use MousePad to post your special offers or promotions. One exception: representatives of Good Neighbor Hotels may post special offers that are available at ALL Good Neighbor Hotels.


    • We appreciate the efforts of those representatives who monitor our site to identify customer service issues, but feel that MousePad is not the appropriate venue for resolving these issues. As with our review system, members may post about their experience with your service or business, and those accounts may not always be positive or flattering. If you are in a position to help the member, you may post a short response inviting the member to contact you offline for assistance with their issue. (This is the one exception where it is permitted to solicit contact). If you disagree with the representation made by the member, it is generally best to either ignore the post, or if you must reply, simply state that you dispute the facts presented and leave it at that. It is never acceptable for customers and businesses to argue their case in our forum, and the moderators will ask you to take your dispute offline. We ask agents and representatives to keep in mind that it is not only unprofessional, but potentially actionable, to post personal information about, or private communication with, your clients.

    We hope that these guidelines will help foster a friendly and informative environment for our readers. If you have any questions about this policy, please ask any of the MousePad Moderators for additional clarification.

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