Can you trust the information on this website?

Storm chasing tours are expensive and could be dangerous. An important question to ask yourself when you use the information on this website to book a storm chasing tour is: “Can I trust this information?”.

Since we cannot guarantee that the information on this website is accurate, true or up to date the answer to this question, we must reluctantly say, is: No.

Just like any information and review website on the internet, the information and data here could be subjected to misunderstandings and misinterpretations, inaccurate sources, malicious intentions, fake reviews and comments, hacking attacks etc.

In short: Please use StormChasingUSA.com as a reference before you book your storm chasing tour but:

  • Verify the data with other sources of information. Do not use StormChasingUSA.com as your only source of information.
  • Read our terms and conditions.
  • Keep a critical stand point towards the information, ratings, reviews and comments on this website.
  • Always, always double check the information with the tour company before you book your tour.

Are all tour companies on this website “ok”?

StormChasingUSA.com strives to be an unbiased source of information of storm chasing tours. This is done by letting all different tour companies be listed here, for free. No matter how small (or big), or their background.

By keeping all different tour companies on the website, this does not necessarily mean that all companies have the same (high) quality. It just means that they are a storm chasing tour company that offers storm chasing tours. The goal of the website is to provide you with as much information as possible, and let you be the judge of who is the best.

StormChasingUSA.com does not have a black list for the same reason. The hope is that reviews, comments and ratings will help you make a good decision when you choose your tour.

Thus, we can not guarantee that all tour companies mentioned on this website are serious, safe, professional or a good option for your storm chasing tour.

Reviews and ratings

People are usually more likely to write reviews about something when they are very content or very discontent with a product. Keep this in mind when reading the reviews. The reviews may not represent the average guest experience on a tour, but rather the positive and negative extremes.

It is natural that the tour companies will tell their clients to write a review on StormChasingUSA.com. It could, of course be, tempting not to include the discontent clients in this dispatch or not to remind the guests to write reviews after a bad tour.

Fake reviews and comments

Prior to June 2013, with the earlier version of this website, the website experience problems with possibly fake reviews, both positive and negative. This proved to be difficult to control and was one of the reasons for a major upgrade of the website.

One feature, in this new version, is that the reviewer has the option to validate his or her review by sending in evidence of actually being on the tour (such as a receipt). Validated reviews are the only ones that are accounted for in the ratings average. Validated reviews also receive a higher visibility on the website.

Unvalidated reviews are, however, posted as well. The reason for doing so is because it is likely that most of them are legit, but that the contributor decided, for some reason, to not send in a validation.

Comments are not validated in the same manner and should be read with the same caution as all internet discussions.

Despite validating and reviewing the reviews and comments prior to publication, we cannot guarantee that the comments or reviews are accurate, true or up to date.

Information sources

The tour companies, and especially their websites, are the major source of information for the information of the tour companies. The tour companies do, to some extent, have the ability to adjust the information of their tours, their company etc. They do not, however, have the ability to edit reviews or comments.

The general articles about storm chasing are based upon numerous interviews with storm chasers and internet research.

Advertisement

StormChasingUSA.com is a commercial website that profits from advertisement. There are Google Adsense-ads and banners. Additionally there are affiliate links for flights, hotels and Amazon-items etc.

Tour companies have the possibility to gain better visibility on the site through advertisement (where banners is one option). Higher list position in unordered lists, larger font etc is another option. It is not, and will never be, possible to buy higher ratings, censor reviews and comments etc.

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