Bad directory! Shame on you!

I'm feeling a little guilty.

I got a phone call this afternoon from a site visitor who was wondering if I had any more information on a Ski Chalet specialist website which I list on Travel-Lists, because he was interested in booking a chalet in the French Alps and they wanted full payment up front. He just wanted to know if I could recommend them. 

...yea, I expect so. It wouldn't be on Travel-Lists if I didn't think it was worthy.

As I looked up the listing, and from there, checked out the website...I had a sinking feeling. This site did meet any of my basic criteria....most of all, no transparency. 

Bad enough that there was no sign of any professional affiliation/licensing scheme/financial protection  (no ABTA, AITO, AITO Trust, ATOL, Travel Trust Assoc, etc), but there was just no transparency at all - no address, no Terms & Conditions page, no About Us page, nothing. The kind of site I hate.

I told him to avoid them, suggested a couple of alternatives, and deleted them from Travel Lists.

But how could it have slipped through in the first place? (... unless - maybe, fingers crossed - it wasn't like that when it started out.)

I would name names, but I could do without the legal hassles. They were shit, and you won't find them on my site anymore.