I have never met WF but have heard a lot of criticism about him over the years, as have we all. I do not know if the criticism is justified, from what I can tell some of it might be, but I’m not really in a position to judge most of it. The man does what he does, and the relentless self-promotion seems to have paid off for him. So what? What I wanted to say is that to me there is nothing inherently wrong or outrageous about the concept of charging fees for the privilege of following an experienced chaser. What, after all, is it that tour groups provide to their customers? As I see it, it is primarily the service of getting those customers to the right place at the right time. This can be accomplished just as easily by caravanning as by cramming everyone into vans. As long as the “tour director†gives good value, i.e. takes people to good vantage points where they can see and film tornadic storms, what’s the difference? The real main value added by tour operators is their forecasting ability and their competency at positioning themselves during the chase. It seems to me that this value is provided in full to those who follow in their own vehicles. While I may not approve of a lot of the things that WF has done, I have to say that charging for following privileges is not one of them. I’m not saying that it’s a great idea or that others should start doing it, I’m just pointing out that the concept is not as silly as some people made it out to be. As for the amount charged, in a capitalist society the value of something is what the market can bear. If people are willing to pay WF’s prices year after year, is that not proof that in this case the market can indeed bear it? Who are we to say that this is wrong?
