Priceline STINKS!

Here's why Priceline.com stinks. On 8-17-00 I almost signed up for their gasoline discount service. After reading the message I was presented with before I almost hit the last possible button in the process, I read that there was a charge for using their service. I sent this letter to their contact address:

To: Priceline For Gas Customer Service GasGeneralQuestions@webhouse.priceline.com
From: MADWAND@USA.COM
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2000 06:15:26 -0400

"Your first 90 days as a WebHouse Club member are absolutely free. After that, there is a nominal $3 per month processing fee. This one fee covers both groceries and gasoline, and is charged only in the months you use either service."

You almost had me with this BS. What do you think, people are morons? Even if I got the $1.10 price I was gonna ask for (and you damn well know that ain't likely), your $3 BS would have eaten that up immediately.

To: MADWAND@USA.COM
Subject: Membership & General Questions (KMM539467C0KM)
From: Priceline For Gas Customer Service GasGeneralQuestions@webhouse.priceline.com
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 02:43:32 -0400

Dear Priceline For Gasoline Member:
We have great news! Due to the strong acceptance from gas stations nationwide, we have eliminated the $3 monthly processing fee for Priceline for Gasoline. When you sign up Priceline for Gasoline, you become a Member of Priceline WebHouse Club. Please note that the processing fee is still in place for Priceline for Groceries.
We hope you find this infomation useful.
Sincerely,
Sally T
Priceline For Gasoline Customer Care

OK, I tried it. I was told that the three big Texaco stations I chose averaged $1.46 per gallon and the sorriest choice they offered me was for $1.35. I tried $1.30 and got rejected. That would have been a $.16 savings had I gotten it which is right in the middle of where they were saying the savings were on the commercials. Good riddance to another scam.

This isn't the only problem I had with them. In July of 2000 I had found a good price on a hotel room in Galveston, Tx. at the Commodore Inn. They were $65 a night and they were on the beach. I tried to use priceline since Shat says they are so great. I figured that if I found this price at the Commodore just by calling around a little, Priceline should be able to wipe the floor with them. so I spent approximately 3 hours trying to get a better price with them through their system. Even though their site says that you must check back in an hour, you can check back immediately. That is the one good thing about their system. I must have entered at least 30-40 different prices that I was willing to pay for different types of accomodations before I finally reallized that they could not beat the price I already had. I finally quit and reserved the room myself.

Fortunately, Priceline seems about to be going out of business. They have discontinued both their gasoline and grocery rip-off plans and their stock has plummetted from over $100 a share down in the $5 area, so hopefully we won't have to hear those ridiculous Shatner commercials for much longer...