[quote=fti;12699067]Why in the world is it "incumbent" on coolwulf to explain anything? He offered a service, now that service might be in question. [quote]
did anyone ask the Colonel Harland Sanders for the 11 herbs and spices, how about the recipe for Coke?
No need really for coolwulf to set up a BFT/BB type of site. I use those sites to figure out the current approximate going rate. Easy for you to do too without spending much time. Then if you see a 3* at CDG is about $300, you don't request a bid amount from coolwulf. He might get it to $259 as you say, but if the general ballpark amount you want to pay is too high, you look elsewhere.
His advice saved me $2 per night below what my next bid increment was going to be. As long as his numbers are accurate, I would happily pay $2 to zero in on the optimal rate the first try.
My theories on how he's doing it....
1. There is another source of opaque rates for the trade that closely mirror the priceline rates.
2. He's taking the price at which the "Based on recent data, your price has only a small chance of being accepted." disappears and adds a fixed price to it. In my Madrid example it was $5 over the lowest bid that doesn't get the warning. PL gives that info to you before you bid and it seems to be based on the median price of accepted bids.
He's taking the price at which the "Based on recent data, your price has only a small chance of being accepted." disappears and adds a fixed price to it. In my Madrid example it was $5 over the lowest bid that doesn't get the warning. PL gives that info to you before you bid and it seems to be based on the median price of accepted bids.
This seems to be the most probable explanation. This explains coolwulf's description of his method as an "algorithm" rather than a data source. I suspect it's probably a percentage rather than a fixed amount though, to help account for the wide range of prices across cities and star ratings.
His advice saved me $2 per night below what my next bid increment was going to be. As long as his numbers are accurate, I would happily pay $2 to zero in on the optimal rate the first try.
My theories on how he's doing it....
1. There is another source of opaque rates for the trade that closely mirror the priceline rates.
2. He's taking the price at which the "Based on recent data, your price has only a small chance of being accepted." disappears and adds a fixed price to it. In my Madrid example it was $5 over the lowest bid that doesn't get the warning. PL gives that info to you before you bid and it seems to be based on the median price of accepted bids.
if in fact its either #1 or #2 how can PL shut them down?
I think theres alot more to it, like having an inside person who was suppose to get a cut of the fees or somehow being able to get into PLs info.
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Certainly a great opportunity here for coolwulf to at least come along and deny he is using any of these methods. I suspect that won't happen, though, as he has previously posted:
Quote:
Originally Posted by coolwulf
Since I have already talked too much information about our service in this discussion, I 'm not going to post in this thread any more.
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if in fact its either #1 or #2 how can PL shut them down?
I think theres alot more to it, like having an inside person who was suppose to get a cut of the fees or somehow being able to get into PLs info.
I tend to agree, because there were instances where Coolwulf would reply to a bid request that the star level, zone and date was sold out on Priceline. While I'm purely speculating, that suggests to me he had much more direct access to pricing and availability.
Things must have happened so quickly that coolwulf wasn't able to run a spellchecker or fix all the typos.
A spellchecker wouldn't find this:
Currently this site is under maintenance and temporary closed.
The word is spelled correctly, but the wrong word is used.
And pretty much no one on FT has a right to comment on grammar or spelling errors. Many posts on FT are pathetically filled with all kinds of typos, misspellings and incorrect grammar.
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Currently this site is under maintenance and temporary closed.
The word is spelled correctly, but the wrong word is used.
For the record, the term originally used was temporaly which was later changed to temporary, which as we all know should have been temporarily.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FTI
And pretty much no one on FT has a right to comment on grammar or spelling errors.
I agree with you 100% with regard to posts by private individuals on any public message board forum. But I believe misspelling and grammatical errors on websites of businesses would be considered "fair game".
Does anyone know or speculate what country CW was operating from? And could operating from a different country been all or part of the reason it took Priceline this long to shut him down?
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I am not an editor, but....
Quote:
Originally Posted by fti
And pretty much no one on FT has a right to comment on grammar or spelling errors. Many posts on FT are pathetically filled with all kinds of typos, misspellings and incorrect grammar.
FWIW, two words were used incorrectly in coolwulf's website when the site announcement was first made.
After BEAV pointed it out in post #54, the site announcement was updated but only one error was successfully fixed. That made me believe the site admin was following this thread. Since the other word was/is wrongly fixed, I decided to make a post about the remaining error as a friendly reminder so the site admin can "finish" the job.
I doubt any site with incorrect wording will give good impressions to visitors.
As a matter of fact, another fellow FTer thanked me for the headsup about an error in their personal blog/site. Quite a while ago I stumbled upon a thread about the big fire in Australia. The said FTer was sharing what had happened to them and their families. She provided a link to the blog/site. I followed the link and read their updates. I was glad nobody was hurt in her (extended) family but I did find one error. The event date didn't seem right (could have been a typo of the numeric entry), so I posted my finding. Two posts later, she gave me a big thankyou and acknowledged that typo did fly under the radar. Thousands of viewers, yet no one had pointed it out. They fixed it right after reading my post. That made me feel good, knowing I help out fellow FTers, let it be in a small or big way. FTers help each other, don't we?
As far as posts on FT go, I know not every post on FT is written in good or perfect English. Native speakers make mistakes too. I am not an English native speaker. I know for a fact there are mistakes and errors/typos in mine. I always appreciate others' comments on my writing so I can continue to improve my English. Constructive criticism (or teasing ) is always welcome. Sure, FT is not a writing clinic. But I take whatever I get, and learn however I can. YMMV.
I don't know if coolwulf is still reading FT. I only hope all our feedback had helped him, one way or another.
Coolwulf's site is down, and his bidding help thread is closed. Now that this thread has devolved into critique of grammar and spelling, might I gently suggest that closure be the appropriate next step?
Thanks to everyone for the stimulating and sometimes amusing discussion. If and when CW resumes operating his website or offering help on FT, perhaps then a new thread will be in order.
) is always welcome. Sure, FT is not a writing clinic. But I take whatever I get, and learn however I can. YMMV.
