having over 10,000 see these postings will help promote betterbidding.com over Sheryls site which brings me great pleasure.
Betterbidding
That said, one of these days I would really like to set up a database-driven tracker for PL bids - the message board format works, but it could be even better.
__________________ My Blog|'It's difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon his not understanding it.'
Location: Lat. N41., Long. W-75, in the NJ foothills of the Poconos
Programs: CO Plat decade, Onepass member since 1988
Posts: 791
Me too.
She banned for life my IP in 2005. I followed all her rules. Used the link. But when the London bidding did not go to my satisfaction, I posted that I had chosen to stay at a Hostel, and gave specifics for others to compare the benefits of. I wrote a very complimentary thank-you post, expressing appreciation to Cheryl and all who had contributed their data points. ZAP. Banned. I asked to be reinstated in 2009, NO.
She's an A$$.
__________________ CO 2008 upgrades: 79% in aircraft with FC seating. 50% all flights. I hate RJ's.
I'm late to this party, but finally got banned from bft a couple days ago, after years of contributing.
I tried an email, asking if perhaps the ban was in error, but haven't gotten any answer. And it has been enough time since I sent it, that I really don't expect an answer any longer.
I think my sin was posting to betterbidding? I had been looking on bft, but hadn't done any requests there, or posted anything for some time so couldn't have broken any of those rules.
I did just find kproxy.com which lets one browse anonymously (it is slow though).
I really was willing to continue to contribute, as I respect the business model and the wealth of information there, but don't think I should be required to not go on other sites.
So - hi everybody! May I come in?
I'm usually such a rule follower that being banned is a whole new experience for me. Who knows what lies ahead?
Location: Naples, Florida .... Clarification: USAFAN was chosen before George W. Bush became 43rd President of the United States
Posts: 7,130
Quote:
Originally Posted by Romelle
I'm late to this party, but finally got banned from bft a couple days ago, after years of contributing. ....
Romelle:
I have read some of your postings at BFT ... BFT lost another good contributor ... I actually can smell the end of BFT!
I will use http://www.betterbidding.com/ from now on. It's a nice "clean" website ... friendly and professional Moderator(s) .... I just wish they would replace "Other Countries" with other countries, like Europe >>> Germany >>> France ....
I just wish they would replace "Other Countries" with other countries, like Europe >>> Germany >>> France ....
Or at least, break out the 5 or 6 top cities in Europe (London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, etc.) into their own topics. I suspect that a majority of the activity in 'Other Countries' concerns those half-dozen cities.
__________________ * * * I Survived the Great FlyerTalk Outage of November 2009!!!!! * * *
I'm late to this party, but finally got banned from bft a couple days ago, after years of contributing.
I think my sin was posting to betterbidding? I had been looking on bft, but hadn't done any requests there, or posted anything for some time so couldn't have broken any of those rules.
Welcome to the club and party. Although, yes, a little late to be considered a charter member, I believe you and robintigger (see post #88 of this thread) should both be made honorary members!
As to your "sin" being the fact you post to both sites, I reflect back to 2003 when the BFT administrator and I exchanged a few emails about a specific Hotwire "deal". She wanted in on the deal and I provided her some information. During the email exchange, she asked I not post about it on other websites (like BB) until everyone involved was able to cash in on the deal. By that, she knew I regularly posted Hotwire info on BB. I also posted my Priceline bids on both sites, which she was fine with at the time. But that was a time when bidding through affiliate links was not required as you could link to Priceline directly from BFT. Also BB was in it's infancy, and perhaps she figured they would never be competition. Who knows. At any rate, fast forward to today where it's ALL about bidding through her affiliate link and never EVER posting on ANY other site. It's all or nothing with her, regardless of your many contributions over the years. Period.
I didn't know any of this was going on. It's like turning a light on and seeing dozens of roaches scurrying for the dark.
Thank you all for this heads up!
Thanks everybody, for the warm welcome and kind remarks. I accept the honorary charter membership. During Sheryl's hiatus I probably spent at least an hour a day answering things that otherwise might have gone unanswered, and even if it took me a long time to get banned, I'm here and I feel like I'm home.
I did laugh when I hit the ban message, as it was sort of funny. Thought for a while and tried to figure out why? If I figured right, I think the reason for the banning was so absurd.
But part of me did feel bad as I'd invested so much time and effort in helping, especially when Sheryl was off where ever she was for about a year. I really do believe in all that squishy people-helping-people stuff, and a site like bft has incredible potential for that.
There is the necessity of a certain critical mass of members so the information is current, with enough data points to be valuable. Not unlike a plane having to go so fast before it can fly. I'm not sure there is enough surplus membership in bft to allow for freely chasing away members.
Unfortunately, the arbitrary discouragement/dumping of odd scraps of contributed information also makes bft lose a lot of value, In My (not very) HO. Knowing that around the corner and down two blocks is perhaps the best gyro ever, adds a lot to a brief foreign city visit. Great detailed directions for how to use public transport from the airport is invaluable. Knowing that the higher-up rooms are quieter and nicer is useful. A lot of people do tend to toss this stuff in if they know it is appreciated and won't just get deleted because they didn't do the heading quite right or whatever.
So - thanks again!
Romelle
I'd guess the membership in this particular club hasn't stopped growing either.
I hope that you and others may spend some of that knowledge on tripadvisor.com
Its a very useful place if you know a destination as every city in the world seemilgly has a forum and is a great place to give advice. I referred people to Sheryl for many yrs but will not and will continue to advice people to betterbidding.com
It is frustrating to get banned but a little google search for Sheryl shows you she isn't a very nice people to people in public as well. Welcome to the I was banned club.
But part of me did feel bad as I'd invested so much time and effort in helping, especially when Sheryl was off where ever she was for about a year. I really do believe in all that squishy people-helping-people stuff, and a site like bft has incredible potential for that.
There is the necessity of a certain critical mass of members so the information is current, with enough data points to be valuable. Not unlike a plane having to go so fast before it can fly. I'm not sure there is enough surplus membership in bft to allow for freely chasing away members.
Unfortunately, the arbitrary discouragement/dumping of odd scraps of contributed information also makes bft lose a lot of value, In My (not very) HO. Knowing that around the corner and down two blocks is perhaps the best gyro ever, adds a lot to a brief foreign city visit. Great detailed directions for how to use public transport from the airport is invaluable. Knowing that the higher-up rooms are quieter and nicer is useful. A lot of people do tend to toss this stuff in if they know it is appreciated and won't just get deleted because they didn't do the heading quite right or whatever.
Very well said. This is why I've felt for a long time that BFT is 100% a sole person's business rather than an Internet community. It could be both, however not under the current ownership. Enter Better Bidding!
I'm late to this party, but finally got banned from bft a couple days ago, after years of contributing.
Wow - ROMELLE BANNED AT BFT! - should be a headline. There must be something wrong. First Colfax 30 moved out and now you. Was there any warning? This seems to indicate it's a system glitch. Romelle banned? Depressing thought.
Location: Naples, Florida .... Clarification: USAFAN was chosen before George W. Bush became 43rd President of the United States
Posts: 7,130
Quote:
Originally Posted by B1
Wow - ROMELLE BANNED AT BFT! - should be a headline. There must be something wrong. First Colfax 30 moved out and now you. Was there any warning? This seems to indicate it's a system glitch. Romelle banned? Depressing thought.
YES, depressing! Posters like Romelle kept the "show" (website) running and alive for quit some time, when Ms. Sheryl was gone! Ms. Sheryl should be grateful for this!
