What happened to CopyCraigs?
- Thread starter LoneGunman
- Start date
So, are you (cc) saying in the past you took credit cards and put through two charges - one for your booking fee, and one for the hotel room, but now you want Western Union for your booking fee, and then a credit card is fine for the hotel charge?
If so then the change Terbites speak of appears to be either he doesn't want to take cards for his company's fee portion of the booking anymore, or else his credit card processor and he parted company, as the card for hotel bookings wouldn't be processed by him but by the hotel itself.
CC, you just need to clarify this a bit. Is what you are saying:
A) credit cards are accepted to pay for the hotel charge, but a western union transfer is required to pay the agency booking fee.
OR are you saying:
B) Credit cards are accepted for BOTH i)the agency booking fee and ii) the hotel charge
I have no problem with your charging an agency fee over the hotel charge - you're a business not a charity. I only ask for clarification as to the payment methods required for both these transactions. Consensus seems to be it would be easier for clients if they could use a credit card for both, and have the two charges on the same card rather than going to the supermarket to fill out Western Union forms for the one charge and using a card for the other.
If so then the change Terbites speak of appears to be either he doesn't want to take cards for his company's fee portion of the booking anymore, or else his credit card processor and he parted company, as the card for hotel bookings wouldn't be processed by him but by the hotel itself.
CC, you just need to clarify this a bit. Is what you are saying:
A) credit cards are accepted to pay for the hotel charge, but a western union transfer is required to pay the agency booking fee.
OR are you saying:
B) Credit cards are accepted for BOTH i)the agency booking fee and ii) the hotel charge
I have no problem with your charging an agency fee over the hotel charge - you're a business not a charity. I only ask for clarification as to the payment methods required for both these transactions. Consensus seems to be it would be easier for clients if they could use a credit card for both, and have the two charges on the same card rather than going to the supermarket to fill out Western Union forms for the one charge and using a card for the other.
Still confused...
would love it if CC could clearly spell out the new process here so all can benefit.
LG
would love it if CC could clearly spell out the new process here so all can benefit.LG
CC said no problem to me when I asked him if I could still use my MC, so maybe some clarification to the board would clear this up once and for all.
This is so cool
we get to watch a business model self-destruct.
From the convenience of the internet and a credit card to schlepping over to the Western Union (where are they anyway, never used one) and having the $150 fee being gone forever.
Hmmmm, what could I use that $150 towards that is offered elsewhere on this board?
we get to watch a business model self-destruct.
From the convenience of the internet and a credit card to schlepping over to the Western Union (where are they anyway, never used one) and having the $150 fee being gone forever.
Hmmmm, what could I use that $150 towards that is offered elsewhere on this board?
Then what is the $150?
Are you being like the government, its not a tax its a user fee
If your volume is 100+ transactions a day and now you need Western Union there is something wrong and its up to you to fix it (or in the alternative lose business).
You guys realize that his service is something any one of us could do in 5 mins on priceline. It WAS just easier to be able to call him, know what hotel you are going to get and for what price, and have it booked in 15 minutes. THe $15 he charges was just a convienence charge. I doubt I will pre-pay $150 to this guy for his service anymore, when I can just use priceline.com myself and save the $15 (and $150 upfront). If this guy is really doing 100+ transactions a day, he's making $1500+ A DAY, and all he's doing is typing your credit card info into his computer and booking your rooms for you..hmm maybe i'll open copyTOPOON.com!
it sucks when people get greedy. especially when he doesnt provide a worthwhile, friendly explaination.
his brief "explanatory" posts suggests to me he doesnt give a shit
In fairness, there is a bit of work that a priceline or hotwire user has to do to figure out which hotel he's bidding on. No, its not much, but if you aren't a frequent priceline user thus you have to re-learn the process every time you book, or if you don't want to get wrapped up in noting the amenities at a particular hotel and comparing it to the databank on betterbidding.com, $15 is a pittance to pay for someone to do that service for you, someone who knows the process inside and out. Depends on how much you value your time, and how much you enjoy doing research on the internet. Obviously enough people are willing to pay the convenience fee, that the guy is swamped with business.
How can you narrow down the hotel on priceline? Do you have to put in additional parameters like pool, restaurant....
http://www.priceline.com/hotels/Lan...AC5D0011AC20091118174443177281089116&plf=pcln
If you use this start page as a starting point, and type in 3.5 stars, downtown north, and offer $55, you can get the delta chelsea anytime for $69 tax included
If you use this start page as a starting point, and type in 3.5 stars, downtown north, and offer $55, you can get the delta chelsea anytime for $69 tax included
Not quite but sort of. On priceline you are just bidding for star, location, and price. However with additional research outside of priceline, you can figure out which hotel you're going to wind up bidding on. You narrow down the location and hotel amenities and star rating from descriptions provided on either priceline or the various hotels' own websites, then cross-refer on biddingfortravel to eliminate the other hotels that don't have, say, valet parking or heated bathroom floors. Depending on where you're trying to book, there may, for example, be only one 4-star hotel in that area, etc. Copycraigs knows the properties better than we do. So we pay him $15 to do our research.
OK, so the $150 Western Union money is to set up a credit account whereby you can call and book hotels either 10 times with no booking fee at time of booking (since it is prepaid ($15x10). So after sending CC $150 I can call up next week and say "I'd like a room here, and the credit card charge will be by that hotel, with no charges for CC's services, and my on account credit would go from 10 to 9. Or if I wanted to stay 5 days at a hotel, my credit would go down by $15x5=$75. So, in essence, CC charges $15 per night booking fee (paybale by Westerb Union in a block of 10 nights upfront).
OK, $15 booking fee is not unreasonable, and he is better at using Priceline than I am. I have no problem with a $15 per night add on for his services. My only concern was why involve Western Union. So CC's response if that he can't process 100 cards a day every day for $15 each as it takes too long/too much trouble. OK, though western union transfers are a pain in the butt to do...I guess if one only needs one room a month one only has to fill out Western Union forms once every 10 months.
Not to mention that WesternUnion has a service fee on a money transfer of something like $15 - $20. So add that to the total being paid to CC. Booking a room yourself sounds a little more attractive now.
LG
LG
I'm one of those people who'd rather pay the convenience fee rather than spend my time figuring out how to get the best deal.
But if I have to go out of my way to pay the convenience fee, it kind of defies the whole purpose and makes it not-so-convenient.
