posted on October 6, 2000 12:52:46 PM
Just received an email from Priceline.com
No more reduced gas or grocery prices from them. All full of apologies--but no concrete answers. Thankfully- I have no outstanding credit due me--if you do---they are supposed to issue a refund.
edited to add--this was the email I received:
This email message is from the Priceline WebHouse Club.
We have some disappointing news for our customers. Sadly, starting
today, October 5th, we will begin to close our WebHouse Club Service
and you can no longer make a request for either Groceries or
Gasoline. We will wind down our operations over the next 90 days.
It is important you read this entire email.
This announcement does not apply to any service of priceline.com -
such as Airline Tickets, Hotel Rooms, New Cars, Long Distance, etc.
It only applies to the WebHouse Club Grocery & Gasoline services.
Your total satisfaction is our #1 priority - especially giving you a
prompt and full refund of any money we owe you for groceries and gas
you have not yet picked up.
Here is exactly what we plan to do to make sure you are
100% satisfied:
1. Please do not try to use your Green WebHouse Grocery Card
or Blue Gasoline Card for any further transactions at the
grocery store or gas station. The cards have been turned off
and will no longer work.
2. You need do nothing. No later than Friday, October 20th,
we will automatically issue a credit to your credit card on
file at the WebHouse Club for the full amount of any groceries
or gasoline you have not picked up.
3. In the next 72 hours, we will calculate how much money we
owe you.
4. We will send you an email summarizing our
refund calculation.
5. Your credit will include extra money to cover our estimate
of the savings that you would have received at the store or
the gas pump. Your refund credit will also include payment for
any unused grocery tokens that you earned by accepting one of
our partner offers.
Please remember, this announcement does not apply to all
priceline.com services such as airline tickets, hotels, etc. It only
covers groceries and gasoline services at the Webhouse Club.
In summary, to get your full refund plus our added money for the
savings you missed out on, you need do nothing. No later than
Friday, October 20th, we will automatically issue a full credit to
your credit card for any groceries or gasoline balance remaining in
your account.
We know you're disappointed that we can't continue to provide you
with grocery and gas savings, and we appreciate all that you've done
for us as our customer. In just under one year, the Priceline
WebHouse Club has attracted over 2 million customers, but market
conditions are such that we have decided to wind down our operations
over the next 90 days. We apologize for any inconvenience and please
let us know if we can fix any problem or answer any questions about
your account.
Again, thank you for using the WebHouse Club. Our Web site Customer
Service Department will remain fully open to help you in any way we
can. We hope that you will continue to use priceline.com services in
the future and that even as we wind down our Grocery and Gasoline
Services, we at the WebHouse Club will continue to earn your
confidence.
Sincerely,
The Webhouse Club Team
P.S. Questions about your automatic refund? Please wait for our
email if you can, and then if you still have questions, please
return to our Web site to send us an email. To make sure that we
can respond to you quickly, please do not reply to this email.
Hmmm-re edited to add--another obsolete card to add to my collection!
posted on October 6, 2000 01:20:26 PM
All part of the refocusing of internet company on money-making operations. Priceline's earnings were disappointing, so they are shutting down their non-core businesses. Whether they can make money on the "name your own price" stuff remains to be seen...
posted on October 6, 2000 01:23:24 PM
Another large internet company experiencing financial woes...
It was a financing problem that led to Warehouse Club Services demise. I get the feeling that many others are also going to fall in the near future, as Wall Street finally comes to understand that these heavily capitalized business ventures marketing in unchartered waters are unviable business operations.
I started my small online company 3 years ago. It made a good sum of money the very first year with no debt. I've experienced 100% growth each year without compromising business margin. I have low operating costs, a strong business plan and excellent management. Perhaphs I can sell the company to these same individuals for a billion or two... Probably not, as most have no interest in small operations that grind out a nice profit. It real work. A bad thing. They want pie in the sky dreams. Companies that have a romantic story to tell. They want to be lied to and to be told how they are going to be made rich, while all the while not paying attention to the fact that these operations are losing money faster than they can count.
This not may sound like it comes from a bitter individual. It, in fact, does not. It comes from a real business person, like yourself, who really knows what it takes to succeed; hard work, long hours, calculated risk, accountability and the desire to be good at what you do. These qualities are not a thing of the past. They are and still remain the cornerstone elements to making something work.
Perhaps Wall Street will figure this out sometime soon.
posted on October 6, 2000 01:29:26 PM
It relates to eBay in that it's a new business model which may be getting ready to crash and burn, and an example of the quickly-changing Internet landscape which includes eBay, PayPal and company.
posted on October 6, 2000 01:33:21 PMyankee98champs:"And all this relates to ebay how?"
eBay: drop your "Let Them Eat Cake" attitude. Your Venue has changed into a differnt direction than it was origionally intended for. You must adapt to these changes instead of pretending that nothing has changed. You must instead concentrtate on ways to make both Buying and Selling safer, or else the media will never stop chasing away potential business. You must listen to the concerns and suggestions of what your cusotmer base is telling you instead of trying to decide what they want for them, like that Chat Room you created when what we need is a better Listing area that reveals how items are to be shipped and for how much to begin with.
posted on October 6, 2000 01:36:23 PM
yankee98champs--sorry for the diversion. But this was posted on AW Bargain hunt about 24 hours ago and no response. Just wanted to warn those out there that might be affected and comment on how quickly internet co's come and go, change policy and sorta leave us all out there to hang. Bear in mind, I received the email last pm, Oct 5th--their new policy change was enacted Oct 5th.
Geesh I resent the fact that a Co makes promises and whoosh----changes everything sorta kinda instantly. JMHO
posted on October 6, 2000 01:42:08 PM
I've heard Priceline loses money on the airline tickets so they've been trying to focus on other areas. It appears that those other areas aren't profitable, either. For their own sake I hope they can pull it together, but I won't be surprised if they become a part of the web's early history.
Their Better Business Bureau credentials were recently revoked, too.
posted on October 6, 2000 01:47:04 PM
I don't think anyone want to see these companies fall. It's a shame when they do.
I believe expectations need to be adjusted. Valuating any company in the billions of dollars before they have a history of profitablity is a dangerous thing. A good idea is worth only so much. Proving that the idea is good is worth much more. JMHO
posted on October 6, 2000 04:37:36 PM
The information about Priceline dropping food and gasoline has been on the business news for a couple of days now. Their stock price also collapsed. Maybe, they did not send e-mails to all customers because they figured it was general knowlege. Not every idea is a profit making one.
buyhigh
