Before you scream "obvious computer error!," remember that "PriceBreakers are hand-picked by [Priceline's] travel deal experts for their exceptional value."

It's like that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry thinks rain forecasts are the weatherman's way of guaranteeing empty golf courses. Except here, you end up stranded under a tropical storm.

Hilton Head not your cup of tea? Hang in there, we expect the savings to rush up the eastern seaboard:
(Thanks to Steve!)

Dear Ben, Meghann, Chris, Carey, Alex and Theresa,

I want to start off by saying that your site is my favorite page on all the interwebs. I scream like a Hannah Montana roadie when a new story posts, much to the dismay of my boss and cubicle mates, sadly, I am a grown man. I read your page about 10 times a day, at the minimum.

The Consumerist has helped me on more then one occasion; but i want to relate a truly heart warming story that will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye, (it will of course do neither of these).

Just recently i was refunded a substantial hotel charge through Priceline.com due to poor service. Normally my wife, who was born with a copy of the Sunday morning coupon circular under her arm and a pair of silver scissors in her mouth, is the Alpha female of our family in charge locking horns with any and all who slight us financially. She pours over credit card statements as if they are maps to pirate treasure and has been informed on multiple occasions by Sprint that, "No ma'am, you can not get more free minutes added to your plan, your plan is already better then what many call center managers have." Not one to take "no" for an answer she has gotten Sprint to pay for my new Rumor cell phone, twice in a period of three months. And people say Sprint customer service sucks! (it does, BTW). Friends and co-workers refer to her as the "Pit-bull". She takes this as a compliment.

Armed with the directions laid down by your site, I decided to take a different tactic with addressing my grievances to the hotel: send a gentlemanly letter to the hotel manager with the email equivalent of a glove slap across the face and a demand for satisfaction. Sadly he wouldn't acquiesce to a duel but offered an even better solution, a refund for over $700. This may not seem like much, but it is a substantial amount for a newly married couple with limited funds. My wife was shocked, in all her years as an customer service terrorists she never ever managed to get back anywhere close to that much money.

My in-laws, both of whom are lawyers (ones even a corporate arbitrator!), where blown away. I'm now a celebrity in their house and until i break a vase or back over their cat, i hope it remains that way.

You are all a credit to your craft, continue flying the flag of consumer advocacy high atop the hill of sh*tty customer service and hard drive boxes full of bathroom tile.

Finally, I was taught to end every letter with a powerful quote from Shakespeare, "F*ck Best Buy".

Keep up the excellent work!

Thank you,

Ari

The balance can be tipped in your favor by taking a trip to biddingfortravel.com. It's a free online community where people post their winning travel bids so you can be more informed at travel auction.

However, the site seems to be more useful for finding cheap hotel and car rentals as the activity in the airline area seems to have died down as of late.

BiddingForTravel.com