How did the partial fill cost him money unless it was only good for the day?...which would be a mistake on a thinly traded stock. If his order is a GTC, partial fills are meaningless in the grand scheme of the entire trade unless the stock never dips to .016 again...which I'm sure he'd have no problem with. And if the trade must be for the day only, then the partial fills can be easily prevented with an All or Nothing order.

But that's all besides the point which is that the only thing more absurd than your original advice to "Please, just buy the darn stuff at helpful price and be done with it!" is your subsequent defense of it.

Yes, many's the time that I plan to buy stock and I prefer to purchase it at a higher price just "to be helpful".