horrible customer service
I purchased airline tickets and ground transportation vouchers from priceline.com. My first issue was that one of the passengers name was mispelled by 1 letter and they would not make any changes to the ticket info and directed me to the airline but the airline stated that priceline would have to make the change since the tickets were purchased through them. I can only hope there will not be any problems at the airport. The SECOND complaint is today is the date of travel and our flight was cancelled because of a problem at the airport. The airline was able to rebook our flight for tomorrow. I called priceline to change our ground transportation to tomorrow and AGAIN they would not make any changes to our voucher and directed us to the ground transportation who directed back to priceline to change the date on the voucher. No one would help and basically told us we were out of luck and out of the money. Priceline's customer service sucks and I will never use them again. Things happen in this world that we dont have any controll over like a cancelled flight and they dont care and will not make any changes unless you want to pay extra or repurchase what you already paid for. They are a ripoff!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
this helps explain why priceline is cheaper than using travel agents for reservations
We purchased our tickets through Price line from LAX to Acapulco. The itinerary we chose (from what we were offered) was absolutely impossible for us to arrive from Acapulco to Mexico City on Azteca Airlines, pick up our luggage, run to the Continental Gate, check in our luggage and be shuttled out to the plane in time to catch the 2nd leg of our flight plan. Thus, we spent all night in the Mexico City Airport, having to keep an eye on our five bags, and worrying about how we were going to get back to L.A. the next day.
Priceline, being our Travel Agent, should not have offered a schedule that was impossible for us to meet. They should have known about our luggage not being sent through from one airline to another, the shuttle taking passengers out to the plane, and even the huge distance between the airline carriers.
We were not offered any food vouchers, much less a hotel voucher, or even an apology from Priceline, Continental, or Azteca. We were, though, charged an extra $100 a ticket for having to change our schedule for no fault of our own.
Yes, we chose that agenda. But we are the consumer. It isn’t our job to know about the Mexico City Airport and the different requirements of it. It is Priceline’s, through whom we put our trust, and gave our money.
refuses to refund a passenger with cancellation insurance
I am a hotel owner who witnessed several situations with Priceline refusing to refund a traveler after being forced to change their plans due to an emergency. These passengers had purchased a cancellation insurance policy from priceline.
I found Priceline particularly discriminant against travelers who do not speak English as a first language. I tried to help the traveler and they gave me the biggest run around. They refused to find me a department head to speak to. I talked to 8 different people from priceline and I eventually gave up. They are blatantly dishonest and non accommodating their clients.
This was not the first time but would be the last.
It appears that they forgot who made them successful. They make some tourists leave our beautiful country with a very bad taste about the way we do business. Their cancellation insurance is a fraud. They often try to get out of it.
If you can avoid using Priceline you would do yourself a favor
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never received an email confirmation for my bid
I submitted a bid on Priceline. I checked the website which said the bid was accepted and gave me flight numbers and times.
I never received an e-mail confirmation.
The week I was to start my trip I called the airline to confirm. They had me on no flights. I called Priceline. They had no record of my bid being accepted.
They said only that it had not been confirmed. With Priceline the bidder is not supposed to confirm.
The ticket is bought the moment the bid is accepted according to Priceline's own warnings on their website.
I had to buy a high priced to keep my travel plans.
priceline.com withholds information that if you knew would prevent you from dealing with the company
Priceline.com withholds information that if you knew would prevent you from dealing with the company.
They may give you a good fare but you can likely get it as cheap elsewhere.
I purchased tickets and was given a ticket but at what I feel where the worst possible times and flights.
If you deal with this company there is a high likelihood you will not be satisfied with the service you get.
I had difficulty reaching a real live person to complain. I suspect this is because they are use to getting complaints.
You can reach a live person at [protected], but it wont do you any good, the customer service reps are no help. Be careful they also keep your credit card on file and will charge it even if you dont go through check out
overcharge for rental car.
Named my own price of $8.00 and the company changed it to $15.00 a day. Issued a contract that I didn't ask for at $15.00 a day. Asked them to cancel incorrect contract and they refused and tried to charge my credit card co. I will not pickup and use a car from them
Ronald Frye
How did you manage that? Ron
won't cancel during a weather emergency
So today there is a severe winter weather warning for New England and most of the US... can't even get the car out of the garage let alone make it to the train staion and into NYC. I booked a room with Priceline. The hotel was willing to change my reservation to another night, as long as I paid a bit more (okay, get it) but Priceline would not do it! It's a severe winter storm! I've NEVER cancelled a trip before and travel frequently! Priceline had no room on thier list of policies for good customer service... they passed me back and forth... 3 times to Priceline, twice to the hotel who's hands were tied without verification that Priceline cancel the reservation. I may have just been played all afternoon by both parties.. Never again...
It's not their fault that there's bad weather. Why should they have to pay/work to change reservations for you?
Bad things happen. If everyone shares the burden, it works out fine. But if everyone blames it on a company or expects them to go out of their way/pay to change it for them then companies go out of business.
You pay Priceline prices, you get Priceline customer service. Simple as that.
beware of priceline.com vouchers no good!!!
I too got the blown off by Priceline, I was a strong supporter of Priceline for the last 8 years until now. I spent over $400 for tickets for Disneyland Park in Anahiem and was sent a voucher to use. It states right on the voucher word for word" Voucher may be redeemed for the Disneyland Parks. Voucher will be required for redemption. The Guest Services told me they dont have any info on their system regarding my tickets for admission to the park. They check a total of six times and nothing, even the manager tryed and still nothing.
So I have to turn to my 7 year old son and tell him we flew over 3000 miles to Disneyland and cant go in the gate because our "Priceline Voucher " is not valid . All priceline can say is we can get back to you in 7days with a answer to why the voucher is not valid. Luckly I am a parent who has the financil means to dish out another $460 dollars to enter the park, but what about the families who don't have this fianancial mean, could you imagine. Shame on you Priceline!
So they get back to me 5 days later and blow me off saying I purchased tickets through them (Priceline) that are non-refundable and its my problem not theirs. Is it me or am I in the wrong, you got to be kidding me Priceline. Believe me the fight is not over, you have picked the wrong family to blow off and STEAL my 7 year old sons money, are you kidding me!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I just happened to come across this letter. I was aboubt to book reservations through Priceline but decided to check this site for complaints. I'm very glad I did. Hopefully your Provincetown experience was wonderful expeoience despite the aggreavtion you suffered at their hands. Just before moving here, I had a very similar experience with a moving company who first offered a reasonable quote, then doubled the price on the morning of my move. It only takes one time to learn a lesson. Again, thank you for reporting this company. In the future I will make my reservations directly with the individual hotel.
car rentals
fyi, another trick that priceline uses that folks should be aware of. I recently booked a rental car through them and specified that I wanted a mid-size car with an infant car seat for my 8 month old son. I was quoted a price and went with the lowest price car rental agency-Budget--through my priceline search.
Upon showing up at the rental car counter, I was told that the infant car seat was not included in the price (but was just a "requested option") and that it would be $16/day extra (for a total of $128 over an 8 day rental). I think that priceline is practicing blatant false advertising--I would never have booked the car through them if the incremental $128 had been included in the price I was quoted. Be careful--these guys are very deliberately deceptive.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Legal proceedings against priceline (consumer based and other)
I would advise all consumers to look at Priceline.com's current legal proceedings info per their 10K, annual report filing with the SEC for fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2009 BEFORE booking with this service. They have approximately 17 pages of legal proceedings, with 2 consumer class action lawsuits in the past (see page 47 for consumer class action lawsuit...
Read full complaint and 9 commentssteal your money
I booked a car rental on priceline for pickup on Nov 20th 2010. When I arrived at airport, no pick-up. After calling hotline a shuttle was sent to pick us up. I was told the computer was down, they would give me car, but needed me to write down my ssn#, birthdate, place of birth and current address. The gentleman handed me a note pad, and asked for my credit card and ID to copy. In the corner stood, what I assumed to be a lot attendant, who was shaking his head. I was told that a credit check was needed, and they could do it when, the computers came back up. It was midnight and I'm sure they wanted to go home. I expressed my concern with providing my identity, especially when a reservation had been made, and credit card information provided thru priceline. I called a cab, location was a old car lot, many miles from the airport, and went to several other rental companies, but no rental cars were available as this was Thanksgiving Holiday. This transaction was cancelled. 2 days later Priceline.com charges my card for $ 66.00. I have spent many hours to no avail, talking to priceline.com personnel. I have not received any Service, Product or Goodwill from Priceline.com, yet am charged $66.00. I have contacted the Rental Company who states that the charge is Priceline.com not theirs. Where is my money...HELP !
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
bait & switch
I offered $20 a day for 14 days for a rental car. The price was accepted, but instead of $280 I was charged $454. I was expecting to pay something for taxes but never 60%. After a little digging I find out that they charged me extra for returning my car at a different airport even though when I made the offer I told them exactly where I was picking up and where I was returning. I called and they did nothing. Told me to read the fine print. It's a scam. Don't ever think that what you are agreeing to pay is what they are going to eventually charge on your credit card. Beware.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
So funny...Another ### that doesn't read the terms and conditions of their purchase so now it's a "scam".
hotel ripoff
My husband and I had been planning a trip to Las Vegas for a few weeks now. We already booked flights and were keeping an eye out for good hotel deals. We eventually decided to try the "name your own price" option on the priceline website. Keep in mind we had a pretty good idea of the prices that were out there and it was nearly time for us to decide and book a room. Enter priceline. We pretty much knew what kind of hotel we wanted to stay at. So in the " Name Your Own Price" we bid a higher price to try to avoid some of the cheaper, smaller, and frankly crappier hotels. We understood and agreed to the the non refundable - non exchangeable stipulation because we figured we knew the prices and we had nothing to lose but getting us a better deal. Our bid was accepted. But with one huge problem. The hotel priceline booked us was actually 30% cheaper if we hadn't used priceline's "Name Your Own Price" option at all. Their new slogan should be Raise Your Own Price. So in short the hotels that we were trying to opt out of by exceeding their prices is the exact hotel priceline stuck us into. At a nonrefundable/ exchangeable price. So I called priceline and they admitted that there had been an error on their end, due to their own prices being cheaper and their "Lowest Price Guarantee" promise. They proceeded to refund me the difference in price. The only problem now is that I am stuck at a hotel that i tried to avoid by over biding even their highest priced rooms. They were unwilling to even attempt to put me in a nicer more expensive hotel for even more money. So far I am waiting to hear from the dispute that i filed with my bank. Thanks priceline for trying to ruin my vacation!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Once my price was accepted at a hotel in Portland Oregon, I called them to request (2) double beds. They told me that there would be an additional charge of $25 per night and a 12% tax added to my bill. I called Priceline to complain about what had just occurred and the gentleman placed me on hold to verify what I was telling him. Within 5 minutes he was back on the line and informed me that it was indeed true and that was the hotel's policy and nothing could be done about it. He asked me if I read the policies of Priceline and said that I had one of two choices. The first being to pay the extra monies for the two double beds or cancel my reservation and still be charged because Priceline does not issue refunds due to their no cancellation policy. He stated to me that the rooms accommodate (2) adults. I have no plans on sharing a bed with my grandmother, grandfather, brother, or mother-in-law. Nowhere in their policy does it state that if you request a certain bed that your price may go up. I alerted my credit card company and putting these charges into dispute for fraud and misleading information. I e-mailed customer service from Priceline and they responded to be by stating that 'We are truly unable to assist you further in this matter'. 'Please do not expect a response to further correspondence on this issue'.
The people at Priceline are extremely rude and have no morals. I find it funny that once I checked their website to see if I could purchase a room at The Benson Hotel A Coast Hotel using their 'fee chop' option, out of the 137 hotels I printed this hotel was not even listed. Beware, if you need or want double beds to have a good nights sleep, you may be charged extra. Priceline should be ashamed of themselves. I am not giving up and am working with my credit card company to get out of this hotel.
Just before Christmas I was laid off. I already had tickets and car rental through Priceline. We had a winter storm and were snowed in and unable to get to the airport. I called Priceline and told them I would have to reschedule my airline flight and car rental. I was told I could do neither. The customer rep I talked to was rude and disrespectful. I was told if I did not pick up my car on that Monday I would still have to pay for it. I told him I just wanted to pick up the car on Wednesday as we were unable to get to the airport and all flights were cancelled due to weather. I was told tough luck. Priceline refused to refund my money and I had to pay for another rent car and airline ticket when we were able to fly out. I was told when you make a reservation through Priceline and your plans change you still have to pay. I will never use Priceline again and have told friends and family about this and discouraged them from using Priceline also.
Priceline does not budge from there rules even if it is unforeseen circumstances that revent a person from traveling.
I booked a hotel to stay in prior to my cruise on Nov 28, 2010 on the ill-fated Carnival Splendor. The ship caught fire a few weeks ago and has canceled all sailings for this year. Priceline will not let me cancel my hotel booking and probably sell my room to some other customer.
They know that I have canceled my airline tickets which American Airlines did for no penalty. AA immediately put a travel advisory on there website and offered reasonable service for stranded vacationers whose cruise was canceled. This is the type of service any reputable company should provide. Priceline is not in that league and that is most disappointing.
Lol! THe name your own price works real well if you work it right. Hotels tell Priceline we're willing to accept $xx.xx for x number of rooms. The customer then says I want a xstar hotel and i'm willing to pay $xx per night. Priceline gives you the cheapest room that meets your area and star quality rating. Choosing to pay more just cost you a lot more money that it should have. If you low ball you end up with good deals; i.e. I never pay more than $35/40 for a 4** hotel, and wait till 2 days before my trip to book.
It's true. Priceline.com sucks. It's best to just book your rooms by talking directly to the hotel.
airline tickets ripoff
So I order 2 round trip tickets from nyc to buffalo. After I hit submit I immediately realized I had made a mistake and one of the flights was too early for me (But not my companion). I immediately call priceline and the do nothing to help and jsut rattle off about the terms and condition with the name your price function. So I suck it up and order another ticket to buffalo but this time one way because I can make the return flight I had ordered through priceline.
So I go to try and use the ticket to return to nyc from buffalo and now I cannot use that flight because they say I had changed my "iternary" by not using the initial ticket. They say there are no changes to tickets but their terms and services say nothing about a change of itenary being a change of ticket. Totall ripoff and scam designed to make me pay an addition $161 to pay for the same exact flight I already have purchased a ticket for. Scam!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
That's your own fault. If they made an exception for you they would have to do it for everyone and it would be mayhem for others trying to book. It is your responsibility to ensure all the info is correct before you hit submit.
I have had a pleasant experience with Priceline. I had to cancel a hotel and it was no problem because I called the hotel first and the manager confirmed to me that they had no issue with the cancellation AND that they would not be charging Priceline (then me) any fees. Just make sure you take their name and position down to provide to Priceline when you cancel and LET THEM KNOW that the hotel indicated there would be no cancellation fee.
ran out of rooms, refused to refund money
On 8/30/10 around 6pm, I came home to find my apartment infested with ants. While my landlord dealt with the ants, I quickly made a hotel reservation at the Glendale Vagabond Inn through www.petvacations.com, a site advertising pet-friendly hotels. I packed up my dog and cat, and showed up at the hotel around 7:30pm. When I got to the hotel, the clerk told me they didn't have any pet-friendly rooms left. She called her manager and was supposedly given permission to open up another non-pet-friendly room for me. I was told they were going to charge me an extra $60 per night for my pets. Meanwhile, there's a sign on the counter that says pets cost $10/night. I had already paid $181 for the "pet-friendly" room. My credit card had already been charged, so I assumed this included any pet fees. I told the clerk that I didn't think the extra fees were fair as it was the hotel's fault they'd accepted the reservation without having the room, and asked to cancel the reservation. I was told I needed to call Priceline. I didn't even know Priceline owned petvacations.com. So, I went to the car and called Priceline. I was told that I couldn't cancel the reservation because it was after noon on the day of check in. How could I cancel a reservation before it has even been made? I had to be quite demanding in order to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the hotel and asked if they would waive the $60, but they supposedly refused. The most they agreed to was cancelling the reservation and refunding me $87. So I basically paid $94 to sleep in my ant-infested bed at home.
The next day I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I got the following response:
"Priceline contacted the hotel and spoke with Lortis who confirmed to priceline that the property allocate a number of rooms for pets, and when all these pet allocated rooms are all occupied, the hotel has the option to open another non pet allocated room. However, the hotel must charge an additional fee for providing a non pet allocated room for the special cleaning process required once the guest check's out of the non pet allocated room. As a goodwill gesture, the consumer has already received a courtesy one night refund, and we can offer no additional refund for the hotel room that was used by the consumer."
I didn't think this response was fair, and responded to this effect. I also pointed out that I had not used the room, as the last line of their response seems to assert. Today I got the following response:
"We have received the consumer's additional comments. As you requested, we have again reviewed this matter to see if we overlooked anything that might support a more favorable conclusion. Priceline contacted the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna on behalf of the consumer, at [protected]. Joanna informed priceline that the guest check-in at 7:40 PM and the guest upgraded to a room with a king bed, and therefore the hotel required an additional charge of $60 for the upgrade. The hotel advised that they are unable to issue any further refunds, and the consumer may contact the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna for any further assistance.
Vagabond Inn Glendale
120 W. Colorado Street
Glendale, CA 91204
Phone Number: [protected]
Fax Number: [protected]
We are sorry that we are unable to assist the consumer any further in this situation.
Sincerely,
N. D'Angelo
priceline.com"
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
deceptive practises
I booked round trip airline tickets with priceline and was prompted to "save even more on car rentals" So I also reserved a car. 3 days later, still 2 weeks before my departure, I learned that I could have rented a car from a major car rental (Enterprise) for over $150 less. I called Priceline to cancel the car reservation and was told that's it's not possible. I even called the VP and CEO's office and was told the same thing. Furthermore, upon scrutinizing the e-mail confirmation from Priceline I see that they've put me down for a full sized car when I only requested a compact.
While using Priceline's bidding option. I received multiple messages such as "Bid too low" and "enter a higher bid." leading me to believe that I honestly could not find a car rental in Little Rock for less. In my opinion, this is no different from shill bidding, which is a dubious practice that might not even be legal.
### !
change of flight dates
I booked a flight with Priceline travelling from Aug. 25-29, 2010. On the itinerary they sent me they changed the departure date from what I requested to a day earlier. I detected this discrepancy on the departure date that I was given of Aug. 24, 2010. I relaized too late and missed the flight.
I called their customer service number [protected] and when the woman finally came online and asked me for my information she kept on saying “Hello, hello, I can’t hear you. Sorry but I am going to have to end this call since I am unable to hear you”. Then she put down the phone.
I then called another customer service number that I got from a website site and was able to speak to someone. He said there is nothing that can be done since the date I selected for departure was the date they had given me which I know is not the case.
I cannot get a refund for my flight.
I will never use Priceline again and I will strongly advise anyone considering using it not to.
bait and switch
Priceline Trip number: [protected]***
Hotel Confirmation: [protected]***
To Whom This May Concern,
On July 2 I booked a hotel through your site. I booked the Surfside Hotel and Suites in Provincetown, MA for one night, August 7th 2010. The room that was booked was for 2 double beds courtside. I received a confirmation email stating my reservation was complete.
My party and I drove 6 hours to get to this hotel. Upon check in, the hotel manager said that they have me reserved for a king bed. I replied saying I had confirmed 2 double beds and showed her my email which stated 2 double beds. She then showed me the Priceline confirmation which they received from your company which stated 1 king. This would not have ordinarily been a problem however this hotel was booked completely. There were no other rooms they could give us. We then asked for 2 cots seeing that there would not be enough room for 4 ladies to sleep. They replied that all cots had been reserved. At this point we were given a pile of sheets and blankets and told, "Looks like some of you will be on the floor".
We then asked if they would help us locate an alternate hotel as this was not right for us to pay $256 for 2 of us to sleep on the floor. We were told that this was peak season for the area and all hotels were sold out. The manager then told us that we should contact Priceline as they were the party at fault for submitting the wrong information.
We took the keys to the room and headed up 3 flights to our king room. Once there and settled, I called the Priceline customer service line. After speaking with the first agent, she transferred me to a customer advocate.
I explained the situation to the customer advocate and he insisted that Priceline submitted the correct information to the hotel. I advised him that the manager showed me the Priceline information and it did state from your company that I had reserved 1 king room. I told him we were at a loss because first, we drove 6 hours with traffic to this hotel I had reserved a month previous. There were no other hotels within a 50 mile radius that had any type of vacancy being that this was peak season. I also explained that there were no cots we could rent from the hotel.
The customer advocate told me that all he could do was cancel my reservation minus the deposit. I was told by your company that I would lose out on $128 and have no hotel room after driving 6 hours and I was out of luck. I was told that it was not their problem and it was the hotel's fault. I told the customer advocate that this was completely unacceptable and I wished to speak with his manager. He refused to transfer my call stating that there was no one else I could speak with. He said if I had a problem with that then I could send you an email, which is what I am doing now.
I said I was extremely upset about the situation. This overnight vacation was for my best friend whom is about to be married and we wanted a girl's night out. We had made dinner reservations and bought tickets for a show that if we had left, we would also lose out another $100 for the show tickets. I asked if there was some type of compensation whether it is partial or not seeing that your company has a guarantee that we get what we pay for. We did not get what we paid for, we got taken advantage of. His response was simply, “I am sorry if you are not satisfied with the answer I have given you. Thank you for calling Priceline. Goodbye."
My party and I spent the night in this hotel because again there were no other vacancies within a 50 mile radius. The bride slept on the floor along with the maid of honor because they felt terrible that we went through all this trouble and had been taken advantage of. We had booked this specifically so we were close to our show and dinner reservations. We booked it through your company because we felt that it was a good company to use. We have used your company before and always have been satisfied.
I am now left completely unsatisfied with this experience. I am left embarrassed because my bride had to sleep on the floor. I paid $256 to have 2 of the 4 ladies sleep on the floor. I paid $256 to at least have a roof over our heads and to avoid losing out on a 50% deposit and show ticket costs. I am left feeling cheated by your company. I am left feeling that I did everything right and I got taken advantage of.
So, I am writing you this letter to see what your company can do for me. This was not in any way my fault. This was Priceline's fault for submitting the wrong information and having absolutely no solution the remedy this mistake. I feel that I should be entitled to some type of monetary reimbursement seeing that this was Priceline's fault. I do not want a voucher for future vacations as I am no longer interested in using your company for any type of travel.
I would like a call back from you once you have received this letter. I also plan on post- mailing this as well. I feel that I deserve the respect of a follow up with this information at the earliest convenience. Thank you so much for your time in reading this letter. And please let me know if you need to verify any information. The hotel has also offered their assistance with this as well. You can contact the hotel manager, Elizabeth and she will be more than happy to fax you any necessary paperwork you would need.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth J****
I spoke with Oliver at the Corporate Headquarters in Norwalk CT. He advised me that just because I requested 2 doubles, and I received an email confirmation stating I paid for 2 doubles, that Priceline reserves the right to switch the rooms however they see fit. Though I requested the 2 doubles for 4 people, they booked my room based on double occupancy therefore only really requiring 1 bed.
I then confirmed his address:
Priceline
800 Connecticut Ave
Norwalk, CT 06856
I also confirmed Lisa Gillingham's extension which is: 8375.
I was also told not to expect a phone call from her because this is at her discretion. I replied that I was appalled that a multi- million dollar company would treat it's customers this way. I then replied that I was shocked that there isn't a class action lawsuit yet.
Good to know that the FedEx letters go unanswered as someone else had stated in their complaint. I work for FedEx so good to know not to waste my money sending it even with all the fancy upgrades.
Looks like I will contact a lawyer and send my complaint to the media. Fox News and CNN would love to run a story like this. I will let anyone know if this could turn out to be a class action suit.
Quoted $75 for 3 day car rental with Fox.
On site price for quoted car was actually $180 including the merchant added $35/ day mandatory insurance required to be purchased only from Fox
I reserved a room through Priceline for Saturday [protected] in Elk City, Oklahoma. For what I thought was the agreed lowest price of $59.99. When we arrived that evening the Hotel boasted a sign advertising a special rate for $39.00 for a double. A kitchenette was additional...the hotel sign suggested it offered a hot breakfast but after first contact we were swabbing with anti-bacterial wet-ones (I have photos of the sign). The hotel manager said the price we was quoted was not any good and charged us $69.99 for the room. We had just left my mother’s estate sale and had emotionally been drained and weren’t up to re-negotiating a price over the counter plus we were already locked in with Priceline’s secured credit card hold. Which the manager boasting in cheek and tongue held up and kept reminding us American Express would honor. What’s worse we got to the room and "seedy" would have been an upgrade! A former Holiday Inn across the street had just lost its branding due to crime in the vicinity (we would find out later from a family also victimized) and our door peephole was stuffed closed with paper. To add to that there were no deadbolts nor did it have privacy tags and the cleaning crew opened the door at 8:00 A.M. wanting us out. Checkout was due at 11:00 A.M. This is the first time I used Priceline and the last time that I will use Priceline because I'd rather spend $150./per night for peace of mind and a bit of restful sleep than slum on the lamb with a group of hotels that can't get business unless it’s through a cheap marketing expose! What’s worse is how much is William Shatner selling his soul for to appear in these cheap, bait and switch commercials has he got his movies mixed up and gone Spaceballs?
We have been looking for a vacation to Puerto Rico and Priceline.com seemed to have some very good rates. The problem is EVERY time you see the package on there site for the unbelievable rate, and go through the whole process to purchase it will not process the order and take you back to a MUCH higher price!
What happens is once you try to pay for it, it acts like it is processing then redirects you back to the same package at a much higher rate. I tried it about 5 times waiting for the low price to come back. My wife tried it several times at work, I tried from different computers and always the same result.
Called priceline to complain and they just acted like they have never heard this before or the package must have got bought. I am looking at it today and there it is the same low price again. Also looking on the web this is a common Bait and Switch Priceline.com uses. William Shatner now is on my crap list.
I took a screen print to see if Priceline would honor there price, and they would not do it.
Basically they show you the good price to bait you, then switch to the real price. What a scam. I finally bought through Orbitz and paid the normal price and has no issues.
Here is a copy from Priceline's website:
All rooms are booked for double occupancy (i.e. 2 adults) and accommodations for more than two adults are not guaranteed.
This is on the booking page. When you book you agree to this.
Good luck with your class action lawsuit!
Expedia.com, which I've used quite a bit, does the same thing (show one price and you book and it's mysteriously "gone" then you check again in an hour and it's still there only to disappear when you try in vain to book it again)
So I think these bait and switch tactics are a result of the current economy because they didn't used to do that before. In other words, I think now there is some self-serving fine print in the pages and pages of tiny print lawyers claim we should be reading, but knowing damn well almost no one is, that says that your price may change (and by "may" we know they mean "will")
I stopped using expedia.com this year because of these stupid tiny legal print games. Try going directly to the airlines as early as you can in your planning and use vrbo.com or some direct owner/hotel booking method for peace of mind and fair and above board dealings. Then as they lose angry customers, maybe priceline and expedia can save some money themselves by letting go of some of their lawyers and ad campaign designers.
Eileen (er, "Principissa" or "norman bates" or whatever you are calling yourself when you read this) - try letting people get answers to their concerns instead of trolling 10 threads (at last count) trying to annoy people that actually HELP legitimate complaints. If you REALLY have a need to attack people to make yourself feel better, join a ###-fighting club or something. Leave the grown-up stuff to the grown-ups... ok?
lol...another idiot thinking something is the good ole "Bait and Switch"
fraud/misrepresentation
I had made a bid on Priceline.com for 2 nights at a hotel for Boston for the nights of July 31 and Augst 1st. - 2010. Priceline said that the hotels were in Boston, but when I won the bid, I found out that the hotels were in a dangerious part of town about 8 miles in a neighboring town south of Boston called Dorechester.
First, the hotel, Comfort Inn, had only a single bed for me and my wife.
Second, for a good part of the night, I hear police sirens going up and down the busy main road, making my wife very nervious.
Third, the surronding area was like something out of the slums of New York.
Fourth, Priceline.com should be ashamed of itself for panning this hotel off as Boston when it is sending its customers into a hotel in a dangerous neighbor, especially when it is charging $95 per night!
Fifth, my call to Priceline lead nowhere - other than to say that nothing will be done and all sales are final. In other words, you got scamed Sucker.
Sixth, by the way, the hotel receptionist is behind bullet proof glass during the evening hours - which gives you some sense as to the type of clients this hotel normally has.
Seventh, I'm going to tell all my friends about my horrible experience using Priceline.com - what a scam!
Based on my experience with Priceline, I would never recommend anyone to use this service as I believe it is not honest in its representation. They sold me a hotel room for $95 that would normally go for half that much if someone were to walk into the street.
[protected]@aol.com
compassion policy
I booked an Hotel for a single night in San Francisco (booking#156.228.566) on July 22 for friday 23th. As soon as I did it, I realized that _MY MISTAKE_ I pick up the wrong date.
It was meant to be saturday 24th, not Friday 23th. I Immediately called Priceline hotline to CHANGE the booking. An operator told me it was NOT possible to change (but on the web site it CLEARLY appeared it was possible to! GREEN MARK CHECK!) and to change it, the only solution was to CANCEL the order and put a new one.
To CANCEL the order, the full price of the night was going to be LOST because less than 48 hours (2 days) in advance. Even if I did the reservation less than 5 minutes before the call.
Damage Resulting = the full price of the night, 149US$ + all the taxes, GONE. No refund, not even partial. Thank you priceline for giving me the opportunity to my wife to have a night in San Francisco. I made a mistake and you haven't allow me a... singleless than HALF AN HOUR to correct it. THANK YOU for your understanding, if I was rich, I was not in the need of Priceline.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Did you ever get this resolved? I read your complaint and mine is literally word for word like yours. I had a horrible experience with them tonight and was told the same thing about reviewing the tapes. Did you have any way to get this fixed? I feel so helpless right now.
I just completed the worst travel company nightmare I've ever experienced. My roommate and I wanted to travel on her college spring break from Chicago to Orlando to visit my family and see the sites. I went to Priceline.com specifically because I'd heard of their bidding system on vacation packages. Their home page shows bids for motels and flights, but not vacation packages. On the package tab I entered the dates from 3/12/10-3/16/10 for two round-trip tickets, hotel, and rental car. It asked for my credit card information and I expected the bid page to come up after that screen. It never did. The next page confirmed that I was paying close to $900 dollars for a package I had wanted to place a bid on it.
Thinking I made a mistake, I called their customer service to cancel the full-price package and I could start over with the bidding process. They refused, stating that everything was non-refundable, non-changeable. I stated that I'd paid and extra $56 for trip insurance in case I had to cancel and they said I needed a valid illness with a doctor's excuse they could verify in order to cancel. After speaking to the corporate office I was told there still wasn't anything they could do, even though their website didn't allow me to place a bid.
Angry and upset, I finally found someone who would cancel both flights. I figured if they refused to cancel the motel or rental car, they weren't about to get my business for the flights. After all of this, I then had to call them back and get an updated itinerary because I never received an e-mail confirmation on the flight changes and seven days later my itinerary online still hadn't been updated to reflect the canceled flights.
To top it off, after receiving my updated itinerary I found out that their system had defaulted the pick-up time for the rental car at 5a.m. on the 13th...the day after my flight was supposed to arrive. When I explained that the package consisted of me entering in only the dates of the vacation and the website plugged in the relevant information in for the rental car and hotel, I should at least get the missing rental car day for free. Of course, they refused.
At the end of it all, it's caused financial problems and enough stress for both of us that my roommate has now backed out of the vacation, refusing to pay Priceline.com's prices when we started this whole ordeal simply wanting to place a bid to get a decent price. Since Priceline refuses to refund the hotel and rental car, I'm pretty much forced to go on this "vacation" alone. I will never, ever, ever deal with Priceline.com and I will make sure I tell friends, family, and anyone else I meet what a horrible experience I had with them. I've never met a company that was so anti-customer as I have with this one.
We are dealing with the same issue - Our hotel has cancelled our reservation and has no more rooms... I have contacted customer service several times and have not received any help so far. Our hotel reservations are for Friday so I guess we will see what happens! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Speaking of spelling...I thought it is cannot? Oh it does not matter does it Stealth?
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This is what matters:
Cut and paste link below;
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http://www.piggybankblog.com/2008/03/25/stealth/
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My name is John Wright AND I AM FIGHTING BACK!
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John Wright
piggybankblog.com
I too got the blown off by Priceline, I was a strong supporter of Priceline for the last 8 years until now. I spent over $400 for tickets for Disneyland Park in Anahiem and was sent a voucher to use. It states right on the voucher word for word" Voucher may be redeemed for the Disneyland Parks. Voucher will be required for redemption. The Guest Services told me they dont have any info on their system regarding my tickets for admission to the park. They check a total of six times and nothing, even the manager tryed and still nothing.
So I have to turn to my 7 year old son and tell him we flew over 3000 miles to Disneyland and cant go in the gate because our "Priceline Voucher " is not valid . All priceline can say is we can get back to you in 7days with a answer to why the voucher is not valid. Luckly I am a parent who has the financil means to dish out another $460 dollars to enter the park, but what about the families who don't have this fianancial mean, could you imagine. Shame on you Priceline!
So they get back to me 5 days later and blow me off saying I purchased tickets through them (Priceline) that are non-refundable and its my problem not theirs. Is it me or am I in the wrong, you got to be kidding me Priceline. Believe me the fight is not over, you have picked the wrong family to blow off and STEAL my 7 year old sons money, are you kidding me!