
Priceline Reviews
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About Priceline
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Priceline provides travel booking services. The site allows users to book flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. Utilizing a Name Your Own Price tool, Priceline offers discounted travel options and express deals, facilitating budget-friendly travel planning since 1997.
Visit www.priceline.com- User-friendly booking process
- Affordable pricing options
- Quick refund process
- Poor communication from support
- Hidden fees and charges
- Inconsistent pricing guarantees
Priceline Reviews
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Reviewed Jan. 14, 2012
What took place. Family emergency resulting in family flying from Alaska. I could not make my flight. Tried calling Priceline from 0100-1900 without any assistance.
What the consequences were. Rep stating that Priceline can not help my situation, credit me for future flights, or give me any information on company CEO complaints, contact or company information. The representatives did give me a "yes" answer when I asked, "So, I have donated my money to Priceline company and was not informed of this donation?”
Reviewed Jan. 11, 2012
To collect on Priceline's Guaranteed Lowest Price, I phoned Priceline's website. The representative said she could not find a lower price at the hotel I booked. I told her "That's because it's a small hotel (Authors, in Key West, FL), and each room is a different rate." I specified the room I booked, and told her she wouldn't find it available because I had just booked it on Priceline!
I printed the less expensive site's offering (easytobook.com) and said I could supply that as proof. She refused. So, I sent my proof to Teddi ** at Priceline's Executive Offices, also inviting her to call Authors of Key West to confirm what I said was true. She said she couldn't open my PDF attachment. I offered to fax it to her. She did not address my offer. Three times I received the form/standard refusal e-mail. Heed the preponderance of negative reviews on Priceline. Priceline is a scam outfit that does not make good on their promises.
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2012
I purchased a round trip ticket to Cancun through Priceline. When I received my confirmation, it had someone else's name on it as the traveler. I was continuously told that it was my fault, and I must have typed in this other person's name. Customer service was degrading, nasty, and unwilling to help. I was told that I would receive a full refund, until transferred to the supervisor, who denied me that, and refused to help me in any way, again, stating that this is an error of my own. I have never been so poorly treated as a customer.
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2012
I went on Priceline.com to bid on a rental car. In order to utilize the process I was required to enter identification and a credit card. When my bid was refused and a higher one offered to me I did not accept it and I refused to make the reservation but Priceline took it upon themselves to make the reservation anyway and charged my credit card. I have called the car rental company to cancel the reservation and they say they cannot because it was made through Priceline. Although Priceline has fraudulently made this reservation we are not able to cancel it or reverse the credit card charge. When I called the number for Priceline the agent refused to help me and hung up on me.
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2012
We received bad customer service. Their website malfunctioned, and my husband and I were both looking at the screen, and called their customer service number, and was told that they couldn't do anything about it, and that we would be charged $25. They would refund our money, but would still be charged $25. We booked a 3.5 star hotel, and their website came back with a 3 star hotel. This is unacceptable, that we would have to pay $25 for their malfunctioning website. Not to mention that they had just revamped and changed their website that day!
The website kept logging us out and having us log back in. It also brought us to screens that we have never seen before. We have been doing business with them for over 3 years now, and their customer service has gone way down. They told us that even though their system malfunctioned, they couldn't do anything for us, and that we'd have to write a letter to their home office, to the VP of price line. They also gave us an option to use their website, to email them a compliant. They had no higher management in their call center that could perform the refund to us.
I wrote a letter and I am waiting to hear back after hours on the phone with various representatives. None of them were of any help. I've since wrote a letter and sent an email to their VP, requesting a refund of $25. After 3 years of doing business with them, we will no longer be using them. Now, it is just the principal of the situation. If your website malfunctions, you should not make your customers/clients pay for it.
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2012
Previously I was in job but I did leave my job because Agogue Consultancy Services took 66180 from me and gave me an offer letter as a software trainee. After completing training they will place me in MNC or provide a job in own company. I did complete my training but they did not provide me a job. I gave my money but they were not giving my money. They told me that I can do anything, but they will not refund my money. What should I do?
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2012
I booked my trip to Brazil around September 25th, 2011 to depart for Brazil February 16th, 2012. I had no problems when booking. I received confirmation email regarding my trip. I received a phone call around November 23rd, 2011, stating there was a change in my flight and to call them back. I did this and was told the change to my flight was that it was cancelled and the only thing they could offer me was a full refund. I was very upset since the trip I was planning had been in the works for three years. I was insisting that they find me another flight, rebook, reroute, anything else and I did not want to cancel my trip. I was on the phone for over 2 hours, mostly on hold, while they kept checking different options, they told me.
I was transferred again and again and had to start all over with the situation. The customer service was thoughtless, rude, non caring, and very confusing. I repeatedly was told no other options. After this much time I was very frustrated and exhausted, so I did not cancel my flight and decide to call back the next day. I called back the next day after thinking everything through and was ready to continue my request for another flight. I demanded to speak to a supervisor from the first phone person I spoke to and I strongly voiced that I was not willing to have my flight cancelled. I was finally granted a new flight for my trip, on the same dates as my previous flight and will only a few minor changes. I cannot understand how it could go to no other flights available, to we have this option for you. I felt that because I pushed, got mad, demanded and was not willing to accept the full refund they helped me.
So thinking this done and my trip was set, I went about my life. I received another phone call from Priceline around January 2nd 2012. The message again stated there was a change in my flight and to call them back when I could. I called and again was told that my flight had been cancelled to Brazil and the only option was a full refund. I began my conversation to them , telling them I had just been through this a month ago, and would like to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor was extremely rude, told me Priceline was not a travel agent, it was not their job to find me another flight, and again a full refund was all they could offer. I felt sick and sad, and left the conversation crying. The person on the other end had no compassion or care for me as a person. I did not cancel my flight at that time. I waited until I was ready to try again to get this worked out and called back Priceline.
I decided that it was not in my best interest to continue working with this company. I requested my full refund. To my surprise it was not a full refund, they were only refunded me back $1394.60 and keeping the processing fee of $7.00. So they mislead me in saying it was a full refund, in fact it is not. I was upset with this and requested the full refund and after being put on hold for more than the time stated, I was offered a new flight. I could not believe what I was hearing. Again after the stress, phone calls, getting upset and frustrated they offered me a new flight. I denied their request and stuck with the partial refund. I will never go with this company for anything again.
My brother and his wife are going to Brazil around the same time, leaving a bit earlier than I and returning a bit later then but they still have their flights lined up without any cancellations. So why was my flight cancelled through Priceline? I decided to rebook with our local travel agent, the same person whom booked my brother and his wife's flights. The flight was booked and set within less than a hour and I will be flying the same dates, at a lesser cost to me. I am very confused on this situation with Priceline.
Any ideas how this works? The whole experience was terrible and not necessary. If you call and say a change in flight that is not a cancellation. If you say a full refund, it should be all the money to the customer refunded. If you say there is no other options and than come with another option both times. it seems to me there is a scam of some sort going on. Could it be I will be in Brazil during Carnival and if I rebooked I would rebook at a higher cost? This company is not at all professional.
Reviewed Jan. 6, 2012
I bought tickets from Priceline. My wife and daughter were held up and unable to make the flight. The tickets were cancelled with no refund. Priceline did nothing to help us and basically took our money and ran. They are terrible thieves and I will never buy tickets through them again. The best thing is to go through Expedia or a local travel agent, because Priceline will eventually just ** you over.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2012
The following was sent to BBB and AG of Connecticut.
I wish to file a complaint concerning the manipulative soliciting practices encountered when using priceline.com to reserve a hotel in Madison, Indiana on December 28, 2011. We had purchased a cruise in November from Priceline and earned $140 that could be considered rewards or bonus dollars to be used for a hotel reservation through Priceline. This credit had to be used for two consecutive nights stay and also had to be used by the name your own price method of procurement in which Priceline offers. This is the key to my complaint. How it works. You pick a city, star rating of hotel and make an offer. All hotels in Madison were two stars ranging from $45 to $119. A mystery in itself that Priceline refused to explain when contacted. This is not the reason for my complaint, however. We entered a request for $1 thinking, coupled with the $70/night credit, $71 would be accepted.
The Priceline website came back and indicated that we had almost 0% chance of getting the room for this cost and previous customers typically paid $81 per night for this type of hotel. We input $5 equaling $75/night. The site awarded us a room. Of course, the $45 a night room was selected. I really don’t have a problem with the room or the fact that we paid $10, used our $140 voucher and had to pay $27 in taxes totaling $177 to stay in a $93 valued room for two evenings. $93 was the price off the street at the Country Hearth, I asked when checking in. Great deal, ay? The scam here is being prompted to increase our offer and then given a room of almost half the value of the first offer. If this is not an unethical deceitful practice, I am not sure what it is.
I have contacted Priceline several times and worked my way up the ladder several rungs. Even the supervisory level did not seem to care nor did they seem to understand why I was complaining. I explained that I understand that both hotels were two-star facilities and really expected to get the least expensive one. I just wanted to know why the first offer was refused being half the value. My voice went in one ear and out the other. The room for the most part was less than $20 out of pocket per night. Yes, I am complaining about $8. I just feel, as a consumer, something was fishy here and truly have no one else to complain to. Hope you can help or at least bring some attention to their immoral practice.
Reviewed Jan. 4, 2012
We checked in. The hotel clerk said they had a problem with the hot water, but it would be fixed in an hour. That evening another pipe broke. The fire alarm went off twice and the upstairs hallway flooded. When we woke up there was no hot or cold water working. So we left. Hotel clerk offered no refunds and said to check with Priceline.
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2012
I requested a 2.5 star hotel through a Priceline bid. They automatically upgraded me to a 3.0 star. I specifically wanted a 2.5 so I could have the free breakfast. I called their customer complaint department and got nowhere. The fine print in their contract allows for them to upgrade without telling you. By upgrading me, I now have to pay for breakfast which will cause me to end up paying more than if I would have paid for the hotel I wanted directly.
Reviewed Jan. 2, 2012
I booked a cruise through Priceline, and was to earn a free hotel stay as part of that "special offer". When the email arrived, it was not actually a "free hotel stay", instead, it was a $70 voucher toward a stay. That however isn't the problem. Upon attempting to claim my bonus cash, it is impossible to do. I've spoken with customer service on three separate occasions, weeks apart, and still cannot retrieve, or claim my bonus cash. At this point, I can only assume that it's a scam. I will never use Priceline again. I'm considering canceling/not paying my credit card bill, canceling the cruise, and letting them fight it out with Priceline. At this point however if I cancel there will be charges applied for canceling late. I'm not sure what they are.
Reviewed Jan. 1, 2012
After researching for multiple hotels in the Nashville airport area on 12/31, Priceline.com advertises a non-negotiated quote for $xx.xx amount. After the reservation was completed, I called the Hotel to confirm my stay. Their manager advised me that no reservations have been made in the last 4 days. I called into Priceline.com to put purchase into dispute (Guarantee Policy: Reservation is guaranteed for arrival on the confirmed check-in date only. If you don't check-in to the hotel on the first day of your reservation and you do not alert the hotel in advance, the remaining portion of your reservation will be canceled and you will not be entitled to a refund).
I'm waiting for 38 minutes now, over-promised and under-delivered. They are overbooking for profit. Issuing a customer a confirmation number is a receipt that the service has been fulfilled and a purchase agreement has been made, not lost. Do not use this company! Unpredictable!
Reviewed Dec. 30, 2011
DIDO on complaint posted on 12/20/11. Wish we have read this prior to.
We have also used Priceline.com on several occasions. Tonight, our bid returned a hotel outside of the area suggested. We immediately contacted Priceline and talked to agents who would not allow us to cancel, substitute or even pay more to move our hotel back to the requested area. We were even willing to just pay the retail price if necessary to be in the desired area.
We were told that we could not appeal to any managers beyond the two agents we talked to but that we could write to headquarters - 800 Connnecticut Ave, Norwalk CT 06854. This experience was very deceiving.
Reviewed Dec. 29, 2011
I tried to book a flight that was suited to my airline times. I gave them my credit card then was approved. After that, they booked me on a different airline at different times. I tried to get back the original flight that I thought I agreed upon. I checked on recent transactions. They showed my flight history from last year and 2 possible bookings for my flight for Nov. 8, 2011 not yet billed to credit card. So I figured that no damage was done, but little did I know my credit card was charged to the flight I did not want. They never emailed me of any confirmation of flight or informing me whether it was in my history of transaction.
I believe that they have committed fraud. I would like get my money back. Customer service was no help. Their attitude was to bad, but that's the way it goes. I just want my money back.
Reviewed Dec. 28, 2011
My mom booked a flight and rental car through Priceline in October. The flight was heading to Kona, HI. on December 20th and returning to Honolulu, HI. on December 27th. My mom received her itinerary and printed it out and sent it to me. We show up on December 27th for our 6:10pm flight at 4:00pm, and are informed by the airline that our flight left at 2:50 pm and that there were no other flights that evening. They said that since we booked through priceline.com, we needed to deal with them about it. We called Priceline and kept getting put on hold and kept getting disconnected for five times. Every time we called back, we had to re-hash the details of why we were calling.
They also told us that we needed to deal with the airline, not Priceline. They finally said that it was our fault that we missed our flight, that they sent an email to us on November 5th; however, we still don't have a record of the email. They absolutely would not help us, nothing. They weren't very nice about it either. So, the airline finally honored our tickets and put us on the earliest flight the next morning. Why didn't Priceline call us? Why when we checked in with our itinerary that had the original time printed on it, were we not notified of the new time? And as a Priceline customer, who spent almost $1000 for the flights and rental car, were we not treated better? I will never book with them again. Neither will my mom, not after this.
Reviewed Dec. 24, 2011
They over charged my card and they said that I agreed to pay. It’s not the first time that I’m using Priceline and I have always been. When I’m purchasing hotel rooms, the price that I agree to pay is the price that I’m paying. In November 30, my parents stayed in the Circus Circus Hotel until the December 5, not using any of the Pay-Per-View in the TV or nothing from the mini bar and they still charged $37 extra for resort fee. When I’ve called Priceline, they agreed by saying, “Yes, you agree to pay any additional incidentals." And I said, “Yes but a resort fee doesn’t come in my humble eyes as incidentals.”
Reviewed Dec. 21, 2011
I had never utilized Priceline previously. I reserved a rental car for one week trip to Ohio last September. About an hour later, I was informed that we needed to revise our travel plans and would not be able to make the trip on the scheduled date. I immediately sent two email requests to Priceline regarding our change of plans and to cancel the car rental reservation. I received two email responses stating that the company policy does not grant refunds or credit for future rentals even though the rental car request was made two hours after making the reservation.
I contacted Capital One, my credit card company, regarding stopping payment, but they were of little assistance. I also contacted the rental car company to check if there was a car being reserved for the original dates requested. Being advised by the rental company that there was indeed a car being reserved, I also cancelled that reservation.
For three months I attempted to obtain some resolve with the rental charge issue with Priceline but to no avail. The supervisors of the company refused to provide a refund or to offer any type of credit for future rental cars.
They did offer a $5.00 discount on future rentals. I declined since I definitely would not recommend nor do business with Priceline in the future. Now I am out of $351.56 but without any service provided by this company. I have also spent numerous hours gathering documents which they repeatedly indicated they did not receive.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2011
I have used Priceline.com many times. In this particular instance, I chose a hotel that was described to be in an area that it wasn't in. In fact, it was several miles from the stated location. After contacting Priceline, they would not allow me to cancel or substitute another hotel in the area that was described on their site. Basically, they misrepresented the location of the hotel on their website. I contacted their customer service department and I was told I could not change my reservation because it was restricted. In addition, I was told I couldn't appeal to anyone else other than writing a letter to their company headquarters.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2011
I booked a ticket and purchased insurance against cancellation. Upon cancellation they refused to pay me the money. Then, when I tried to book another ticket 2 months later, I had to haggle with them for 1 hour on the phone, to a very, very, rude representative, who said that the tickets were "used tickets". I had cancelled 2 days ahead, and there was no proof (which the rep also admitted), that I had traveled (in terms of a check in or any such thing), but they said that I cannot book yet.
Meanwhile, I just had three tickets at that price. They were gone by the time the whole process was complete. After that, they said I needed to wait 24 hours, and the immensely rude customer rep also told me I could not book my tickets, because they have to be on the same flight carrier. This information was not provided on any cancellation form, or the rep, with whom I cancelled my tickets, didn't tell me this. The flight services providers are not even at my destination place, so I practically cannot book through them.
Also, once you cancel, the new ticket price will not be through Priceline, it would be through the flights. Then why the ** did I use Priceline anyway? I got charged over $300, and had to manually call the flight providers to resolve the issue, because they "recommended I do that, to resolve the issue" They are the worst. Go anywhere but book through here. I lost $300, cannot get my desired flight, and had to pay an overpriced sum to travel.
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2011
I booked two rooms using “bid your price.” At first, the bidding price was unacceptable for 4 stars. They only allowed one bid. Then the site forced to lower the star rating and slowly increased the price. After doing that, they accepted my rate of $52 and ended up giving a room in a 2-star which is their 3-star! They just gave me a queen-size bed and any upgrade I had to pay with the hotel. When I called the hotel directly for two double beds and non-smoking, they charged a $35 upgrade fee for which is on top of my bid price! When I called Priceline, they say it is all in the contract and no refunds, exchange upgrade or cancellation. They take customer feedback and do nothing. The same hotel was reviewed and rated badly not only in Priceline’s site but many other sites like Expedia or Hotwire.
When I called customer service for PL, they kept repeating the contract and refused to do anything. They cleverly have covered all possible things in the contract so that they are covered. In the end, there is no solution in this. Both customer relations and customer service keep saying the same line: “I am sorry sir, we cannot cancel or refund.” Very, very disappointed. When I called my credit card company to put a stop payment, I’m unable to do so since we signed their contract. I ended up in a not so good hotel for the price I bid and also pay for the upgrade to double beds since I was travelling with kids. The total added to a price where I could have got a normal hotel for the normal price! Is there no way to sue them or control their practices? It disappointed me.
Reviewed Dec. 16, 2011
I was fooled by bold printed "fees chopped". We keep fees lower than Expedia, then we missed the small print that says a taxes and a service charge of $50 was excluded from the price. This represented 68% of the booking. By the way, I have booked many times with Expedia and Orbitz and have never paid a fee. I will seek out ways of preventing Priceline from pushing any add or info to me.
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2011
On 12/5/11, I went to the Priceline website to book a room in Manhattan for one night, Saturday 12/10/11. I filled out the form on the website and Priceline booked me a room in Long Island City called A.C.E hotel. Approximately 30 seconds later, I called the hotel to cancel and they told me I had to call Priceline to cancel. So approximately one minute later, I called Priceline to tell them their website booked me a room in Long Island City and I wanted a room in Manhattan. They told me they were sorry, but there was nothing they can do about it. I did not make a mistake, there website did. As far as I can see it, they can book you a room anywhere and just charge your credit card. Priceline has a nice scam going on.
Reviewed Dec. 4, 2011
We attempted to book a hotel in the city of Fredericton. the hotel issued to us was across a closed bridge along with a 40-minute drive. When we spoke with customer relations, there was no transaction with them at all. I will never use the site again.
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2011
Priceline can't be trusted. I booked 3 reservations on the same day for Thanksgiving. Priceline gave me 3 reservation numbers at the time the reservations were made, 3 months before the holiday. They only "accepted" two of the 3 reservations and did not communicate this to me. They would not correct the situation the week before the travel date when this was discovered. I had to spend $250 more to get my son home because of Priceline's practice of publishing a rate, accepting a reservation, but not "confirming" the reservation. They shouldn't be allowed to publish rates and not honoring them or confirming the reservations when they are made.
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2011
Priceline's website kept freezing up when I was making $600 fare bids for an Ireland trip. When the system unfroze, an email was received from Priceline saying I agreed to purchase a $1102 full fare ticket. I called and emailed Priceline and was told tough—no refunds. I contacted American Express and they said dispute it.
Then both just ignored the bogus charge and left me the bill. I contacted American Airlines and they said sorry. I try to use the ticket but the ticket was not on the days I could use it. Then I never even received a ticket. Later, I find out that American Airlines voided the transaction and told me to contact Priceline. So Priceline is out; they’ve got no money but won't pay American Express back the $1102. So disputes occur two more times to no avail.
The kicker: Priceline charged my husband's account on my account with my signatures. So now I'm looking at other alternatives.
I received another dispute today ignoring me. They are saying that their computer system shows acceptance for an $1102 ticket. It doesn't matter that my husband did not authorize nor sign nor initial for it.
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2011
I booked a hotel reservation on Priceline and as this is a credit card I hardly ever use, I was suspect when 2 days later I was called by my bank with suspicious activity on my account. I know that it had to be someone from Priceline who might be stealing credit card information as I have not used this card since September. It has now been canceled and a police report filed. When I called Priceline, they acted as though they didn't care, had no security department to speak to, wouldn't give their name and wouldn't let me speak to a manager. All I was trying to do was protect the public, as many people may not be able to pinpoint where their card number was stolen from, but Priceline doesn't seem to care.
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2011
We booked a hotel room near the Brussels airport for an early morning flight. Brussels has a highway that avoids going through the city to avoid traffic. Priceline gave us the address of the hotel. We entered the address in the GPS. After 2 hours of a horrifying trip through the center of Brussels at the top of rush hour, we arrived at the address given. It was a home! Priceline gave the wrong city! The hotel was in Egem not Brussels. We had to made a long distance phone call to the hotel just to find out where they were. They said it has happened many times with Priceline! Why don't they correct the address.
I tried calling the company and it is impossible to talk to a live person. After many calls,I gave up. The other people are right, Priceline does not care at all about the customers after they get their money! Maybe if all the complaints were directed to their well know spokesman, something would get done.
Reviewed Nov. 21, 2011
I want to change my ticket, because of unforeseen events. I purchased 2 tickets for my travel from DFW to DEL, via British Airways using Priceline. I am willing to pay $275 per ticket to change the dates of travel. I could see the fares are available at the price that I purchased my original ticket for the new travel dates. I see the fares at Priceline, British Airways, and all the possible travel sites. But still, the Priceline customer care/ supervisors are quoting me fares that are 3 times the value that I see on the website. British Airways does not hear me, because per them, I purchased this ticket with Priceline, and therefore they cant help me. This happened This happened continuously for 3 days, because of which, I have to cancel my travel. Also, I am not sure what to do with $2,800, since they are not refunding me the money, and also not willing to give a voucher that I can use in the future.
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2011
I missed a return flight from Fresno to Hartford because of a family emergency. When I rescheduled, I was charged $180 rescheduling fee on top of a full airfare. In other words, I didn't need to pay the rescheduling fee ($150 to airlines and $30 to PL) at all. PL could have and should have told me that. I would have been delighted with their service. I will never use Priceline again.
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2011
I searched for a pet-friendly hotel and was booked to a non-friendly hotel. They were rude and would not cancel or move me. They were very deceptive.
Reviewed Nov. 18, 2011
I planned to book a hotel with Priceline which has a four-star rating with all amenities and night life. I received a hotel Westin Casuarina which Priceline calls as a 4-star rating. But this hotel is given as 2.5-star rating in many websites and the reviews are bad. This is definitely not a 4-star hotel. Priceline just rated a 2-star hotel as a 4-star and selling it.
Reviewed Nov. 18, 2011
We received a late night call from the "Priceline Confirmation Dept" asking for our name and they had the last 4 of our credit card. This call came from area code 203 (Connecticut). I Googled this number but nothing came up for Priceline, so I phoned their so called customer service department. I was told that maybe the call came from their fraud department, but they didn't have the phone number! I have no way to know if this call was for real or not. Unbelievable. If this is how they deal with problems... pay a little more to not use Priceline.
Reviewed Nov. 17, 2011
I used to use Priceline when I traveled, but never again. I attempted to book a room with a hotel, 3 separate times, only to have the site tell me it was a no go. I figure,d maybe I input something wrong. My fiance told me to use Kayak, which went through without a hitch. I checked my account the following day to find out that Priceline is tying up funds, 3 different times! Of course you cannot contact a live person, so I contacted my bank to see the best alternative.
If Priceline does charge me 3 times, for the same room, on the same day, then I am putting a hold on my account, putting in a dispute, and emailing as many people as I can, about this unfair business practice. Use Kayak if you can. It is so much better, and there was not a headache at all.
Reviewed Nov. 17, 2011
I booked a ticket from Priceline for an international trip with multiple destinations. In the last minute, Priceline called me and asked me to either change my schedule for two days or cancel my ticket since the carriers will not operate at one day. I talked with Billy, a supervisor at Priceline and he was very rude to me and cut off the phone. I told him that I have difficulties changing my schedule and he did not do anything to help me. I had booked many flights, hotels and cars from Priceline and I do not understand why Priceline is so rude to customers. It looks like Priceline does not care about its customers.
Reviewed Nov. 16, 2011
No more Priceline! They have terrible service. The company is a joke.
Reviewed Nov. 15, 2011
My company made a reservation in Stamford for a secure hotel in Stamford through Priceline. This is for one of our candidates. There was no indication on Priceline that this hotel is in the middle of the highest crime area in Stamford. Upon review and after reading about the crimes today in the local paper in and around this hotel, we asked that Priceline cancel the reservation due to criminal activity. They have refused (Ceasar) and we are not booking any more travel through Priceline.
Reviewed Nov. 14, 2011
Priceline rejected an initial bid for a 'name your own price' room, and suggested that we might try broadening the search. Only a list of areas was presented without a map. We selected an area that is very close. The booking went through, but was for an area 1/2 an hour away. Priceline's customer support wouldn't budge, even though we called within minutes to explain their mistake. Priceline created an invalid contract, as it didn't provide proper consideration. Any reasonable person would have expected that this request would have been fulfilled in the indicated area, not 1/2 an hour away.
Reviewed Nov. 13, 2011
Priceline is a rip-off. I specified the type of room and how many people would be in it when I booked it: two adult and two children. They booked a room for two adults. When I called customer services they informed me I can not change the reservation. It cost me $60 more than they quoted. Customer service was a joke when I called them.
Reviewed Nov. 13, 2011
The "confirm your bid" page on their web page did not reflect our total bid. We intended to bid via the amount we listed at 50% the going rate. We entered the total amount for our two tickets. They confirmed an amount of twice that, accepting our bid as the amount for one ticket. We called to explain the discrepancy. There was no statement on the final bid page of our total.
Reviewed Nov. 12, 2011
I accidentally booked a hotel room through name your price. I do admit my mistake and when I realized this, I immediately called your customer service department and spoke with both a representative and their superior.
I am very disappointed in your service and can not believe a company like Priceline would offer no leeway. I have dealt with other third party sites before and they were able to change and or modify my reservations. I was simply told nothing could be done and was offered a 10 off discount on my next purchase. It suffices to say, that I will never be using your services again and will be sharing my experience with my friends, family, and colleagues.
I should have read the reviews about Priceline before using your service because they were correct, you are a 1/5 company and I experienced this first hand today. Priceline offered no help in resolving the matter. I would stay clear of priceline at all cost they don't have to best deals around and are not in the business of making their customers happy. In a customer driven business, you think this would be their number one priority.
Reviewed Nov. 9, 2011
I tried to cancel my reservation within hours of the reservation, and told of the no-cancellation policy, and they said, it was the hotel's policy. I Googled hotel name, and called, and they have a 48-hour cancel policy. I Called Priceline back, and didn't get anywhere. I ended up calling my American Express Business Credit card, and filed a dispute, and AE was able to give back the credit. Never use Priceline. It is cheaper by calling hotel directly.
Reviewed Nov. 6, 2011
This is horrible. Priceline's website directs you to phone your hotel to discuss your particular needs, such as available parking for a flight after the reservation is made. When I phoned the hotel, I was told that they sell these as bundles, not available separately in some cases, and Priceline should be phoned to have this feature added. I expected to have to pay an increase but Priceline would not change the reservation nor cancel and rebook as the hotel suggested. This particular hotel was "fed up" with Priceline not portraying the packages correctly and having customers call after a reservation.
Calls to Priceline will net you absolutely zero assistance in rectifying the misleading information on their web. This hotel noted that the Priceline accepted price offers are usually very close to the actual room rate in their area.
Reviewed Nov. 5, 2011
I have been booking rooms for several years using Priceline.com. Recently, I have been unable to make necessary request on their website. Also, it is completely impossible to make a phone call to customer service without getting hung up on. I may be at the point where I will be modifying my use of PL.com
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2011
Horrible Horrible! Apparently they have no managers to help customers. The managers are too busy to deal with customers. Being transferred from customer care to higher up, there was no difference in the response. Now I understand why they do no refunds, because they have to pay for a department that has no resolution and it should be abolished.
Reviewed Nov. 3, 2011
I reserved a hotel room through Priceline at Historic Powhatan Resort for November 9-13, which I had to cancel due to family complications. I notified the resort which in turn referred me to Priceline to cancel. They indicated to me that I was going to be charged the full amount due to a no-cancellation policy. People should be made aware before using Priceline of this policy so they are not ripped off if they have to change their plans for any reason.
Reviewed Nov. 2, 2011
They advertise save 60% off if you name your own price. We did and received $15 off a normally $59 dollar room, hardly a 60% saving and then we're placed in a motel that's far from being in a safe area and they have no security. The room is what I would expect from the $29.95 motels in towns where there aren't any other options. Run down and unsafe. 5 nights of no sleep watching our Harley out the window coming our way since there are no refunds.
We have been traveling constantly for over two years, staying in more than 100 rooms over that time. We know what to expect for our dollar since there are times and towns when you have no choice but the $29.95 room. I will never use priceline ever again.
Reviewed Nov. 2, 2011
Priceline booked me into Days Inn in Alexandria, Virginia. After the reservation, my secretary reviewed the hotel and found a huge amount of complaints including leaky pipes, smelly rooms, bedbugs in rooms, etc. My company advocates our employees book through Priceline, never again! When we read the reviews, we called the Days Inn hotel and they confirmed they have bedbugs in the hotel rooms. When discovered, they rope off the rooms and bring the exterminator. I expected better of Priceline but they would not cancel the room even though it is a health and safety issue. I talked to Dee of Priceline Employee Number **. No more Priceline ever!
Reviewed Oct. 28, 2011
This company is the biggest joke known to man. They make your life as hard as they possibly can to the point that it's literally cruel. They will test your patience so much that you'll eventually feel you've lost your sanity. They took over seven hours of my life that I'll never get back.
First off, representatives must be put on the floor the first day on the job and told "wing it" because there is zero consistency from one agent to the next. Also, the limited training they do receive must be simply, "Make the customer's lives ****. Do not care about their needs. Never actually assist, always come up with a new problem, fee or changed policy instead." True story, I've talked to 17 representatives (6 managers) in 2.5 days and they are still giving me grief. (I'm not asking for anything I didn't purchase, not even a courtesy for all their wrongdoings and for wasting my time. )
I bought insurance and had to cancel my flight because my immediate family member died just before my scheduled departure. At the time, they said I'd have credits for future use. Upon rebooking, it seems that my credits were closed by Priceline on accident and no one's been willing to reinstate it. Even though I'm in no way at fault, they've been 100% uncooperative in fixing their mistake. They will lie to you, tell you wrong information without reviewing your record, act incompetent, put you on hold endlessly, hang up on you, transfer you to the wrong department or to an extension that rings forever, make you wait on "partner airline approval" for days and never keep said promises documented in "the notes." At this point, I almost believe "the notes" are just running checklists of all the different problems that they can create for you. "I see here in the last call, Oliver hit her with this excuse. Check! Upon transfer, Maria uncovered this new issue. Check! " One representative, Norman, actually yelled at me.
In 30 years, I have never written a complaint on a company. This is my first and it's fueled by sheer outrage that I was treated so poorly. Please take my advice and never do dealings with Priceline. No matter how hard you try, they will never make it right. I wanted to believe they had to. After all, they were the faulty party, fixing things would be the right thing to do but unlike other companies, that's not the standard with these folks. It really is sad that a company like this is still in business. Save yourself, spread the word and maybe one day they'll get what's coming to them. If you have any questions, I can be contacted at **.
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2011
I booked my vacation package to Mexico Barcelo Maya Palace resort with Priceline. With my package, I also purchased the travel insurance which I was reassured at the time of purchase I can cancel in case of hurricane.
I called Priceline yesterday just to inquire how I should proceed in case if I would like to cancel my vacation due to hurricane Rina which is about to land at the same time our plane would land in Cancun. Surprisingly, I was told that the only time I can cancel my vacation if my air-carrier will cancel my flight! It is my understanding if flight is canceled then travel agency has an obligation to return money to a customer for unused trip with or without travel insurance. From the said above, the Priceline is running the scam, deceiving and unfair model of business. Their product is deceiving to the consumer and put people at risky situation. As of now I have two choices, first to put my family at risk and proceed to my vacation or second, have huge penalties and loose hard earned money for my vacation.
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2011
Yesterday, 10/25/2011, I was shopping for a rental car and thought I would check Priceline. I was looking for prices to negotiate and selected a company, Alamo. I was booked for the full price without any choice of negotiation. Trying to contact these folks is almost impossible. I did have an option to cancel the transaction, which I did. But later I received the same email confirming the reservation again. I finally talked with someone (foreign) who supposedly handled the complaint. She said my credit card may have been hit but I would get credit back within 10 days. Never will I even go near Priceline site again. Sadly, I understand that Priceline owns most of the competition such as Expedia, Hotwire, and some of the others. They can play games with you on prices with their computers. My advice is “buyer beware”.
Reviewed Oct. 21, 2011
We booked a hotel with Priceline and my credit card was charged. The hotel did not receive the confirmation from Priceline so they charged me again (at a 20% lower rate! Will Priceline honor their low price guarantee (doubtful since they don't respond to any customers) The email confirmed that we received said "no content" apparent computer glitch at Priceline?
I contacted Priceline on the same day by phone at 800-774-2354. The agent was very rushed and a bit clueless but said that he would follow-up and we would get an email response resolution. One week and nothing. (FYI: I asked another hotel about the problem and was told that they often do not receive confirmations from Priceline before the guest arrives and sometimes after the guest departs.) Priceline doesn't seem to care about their service or the quality of their operation. It's a good service unless you have a problem. If you have a problem, it's a huge hassle. Nothing was resolved so far. I'm still trying to contact Priceline again and filed a credit card dispute for the duplicate charges.
Reviewed Oct. 20, 2011
I rented a car through Priceline for a trip to Tennessee. My work schedule changed and I could not travel on the original dates. So, I called to see if the car rental company could change the reservation. They told me that I would have to contact Priceline. I called Priceline and supposedly spoke with a supervisor. They refused to help as well. They said that there was no way to change or delete a reservation. I know this is absolutely inaccurate since I worked in the credit card industry for years and know that it can be done. I told the representative that they would lose my business. Apparently, even that has no value! Priceline has forgotten who it is that keeps them in business, the customer. Avoid them like the plague. They will not help you once they have your money!
Reviewed Oct. 19, 2011
I encountered a similar problem to another one of your filed complaints. The hotel room for up to 2 adults does not include infants or small children. Since we travel in a family with 2 adults and small children, I thought that this applied which it did not. The hotel only allows 2 occupants per room. We were told to contact Priceline and book a second room. Priceline guarantees the lowest rates, but that only applies to rates from similar websites.
When I spoke with the hotel staff, they told me their daily rate was $38 even though my Priceline price was $56. Why would I book a second room through Priceline, when it was lower to go through the hotel? I called the hotel and was informed that Priceline books a queen sized smoking room. Priceline states that it tries to book non-smoking rooms. Not true. When the option for a non smoking room was available, it was not even requested. Customer service is extremely difficult to talk with at Priceline and they I was on hold for 20 minutes. They do not make any changes no matter how high up you go. I was told that the supervisor I spoke with was the highest up I could go and I could not make any changes to my reservation. What I would have liked to do is since I have to pay $120, I would have preferred to put in a bid on a higher rated motel that has non-smoking rooms and accommodates families.
Reviewed Oct. 12, 2011
The website states that if I need special request, I'll just have to contact the hotel. I contacted the hotel and they said that I need to contact Priceline. The customer service said that all they can do is fax the request to the hotel. I needed 2 beds; the one they reserve was 1 king, smoking.
At the check in, we were told that the hotel has done "a favor" and as their courtesy to me, I got my 2 beds. I was treated like 2nd class citizen for the less than $20 difference! I don't think hotels do not like Priceline. It is not worth it and will never use it again!
Reviewed Oct. 12, 2011
They booked me in a hotel that was under severe reconstruction due to flooding. It was dangerous, smelly, dark, concrete broken floors, nails sticking out of the walls in public areas. In the workout room, the TV was taken out. The insulation exposed no walls, just plastic and dust that flew up on you when you try to run, and the machine created wind. No a/c. The internet was supposed to be at a table to sit and use. It was on the edge of the front desk where it could just fall and you could not really use. There were holes in the floor, the smell was horrible, moist, mold.
Priceline was aware of the hotel condition and still advertised it as a normal, beautiful dwelling. They have since taken many complaints off their site.
Reviewed Oct. 11, 2011
I booked a rental vehicle for February 13, 2012 and I want to know why the money was taken out of my Visa right away when the pick up date is 5 months from now. This is not normal business practice.
Please look into this matter and refund my money back to my Visa, and I expect to pay when I pick up the vehicle.
Reviewed Oct. 10, 2011
I went online to book a hotel reservation through Priceline. I went on the website and put in my credit card information to book a room in Florida. After I put in my credit card information and was told that the reservation was "confirmed", I read a statement that says the reservation would accommodate up to 2 adults and any changes need to be coordinated through the hotel. There should have been information on the home page that lets you know that the reservations were only for two adults. I have a family. If I rebook at another location, I'll lose my money. If not, the room might not be big enough for all 4 of us. Either that or the hotel may charge me for my kids up to the full amount of the room or more.
Reviewed Oct. 10, 2011
Booked a room through Priceline at a B&B (Henderson Castle) in Kalamazoo, MI. The price was $10 cheaper than booking through the B&B directly, I've never used Priceline before. We arrived on 10/8 and we were told that they do not deal with Priceline. The B&B was booked and they were sorry.
The B&B had others booked through Priceline before and they, too, were refused.
Reviewed Oct. 8, 2011
They use false advertising. This about the experience I had on October 7th, 2011 regarding Priceline's customer service and guarantee policy. I rented a car through the negotiator process. This process guarantees you will pay at minimum 20% less than retail. If you find it cheaper, you are guaranteed the big deal guarantee. This means that if you find a lower published-price for the exact same itinerary, within 24 hours of booking, Priceline will refund you 100% of the difference, or cancel your reservation so you can rebook at the lower price. Plus, Priceline will give you a $50 Priceline vacation package coupon for your next trip. When you book any flight and hotel vacation package or a Name Your Own Price flight, hotel or rental car, you are also backed by their Big Deal Guarantee. The site stated that they do not only ensure the lowest price, they also guarantee you'll book a big deal or they'll give you $25. The Big Deal Guarantee is available up until the day before you travel!
I booked a car reservation for a mid/intermediate size SUV (request number #**) on the negotiator (description was Ford Escape, Rav4 or similar for a specified date, time, and airport pick up). The cost is $40.00 a day for 2 days with fees (which they advertise they do not have), for a total of $119.30. My husband, not knowing I was getting the car rental, found the same car on Kayak.com for $37.77. It was the same car, date, time, and airport location. The cost is $37.77 a day for 2 days with fees, for a total of $98.72.
I proceeded to call the 800 line as instructed on the website. The first time I called, I kept getting a recording that could not recognize my registration number. The second time I called, I got the recording went through the process till I got to "can I assist you with anything else?" after selecting option 4. I hung up again. The third time I called, it was the same as the first time. Only after recognizing my registration number did the automated system ask me for my phone number for security. It asked me for option in receiving a receipt for my purchase of the car. And then, it asked me if I can do anything else. But it did not give me the option to press, so it hung up on me again. The fourth time, the system could not recognize my registration number again and stated that a person will be on to assist me. At this point, I was frustrated that I had to call so many times.
Then, I got a rep with a strong Indian accent that was difficult to understand but tried to assist me. I then asked him to define for me the type of vehicle that I may receive under the term mid size SUV. While he proceeded to state that there are no guarantees on the type, it is typically a Ford Escape, Rav4 or similar vehicle. I stated thank you. I mentioned that I actually had found the same vehicle on Kayak.com for a lesser price. He asked me if I was familiar with the Big Deal Guarantee. I stated that is the reason for my call. He asked me where I found this deal and I stated on Kayak.com. He said, "May I place you on hold so I can verify this?"
He came back and stated that he did not find it. What he meant to say was that that he did not know how to locate it on Kayak.com. I had it opened and was willing to email him the registration I had in our name. He stated that he cannot receive emails so I walked him through the site and showed him how to find it. Wow! 37 minutes later, he found it and then said, "I cannot guarantee this price, for it is not with Alamo!" I was like, “What?! It's a booking engine like yours, same car, same date, same pick up location and $21 dollars cheaper." He kept saying, “Sorry, we are unable to accept this offer. It is not at an Alamo Dealer!" Now if you are in the travel business and different companies are competing for the same business, the same dealer will not out bid themselves. So of course, they won't give it to you. That is the loop whole out.
The use false advertising. The third party sites ask the following itinerary questions: location of pick up and drop off, dates of pick up and drop off, time of pick up and drop off, and type of vehicle. There is no dealer asked for the same as airline, hotel, and so on because they cannot compete with themselves, only with each other. The third party websites will bring up all company pricing, 1 price per company. Therefore, this cannot be considered part of the itinerary for by conclusion in all cases (company is a separate entity), this is to be determined.
I proceeded to ask for a supervisor, for this gentleman was telling me that he cannot honor the guarantee nor will he cancel the reservation. When I suggested to honor the price for customer satisfaction, he said he would not. And if I wanted to reverse the charge on my credit card, he told me to go ahead. I continued to ask for his supervisor. He huffed and puffed as if I was asking a big deal. He told me, “They will just tell you the same thing mam.” I asked again, “May I speak to a supervisor?” He finally got me a manager and sure enough, they told me the same thing. I was very shocked by the customer service provided by Priceline. Therefore, I left a message with Brett Keller at the corporate office on 10/7/2011 at 2:30 pm.
Reviewed Oct. 7, 2011
I was looking at prices for renting a car for my vacation. I named my price but didn't realize that it was too late and my reservation was booked. I called prices within twenty-four hours and was pretty much told sorry but that I'm out of luck. I understand their policy and it is my fault that I didn't read the fine print better but to take $639.00 from someone who is not using this service, is pretty unfair in this economy. I spoke with a supervisor as well and asked if they could cancel it and charge me a cancellation fee instead, and I was told that this is final; nothing else can be done.
I did not even lose my temper with this since it is, in essence, my fault for not reading the fine print. I was more than professional with a very unprofessional company. I am very disappointed in Priceline. They have no heart and policies are made to be broken.
Reviewed Oct. 6, 2011
Priceline's website and customer support are liars and thieves. In January 2011, I was checking their website for non stop tickets from Tampa, Florida to Los Angeles, California. The first class tickets were $785 each and couch was $320 each. Directly below was the statement that I could save up to 40% by bidding. And they guaranteed that I would save money or they would match any lower price. So, I bid accordingly what came to $455 per ticket for 2, which I believed was 42% savings on first class tickets. The site came back and stipulated they could only guarantee a connecting flight, for which I agreed. However, when the notice of confirmation came through, the tickets were couch class which came to 42% higher than their quote for non stop tickets.
I called Priceline customer service immediately to complain. I was told the tickets were non cancelable and non refundable. However, they stated they could cancel the tickets for what would come to a 50% fee. This would have been triple of the standard airline cancellation fee (which when I later checked with the airline). They stated that they allow cancellation and do not charge a fee to the agent for those type of tickets. I was not offered any other adjustment by Priceline, in spite of their printed guarantee to save me money.
I filed a complaint with my card company. Priceline's answer to that was to cancel the non cancelable tickets, for which they received a full refund from the airline. However, they kept refusing to refund any part of the $911 they collected for these tickets. So, in conclusion, they received $911 for nothing, since they canceled the product and made it unavailable for use while refusing to refund any of the charge. This is criminal!
Reviewed Oct. 5, 2011
I purchased a ticket from Detroit to Sao Paulo, Brazil for $1,339.00. When I got to JFK, I was told that there was a problem with my VISA so they would not let me board the plane to Sao Paulo. I then went back to Detroit. Priceline said that they were "very sorry" but could not give me a refund--so, they just kept my money! I will never deal with Priceline again. I need to tell the world--Priceline will seriously burn you if there is the slightest problem beyond your control! This was a lot of money--it really hurt! Priceline kept all my money worth $1,339.00 and refused to give me a refund.
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2011
My family was buying Puerto Rico vacation package from Priceline over the phone. But while booking, we saw that Expedia was giving us way better deal than Priceline. When we told the sales rep, he told us that Customer Service will refund the difference and will give us additional $50 for future vacation. But we had an extremely disappointing experience with Priceline. We spent 3 hours over the phone and it was all wasted. They just tried to spend the time so that we don't get same deal from Expedia, and it sucks. Priceline are robbers, that is what I can say. Give my ** money back!
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2011
I decided to do a bid on 'Name your own hotel price' on Priceline and booked under my husband's name. It's clearly advertised as 'Save up to 60% of hotels'. The stay was a five night stay from October 30 to November 4. I erred and clicked on a 4-star hotel instead of 5 stars. After I received a confirmation, I contacted Priceline, which stated they would refund the amount minus a cancellation fee of $228.46 and $25.00 change fee. The total amount charged was $1,142.30 but only $913.84 was refunded. Coincidentally, I happened to see the same hotel room via the hotel website online within 2 minutes of knowing my 'Name your own price hotel', with a total stay costing $947.45.
Priceline should not serve tall claims to customers about 'saving up to 60% of hotel room price' with 'Name your own price hotels' if the rooms they offer are $195.00 more than the price at the hotel's direct website. I appreciate them refunding the partial amount but would really respect the company if they refund the cancellation and change fee amount considering the wrong advertising and misleading customers. Consumers visit their website to try and save money, not to spend more!
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2011
I booked a room for 3 nights. I needed to check out early, only staying 2 nights. But they would not let me cancel the third night and they said I would still have to pay full price for it.Called customer service with no results.
Reviewed Oct. 3, 2011
For years, I've been using Priceline for hotels, but never again, as of this year. They've significantly downgraded the quality of the hotels they use. In Vegas, for a 5 star hotel, they book you at sleazy scamster trump's 3 star hotels with no casino, off strip. A few years ago, Priceline used to have an agreement with the Venetian who I guess has dumped them as well.
After the fact, American Express has now told me that Priceline users (not customers) have no rights when it comes to companies like Priceline. You can state what you want upfront but then Priceline can book you at wherever they want and if you don't agree with the quality of their selection, or if you don't agree on the star rating they give for a selected hotel, Priceline's attitude is "** you", we have your money and the law is on our side, minion.
You're better off dealing with the hotel you want directly for discounted rates. Priceline is not worth the risk. Priceline has now degenerated into lying, worthless scam of a company, and a shell of its former self who books its users in 3 star hotels and calls them 5 stars and hopes you don’t notice. But if you do notice and call them out on it they don’t care. They keep your money no matter what you say or what you object to. They don’t even try to appease you. They don’t care if you are unhappy. They don’t care if you never book with them again.
This is why Priceline started this new practice of selling you lesser star hotels then what you pay for because they know the law is on their side and credit card companies will not credit your money back if you complain. Priceline doesn’t even employ Americans. I spoke to a gentleman with a Russian accent. I have no idea in the world where he was.
You should never do business with a company that has all the cards and all the power because they eventually corrupt and become what Priceline is now. It’s too bad I had to find this out the hard way. I wish someone told me. Now you all now know.
Reviewed Oct. 2, 2011
I searched the web for hotels in Charleston, SC. I located a Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Charleston and selected price from the website. The link took me to Priceline and offered what I thought was a good deal. So, I booked it only to find out that it was a different Courtland in Charleston, not the one downtown. Realizing the error, I called Priceline literally 2 minutes later. They were unwilling to make the change. I checked the hotel and found the same room for $10 a day less than Priceline's price. Priceline's website also implied that their negotiations obtained free internet and parking. Upon checking the hotel website, I discovered that the hotel provides both of these as part of its amenities.
Reviewed Oct. 1, 2011
I bid $80 and was charged $113, not including tax. Priceline guarantees 40% off the published rate. The rate for the hotel is $89-$129 all year at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites. I could have gotten a cheaper price by calling directly, not to mention that the location is inconvenient. Priceline charged me more than my bid. I consider this fraud. I had to pay more than I can afford or expected to pay based on their 40% less than published price guarantee.
Reviewed Oct. 1, 2011
Priceline's website and customer support are both liars and thieves.
In January 2011, I was checking their website for non-stop tickets from Tampa, Florida to Los Angeles, California. First class tickets were $785 each and couch tickets were $320 each. Directly below was the statement that I could save up to 40% by bidding and they guaranteed I would save money or they would match any lower price.
So, I bid accordingly what came to $455 per ticket for 2, which I believed was 42% savings on First Class tickets. Priceline stipulated that they could only guarantee a connecting flight, for which I agreed. However, when the notice of confirmation came through, the tickets were couch class which came to 42% higher than their quote for non-stop tickets.
I called Priceline Customer Service immediately to complain and was told that the tickets were noncancellable and nonrefundable. However, they stated that they could cancel the tickets for what would come to a 50% fee. This would have been triple of the standard airline cancellation fee. When I later checked with the airline, they stated that they allow cancellation and do not charge a fee to the agent for those type tickets. I was not offered any other adjustment by Priceline in spite of their printed guarantee to save money.
I filed a complaint with my card company and Priceline's answer to that was to cancel the noncancellable tickets for which they received a full refund from the airline. They kept refusing to refund any part of the $911 that they collected for these tickets. So, in conclusion, they received $911 for nothing since they canceled the product and made it unavailable for use while refusing to refund any of the charge.
Reviewed Sept. 30, 2011
I was given a motel room in an area that I didn't specify. They swore I clicked 3 other areas, but I didn't. I didn’t want to cancel. I was not rude in anyway, though I was peeved because this motel is 20 miles out of my way and they were insisting that I clicked other areas. It's only 15 extra minutes from the city I chose. But the point is they insist that I'm lying. And they will not change anything due to their strict cancellation policy. What happened to good customer service? I'm angry. I am very dissatisfied. This problem could be resolved by switching my reservations to my selected destination in the first place. I also have witnesses. The site was slow. I'm not calling anyone a liar. I'm merely telling you that the only area in DC I wanted a room in was downtown!
Reviewed Sept. 28, 2011
I filed complain a few days ago about Priceline. I made a mistake in booking a hotel supposedly for Christmas with dates of Dec. 21 to Dec. 27. Instead, I made a reservation from Sept. 21 to Sept. 27. I begged them to change the date and am willing to pay more to compensate the hotel but all was in vain.
Now I would like to withdraw my complaint because yesterday, I received e-mail from Ala Moana Hotel and they persuaded Priceline to give me refund. Today, Priceline informed me that they gave me a refund of 5 out of the 6 days I tried to book.
I am really happy with the result. Now I believe that there are wonderful people in the world indeed.
Reviewed Sept. 26, 2011
I named my own deal for a rental car. They have the Priceline guarantee. I found the same car for $100.00 cheaper and an SUV for $94.00 cheaper. They refused to hold up to their Priceline guarantee. They also would not cancel my car. I worked real hard for this money to pay for my trip. I am very disappointed that they are deceiving people. I will never use them again.
Reviewed Sept. 26, 2011
I booked a hotel room for $100 with Priceline at a Quality Inn. Quality Inn gave me a receipt for $70. I called Priceline and they confirmed that if I called the hotel directly, I would have only paid $70. What a scam!
Reviewed Sept. 26, 2011
I reserved 1 room for business travel on their "name your own price" tab. I received an accepted offer to my bid. Upon waking up the next morning, I had an email for two different hotels on the same day in the same city! Upon calling Priceline to alert them of the error, they informed me that I had clicked on purchase for a room for the Quality Inn 1 minute before I submitted my offer for the name your own price. When I tried to explain to the customer service person that it's highly unlikely that someone can even do all of that in a minute they blew me off and told me they couldn't do anything for me. So, I paid for two rooms on the same night in the same city and Priceline won't do a thing about it!
If it was available, I would give them negative 5 stars! Had they shown any concern or tried to rectify the situation at all they could have kept me as a customer. The only thing they care about is the money!
Reviewed Sept. 25, 2011
I made a mistake on Sept. 21, 2011, 9 p.m., when I bid a hotel from Priceline.
I intended to book a Hawaii Hotel from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27. I must have typed it wrong, the date showed confirmation was on Sept. 21 to Sept. 27. It cost a total of 694.26 USD. I did not notice it.
On Sept. 22, I sent an e-mail to Ala Moana Hotel, asking confirmation, saying check-in Dec. 21 and check-out Dec. 27. Hotel pointed out the wrong date. I immediately contacted Priceline and hotel. I am willing to compensate hotel and offering regular price, hoping they can change the date for me. I begged them to show good heart and grand exception for us. From Internet, I found that in the past, Priceline did grant other customer when he/she bid hotel with wrong date. Here is the link: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/cancel-priceline-deal-602110/
Priceline says no because my check-in date has passed. Considering the time I bid, it is impossible the date has not passed.
We did not get any service from hotel. I am willing to compensate for the hotel. Why won't they take consideration? Is it only money that mattered in this business?
Reviewed Sept. 25, 2011
When I booked the hotel, I accidentally made it for the wrong date. I made it for August 27-28, 2011 instead of the following week. When I called the hotel to confirm the date, that was when I found out my mistake. But by then, it was too late to cancel the room. I tried to explain to Priceline what happened. And why would I book a hotel room by the Jersey shore with a hurricane approaching the coastline? Like robots and not caring, all they said was it wasn't their policy to refund. My credit card won't help either, saying it was my fault and not the merchant's fault.
Reviewed Sept. 23, 2011
I purchased a ticket for Oct.14 from Priceline. Two weeks later, I found out I had breast cancer so I knew I would not be able to go out of town. When I called Priceline, all they could do is read a line from a paper, they all said the same thing over and over. Well, all I could do is to call United myself. It took a lot of me to do with the calling, staying on the phone for an hour one day, than 45 mins the next day. All I can say is I will never use Priceline again and I hope people will think twice before using them for anything.
Reviewed Sept. 22, 2011
My credit card was used without my knowledge on these different occasions, December 29, 2010 for $717 and March 5, 2011 for $785.56 and united for $55. Can you explain how this happened? The person in question is a certain Lory **. My credit card is in my name, Robert **.
Reviewed Sept. 19, 2011
I had scheduled an excursion to the Rio Camuy Cave Park and Observatory for 8/24/11. The excursion was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. I was told by the tour company that I had to go through Priceline to get a refund because I had booked through them.
When I called the day after I returned home, I got a voicemail instructing customers to use the website due to large call volume. I submitted a request for a refund via email and heard no response. When I later called to request a refund, I was told that the cancelled trip was nonrefundable, even though it was cancelled through no fault of my own. Others who had booked the same trip but not through Priceline got a refund, and I had purchased trip protection.
They have now informed me that they have to "research" what happened and get back to me.
Reviewed Sept. 17, 2011
We were booked a hotel room in Santa Fe, NM and the room we were reserved in was not cleaned. The bed was not made, and worst of all in March, NM at night is very cold and the room had zero heat and we were cold as ** in a used bed. This is a terrible experience.
Reviewed Sept. 16, 2011
I booked a hotel room and found out 3 days later that I could not use the room. It was at that time that I found that I could not cancel the room and will be charged $142.00. They did not make this clear before I booked the room.
Reviewed Sept. 15, 2011
Priceline advertised two-night free hotel stay if a cruise of over 5 days was booked with them. After booking a 9-day cruise, they sent me a voucher for $140 for two nights (less $60 for processing). This is deceptive advertising. They should state that they will provide a voucher for $70 per night and not offer a "free" hotel stay. Finally, they did not have any hotels in the city where my cruise began - Copenhagen Denmark.
Reviewed Sept. 15, 2011
I booked our hotel reservation online for our trip to Montreal, Canada, through Priceline.com. The site said that it's the best rate and it comes with no cancellation/no refund policy. I paid $405.78 USD for three nights stay.
When we got to the hotel, Best Western Brossard, I showed them the reservation receipt but the receptionist said that they have only the authorization to reserve so I still have to pay for our three nights stay. I paid another $328 CAD, which is cheaper than what I paid at priceline, believing that Priceline just hold my account like a security deposit. When I got my credit card bills, I found out that I got charges for both priceline and the hotel plus foreign transaction charges since I used my credit card in another country.
I'm asking Priceline a refund of 405.78 since I already paid the hotel but they refused and told me that the hotel will refund me instead. It is not my fault if Priceline and the hotel have a disconnect with their transaction but they should compensate me for the trouble they have caused. All I want is a refund of $405.78. They make me believe that I got the best rate when in fact Priceline is more expensive.
Reviewed Sept. 13, 2011
I paid for "one of the three remaining top floor rooms with two queen beds" at the Boston Radisson and received a confirmation. However, upon check-in, I was told that our reservation mentioned nothing about a room on the top floor. Priceline staff repeatedly say that they are sorry for our disappointment, and nothing more.
Reviewed Sept. 13, 2011
I misread the information online and booked a return flight that was 6 hours early. It was impossible for me to make that flight. I called into customer service and thought that it was a simple mistake and wouldn't have severe consequences.
Wow! I was wrong. The mix breeds that work in customer service speak broken English, and have no sense of reality. They are trained to say, "I'm sorry, Sir. There is nothing we can do to help you. Your situation is unfortunate and we at Priceline state in our contracts we can't change your flight."
I missed my family vacation and was out 1200 dollars, for 2 flights that I could've gotten cheaper by directly dealing with the airline. Thanks for nothing, Priceline.
Reviewed Sept. 13, 2011
I went to Priceline.com to check out cruises. I did not book a cruise but got an e-mail that I had booked a cruise. I replied to that e-mail and said that I did not book a cruise. Today, I got my bankcard statement. It indicated that I had been charged for the deposit for a cruise.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2011
I shopped Priceline online, for the first time, to book a hotel room at the Ramada Inn in Ruidos, NM. We were quoted $99 a night for two nights, for a total of $219.56 with taxes and fees. When we checked out, the hotel statement showed $78.21 per night for a total of $176.16. We were there for a softball tournament so I asked other players what they paid. They called the hotel directly and got the $78 a night. Priceline said they were sorry and that they would refund us $50 on future hotel services to be used at $10 per night. The customer service said they would send me an email with the coupon. I told them to either refund me the $43.40 or keep their coupon because I would never use their services again. I do not trust them. Of course, like every other complaint that I have read, they do not care about you or your problem. No refunds! Before you book your next hotel stay through them, call the hotel first to check their rates. If you don't, you just might get ripped off by priceline.com.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2011
Beware! Priceline is terrible and could care less about their customers' well-being! I found out that the hotel they gave me has bed bugs, and when I called them, they read to me from their script, like I'm an idiot, about not being able to change my reservation. Really? Oh, the hotel told them they don't have bed bugs. Surprise, surprise.
I trust the TripAdvisor reviews. The hotel does not deserve the rating they have assigned to it and therefore, is not what I paid for, so the contract should be void or at least changeable. Don't ever use Priceline, unless you want to sleep in a hotel with bed bugs! They have terrible costumer service! They only care about their "partners", not the consumer.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2011
Priceline offered negotiated rental car rates, then changed the total to increase rate. They quoted greater than 50 dollars over price offered while in process and after requesting credit card information. This happened in three attempts.
Reviewed Sept. 8, 2011
I booked a hotel in Rome Central using Priceline. They negotiated a price, which is more than what the hotel website is offering.
When I contacted the customer service for a price match, they put me on hold for very long time and finally told me, “Sorry, they can't validate the price".
Priceline sucks.
Reviewed Sept. 6, 2011
I booked 2 airplane tickets from LAX to Lihue Kauai, HI on priceline.com. I then purchased my hotel and car rental from another reliable company which asked me to give my flight arrival and departure number, which I copied exactly from priceline.com. We were supposed to arrive at ua510 at LIH airport on 8/25/2011 at 11:58 and depart from lIH on 8/31/2011 at 8:52 pm - I printed this. I printed the airline itinerary the night before the flight and it showed us arriving in Kona Kailua, HI, the big island.
I paid $300 to cancel 2 tickets and had to book 2 more tickets at the last minute. We had to extend our stay 1 more day because there were only first class tickets available to come fly back on, which was triple the cost. I had to extend the rental car and hotel. We didn't get any sleep the night, fighting with priceline.com to fix our flight but still, they refused to do anything to fix the mistake their people made in changing our flight. I will never do business with them again; but I want them to pay for all the extra money out of my pocket and all the inconvenience they put us through (I want a total of $604.17 back).
Reviewed Sept. 5, 2011
I reserved the W hotel in Chicago for two nights from Friday, August 19 to Sunday, August 21 through Priceline. My son and I were planning a quick weekend in Chicago arriving late Friday and leaving at 8 a.m. Sunday.
On Friday night about 6 p.m., all Southwest flights out of Newark were cancelled and the soonest we could fly out would have been 8 p.m. on Saturday. Obviously, we had no recourse but to not go.
I immediately called the W, who said we had to go through Priceline and then Priceline who told us we were out of luck. A $500 hotel that we could not use due to no fault of our own. No refund, no credit, no help. Just took the money and ran. It's basically theft.
I tried for a few weeks to get some recompense, but they had no interest in working with us.
Beware. Don't use Priceline. Hotels.com never charges you a cancellation fee, and is extremely helpful!
Reviewed Sept. 5, 2011
I purchased a round-trip ticket to Chicago, leaving on 9/21/11 and returning on 9/25/211.
My husband has been ill since July and is awaiting surgery after tests performed. Surgery is pending for mid-September. Therefore, my business trip needs to be cancelled.
I purchased the trip protection just in case this happened. Priceline tells me today I have to pay $150 to cancel the ticket regardless of trip protection. I'm livid!
Reviewed Sept. 4, 2011
On August 30, 2011, I called Priceline concerning changes I needed to make to Trip Number **. My son's vacation had been cancelled on short notice by the organization he works for and he would not be able to make it to the trip.
The Priceline's employee I spoke with strongly suggested I talk with Finnair about the changes I needed to make on the flight tickets. The phone number that the employee gave me was for a phone ** service. I had to go to the Finnair web site to get the correct phone number. Finnair told me that only Priceline could make the requested changes to the tickets and there would be a $250 charge per ticket. I made several phone calls to both parties trying to iron out the problems and finally got tired of dealing with the runaround I was receiving from both Priceline and Finnair.
On September 2, 2011, I again attempted to make the requested flight changes. I was told by Sonia at Finnair that the changes could be made based on the tickets I had already purchased. Sonia again told me that Priceline had to make the changes as Finnair could not since the tickets were bought through a travel agency. At the time of this phone call, I verified with Sonia that the new arrangements were possible as all the flights were still available for booking.
I called Priceline and spoke with Jose **. I was told that the flights I was trying to change to were not available. I told Jose ** that I had the Priceline web site up on my computer and that it clearly showed all the flights were available as well as several alternates. He again stated that the flights were unavailable and put me on hold to check on ones that were available. Approximately ten minutes later, Jose** took me off hold, went through a long list of flights that were available, and told me that it would cost me nearly $8000 to make the changes. I told him that the flights I talked about were available and the cost was in the $840 per ticket range. He strongly suggested that I call Finnair to get the changes in the tickets made, which in his words would avoid me having to pay Priceline $30 per ticket for the changes. Jose ** gave me the ** service phone number, telling me it was Finnairs contact phone number. He stated emphatically that Finnair could make the changes and I hung up in disgust.
I called Finnair and received the same information concerning the flights from Sonia. Again, I was told that only Priceline could make the changes. As I did during our first conversation, I verified that the flights were available. The Finnair website actually had ten packages that met the flight requirements. Sonia told me to contact Priceline and that if they have a problem, they could contact Finnair customer service to get set on the right path. Sonia told me that Finnair customer service would tell Priceline that they could make the changes and it was their responsibility.
I contacted Priceline and spoke with Mary Joyce **. I was given the same runaround as I received with Jose **. Again, flights were not available and they could not see what I was looking at on the Priceline website. It should be noted, at this time, that no changes were made to the ten (10) Priceline flights on Finnair that met all the requirements throughout all of my conversations with the Priceline customer service members on September 2, 2011.
Mary Joyce ** told me that Finnair could make the changes and provided me with the phone number for the ** service. I told Mary Joyce ** that I wanted to speak with her manager and she put me on hold. When she came back on line, she went through the same runaround and suggested that I contact Finnair directly to make the changes. I was never put in contact with her manager.
I called Finnair and spoke with Sonia. She told me again that it was Priceline's responsibility to make the ticket changes and that Finnair could not because they were bought through a travel agency. Sonia told me that Finnair could make the changes if Priceline gave them permission. I also verified that all the various flight packages were still available. The flight packages I was looking at cost $826 and $850 USD. Sonia also strongly suggested that I stay on the line while Priceline calls Finnair and be included in all the conversations concerning the tickets.
I called Priceline and without preamble immediately asked to speak to the manager. While waiting for the manager to come to the phone, I was disconnected. The Priceline's credit the manager called back and left a message and phone number where I could contact him. I called Priceline back and spoke with Alberto **. Mr. Alberto ** proceeded to give me the same runaround as did by his two predecessors. Early on it became apparent that Mr. Alberto ** was looking at the same information concerning the flights I was looking at on Priceline.com and telling me that the flights were not available. He was quoting times and stopovers from the flight packages from Priceline I had up on my computer screen. It is amazingly insulting to be told about the flights I am looking at and in the same breath to be told that they do not exist. At that point, I told him I wanted him to contact Finnair with me on the line during the call and tell them they were being given permission to make the needed changes to the tickets. He told me that he was going to put me on hold for two minutes while he put through a line to Sonia at Finnair. I was on hold for ten minutes or more and when he came back on line, he gave me some static about flights and I said I wanted to talk about this with Finnair on the line as I had previously requested. Amazingly, with a click, we were immediately in a three way conversation. It would appear that Sonia had been waiting on hold should such an eventuality occur.
Our three way conversation resulted in the following: Tickets that Finnair has advertised as costing $826 to $850 were now costing $135 more per ticket. The fact that it would cost an additional $250 to make the change was irrelevant. Priceline told me that they would be waving the $30 service charge for making the change. The total cost to make the changes to both tickets would be $770. When this was all stated, then Sonia told Mr. Alberto ** that he would have to contact the Finnair business office to make the changes. This was in direct contradiction to what Sonia had previously told me. Sonia told me that she could make the changes. Mr. Alberto ** put me on hold to contact the Finnair business office. I was on hold for more than 15 minutes and when he came back on line he told me that the business office was closed for the weekend and the changes could not be made until Monday.
I have done nothing wrong. My son was told two days after I made the flight arrangements that as web administrator for a very large sports catalog/store company, he would have to be available while IT server hardware and software were installed to make their PCI compliant by October 21, 2011. I made all these requests in a very timely manner and out of respect for your organizations.
I have received the runaround and been lied to without compunction by both Priceline and Finnair. I have been given a phone number to contact Finnair that in reality put me in contact with a phone ** service. If any of those phone calls show up on my phone bill, I will be in contact with Priceline concerning reimbursement for the costs incurred. The e-mail sent to me by Priceline.com after the first phone call I made to you concerning these changes also contains the same ** service phone number as the contact point for Finnair.
I have spoken with a friend of mine who is a lawyer and she made a few suggestions. She suggested I try to iron out our differences before I retain a lawyer to represent me in any future dealing with Priceline and Finnair.
To this end I have included copies of the Priceline e-mail contact information I received after each phone conversation with the customer service. This is in regard to who I spoke with in customer service at Priceline.
Reviewed Sept. 1, 2011
My wife and I booked airline tickets through Priceline for a trip from LAX to Moncton, NB, then Vancouver, BC, and then back to LAX. We got a receipt and confirmation codes from Priceline via email. We then booked hotels and cars in Moncton, Seattle, and Vancouver to complete our travel plans. Two hours later, Priceline called us to tell us that Delta Airlines would not accept their leg from Vancouver to LAX and that our trip was cancelled. They told us we would not be charged. I asked them to send me an email confirmation. They refused. I suspect they do this to prevent folks from documenting their indignities.
Luckily, we were able to book travel through another website using WestJet for the last leg. We actually saved $80 over Priceline's failed itinerary. It could have been a lot worse if we were forced to stick to our plans and have to purchase a much more expensive airfare. Websites should not advertise prices and products they cannot deliver, especially in the travel industry where a lot more is at stake.
Reviewed Aug. 31, 2011
I rated it a 1 star but it really is less than 1 star. I booked through Priceline.com for a 4 night stay in Cheyenne, WY for my brother's wedding. Upon looking at the receipt, it stated that all rooms are for 2 adults, therefore, it put us in single rooms! I booked 3 rooms, and all the rooms had 3 to 5 people staying in them. I contacted Priceline after speaking with the hotel, and Kris stated that she would fax the hotel to make a change request. The hotel still could not make our needs and staying in a single room (i.e. 1 bed) with 3 to 5 people is a fire hazard; not to mention, the people who would have to sleep on the floor. Ugh.
Priceline would not refund our money. They kept stating, "We're sorry Ma'am. It's in our policy." They were very hard to understand, spoke very little clear English, and when asked to speak to supervisors, I was told by Nick that he did have a supervisor, but the supervisor did not handle phone calls and that I should write a complaint to their address.
I also purchased the trip insurance because I wanted to be covered in case they would not able to meet our needs and was told that the insurance is only for unforeseen illness. Why would you offer insurance for only that?
This company is the biggest rip-off/scam that is out there. I will never use them again and neither will any of my family or friends. I just wanted to get our money back because we had to stay in a different hotel (not booked through Priceline, wasn't playing that game again) that would not put us in a fire hazard of a room.
Save your money. Don't use Priceline.
Reviewed Aug. 29, 2011
I had reservations at Days Inn Forest, 1280 Hwy 35 South, Forest, MS 39074, PH 601-469-2500. These reservations were for 08/30/11 to 08/31/11. I called and cancelled this with no problem. However, I also had reservations for September 4, 2011 to September 12, 2011. When I called to cancel, I was told that I could not. And they told me that my card would be charged anyway even if I am not in the room.
Reviewed Aug. 28, 2011
I've used Priceline a lot over the past ten years or so to book cheap hotel rooms with a full understanding that I can't cancel and that the hotel I get is a crap shoot. I can handle those restrictions if I get a good deal.
But this year, I've booked hotels through Priceline on three different occasions and it's clear that the big hotel chains have figured out how to defeat the Priceline model and stick it to the consumer. How? When you get to the hotel, they add additional charges by way of Parking fees or the famous "Resort Fee", so they accept your low offer, knowing they're going to get anywhere from $10 to $15 more per night out of you once you arrive. It also makes the hotels that don't charge these rip-off fees less competitive, so you're not likely to get a room from a hotel that doesn't charge additional fees.
If Priceline cared, they could fix this flaw - just add in mandatory charges when they're doing their pricing so that the bidding for rooms is fair and competitive, but they don't, so the consumer gets ripped off.
Like I said, I've used Priceline for over a decade and have been pretty happy until this year. All three "name your own price" bids this year have gone to large chains and in every case, I've either been forced to pay mandatory parking fees (when the other hotels in the area had free parking) or a mandatory Resort Fee. In every case I would have been better off booking a room directly with a similar hotel in the area. I'll never use Priceline again. I'm done with them.
Reviewed Aug. 26, 2011
I called Priceline and told them on my way to Disneyland my car broke down and would not be at motel that I had booked so I need to change dates.
They told me I was ** could not change my booking by one day. Thanks Priceline for ** up my family's vacation. With today's economy, Priceline is looking out, ** me out of 130 dollars. If I deal with the hotel itself, they would have changed the reservation with no problems instead of ** me out of 130.
Reviewed Aug. 25, 2011
Five minutes after I reserved two rooms through Priceline, my husband told me he lost his job. I contacted Priceline immediately, but they would not cancel the reservation. I did purchase BerkelyCare, an insurance offered by Priceline. I filed a claim with them and they denied it, because my husband's termination was before the reservation date. I feel helpless and don't know where to turn.
Reviewed Aug. 25, 2011
I bid on "name your own price" for a flight on Priceline. American Airlines accepted my bid with a layover and baggage fees. Then, my sister found a much cheaper flight with Southwest Airlines, baggage fees and no layover. I called Priceline because they advertise that they will match any price. Well, the very uncooperative and rude representative say that it has to be for the same airline and same flight number.
When one books a flight on "name your own price," you are willing to fly with any airline that will accept your bid. It is deceiving for Priceline to say that they are giving you the lowest prices available, when other airlines such as Southwest are not included in the bidding. Thereby, the price acceptance is only done by their "partners" which are higher priced!
Reviewed Aug. 24, 2011
I was diligent in my bidding process: making certain that I specified the star rating I wanted, price-comparing, and making sure that I selected the specific area of Cancun where I wanted to stay. In filtering my preferences, I was given only one hotel that fit all of my criteria; thus, submitted a reasonable offer for this hotel. When my offer was accepted, I was given a hotel (although nice) that was in a zone that was next to the zone I selected. Additionally, the hotel I was given was a half-star rating below on competitor's websites.
Everyone I spoke with at Priceline.com was very nice and as helpful as they were able, given their strict no-cancellation policy. I understand why given policies are in place; however, I don't think it is good business practice to use bait-and-switch tactics or their "diamond rating" system that lumps 4.5-star hotels with 5-star hotels, 3.5-star hotels with 4-star hotels, etc. Unfortunately, I am staying at a hotel on my vacation that is not the rating I was led to believe I was bidding on. But I will enjoy my trip regardless. As a result, I will avoid using Priceline.com when making future travel plans. Be cautious and understand that there are no exceptions where refunds or credits are given.
Reviewed Aug. 24, 2011
I placed a bid for a hotel room for Labor Day weekend in a town outside of New Orleans. Priceline's system confirmed that a room was available at the rate given, but then updated to say that there were no rooms available.
I checked my account a few days later to discover that Priceline was holding the money in my account for the hotel price. I contacted customer service to be told that their operating policies allowed them 7-10 business days to provide a refund. This was something I did not do on my end. This is their mistake and while they take their time to "review" my case, they have the luxury of impacting my bank account balance.
Reviewed Aug. 23, 2011
On Friday 08/19/11, Priceline.com double charged me on a flight to Puerto Rico! After contacting priceline, they said that the first charge is the authorization charge and the other is the actual charge, but they only showed one charge in their system. They suggested I contact my bank and so I did. My bank said that there were two charges on my card and priceline needs to fix it. After calling back and forth, they told me that they had spoken to my bank and they will be faxing documents back to the bank and my money will be back in 6 hours. It's Tuesday, August 23rd and my money is not in my bank account!
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2011
I was attempting to book hotel accommodations for my anniversary in California for the next weekend in September. The website seemed slow and had difficultly getting through the request details without the page refreshing and losing the information submitted. The information which transmitted was incorrect with the exception of my visa details. Every item was in order when I submitted and I received a later confirmation for the wrong month. A few days later Priceline sent an email asking for my stay. When I called and stated that the website was having difficulty and an error was made, the Customer Service said they could not help and if there are no other issues I should have a good day.
I have utilized Expedia and other sites several times and have had experienced satisfactory service and results. Calling Priceline in this area, you are transferred several times when it's regarding problems of this nature. It is terrible.
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2011
I am extremely disappointed in Priceline and can promise you that I have no desire to use your services again unless some prior action is taken to correct a Priceline error.
I purchased tickets, which clearly say First Class flights from New Orleans to Bali, Indonesia via LA and Taiwan. Yet when I chose seats, it would only give me economy seats. I emailed your customer service department before confirming. I received a response that said to pick a seat then call the airlines to make first class selection. I did that and Delta told me that I had not purchases first class tickets even though my paperwork said I did and your customer service agent, Angela, verified it. Delta told me I needed to call you guys and have it corrected as the ticket purchase was thru your site. I spent 56 minutes and 3 transfers on the phone with you “customer service and supervisors” and was finally told that for your mistake, the only thing they could do was cancel to cancel my tickets with a full refund. But why would I do that and take a chance on not being able to travel on my selected dates?
I have since found online that several people feel that you count on them not wanting to cancel for fear of not being able to get a flight on their travel dates. I even offered to email or fax my paperwork and email response from Priceline, to your customer service so that they could see what I was looking at. I was told, “no, you are absolutely correct, we see that it was offered as first class flight, however you were given economy.”
I choose your site because I was offered a specific fare and seating at a specific price. You sold me something different. In this country, that is called bait and switch and it is illegal. I chose to keep my reservation rather than take a chance on losing my travel dates. I am very disappointed that Priceline sunk to this level. All you had to do was to honor what you sold.
Unfortunately, as a frequent international and domestic traveler, it is my responsibility, to my friends and family who travel, to make sure that they are aware of this incident. I was even more alarmed when I began checking the Internet to find that this is not an isolated case.
What is even more important, I kept my cool, never used foul language, agreed to repeated transfers and holds, and did it all with ease and grace hoping that you all would do the right thing. You should have upgraded the seats at the cost you sold them to me. You still didn't. As a manager and business owner myself, when I or someone on my team makes an error or makes a grave customer service mistake, I want to know about it and then take proper measures to correct and thereby deflect a marketing nightmare. I am hoping that as managers, you all feel the same way. Here's your chance.
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2011
I booked a 9-day Baltic cruise with Priceline in mid May with an assurance from their sales representative that they would provide two free nights of hotel stay at the port of embarkation.
After booking the cruise, they sent me a voucher for $140 for two nights and a link to book a hotel. Priceline's fees for booking were over $60, making the vouchers worth only $80 or less. When I tried to book a hotel in Copenhagen, nothing can be had even for $100 a night. In appealing to Priceline, they informed me that Copenhagen had no hotels for voucher booking and I should try to book the hotels some other time at some other place.
Priceline's whole approach to their "free stay" is disingenuous and misleading. If they are providing $70 per night voucher for hotel stays, they should say so. Only when the tour is booked do they inform their customers or victims of what the free stay means.
What can be done to stop this sort of disingenuous and deceptive advertising by Priceline? What remedy do I have?
Thanks,Blair **
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2011
I have been billed twice for the same night.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2011
Due to a family emergency, we booked a same day round trip ticket from Atlanta, GA to Lafayette, LA. We paid via Discover Card with no problems. I checked in at the airport, received our boarding passes and waited to board. We were ON THE PLANE when an airline representative came then pulled us off the plane and told us that our agent (Priceline) had canceled the entire itinerary. When I FINALLY got a hold of a Priceline employee, we were told that it was canceled due to expected fraud, but we could rebook using another credit card. When we had Discover contact Priceline, they were told that it was because we did not supply the last 4 digits after the zip code! Who knows that?
Reviewed Aug. 11, 2011
Priceline.com charged a hotel room without me even approving of it. I called them and did not get a refund!
Reviewed Aug. 8, 2011
I used the Price Line negotiator to book a hotel at the beach. Initially, it was a very good deal until I called to confirm the room. Apparently Price Line only booked us a smoking room. That's why the deal was so good. Since we could cancel and get a refund, I was forced to pay an extra $180 to "upgrade" to a non-smoking room. This is the 21st Century. A non-smoking room is not an upgrade; it's standard.
I contacted Price Line about this, and their response is "tough." So, lesson learned, I should have done the footwork myself. My advice is, don't use Price Line. They don't care about their customers and won't work with you to solve problems that they create. You'll get a better deal by yourself.
Reviewed Aug. 7, 2011
I hope you can help.
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2011
I purchased a ticket through Priceline's name your own price offer from Denver to NYC departing on 07/21 and returning on 07/24, in addition, I purchased travel insurance. What they provided me with is a flight that left Denver at 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived at LaGuardia airport at 11:35pm. Call me crazy, but frankly arriving on a plane at 11:35pm at LaGuardia, one of the busiest airports in the world, you won't get off the plane before midnight, it's hardly the same day. I called to complain to Priceline regarding this, and they simply told me tough luck as long as the plane is supposed to land before midnight it's the same day - even after they book something that take 7 hours to get there.
Well, as luck would have it, I developed a severe sinus infection the day prior and I couldn't go. I figured it wouldn't be an issue because I had insurance anyway. I already lost the deposit on the hotel which I completely understand. After regaining my health, I contact Priceline, who was completely unhelpful and referred me to their vendor Berkeley who informed me that since I didn't go to the doctor they would not offer any type of claim. I explained that I get sinus infections regularly and take Augmentin for the issue and had some on hand. She then told me she couldn't help me. I can't imagine using Priceline ever again. Prior to this I had booked a trip to Kansas City with Priceline and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Kansas City. They had no parking, had me park in the loading zone versus the garage and I had to move rooms because the first room had roaches which the hotel referred as "water bugs." Priceline is just not worth the trouble, it has become a horrible service. In all honesty I have booked dozens of trips through them and I have had excellent service but after my last two experiences, I'm done.
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2011
I purchased an airline ticket on priceline.com. I used their “name your own offer deal” and got a pretty good price on a round trip ticket to Florida from Washington, DC.
The night before the trip, I logged onto my account with priceline.com to print my tickets and check my itinerary. When I checked under the my trips tab, my flight was the only one listed and I clicked on the link thinking it would direct me to another link to print out my tickets but instead, every single time and still this day if I click on that link it shows. "I’m sorry your flight was unable to be booked. Airline availability and pricing change all the time."
So at this point it was late at night and I knew it would be too late to contact them at their offices. I woke up the next morning only to find out that my flight really was confirmed and everything was okay despite what my account was saying at priceline.com. The airline said they could not do anything since I purchased the tickets through priceline.com and must contact them for a flight change or refund.
After trying to explain my story for the third time to someone (because every single time I kept getting hung up on), I asked to speak to a supervisor which they then directed me to their customer relations department. Apparently, this is the highest level you can speak to somebody. So I spoke to them and they told me the ticket I purchased could neither be refunded nor changed. I understand these terms were in the agreement in which I signed, but if I as a customer am logging into my account and I see the only flight listed there and it says my flight could not be booked, what else as a consumer am I supposed to think? I mean I did buy my tickets through them.
So after countless arguments and trying to speak to somebody, there still was no resolution and priceline.com basically ate $200 worth of cash that I saved up. They said there was no exception or override to help me even if they wanted to. This doesn't make any sense to me how a company that has advertisements everywhere and offers the best deals supposedly cant refund my money or be willing to change my flight due to something they screwed up on.
One of the worst customer services I’ve ever had to deal with, period. I suggest everyone be careful when buying tickets through priceline.com and double check everything they do or they will take your cash easily.
Oh and priceline.com is starting to seem more like a scam to me because they do not have a corporate or headquarters number. Their corporate number is their customer service number. How ridiculous is that? So the customer relations department in whom i was speaking to (which is supposedly the highest level you can speak to someone) is probably just another associate sitting at the desk. Great job priceline.com.
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2011
I bid for a 3-star hotel "deal" on Priceline.com. My card was charged for the room and taxes. Then all I was offered was a dirty room that had a bad smell and the overall hotel certainly does not have 3-star standards.
This is reported by many others through TripAdvisor.com. I did not stay in the hotel; instead I informed Priceline.com and asked for a full refund for the reservation because Priceline.com did not furnish me with a quality hotel as promised.
The Indian Wells Resort Hotel is not what the 3-star rating represents. The hotel is dirty – it has an unclean smell and this, most certainly, was not a "deal". I've stayed at this hotel before and witness this for myself once before. I found out, as well, that many other customers agree with my experience and they have stated the same complaint through TripAdvisor.com.
I tried explaining my concern to Rosie, Agent number: **, and her response was that Orbitz and some other online hotel "store" says that the Indian Wells Resort Hotel rates as a 3-star hotel. Priceline.com's hotline team must go on site to the hotel themselves and they will find that this hotel is, in fact, not up to the standards of a 3-star hotel due to its poor condition.
There's certainly a reason why the rates are only $59/night for a "resort". It's clearly not a "resort" in the typical sense. Rosie, Agent number: **, believed that my complaint was only about the $20 resort fee charged above the price "deal" from Priceline.com. While that does add a sting to the issue, my greatest concern is the poor condition of the hotel.
I am still waiting after nearly a full week for a full refund to my credit card and for Priceline to ease the emotional distress caused, due to the time I have had to spend with Priceline.com to get this matter satisfactorily resolved.
Reviewed Aug. 4, 2011
I accepted a registry position in the area. Because I was not familiar with the area or its accommodations, I called America's Best Value Inn hotel to inquire. I was assured that the hotel was clean and in a safe area surrounded by many food accommodations.
Upon arriving at the hotel, I found out that it was in the middle of nowhere, run down, dirty and had no places to eat within 10 miles. I told the woman at the desk that I was dissatisfied. She told me that I could cancel the second night, but would be charged for the first.
As not to waste money, I stayed there the first night. The next morning, I spoke with the manager regarding my refund. He told me that he would be glad to issue a refund if I had booked directly with them. Since I booked through Priceline, I needed to speak to them.
So, I called Priceline. They told me it would be up to two business days. So I booked a different hotel for the second night. The next day, I received an email from Priceline informing me that they spoke with Abrahim (gen mgr) at the hotel, who refused to refund my money, and so they were unable to as well.
So I'm out $75 because no one is accountable? Travel websites are nothing but a scam to consumers.
Reviewed Aug. 3, 2011
I rented a car through Priceline.com and prepaid the 9-day car rental. I confirmed the rental with Alamo car rentals in Chicago. I flew from California to Chicago with my wife and two children. I took a bus to the Alamo car rental counter to be told that priceline canceled the reservation. I called Priceline and was told that the rental was canceled and was given a new reservation with Budget car rental.
Budget was not at the location I was dropped off at. It was a mile away. It was 110 degrees outside and I had 8 pieces of luggage and 2 children, one with severe asthma. We had to walk to the new location! I completed the reservation with the new company. When I returned home, I called priceline to complain and get some resolution. I was told priceline never canceled the reservation but they would look into it and offered me $5 off a new rental car in the next 3 months.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2011
I went on PriceLine for a hotel in New York City. I indicated I wanted a hotel room for 2 adults and 1 child. The bubbles for name your own price came up in the various Manhattan neighborhoods and I made the unfortunate mistake of trying to get a good price bidding. I clicked in on a bid that was okay, but not great as it was not that much less than prices advertised online elsewhere, but since I had already wasted so much time and had to get back to my work, I went with it. The website did specify that I would need to call the hotel to request a double room, but I assumed that this would not be a problem and was just a matter of preference.
Well not true at all, when I called the hotel I was told that I was only entitled to a room with one bed and there was no alternative. They told me to address the issue with PriceLine. Even though I knew there was not much hope I tried none-the-less. After wasting much more time trying to get to a person, I was told that there were no refunds and no cancellations. I now have two nights of expensive hotel room in New York that I cannot use. Priceline practices are deceptive and fraudulent. What I experienced is a traditional bait and switch strategy. This is not okay and PriceLine needs to be stopped. I recommend that others avoid PriceLine in the future.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2011
Priceline allowed me to book my first family flight thinking that we were all going to be able to sit together as a family (since my husband and my children have never flown) by having the seat selection. They did not inform me that they assigned my 11-year-old son to sit by himself all the way back because that was the only seat available.
They did not keep their seat availability up to date, nor did they inform me that they booked him away from us. When I called I just got an “Oh, well” and nothing to try to fix it or make it right. They actually told me, after I informed them I had already spoke with the airline and knew there were no seats close to us now, to go on their seat selection and pick a seat again! They have absolutely the worst customer service. I will never use them again.
Reviewed July 31, 2011
They refused to refund my money and made false advertisement on room. My planned trip was for end of August and made purchase of tickets for hotel and airfare as of 7/19/11. I called to confirm the reservation, to see if all is well. I found out that they didn't give me a room with the view, only the view of the city of Niagara Falls. They showed on their website the room overlooking the falls. I called and got customer service who stated no refund. This is not right. Buyers beware.
Reviewed July 30, 2011
On two separate occasions, I have used Priceline. I booked rooms to accommodate up to 4 people in a room. I called the hotel to make sure the rooms could accommodate us. But upon arrival, they do not have rooms that would accommodate us. One suggested we should not use Priceline and to use Expedia the next time. The most recent use, Priceline put us in an area that was very sketchy. When I spoke with the hotel staff, he was unable to help and could hardly speak English and suggested I call Priceline. I explained to Priceline that they could not accommodate our request and that they selected (in my opinion) a one star hotel and claimed it to be 2.5 stars.
Priceline is fraudulent and misrepresents the hotels. I will never use Priceline again. Also when calling customer service, both employees I spoke with had heavy Middle Eastern accents and it is very difficult to resolve anything when you cannot understand them. Not sure when the US started outsourcing their call centers with the unemployment so high. It’s sad.
Reviewed July 30, 2011
I booked a hotel on Priceline.com. At the time of booking, I specified that the hotel needed to be pet-friendly. As soon as the reservation came back, I discovered that the hotel was not pet-friendly. I contacted the customer service number asking them to help me change the hotel. I was told that the policy states no cancellations or changes. I spent over an hour on the phone explaining how I understand the policy but that it cannot be in effect if they do not give me "product" I was promised!
I am unable to stay in the hotel because I have my dog with me on a very long trip. I asked repeatedly for a supervisor but was told that there is no other level of personnel at the call center. The operator joked that she would stay on the phone with me all day but that there was nothing further she would do.
Reviewed July 29, 2011
I cancelled my hotel to Arlington, Texas by accident and I called so they could fix the problem. I called the 1-800 number and it took me awhile to speak to someone. They told me that they couldn't help me and that they will charge me for one night stay. I can't even stay there but they are charging me $49.00 for the cancellation fee. Price line is a rip off.
Reviewed July 26, 2011
Car Rental - Europcar (Dublin, Ireland)
I took a trip to Ireland and received multiple quotes from various car companies for our car rental. Hertz and Priceline were the cheapest. Hertz came in at 554.78 EUR, and Priceline came in at 328.54 EUR. Both prices included the insurance. I initially booked with Hertz, but then cancelled that reservation to go with Priceline because it was significantly cheaper than Hertz. I booked the car and took care to ensure that I selected the insurance. I received a confirmation of my reservation and printed it. I, at no time did ever receive anything stating that the insurance wasn't included, or that it didn't go through with my booking.
I showed up in Ireland, expecting to get our car for 328.54 EUR. Europcar told us that the Priceline reservation did not include insurance; furthermore, the price that Priceline quoted us was not the same as the car rental. Car rental ended up costing 439.81 EUR and then additional 390.00 EUR for the insurance, with taxes came to 859.81 EUR.
I emailed Priceline from Ireland--no response. I called Priceline when we got home; was told that they'd have someone call me back, never heard back. Called again; was treated rudely, and was completely dismissed. I asked to speak with a supervisor. That supervisor also treated me rudely, and refused to help me. When I asked again to speak with another supervisor, I was told no. I was told to write a letter to the Sr. Vice President of Customer Relations at the Priceline Headquarters. When I asked for the names of the agents I'd spoken with previously so that I could account for them in my letter, I was told I could not have them.
Priceline's quoted price was a lie. Priceline did not notify me that the insurance was not included. They are unwilling to refund the difference. They are unwilling to help rectify the situation in any manner. They are rude and dishonest. I have been a loyal Priceline customer for years, but after this experience, I will never use this company again.
Reviewed July 21, 2011
Priceline advertises best price guarantee you can save up to 60% when you name your own price on a hotel. When I saw the advertisement, I thought my dream would come true to save money on a trip. I submitted an initial bid of $250 to bid a resort at Wailea area in Maui for six nights in August 2011. The median price at Wailea area is $569 per priceline.com. I found out that only three resorts were available at Wailea area per priceline.com. These resorts are:
(2) Grand Wailea, A Waldof Astoria Resort $569 per night.
(3) Ho'olei At Grand Wailea $1495 per night.
I thought my chance to get Grand Wailea was high if I submitted the bid higher than $249. The initial bid $250 was accepted without any counteroffer. It was unbelievable that Priceline gave me a resort, Wailea Beach Marriott, with retail price at $249. As a result, I am loosing money to bid a resort. I paid more than retail price. I had no choice to get what resort I wanted. If I purchase at retail price, I definitely have choice to choose which resort I want. I called Priceline several times but they refused to cancel the bid. They could only able to refund $1 per night back to me but they refused to refund the tax and fees for $1 x 6 nights. In fact, I paid the tax and fees for the amount of $250 x 6 nights.
Priceline is a public company with huge revenues. My $1,750 means nothing to them but it means a lot of things to me. I was raised up in a poor family. I ate the first lobster when I was 25 years old. I have to work every day to save money for my trip. This is my first time at Maui. I promised my 8-year-old daughter that mommy will take her to a big resort with several pools and slides. She was very happy at the beginning but now, my dream cannot come true. She asked me why I did not purchase Grand Wailea. If I had money, I would book Grand Wailea. Since I have little money, I wish to use little money to bid my hope.
Reviewed July 18, 2011
On April, I booked a flight and hotel for San Francisco through Priceline, without bidding. It was for a trip that I planned for the following month, which was May. As they were asking for a different information, at one point, I had to go back and forth so I can add an additional fee for ground transportation, from the airport to the hotel, and back. While doing that, Priceline "reset" the month for search to April, at that time the current month, instead of May. And by that, it automatically booked the trip one month earlier, at exactly the same days.
I tried to talk to Priceline to make the change later when I discovered the mistake, but they were utterly unapproachable and unresponsive. They also intentionally made me wait on the line, and made me believe that they are actually trying to help. They set themselves in a large web of conditions and fine prints, so that a lot of people get trapped and pay high for what they don't want. I lost over $870. Even when I asked them for help to find a similar booking, they requested an additional $1800, which was way above what I paid for using a last minute booking directly for airline and hotel, a total of $1350. I am very unhappy with their service and in the way they treat customers. This is a low petty crime that gets away, as individuals can't afford to sue them, and the regulators fail to protect the consumers. Thank you.
Reviewed July 15, 2011
ALWAYS BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE AIRLINE! I will from now on.
Priceline customer service is deplorable. What a waste of time and money. I purchased at FULL PRICE airline tickets for my 10th year anniversary. I chose the full price format because I wanted to be sure of the selected seats and flight times. The booking process lets you choose the seats for the outgoing flight, then gives you the impression that you are selecting seats together for the return flight. My confirmation page said that I would be booked on the seat next to my husband's. I only booked with them instead of thru the airline because I wanted to book a car at the same time. When I got my confirmation email, it stated that there was no car available after all and that my husband and I are seated three rows apart!!!
I would not have clicked confirm "signing the contract" had it stated the truth. So, the contract was a lie. I didn't agree to the package they really sold me. I contacted "customer service" three months in advance to have the error fixed. Their so called "customer service" is run by a bunch of foreigners who barely speak English and are beyond rude!! They refused to acknowledge any of this. Even though several flights were available, they refused to help. I have copies of the original "contract" that I clicked to purchase. They refused to transfer me to a supervisor, saying they don't have one. Their only response was, "We will mail you a copy of our contract policies." My response was, "I can mail them a copy of the original contract that I clicked to purchase." Their response was just silence. William Shatner should be ashamed of himself for representing this fraudulent company!!!
Reviewed July 13, 2011
I booked a last minute flight at 8am (2 tickets $357). The same day, at 5pm, I called to cancel the tickets due to a medical emergency. The 1st representative said it would be no problem and they would issue a refund as long as they could speak with the doctor (Weird!). So I had to call back to give them the emergency doctor's name and contact number. Once they spoke with the doctor, they informed me that they could cancel the tickets; but their cancellation fees were $150 per ticket for a total of $300 in fees. This information was not disclosed in their policy. They said the only way to get the $300 cancellation fee reversed is to book another flight. There was no way to get the full refund even though the 1st rep said it was no problem. I have been ripped off for the 1st and last time.
Reviewed July 9, 2011
I did the "name ur own price" for hotel searching, at the end they gave me a hotel in the area that I didn't chose, I called Priceline many times, all the people (including managers) is completely useless.
Reviewed July 9, 2011
I was taking a trip from Baltimore, Maryland (BWI) to Dallas, Texas (DFW). Since it said DFW, I typed in DWF. The Priceline website said I typed in the wrong code. It sent me to Providence, Rhode Island (PVD). I didn't type any of these letters. I called consumer service and the man on the line said, 'You should have checked where it was sending you.' I told him I thought it was a code for this website. This was the first time I was using it. I asked him why the website sent me to Providence, Rhode Island (PVD) when I typed in DWF. He said he didn't know; but, I will have to pay for another ticket. What was I worrying about? You didn't pay much for those tickets anyway. Your new ticket will cost you twice as much. Just buy another ticket. I went on the website today to see if the mistake was fixed. It been almost a month later and the website is still not fixed. I will never use Priceline again.
Reviewed July 6, 2011
I submitted a bid as I have done in the past but this time for a 3.5 star hotel. I deliberately did not choose a resort because I knew I could not afford the fees this time. My bid came back accepted as a what do you know? Resort. I call priceline because I go to the website of the resort they booked me at to see they charge $10 to park, $8 resort fee and $10 for internet (which because I am in college I need to submit my homework each night) and was told that because the terms say they could book me at a resort there was nothing they could do. After speaking to three different people I ask for a manager and am told they don't have managers there I would have to write to someone at corporate. I told them they were full of crap and they were not talking to someone who was dumb enough to believe that.
I asked when they need to speak to a manager do they write and wait for a reply and this "person" had the nerve to say yes. Ok, so I call back because surely there has to be someone who works for this company that has a grain of salt worth of sense right? Yeah, my mistake. The next person tells me the same crap and other than apologizing, says there is nothing they can do. I explain that I am a single mom of 3 I don't have the additional money and that if I wanted to stay somewhere that would have cost me $90+ a night I could have booked regularly and got somewhere with free WIFI and parking and no resort fee. I asked were they basically saying that even though they have my $186 already that because they booked a resort instead of a hotel when I clearly chose a hotel as my option I gave up my money to them and they make a straight profit because the hotel is not going to let me in without paying this addtional $90+ for my stay?
The rep. says yes, sorry! Are you for real? I call the executive branch and get a guy (Steve) on the phone who sas there is nothing they can do and that because even though the hotel states they are a resort, boasting of resort amenities, etc.. that Priceline does not code them as a resort. So I tell him ok so you are basically telling me that even though this facility tells you this is what they are, you do not list them as such so that you can mislead your customers and book them at places like this even though it is not what they asked for. Then you tell them sorry, we can't do anything about it, so what if that means you can't go on your trip because you don't have the extra money. What a joke! I have used Priceline before and have not had this problem at all. If I wanted to stay at a resort, I chose that as an option in my bid or search. I should not be expected to pay for resort fees and certainly did not expect to be booked at a resort when I choose a 3.5 star hotel.
Even if the amenities matched the hotel rating, a resort is not a star rated facility and therefore should never have been included in my bidding options or accepted as my bid winner unless I was notified after the bid was accepted that this was the only accepting facility and additional fees would incurr and given the option to proceed with the reservation. Priceline is a RIP OFF! They mislead their consumers, admit that they put resorts in as hotels knowing there is a difference that will cost the consumer after the fact and get away with it.
Reviewed July 5, 2011
My first and last time to use priceline!!! Don't use it unless: you don't want any airline to assist you with flights (they charge you when booked thru priceline); stuck with a hotel you can't change to a better location--and you have no idea what type of room you have purchased! (I asked for king bed, got 2 doubles--hotel won't help me due to booking thru priceline), have your seats changed on your flights...and wind up not sitting together! And the list goes on....DON'T BOOK THRU PRICELINE, YOU CAN GET A BETTER DEAL ON YOUR OWN, AND YOU'LL KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING!!!!
Reviewed June 24, 2011
Priceline lead us to believe that they paid for a rental car that was included in our vacation packed. Hertz had us prepay the car. When I asked Priceline to refund me the money, they said, because I consented to have coverage on the rental car, they said they don't pay for your insurance. We feel like they scammed us. When you rent a car they hold $200.00 until you bring the car back. And no one wants to drive a rented car with no insurance coverage. When I asked Hertz in Tampa what they paid on the car, they said nothing. When I asked Priceline, they said they didn't have that information. At the least, they should let people know they will not pay for insurance or pre gas fill up. The best they could do is refund $293.00. I am being charged over the limit fees on my credit card.
Reviewed June 20, 2011
I wish I would have found this website before wasting my time with Priceline. For my four-year old's birthday, we are celebrating it at Sea World. I normally use Expedia, but I thought I would give Priceline a try--big mistake! What I asked for was a room with 2 beds for myself, my husband, and my 2 girls. I wanted it within 20 miles of Sea World. What I got was some dingy, old, 1950's resort in the middle of nowhere, more than an hour drive from Sea World. They only had a king size bed and nowhere for my daughters to sleep.
To add insult to injury, the hotel charged an additional $30.00 for "resort fees" that were nonrefundable. When I got the hotel reservation from Priceline, I immediately called them and asked what was going on. I spoke with Chris, who told me that I had selected an area that I had not selected. I asked him why he was accusing me of lying and all he would do is repeat that there is nothing they can do after the reservation is made. He said that he had "no idea" why the resort was charging extra money despite the fact that every person they sent there had reported a complaint about it. The bottom line is they refused any help, took my money, and basically told me that they didn't care if my daughter slept on the floor. Buyers, beware!
Reviewed June 18, 2011
On July 16, 2011, I purchased two non refundable airfare tickets from Priceline. Despite getting a confirmation e-mail complete with ticket numbers and an airline confirmation code, the following morning I got an e-mail cancelling my purchase. I called and the supervisor said the airline had refused to honor the fare and there was nothing Priceline could do. They wanted me to re-book the same exact flights for $800 more. I called later in the day and this time was told my tickets had gone through and I got another e-mail confirming this. 3 hours later, they sent me another cancellation e-mail. How can a company notorious for not letting customers change their reservations refuse my reservation?
I had already started booking hotels in Spain and lost 4 hours repeatedly on the phone with Priceline as they gave me tickets, cancelled them, reinstated them, and cancelled them again. They need to book my tickets for the price I paid. I said I didn't care what airline they used.
Reviewed June 14, 2011
I purchased a ticket through them for a flight from Knoxville to Vegas and paid the fare after speaking with the representative. He told me that I have a ticket that I did not use from a previous trip and that I could save $200 by using it, so we cancelled the first transaction and he told me to get back with them in the morning. The same flight now only was going to save me $70 which he failed to mention on the previous conversation. I opted to move forward and not cause an issue. Then, I did not receive a confirmation email regarding my change flight to Vegas. I called back to the call center in Asia somewhere which it appears we have no Americans working for this American company.
The lady could not understand English and could only say, "I'm sorry sir, I'm sorry sir," so she passed me along to another outstanding representative that stated they are highly trained to not make mistakes. However, I called corporate and they informed me that they had made a mistake and now I have been dealing with this issue for almost 2 hours.
I would say the experience was unpleasant at best but I will not continue to do business with Priceline.com again due to their lack of customer service and the fact that they are using Asian companies to service us when we can not even understand what they are saying. It is extremely difficult to conduct business with a language barrier. I recommend that no one uses this company. The end result was a long process that did not need to be that long if we had American customer service agents who could understand what you are saying and respond in the proper way. Until they use American employees I will not support this business.
Reviewed June 10, 2011
I booked a room at Baymont Inn through Priceline.com for my son. When my son arrived to check-in, he was denied check-in due to his age. He is 18. I spoke with the hotel and they were no help. I spoke with Priceline.com. They also were no help. Priceline.com uses deceptive and vague selling practices to rip you off. They should change their name to Pricelie.com.
Reviewed June 8, 2011
I purchased all of my e-tickets with Priceline and today, they've definitely lost a customer. I was looking for flights to Newark from Tampa and I found a flight that departed for JFK at 5:45 pm for $328+ so I understand that it was pretty late and right at the hour before they raise their prices. But I typed in everything and entered my Visa card info to actually submitting the transaction which took 2-3 minutes to load. However, I received a message stating that they were working on completing my itinerary.
So I assumed (although cleverly it doesn't say confirmed on the message sent instead) that the transaction went through. No. Instead, I rechecked the status to find out the prices changed and so were the flight availabilities, not the icing on the cake. So I opted for another flight again at 4pm for $305, engaging myself in entering all this information once again I submit and only to find another error message stating that unfortunately they've changed the price once again. So I got out of your website, checked into Orbitz.com and what do I find? The same flight for the same price ($305) that was initially chosen and I submitted with no problems. I'm not going to ask why. Because I'm beyond that right now. I work late so to come home and the only opportunity I have to book this flight and they change it on me not once but twice? Thank you for previous great service but no thanks!
Reviewed June 6, 2011
Priceline.com allowed a purchase to be made on my credit card without my authority, and then proceeded to tell me that I will not be receiving a refund! I am now charged $200 for a hotel room I will not be staying in!
Reviewed May 31, 2011
I have been shopping on Priceline for YEARS! This time you gave me an awful schedule! Arriving at night and leaving 6:00 am when the rental place IS NOT OPENED!!! Horrible SERVICE, I WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER MAKING MY OWN ARRANGE. By the way I did not save enough money to deal with the headache I'm going to have. YES I WILL NEVER EVER USE YOUR SERVICE AGAIN. I WILL COMPLAIN OVER & OVER AGAIN ON FACEBOOK!!! VERY UPSET MY SUMMER VACATION RUINED BY PRICELINE.COM! FRIENDS, FAMILY AND STRANGERS DO NOT USE PRICELINE!!!!!!!! RIP OFF, RIP OFF ! I bought two tickets, no savings and the schdule is rediculious!! I work hard for my summer vacation, money is tight and now I feel like I'm throwing it out the window. I and no one should have to go thru this.
Reviewed May 29, 2011
I was trying to plan a vacation for my family (2 adults and 2 children). Priceline misrepresented the hotels and the hotel prices, by not making it clear that my children were not welcome to stay at the hotel with myself and my husband. Furthermore, the contract reads that the price I agreed to pay will only be available to me if I am under the age of 30 years, which I am not. Clearly, it is a scam when the fact that children are not welcomed or that the adults have to be within certain age limits is hidden until after the purchase is made. I immediately called Customer Service and spoke with two representatives who informed me that I would be stuck paying the non-refundable hotel charges and that there was no further help they would provide.
Subsequently, I will have to find other hotel accommodations but I will still be charged approximately $90 per night for the hotel I cannot use.
Reviewed May 23, 2011
My mother in-law passed away the same day we were supposed to go to Las Vegas for a vacation. Before our flight, we called Priceline to cancel. We got our money back for the room, but they never called Frontier Airlines to cancel the tickets. Now we cannot get our money back or reschedule the flight due to Priceline's worthless customer service. We will never go through them again. It would be great if everybody got together and sue Priceline.
Reviewed May 23, 2011
After an unexpected emergency, I was forced a change of flight plans, Priceline and the airline would not help. The airline kept telling me that Priceline has to authorize the change because the reservation was made through them. Priceline kept refusing to change my reservation as a matter of company policy. In the end, I lost a $600 ticket. After that painful lesson, I rebooked directly with another airline, and that's how I've done it since then-- directly with the airline, directly with the hotel, and directly with the car agency. It probably costs a little more, but in the event of problems, more have happened since, it's just so much easier to deal with compared to saving a couple of bucks through a third party. Priceline is probably great, if absolutely nothing goes wrong on your trip (judging from other review even that is questionable). If anything goes wrong, I hope you brought along a jar of Vaseline. Don't deal with Priceline if you value your money and sanity.
Reviewed May 19, 2011
I was on their website checking out the pricing of renting a car for an upcoming trip versus flying. I did the "name your own price," which they seem to push making it sound like it is the best way to get the best deal. They will have you insert your information including your credit card and initials, and then name your price.
Every time I was told to rebid for my price, it was not accepted. Apparently, one was accepted and my card was charged. I have searched my emails and have yet to find any confirmation email. I had no idea that I was charged until my credit card bill arrived. I called Priceline and was told that there's no refund, as I had agreed to the charge when I inquired. I told the girl that I had no intention of booking and I was just inquiring into pricing. Again, too bad, I was stuck with the best deal. The rental at this point is still a month away and I don't want it. I told them that I made a mistake and I was willing to pay a fee to cancel the rental but I was told that no and I am still responsible for the charge.
Reviewed May 17, 2011
Priceline is a rip-off, uses the bait and switch technique to "hook" you, then charge you hidden fees to resolve issues. I booked a vacation package. When itinerary was posted, the hotel was missing. Priceline would not correct their mistake and charged me an additional $30 when I cancelled. I rebooked in order to waive the $150 cancellation fee. Rebooking was worse.
I called the 800 number for two days. First day, call is outsourced to Philippines; second day, call outsourced to Mexico. I was unable to speak to anyone who can authorize or correct their mistake. I will tell everyone I know and even those I don't, never use Priceline.com.
Reviewed May 16, 2011
I booked a villa in Kissimmee, FL through **** and the advertised price was $119 a night. The company which owns this villa is GBL Services in Orlando, FL. They charged me a $90 cleaning fee that is not shown on the website. I contacted both companies. GBL told me to contact Priceline. I contacted Priceline and they essentially told me that he could charge whatever he wanted to my credit card. I certainly would not have rented the villa had I known there was a cleaning fee which costs almost as much as the one night price for the villa. In addition, we even cleaned up before we left. Beware of these companies.
Reviewed May 12, 2011
I rented a 1 day local rental car from Hertz through Priceline to be picked up May 13 at 7:00 PM and to be returned at 7:00 PM May 14. I paid Priceline's fee with a debit card but when I arrived to pick up the rental Hertz would only accept a credit card for the $140.00 deposit. This stipulation isn't disclosed on Priceline's website. I don't use credit cards so Hertz wouldn't release the car to me. I called Priceline 888-837-3774 to request a refund but they refused because I used the "name your price" option.
Reviewed May 12, 2011
My husband and I used Priceline "name your own price" system. We read the rules and offered $140 for a resort in Scottsdale AZ, after we performed a search in the website (looked for resort in Scottsdale, got a list of five places that are available in the dates we asked. Four resorts cost more than $250 and one costs $114). We offered $140 in order to get one of the four resorts which cost more than $250.
We were shocked to see that what we got was the resort with a price of $114 on the website. We didn't understand how can it be that they are promising up to 60% discount in "name your own price" and that I am paying $140 for a resort that costs $114. We called them and said it's a deceit since you are not supposed to get a hotel that has the lower price than your offer. But they just don't care and after speaking with a representative and customer relations, nothing was done. They kept saying that you can't cancel a deal that was done in "name your own price". None of the representative understood our complaint and that it's not reasonable that you get hotel which is cheaper than your offer.
They cheat us and now we are paying $530 after tax and commissions (such a theft) for hotel which is worth much less than the price we are paying. The second thing is that they have the rule that if you find a cheaper deal, they will refund you. We learned that you have only one opportunity to get a refund if you find a cheaper deal. When we said that on their website the hotel costs $114, she said they will check our eligibility for refund, but then we said you can find it even cheaper in other websites and were told, "Sorry, there is only one chance to get refund and you used yours". We said that we told them about the $114 as a reference to the price we paid and not as the lowest price, but kept hearing "you have only one chance for getting refund". They are liars and cheats!
I would like to emphasize that before making this deal, I called Priceline helpline and asked if I am using "name your own price" and when giving an amount which is higher than amounts that several hotel offer, does it mean that I will get only the one that the price is above my offer. The representative told us that he can't answer the question and that we'll read the rules in the website. We did read the rules and there was nothing specific about our question beside the fact that they are saying you can get up to 60% discount in "name your own price". The reasonable sense is that you are not supposed to get hotel which is cheaper than your offer.
We would have never tried this system if we new this is the case. They are not clear about how the system works and they are cheating people. Thank you for helping us.
Reviewed May 12, 2011
My father bought tickets for my family and I to visit him. He left out a couple of letters of my husband and my last name. I have been trying since April 26, 2011 to get this fixed. I called Priceline to get it fixed and I was told that I needed to call the airlines. I called the airlines and they told me that Priceline had to fix it. I called Priceline back and told me to get an agent’s name, ID number and location. I called the airlines back and got the information. I called Priceline and they told me that the airlines where supposed to fix it. Then Priceline told me that they will send a request to the airlines and asked me to give them 72 hours for the airlines to respond back. I waited until 72 hours and called Priceline. They told me that no one had responded and to give another 72 hours. I did this and called Priceline back. They told me that they could not correct the spelling it would have to be the airlines.
I called one airline and they told me that they have notes in their system and there shouldn't be a problem. I called the other airline and was informed that the ticket didn't belong to them and they couldn't touch it or make any changes. I was told that either Priceline or the other airline that owned the ticket had to correct it and then update it in order for it to reflect on their system. So I called Priceline to correct the spelling and get them to re-issue the tickets. Priceline told me that they could not. I called the airline where the tickets belonged to and they told me that they would update it in their system with the correct spelling. Needless to say, Priceline will take your money all day long but when the problem comes, you can forget about them helping you. To this day May 12, 2011, I am still trying to get it corrected.
Priceline Company Information
- Company Name:
- Priceline
- Year Founded:
- 1998
- Address:
- 800 Connecticut Ave.
- City:
- Norwalk
- State/Province:
- CT
- Postal Code:
- 06854
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.priceline.com
