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I went on Hotwire to book a flight. The price listed was very good...Low and behold once you click on this price you get "This price is not longer available" and a new higher price appears!. This is called bait and switch. Their representative's claim that prices change frequently and their website does not update sometimes quickly enough would hold water if I had not checked it twice in 4 hours time and then again the next day! They flat out lied and No one should ever use this site. Any recommendations on how to start a campaign to expose them and stop people from being suckered?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I booked and paid for a room. Upon arrival I was informed that the hotel had overbooked the rooms they had for the amount I paid. So I went online to hotwire to see what the deal was. They said I could either pay an additional 20 to upgrade the room or I could have a refund in 5 to 7 days. The hotel was basically empty with 3 cars in the lot. I asked about being given similar accommodations elsewhere and was told the best they could do was refund me hotwire dollars that I could use right away. So I said okay and then went online and rebooked the exact same room that was supposedly unavailable for 9 dollars more then I paid originally. At this point j went back to the online chat with hotwire and complained that this was obviously deceitful behavior. I ended up spending 3 hours arguing about it and at a hotel where I paid almost twice as much as I had originally. Ill never use them again. Just total garbage
Via n email from Hotwire.com support, I received this explanation for differences in their hotel recommendation percentages. This certainly sounds deceptive to me:
"The recommend percentage comes from travelers who've stayed at this hotel with a Hot Rate® booking experience, while the recommend percentage for Retail bookings comes from travelers who booked this hotel knowing which hotel it was before they booked, and not paying a lower Hot Rate®. The recommend percentage for Hot Rate® and Hotel bookings can be different as the experience starting with the booking process all the way through to the rate paid for the room is different. The data we provided in your booking was the data available for travelers who stayed at this hotel via the Hot Rate/non-Hot Rate option."
I use Hotwire to book hotels in this one particular town in Manassas. I check the reviews and am familiar with certain specific reviews of a certain hotel I prefer to stay at. On my latest booking, I found a good rate for an unnamed "hot rate" hotel. I checked the reviews, and saw the reviews I recognized for the hotel where I like to stay. I thought, "GREAT", so I booked it. When the hotel's name was revealed after I had been charged, it was a *different* hotel of a chain whose star rating is greatly overstated by Hotwire. While I wouldn't call this a classic bait and switch, I would at least call it deceptive.
Mary, make a formal "deceptive trade practices" complaint to your State Attorney General's Office. Hotwire will take THESE complaints seriously.
While there are "different fares", Hotwire is one of "the Big Boys". They know to the nearest nanosecond which fares are available.
There is absolutely NO excuse for them to advertise fares which are no longer available.
And, God help you if you ever need to reach their "Customer Service" people. Hotwire apparently does not HAVE a Customer Service Department. Based on my personal experience with these knotheads, if you have a problem you are S.O.L. - they simply do not CARE.
The suppliers know that Hotwire does not CARE - so when you book through Hotwire you get the worst possible hotel room available, ...
Being in the travel industry there is constant fluctuation. Hotwire, Priceline, etc. are given an inventory so it can be limited. The fluctuation obviously comes from bookings and cancellations.
This happens ALL the time.
O encourage you to file a "Deceptive Trade Practices" complaint with your State Attorney General's Office. File a similar complaint in the State where the hotel
Was located.
Hotwire will be forced to respond to these complaints. It costs money to trspond to these complaints. If there is a financial consequence to poor customer service, Hotwire might clean up its act!
Unless you actually booked the flight at one price and then were actually charged a different higher price, there is nothing fraudulent here and this is not bait and switch. Sometimes prices change, you claim you clicked on it and got the message right away stating the change, it happens on any site. Your complaint is not valid.