Hotwire review: Hotwire bad policy! 55

DO NOT BOOK through them because there is a chance you will end up with nowhere to stay and out of the money you paid to them.

I booked a hotel through them for New Year's weekend 2019. When I arrived at the address on my itinerary, there was a vacant building. I looked for signs showing they had moved and saw nothing. I called the number for the hotel and got no answer. I had to stay in a MOTEL 45 minutes outside of Miami. When I contacted them they said they could not give me a refund. I even had pictures of the place with the "For Lease" sign in the window. The rep told me they contacted the hotel so I tried the number again myself. I did get through to somebody at the hotel that day and they informed me that they did have a DIFFERENT ADDRESS and they share a building so ANOTHER NAME was on the outside. Without speaking to someone, there was no way for me to know this! The credit card company (Citi) took their side because of Hotwire's "no cancellation, no refunds" policy (even though I didn't cancel or stay there). They ROBBED ME of my $515. No services were rendered because they provided me with inaccurate information and did not care enough for their customer to admit or fix their mistake.

WHY CANT U TYPE IN YOUR HOTWIRE # SO YOU CAN CHECK YOUR AGREEMENT, THAT SHOULD BE EASY TO DO

For one month i checked the prices on a flight from atlanta georgia to casablanca morocco everyday at least 5 times a day. Everyday, everytime the price said 1361.00 but when i would click on it ..it would change to 1377.00 when i contacted them after 3 and 1/2 weeks they said it was because of price fluctuation. If that is true why did it always say the same 2 prices every time...buyer beware..they just want to charge more than there advertised price..not good business.

I had booked tickets on Hotwire where they picked the airline and flight times to get a better deal three days before the trip, and paid with (Costco) American Express card. The day before the flight I went to the Delta website and printed boarding passes for the flights between Knoxville, TN and Hartford, CT, connecting thru Atlanta. Before going to the airport for the 6:50AM flight, I checked my e-mail for any notices of flight delays (no delay) or any message from Hotwire (no message). At Delta curbside check in, the attendant could not find me being booked on the flights. He told me to see the ticket counter at Delta inside the airport. At the ticket counter the agent said i do not have tickets, and recommended I call Hotwire, which I did. Hotwire said they refunded my tickets (these were non refundable tickets) and for me to call the risk department at Hotwire and leave a message to find out what the problem was. I called Hotwire risk department five times and they never called me back. I called American Express who stayed on the line while I talked to Hotwire again. Still no resolve. After missing my flight and waiting three hours to try to get this fixed, the original agent at the Delta counter took the initiative and talked to her supervisor and I was able to buy tickets at a match rate with Hotwire so I could finally go to Hartford, CT to see my grandchildren. Both Delta and American Express said this type of issue happens frequently with Hotwire. BUYER BEWARE WITH HOTWIRE!

Don't use hotwire. You will end up at the worst hotels and with the crappiest rental cars. If you give bad feedback on a hotel they simply file it in the round file and keep booking that hotel. If you rent a car with them, be prepared to get a scratch and dent older model car. They must have arrangements with all these companies to take the crappiest hotel rooms and cars. They don't care about the customer. You are better off paying a few dollars more and having an enjoyable trip. Hotwire is not to be trusted.

For a 21st century website, Hotwire's online glitches are unforgivable. For the first time, I tried to book a mystery hotel in Birmingham only to have the booking system turn rogue in the final stages. I phoned (which of course i end up paying for) and related the issue - no prior 'Verified by Visa' security page before an alternative page popped up informing me 'You have already made this booking' along with an error 405 announcement - only to have the customer rep suggest that I had hit a key twice. While this may be their favoured 'cop-out clause' du jour, I informed him that you cannot double, tripe or quadruple click a 'Verified By Visa' form away without completing it. While he stopped flogging that particular dead horse, he then told me 'yes, that comes up quite often'. How reassuring! Hotwire, you are the weakest link...goodbye.

Buyer beware when renting a car through Hotwire.com. My schedule changed but they said "So what, not there fault" . We all know they will rent the car to someone else, I gave them a two week notice but got nowhere. If I had made the reservation directly with Hertz there would be no problem. The rate wasn't that great. Lesson learned. They keep my $160 and I get nothing. They should change the name to NotWire. Share with all your traveling friends. Rent it directly through the rental car company!

Rented car and now not travelling. "Customer service" says "you clicked the box, you will be charged regardless of use". Plans change, I'm willing to pay cancellation fee or whatever but if you want a car in Omaha on the 4th it's there but I'm not! Make sure before you order something on hotwire that your life is scripted and will not change, right?

To think a company, and it's customer service supervisors would come up with a better response than that. Give me a break, this company is out for cash, they could care less about you!

OMG is all I can say about this miserable online company. I just used it for the first time, and it will be the last. They have the "Low Price Guarantee" posted all over the place. I found a lower price at the same type of room at the same hotel within 48 hours, and they still refused to refund the difference. I even contacted the hotel and one of HotWire's competitors directly and was able to confirm that the rates were cheaper and the rooms were available. I even printed-out the supporting pages from the Internet, scanned them, and e-mailed them to the Customer Service Dept. It replied by stating that they do not open any e-mail attachments because they don't want to risk their computers getting infected with viruses. I am not kidding. I am confident that the owners of HotWire do not give a rat's _ss about the customer service. Their customer service reps are basically drones programmed to repeat the same thing over and over (just slightly differently each time). I sent three separate e-mails to the customer service dept. and someone new always repeats the same thing that the previous rep. already stated. Whenever I tried to point-out the facts and explain why I am convinced that I should get the refund, they come back with whatever reason they can pull of our their _ss at that moment to put a roadblock. It reminds me of a low-class, corrupt businesses in developing countries during the 1970's. Pretty pathetic. I certainly hope that the saying that "what goes around comes around is" true. I just don't see how they can continue to survive as a viable business entity, practicing deceptive business practices. To top it off, the last e-mail I received from the third, new customer rep. stated that "We sincerely hope that you will continue to visit our website." It's so funny.

The agent just do not understand their own policy, who assurd me that a booking of a rental vehicle can be cancelled and refunded without penalty is BS. I booked a car on Aug. 28th/08 then discovered only regular rate bookings or flight changes by airlines can be changed. Who needs Hotwire to book anything on regular rate ?
The agents seem to be paid be commissions in pressuring clients to book and pay the booking on the spot. Really poor business practice!

I bought a stay through hotwire.com website - Itinerary [protected] and checked in at the hotel yesterday and for my surprise, this is not what I had purchased from hotwire website. I was deceived.
• This Hotel Del Sol has 2 stars, while I bought a 3 star hotel from hotwire.com website.
• The Hotel Del Sol is not located in the District of Union Square – which is where I bought it –, but in the Marina District.
• The references room images that were shown in the hotwire.com website during my purchase are completely different from what I found at the Hotel Del Sol. They have nothing to do with these rooms.
• I researched the price of this hotel on booking.com website and the price is almost half the price I paid for hotwire.com website.
• The price I paid for Hotel Del Sol to hotwire.com website is almost the price of the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.
Anyway, I feel cheated by hotwire.com website and I wanted they to fix it because I did not want to stay with my family in a lower class hotel than I have purchased, I wanted to switch to a higher category hotel and to stay in the Union Square neighborhood, that is where the hotwire website said my hotel would be located at.
When I contacted the website's staff, they said that they couldn't do anything.
PS.: I would like to make clear that this is not a complaint about the hotel, but about the www.hotwire.com website’s informations' integrity.

Booked a rental a month ago, 6 - 2 - 2011, and got a email alert about car rentals so i figured i'd check to see what the rates were. The rate for the same dates and times were 25 dollars cheaper. I've cancelled and changed my reservations before and i was told because i'm a "preferred customer" that they would cancel my booking with no penalty and allow me to book a new reservation. When i called today and spoke with Dani, a hotwire reservationist, she told me "just because hotwire did this in the past it doesn't mean they'll do it again". She spoke over me and would not allow me to talk. I told her she was being rude. Hotwire sure isn't going to get my business anymore because of this! It appears that they do something one way on one day and things differently on another day. They sure did ruin their credibility with me today! I won't be using hotwire any time soon. I know orbitz automatically sends a refund check to you if a rate goes lower after a booking.

Never use this website. They are very misleading and offer no help with your trip if you have a change of plans.

I booked a car rental via HOTWIRE for a pickup at the Denver Airport. When i got to the airport rental counter, I was told the pickup was in downtown Denver, a 25 minute drive from the airport location. The salesperson behind the counter told me that HOTWIRE has been changing the pickup location without informing the person looking to rent the car. They do this to give you a lower rate than their competitors. The lower cost is due to the drop in Taxes the airport charges them for doing business.

This is not only wrong but highly bothersome, to the person looking to rent a car. I had to wait around until the manager at the counter could get me a car from the Airport location. it actually took two managers to get this worked out to my benefit. The manager at the airport location not only got me a car, but he upgraded it two levels and let me take a pick from the lot. He also honored the rate I was quoted.

I will never use HOTWIRE again. Burn me once shame on you, Burn me twice shame on me. There won't be a second time.

I booked a car rental to attend my uncle's funeral. After speaking to the funeral home, they were not able to do it until a few days later. After a few hours I called the customer service number and a gentlemen said "as a one time courtesy" he would refund and rebook it for me. I gave him my flight information and after he processed the change, he read a five minute statement recapping the terms and what he did and then we ended the call. I opened the email confirmation and realize that he put the wrong date and time for drop off, I then called back, got an extremely rude woman who said he read the information back to you and you agreed so I won't do anything. I tried to explain the situation to her and there were a million other things I had on my mind, like how to deal with his death and she said you should have listened when he read it back to you. I had hoped she would have a little more understanding given the fact that my uncle died yesterday. I asked for a supervisor and after 2 minutes of the rude woman asking me why she finally put me through to Jessica ID #2024. I explained that my uncle died yesterday and what had happened, she said that Hotwire purchases are final but as a "one time courtesy" she would refund my purchase and told me "you can rebook on your own." I told her I would rebook but not through Hotwire ever again.
HOTWIRE HAS THE WORSE WORKERS AND I WILL WARN EVERYONE TO NEVER DEAL WITH THEM.

I reserved a hotel room through hotwire.com on Sunday July 8 and received a confirmation e-mail from hotwire. I arrived at the hotel around 10 PM and the hotel did not have my reservation and did not have rooms available. The hotel receptionist said they had filled up for Sunday evening several days earlier. I e-mailed hotwire.com support and requested an immediate phone call response. I received an automated response from hotwire saying they would contact me in 12 to 24 hours. The hotel receptionist called her contact at hotwire to report the problem and I spoke with him (Mike). Mike said he would put me through to customer service. Instead he connected met to an automated voice mail system that said they were ususually busy due to demand for hotwire services and the wait time would be in excess of 20 minutes. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND USING HOTWIRE.

I stayed at Fort Mitchell, Ky several weeks ago using Hotwire.com as my hotel locator. When searching, they posted this unknown hotel as a "best deal" so I went with it.

They put in a shabby hotel 8 with the listing on the sign as #45 a night. I was charged around $60. No internet (which was advertised as high speed) 1/2 the cable channels didn't work (The hotel told me this was due to a storm approaching and they had satellite. The hotel next to them also had satellite but theirs worked). Towels were rags. This was a class 1 hotel not a class 2.

We were scheduled to stay for 3 days, but we only stayed for 2 and on the weekend. I didn't have hotwire's number and had to wait to get internet connection at which time I contacted Hotmwire. I was givin a number to contact and it turned into a blame game with them not taking any responsibility. I could have got this hotel at a better rate on my own...I fact could have got a better hotel through hotel.com, I found out later, for a better price.
I will no longer use their service and I will defer my staff from using their services anymore. Customer Service is not their priority.

When I selected a 3 star rating hotel to get a discounted price, I really got a two star hotel, after doing research on the hotel, and after checking other rating other well know internet sites, and googling the location and hotel to see number of unsettling police reports. I am not comfortable of taking my family to this hotel. Call Hotwire to try work out change to another hotel (not refund), but they would not, I would have to go to the hotel first. If room is not satisfactory, and hotel does not correct problem, I would then need to call Hotwire about it . The way they took care of me today, it would probably be another run around, again. The line from the consumer service representative was "there is no Government Standards for rating hotels", maybe these large internet sites should come with some standards. Bad experience will never use Hotwire again, even on their regular site which shows the hotel. Hotwire and La Quinta Hotel got a free $300 between them for nothing.

Hotwire provides misleading and deceptive information at its website regarding hotel rating. it sold me a low-star hotel for high star price based on "THEIR OWN REVIEW DATA". And its price was actually higher than it was listed at expedia.com (which shows as a low star hotel !).

Even in their own rating guidance, the chain hotel was listed as low start . I called customer service, I was told for this specific hotel of the chain, it is worth high star.

Such a deceptive and misleading practice should be warned, given consumers can not access to or understand what HOTWIRE REVIEW DATA is. And they can claim whatever the hotel rating is without following the practices of other websites.

I will never use hot-wire!

My stay at Holiday Inn was very upsetting that I'm leaving after two days of stay. The maid didn't even give clean wash towels not enough bath towels only two towels were given when the room was for three people. There was a sign of the door the please reused towels. The iron was broken water spilled out on our clothing. Called to hotel desk to recieve another iron, they said someone would bring it up. Never happened. Trash was left in the room right by the door. How could you miss it. Hotwire need to stop making you pay for your hotel before you know exactly what hotel you are getting. They list three hotels and you have the expectancy that all the hotels listed will be similiar but they are not. They listed Doubletree, Holiday Inn and one more . I know what to expect at the Dobletree but of course I didn't get that one I recieved the Holiday Inn. Not even a comparison. It sad that Hotwire will not even refund you the money if you don't want that hotel and let you continue on selecting. So, the old saying is you get what you pay for. I went online with the address of the hotel they had chosen for me, the rooms are nothing like it says. No sofa, no microwave, no refrigerator, only one microwave in the hall on the first floor on top of the washer and dryer.

Hotwire is a huge ripoff. I booked a hotel and when I arrived there was no parking...Radison LAX...so they directed me to park at the airport...and catch the shuttle back to the hotel...at 1:00am. I told the hotel that I was unhappy but they said that Hotwire should have known...the info was on the Radison LAX website. When I called Hotwire they put me on hold, later hung up and finally after two more calls and some serious switching around I was told that I had paid and they were not responsible for amenities like parking even though it was part of the deal.

What CRAP.

The internet is an amazing tool, however, urls can be copied and information can be hijacked, so maybe you can get extra charges without actual participation by You. On line secure, dosen't always work out that way. Ask the folks who have identity theft cases and cannot seem to get them settled. Ask the children upon entering their first job, who find they have negative credit and have not "bought a thing". Wise up

Please do not do business with Hotwire. They show that they will match prices on similar travel bookings if you can find a lower price. Well, I recently booked a car rental with Hotwire and within one day found a lower pice on the same booking. When I pointed it out with Hotwire that it was lower on the same day, same place, same size car, they began a big "why they couldn't do it" explanation with a bunch of very picky things even though I had complied with their guarantee. Hotwire should not even advertise a price match when they have no intention of following up on it even after the customer goes through the guidelines. I have learned my lesson and will not be doing business with them again.

Hotwire Reviews:

Hotwire will trick you... Hotwire will mislead you... And their customer service agents/supervisors are trained to be A-O! Really, they won't even acknowledge their issues and are rude and don't value the customer AT ALL.

DO NOT TRUST HOTWIRE... why? because they will offer anything... other than what you are interested in and their website is extremely misleading when selecting a "checkbox" for a specific region and then results (ofcourse limited by their info policy) include hotels WAY beyond the area you selected, and since you can't see more info they literally screw you, and there is nothing you can do because you checked the acceptance box... but not even acknowledging customer is MESSED UP!

I have an issue with a company that outsources to other countries. They speak English but very poorly, they attempted to pressure me into buying something I did not want when I just had wanted to add to my reservation I ALREADY purchased. Love Hotwire and would use them again but hopefully I do not have to call them ever. Please stop outsourcing to other countries, America needs these jobs.

If anyone is planing to purchase an airline ticket, DO NOT USE HOTWIRE.COM! This company is not customer oriented. Booking on their Website is convoluted and prompt to errors. If by any chance you are not satisfied with your purchase you're ### out Of Luck because they are are as strict and inflexible and the worse when it comes to reach customer service. You press the option to purchase or to book, you get someone in no time. If you dare to select the phone option to rebook, you will wait at least one an a half hour. No kidding. I called late at night to avoid the "rush hour of callers" to no avail. They will not change, alter, transfer, or do anything to your ticket. Basically, I wasted $200 because their site is not user friendly. to make matters worse, I call the airline and they told me that because i bought the ticket through Hotwire.com they cannot help me. Period. No help from anyone. HOTWIRE.COM SUCKS BIG TIME! DON'T USE IT!

Search engines draw you to hotwire.com based on the travel cities and dates you enter. Once you click on the lower fare that I was drawn in by, and the price increases. Click on the increased fare and it increases. This usually occurs three times.

It is a deceptive practice to generate internet traffic, and results in false advertising as well and bait and switch. It should not be allowed and I want to lodge an official complaint, for which I request a response from the Complaint Board. I am considering a class action suit against all travel related websites, because they derive remuneration for the clicks they receive on their respective websites. IT HAS TO STOP. I will never use hotwire.com again until they change their practices.

NEVER USE HOTWIRE>COM TO BOOK A CAR RENTAL! This company is terrible and their customer services representatives are rude and not at all helpful.

Someone should take this company and put it out of business. I contacted the Better Business Bureu, my state's attorney general office and The Federal trade Commission to compalint about these crooks!

This web site took $28.95 out of my credit card account and i never even been the site.

We booked hotel from Hotwire.com (Secret Hotel rate) we got really unknown hotel with very bad review from several website and in the website show the hotel very bad condition too. So we send e- mail to Hotwire and got the reply explain about rating that depend on their standard with policy... Blah blah blah... Etc.

We arrive to the hotel (140$ per day) we saw the BBQ grill and propane tank hold with a chain in front of a hotel room .It is look like the place for welfare people .We go to the office ( small house stand alone) the women told us that she don't have guests name yet . Please come back at 2 pm( we arrived at 1:30pm)

So we go back to the hotel at 7:30pm to check in. The old man and 16 tp years old boy told us that they don't have any reservation and the room is full.He try to book us to the neighbor hotel but we denial and we call to Hotwire.

We explain all the situation and she tried to book us with the another unknown hotel and we don't want it . We get refund and $25 for next booking.

After we come back we try to cancel the another booking that we booked in advance because we not happy and angry with last trip.We can't cancel, change or transfer anything even we have a nightmare from the trip and she told us that situation that we face it always happened ! Many customers call and she have to rebooking to the another hotel.

Better stay away from Hotwire...

This site "claims" to give you a fake "best offer" that you do not even get details of until you commit to a NONREFUNDABLE / NOT-ALTERABLE transaction. What they describe and what you get are two completely different things and once you realize this you have already made a purchase with no chance whatsoever of cancellation, change ot human interaction whatsoever. I am out $1, 233. The site is all electronic and nobody on their end knows what they are selling - at all. You think you are getting a great deal but realize later you paid FAR MORE than anyone else and cannot cancel the transaction. Do not get sucked into the expensive travel ripoff.

You should have reported this to Hotwire, they were likely not aware that the car agency did not accept 3rd party insurance. It is not their fault if the agency has not updated their information with Hotwire like they are supposed to do in order to keep a contract with them.

MISLEADING ADVERTISING I WOULD NEVER BOOK WITH THEM AGAIN.CHRIS WAS VERY RUDE TO ME. I CANT BELIEVE HE HUNG UP ON ME. NO HELP! NEVER AGAIN HOTWIRE.COM. I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT I WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW NEVER TO BOOK A VACATION WITH HOTWIRE.COM.

Hotwire.com gave us a hotel well-known for its bedbug population. We're now apparently locked into paying $385 for 4 nights at a Kill Devil Hill, NC, hotel that we will *not* sleep in. We're having to cancel our entire vacation now which *was* to have been my wife's Mother's Day gift. Thanks, Hotwire.com!

I agree...they are legalised CROOKS! or at least made it look like is legal...Never again I use that service.

The last (final), time is used Hotwire was the last straw. I stayed in a low-rated hotel that had a 'fridge in the room. Service was good, and the area was safe. In order to stay in the region for a few more days, I booked a higher rated hotel that offered a rather dangerous location, awful customer service, and a tiny room with no 'fridge.

I received an email from Hotwire to write a review on the last hotel, but the email would not open properly, on 2 different PCs; they said that they would post my review if I write them directly, yeah, right. There is more than one way to book a hotel online...

They did the exact same thing to me! Not good business. I've stopped using them for all travel and told everyone I know to do the same. False advertising and getting away with it, what a shame.

I booked a two star hotel in charleston.it was 30 min away from downtown it was in strip mall area and was standing alone(normally there will be two or more hotels in same area). It was at night and I asked them to cancel it.happy that hotwire did cancel my reservation and refunded me. The hotwire called up fthe hotel agent and they were ready to cancel it.
Hotwire shouldn't be partnering with hotels like this.I will be scared to book one more time with hotwire because of bad experience and terrible experience my family had to go through

Today I booked a room using hotwire in Erie, PA and immediately upon learning the name of the place, did some research. The reviews for this place, Lake Erie Lodge, are terrible. I called hotwire in disgust and asked for a refund based on the reviews I read on tripadvisor.com. I spoke with a supervisor and she said they only look at reviews for the past 3 months and wouldn't you know it, the most recent reviews are great! I asked how long they partnered with this particular hotel and she wouldn't release that info. What a crock of ###! If in fact hotwire partnered with this hotel a year ago then they should be ashamed of themselves for booking me this room. I asked what if the accomodations are below average and not acceptable. The answer, we cannot answer a what if question! I'm calling my credit card company to dispute the charges...CROOKS!

HOTWIRE IS NOTHING BUT A DUMB COMPANY RUN BY SOME JERKS !

HOTWIRE IS MISLEADING !
HOTWIRE SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !