Priceline.com
reviews and complaints

My husband and I had been planning a trip to Las Vegas for a few weeks now. We already booked flights and were keeping an eye out for good hotel deals. We eventually decided to try the "name your own price" option on the priceline website. Keep in mind we had a pretty good idea of the prices that were out there and it was nearly time for us to decide and book a room. Enter priceline. We pretty much knew what kind of hotel we wanted to stay at. So in the " Name Your Own Price" we bid a higher price to try to avoid some of the cheaper, smaller, and frankly crappier hotels. We understood and agreed to the the non refundable - non exchangeable stipulation because we figured we knew the prices and we had nothing to lose but getting us a better deal. Our bid was accepted. But with one huge problem. The hotel priceline booked us was actually 30% cheaper if we hadn't used priceline's "Name Your Own Price" option at all. Their new slogan should be Raise Your Own Price. So in short the hotels that we were trying to opt out of by exceeding their prices is the exact hotel priceline stuck us into. At a nonrefundable/ exchangeable price. So I called priceline and they admitted that there had been an error on their end, due to their own prices being cheaper and their "Lowest Price Guarantee" promise. They proceeded to refund me the difference in price. The only problem now is that I am stuck at a hotel that i tried to avoid by over biding even their highest priced rooms. They were unwilling to even attempt to put me in a nicer more expensive hotel for even more money. So far I am waiting to hear from the dispute that i filed with my bank. Thanks priceline for trying to ruin my vacation!

So I order 2 round trip tickets from nyc to buffalo. After I hit submit I immediately realized I had made a mistake and one of the flights was too early for me (But not my companion). I immediately call priceline and the do nothing to help and jsut rattle off about the terms and condition with the name your price function. So I suck it up and order another ticket to buffalo but this time one way because I can make the return flight I had ordered through priceline.

So I go to try and use the ticket to return to nyc from buffalo and now I cannot use that flight because they say I had changed my "iternary" by not using the initial ticket. They say there are no changes to tickets but their terms and services say nothing about a change of itenary being a change of ticket. Totall ripoff and scam designed to make me pay an addition $161 to pay for the same exact flight I already have purchased a ticket for. Scam!

On 8/30/10 around 6pm, I came home to find my apartment infested with ants. While my landlord dealt with the ants, I quickly made a hotel reservation at the Glendale Vagabond Inn through www.petvacations.com, a site advertising pet-friendly hotels. I packed up my dog and cat, and showed up at the hotel around 7:30pm. When I got to the hotel, the clerk told me they didn't have any pet-friendly rooms left. She called her manager and was supposedly given permission to open up another non-pet-friendly room for me. I was told they were going to charge me an extra $60 per night for my pets. Meanwhile, there's a sign on the counter that says pets cost $10/night. I had already paid $181 for the "pet-friendly" room. My credit card had already been charged, so I assumed this included any pet fees. I told the clerk that I didn't think the extra fees were fair as it was the hotel's fault they'd accepted the reservation without having the room, and asked to cancel the reservation. I was told I needed to call Priceline. I didn't even know Priceline owned petvacations.com. So, I went to the car and called Priceline. I was told that I couldn't cancel the reservation because it was after noon on the day of check in. How could I cancel a reservation before it has even been made? I had to be quite demanding in order to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the hotel and asked if they would waive the $60, but they supposedly refused. The most they agreed to was cancelling the reservation and refunding me $87. So I basically paid $94 to sleep in my ant-infested bed at home.

The next day I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I got the following response:

"Priceline contacted the hotel and spoke with Lortis who confirmed to priceline that the property allocate a number of rooms for pets, and when all these pet allocated rooms are all occupied, the hotel has the option to open another non pet allocated room. However, the hotel must charge an additional fee for providing a non pet allocated room for the special cleaning process required once the guest check's out of the non pet allocated room. As a goodwill gesture, the consumer has already received a courtesy one night refund, and we can offer no additional refund for the hotel room that was used by the consumer."

I didn't think this response was fair, and responded to this effect. I also pointed out that I had not used the room, as the last line of their response seems to assert. Today I got the following response:

"We have received the consumer's additional comments. As you requested, we have again reviewed this matter to see if we overlooked anything that might support a more favorable conclusion. Priceline contacted the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna on behalf of the consumer, at [protected]. Joanna informed priceline that the guest check-in at 7:40 PM and the guest upgraded to a room with a king bed, and therefore the hotel required an additional charge of $60 for the upgrade. The hotel advised that they are unable to issue any further refunds, and the consumer may contact the Vagabond Inn Glendale General Manager, Joanna for any further assistance.

Vagabond Inn Glendale

120 W. Colorado Street

Glendale, CA 91204

Phone Number: [protected]

Fax Number: [protected]

We are sorry that we are unable to assist the consumer any further in this situation.

Sincerely,

N. D'Angelo

priceline.com"

I booked round trip airline tickets with priceline and was prompted to "save even more on car rentals" So I also reserved a car. 3 days later, still 2 weeks before my departure, I learned that I could have rented a car from a major car rental (Enterprise) for over $150 less. I called Priceline to cancel the car reservation and was told that's it's not possible. I even called the VP and CEO's office and was told the same thing. Furthermore, upon scrutinizing the e-mail confirmation from Priceline I see that they've put me down for a full sized car when I only requested a compact.

While using Priceline's bidding option. I received multiple messages such as "Bid too low" and "enter a higher bid." leading me to believe that I honestly could not find a car rental in Little Rock for less. In my opinion, this is no different from shill bidding, which is a dubious practice that might not even be legal.

I booked a flight with Priceline travelling from Aug. 25-29, 2010. On the itinerary they sent me they changed the departure date from what I requested to a day earlier. I detected this discrepancy on the departure date that I was given of Aug. 24, 2010. I relaized too late and missed the flight.

I called their customer service number [protected] and when the woman finally came online and asked me for my information she kept on saying “Hello, hello, I can’t hear you. Sorry but I am going to have to end this call since I am unable to hear you”. Then she put down the phone.

I then called another customer service number that I got from a website site and was able to speak to someone. He said there is nothing that can be done since the date I selected for departure was the date they had given me which I know is not the case.

I cannot get a refund for my flight.

I will never use Priceline again and I will strongly advise anyone considering using it not to.

I had made a bid on Priceline.com for 2 nights at a hotel for Boston for the nights of July 31 and Augst 1st. - 2010. Priceline said that the hotels were in Boston, but when I won the bid, I found out that the hotels were in a dangerious part of town about 8 miles in a neighboring town south of Boston called Dorechester.

First, the hotel, Comfort Inn, had only a single bed for me and my wife.

Second, for a good part of the night, I hear police sirens going up and down the busy main road, making my wife very nervious.

Third, the surronding area was like something out of the slums of New York.

Fourth, Priceline.com should be ashamed of itself for panning this hotel off as Boston when it is sending its customers into a hotel in a dangerous neighbor, especially when it is charging $95 per night!

Fifth, my call to Priceline lead nowhere - other than to say that nothing will be done and all sales are final. In other words, you got scamed Sucker.

Sixth, by the way, the hotel receptionist is behind bullet proof glass during the evening hours - which gives you some sense as to the type of clients this hotel normally has.

Seventh, I'm going to tell all my friends about my horrible experience using Priceline.com - what a scam!

Based on my experience with Priceline, I would never recommend anyone to use this service as I believe it is not honest in its representation. They sold me a hotel room for $95 that would normally go for half that much if someone were to walk into the street.

[protected]@aol.com

I booked an Hotel for a single night in San Francisco (booking#156.228.566) on July 22 for friday 23th. As soon as I did it, I realized that _MY MISTAKE_ I pick up the wrong date.
It was meant to be saturday 24th, not Friday 23th. I Immediately called Priceline hotline to CHANGE the booking. An operator told me it was NOT possible to change (but on the web site it CLEARLY appeared it was possible to! GREEN MARK CHECK!) and to change it, the only solution was to CANCEL the order and put a new one.
To CANCEL the order, the full price of the night was going to be LOST because less than 48 hours (2 days) in advance. Even if I did the reservation less than 5 minutes before the call.

Damage Resulting = the full price of the night, 149US$ + all the taxes, GONE. No refund, not even partial. Thank you priceline for giving me the opportunity to my wife to have a night in San Francisco. I made a mistake and you haven't allow me a... singleless than HALF AN HOUR to correct it. THANK YOU for your understanding, if I was rich, I was not in the need of Priceline.

Bid on a hotel after viewing "actual" hotels shown. Was given a 3 star instead of a 4 star hotel and one that was not even shown as an "actual" hotel. I was willing to pay "full price" for "actual" hotel(s) shown - but all I heard was a canned "I am sorry" those hotels are "examples". The site clearly shows the hotels as "acutal" I have a pdf copy of the page and will share if if there is a desire.

I have contacted the corporate office to see if something can be done. I will also contact all consumer fraud oversight that I possibly can. This is not clear and after having been a good customer of Priceline and after having great success in the past, I could not believe how poorly I have been treated and how fraudulent the website actually has become. The hotel they gave me is showing for $169.00 per night on other sites, I was bidding on a $459. category, so bid $250. and "won" the $169. per night hotel for $250.

Priceline does not disclose that it hits the consumer with hidden charges. Even with a confirmed room rate when my credit card billing statement came in it showed that I was charged an additional $33.00 per night for my room.

When I questioned the hotel they informed both me and the PA State Attorney General Office that Priceline has hidden charges for booking rooms and that they do not disclose to the public the fact that there are hidden charges for using Priceline. Even with a confirmed room rate I was charged 40% more by priceline for their hidden fees.

When I called priceline the and asked to speak with a manger I was told that there are no managers to speak with - when I questioned the CSR as to how a company can legally hit a consumer with undisclosed fees that are 40% of the confirmed room rate I was hung up on.

I spent 3 hours on the phone trying to get back the amount of the hidden fees, no one helped me. When I asked for a mailing address I was told there is no mailing address only the internet site which provides no help to the consumer when they are trying to get back the hidden fees. Again when I questioned the legality of undisclosed fees after the consumer already has a confirmed room rate I was hung up on.

Something needs to be done to protect the consumer from this false advertising.

Beware with priceline, they have a huge radius of an area for a hotel search. You may not get even close to the town that they have listed. When you call their attitude is ho hum I really don't care.

Priceline put together a flight itinerary that allowed 20 minutes from arrival to departure of a connecting flight in San Jose. This was physically impossible to accomplish. No other flights were available when we arrived. We had to fly to Seattle, rent a car at our own expense, and drive 175 miles to Portland. They said it was our fault, we chose the itinerary, all the while assuring us that "customer service" was their priority. We had no idea it was even legal to offer products that were impossible to use.

I booked a hotel room using priceline.com
When placing the order I checked the following requirements/amenities: Free breakfast, Free parking, Free Wi-Fi and Non-smoking.
I used their "name your own price" tab to place that order and gave them a $40 bid which surprisingly got accepted by Courtyard Oakland Downtown located at # 988 Broadway, Oakland, California 94607 USA Phone: [protected]
When the price got accepted, and I was revealed the name of the hotel (you cannot review the hotel name until you make the payment), I immediately called the hotel to confirm that they have Free Parking, Free wireless and free breakfast and were a non-smoking facility. The first three requests were not honored and moreover, Parking was $19.85 per night. Since I checked the box "free parking", I assumed I'm not going to be matched with a hotel that has NO free parking in general. I called priceline to cancel, spoke to 3 different agents (Erin, her ID 5260179; Scott, ID 5260278 and one more person whose name I didn't write down) and one supervisor (Ashley, ID 5260317). I explained them that this option was checked at the time of booking, and had I known that there was NO free parking as advertised by priceline.com, I would have booked somewhere else with a better value (via AMEX hotel rewards program). After an hour on the phone with 4 different reps, and my AMEX Gold card membership service contacting priceline.com to help get a refund, they would STILL refuse to issue me a credit for the amount of the parking fee ($19.85) or refund the whole purchase telling me they have a "no refunds" policy. But no refunds should apply to only those purchases that were made in accordance to customer's specifications, i.e. they cannot place someone who chose hotel rating 3 stars and up into a 1 star motel. The way it works is they can only choose the name/location of the hotel, but their match has to be based on my requirements (like number of stars, approximate distance). Same with Free/Paid parking. Scott, ID 5260278 offered to settle the matter by issuing credit of $50 towards my next (very unlikely anyway) purchase. I asked him if it was “up to $50 dollars, or “actually $50”, he confirmed “Yes, ma’am, fifty flat”; and when I agreed to it, he told me the following: "I will send you a link that you will need to click on to redeem your $10 (ten!) dollars. I asked him to repeat the amount again, and he said $10. Then I asked him if he had said "$50" (fifty) just before then and he AGREED he had. He just apologized for the mistake! Again a lie. This conversation was recorded by priceline.com per my request, and I would like you to listen to it if you need to.
I told him no, he needed to put $50 dollars on my account towards the next purchase just like he had promised, and he refused to do so. He insisted on forwarding me some link with $10 dollars.
SO the bottom line - Free parking that was promised by priceline.com was NOT offered by the hotel. EVER. The hotel front desk person told me they always charged for parking, and the cheapest fee is $19.85.

In addition - No free breakfast was offered at the hotel as well.
Please, take proper action against this company as they're misleading people everyday! Even in their Terms & Conditions they have an "error based" refund policy which they did not honor.

Thank you,
Viktoriia

Don't ever use them for hotels. Cars maybe. They lie about the star rating. We booked a four star hotel in Vegas and got the Westin that was a dump, dog piss all over, torn carpets, closed pool, etc. I knew the Westin was dump and called, asking just to change hotels; the barely english speaking customer service said screw you. In summary, it ruined our vacation. Advice, use the hotel websides you know of and book directly. Priceline is a disaster. YOUR HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My first time using Priceline and it was a complete disaster. Within 3 hours of making the reservations at a hotel, I contacted the hotel an canceled the reservation. I had no idea I had to contact Priceline. They billed me and even after I gave them names of the persons at the hotel who approved the cancellation, they still would not credit me back as a courtesy. They kept telling me how much it was my fault instead of trying to work with a first time customer. I pretty much lost $90 on a hotel that I did not even set foot in. I will be sure to email everyone on my distribution list (which is over 150) to NEVER use their service.

I wanted to watch the "Blue man" show in Vegas on March 02,
I'd like to choose 10:00 pm show, but there is only date, not time on the description but the price is good.
after I checked out, I figure out it's a 7:00 pm show which I can't make it. I called Prineline Rightaway!
they told me: "we can't refund you, you can change the time on the day of the show, it's not a problem!" On the March 02, the ticket office told me "can't change the time" and I called priceline again, they told me "CAN'T CHANGE TIME AND NO REFUNDS". I feel very sorry for Priceline, it's not the way to do business! I'll never buy any tickets on Priceline no matter how cheap is the price!

I bid on a hotel room for Las Vegas thru Priceline. Not knowing what I would get. The hotel they gave me for the price was more expensive than going to the hotel myself. The hotel they gave me also had specials going on, if I went directly to their web site( lots of comps ) which I could not get thru priceline . I called Priceline and they said they will refund some money back to my account to compensate the higher room rate, but I still don't get any comps. :( I called the Hotel, they said that I could not get any comps with the priceline reservation and the girl said that she would never use Priceline herself, because of this type of situation. I have used Priceline many times and was happy with what I got before. This is the last time. Paying more thru Priceline than what's it's worth was not good.

Priceline is a scam. I bid $180 a night for a 4 star hotel in Miami and received a non refundable
non cancellable reservation at the Sonesta Bayfront Hotel. When I searched this hotel on
their website, I discovered that their standard room rate is $180 per night!

I complained to their customer service rep who told me that Priceline does not promise discounted rates. I was told that Priceline only guarantees that you cannot get a refund and you
cannot cancel a reservation under ANY circumstances whatsoever.

I booked a car through Advantage on Semoran and Hoffner in Orlando. It was supposed to be $127 for a week with fees and taxes. They refused to honor this reservation at this price that I booked through priceline.com. I had AARP insurance, they refused to let me take the car out with that. No matter what they insisted that I had to use their insurance. They have Toyotas which are all being recalled. They said that if something went wrong, even if it was under recall by Toyota, the driver was responsible. They gave me the runaround for nearly an hour, complete with computer mistakes, and going to the boss at least 3X, always insisting that I had to take a different car and always trying to jack up the price. Even when a deal was reached they had me sign an agreement, then THEN WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME, THEY ATTEMPTED TO GET A SECURITY DEPOSIT, DOUBLING THE PRICE OF THE DEAL - ON A DEBIT CARD?

STAY AWAY - FAR AWAY FROM ADVANTAGE. CON MEN AND SCAM ARTISTS.

My daughter made a reservation for a hotel through priceline. She was unable to keep said reservation due to an accident.
I called priceline to see if she could get a cancellation. The representative told me he would charge her a 25$ fee per night. This was for three nights instead of the 215$ charge. With one stipulation I tell him what hospital she was at and the name of the MD. caring for her so he could call and get information about her and the situation. The hotel had no problem with the cancellation. This to me is a violation of HIPAA and privacy rites. PLEASE do not use priceline if you can avoid it. This is an unlawful practice!