Priceline.com
Reviews and Complaints

My nightmare started when I purchased a business class airline ticket from Priceline.com website to Europe July 2nd 2009. Three days before departure date I contacted Priceline to change my departure date. Everything went well and I paid all penalties/change of rate fees with my debit card.
When I received my confirmation e-mail, I realized that I got dropped from business class to economy; this was after agent told me over the phone that I was still in business class. I contacted Priceline about it, but really didn’t get any help. Their customer service told me that there is nothing they can do about it. When I went to check in at the airport, I find out that I don’t have ticket at all anymore. I called Priceline again (about 15th call in two days!) they said, that it was their fault and they will call my cell phone in next 15 minutes. I waited for 30 and called them again, went through same cycle again, and finally get talk to somebody that can speak English and could do something. She was actually half way helpful, but couldn’t fix the problem right away. No I only had 50 minutes time left for departure and still didn’t have a ticket! She promised to call me back and actually called back 20 minutes later. I finally got ticket and barely made my flight.
28 days after this episode I was checking my bank statement and realized, that Priceline.com had charged my debit card for third time for $530.11. This is over 20 days after trip, and I never authorized it. I called Priceline again, and customer service department told me (after waiting for 25 minutes) that it was their mistake, and they would refund my card in next 10 business days (which is BS on my opinion anyways).
I waited for 2 weeks and no refund. I called again and now story changed, Priceline was going to investigate what actually happened. They told me this will take 14 days, and are going to get back to me. As you can probably guess, nobody called or e-mailed me. I called again, and after transferring me from department to another for 30 minutes I actually talked to somebody that could tell me that they need to investigate what actually happened to original investigation!
At this point I handed this to BBB also, and contacted Priceline again. They gave me case id number and told me that accounting department is handling it, but I can’t talk to anybody in that department, they will let me know. I waited couple of days and called them again. This time they told me that refund was issued on September 7th and paid on September 9th. I told them that I still don’t have money; they told me that my bank is the problem, they have done their part. I try to ask transaction number, but didn’t get one.
After I called to my bank again just to find out, that Priceline.com has never tried to refund my card, I called Priceline again. Now after fighting with them over the phone, they gave me new case number, and couldn’t ever give me an answer, why they lied about the refund. They told me that there is nothing I can do about it, but wait another guess… 14 days!
I’m done with them now, I guess I just have to wait BBB to do their thing.
Very bad and sad skimming and fraud, I can’t believe Priceline.com can still be in business.

Me and my husband we were trying to buy tickets for family vacation.
We dont know what happened, just in one second, "The price was accepted" that was poped up!
My hus said he was writing a big money in the blank box for fun.
But he didnt push "buy my ticket now" button at all!(why he would click it!)
That was too much for us. We couldnt afford it. We were so sad to pay that amount money.
They already took the money from account. (Such a quick job)
So we called customer service, but that didnt help at all. Pretty much they kept saying, "In this case, We cant give any refund" OMG!
After several big argument, he crumbled the paper to meke rough sound and hung up!
What the! I couldnt belive what they did to us. And we talked to other person, he said there is a humble discount for cancellation! I guess he doesnt know what 'humble' means!
whatever that costs 100$ per ticket! so we paid 400$ for the trip even we didnt go!
If somebody wanna book a flight ticket from this company, I wanna tell them dont make stupid decision
like us!

I made a hotel reservation at 10:30 a.m. PST. On the web page it clearly stated that there was no cancellation fees or charges. I called at 2:30 p.m. PST to just change the hotel and was told that I had to do it the day before or I was going to be charged for the rate. I don't knwo how you cancel a reservation teh day before you made it. After talking to two "customer service " repressentatives, I received no satisfaction whatsoever. They never disputed the web site at all. The last representative told me to write their customer service department which I did. I received an auto reply saying that I was being charged. All this when all I wanted to do was change hotels. Now I would never recommend or use this company again. This is deceptive advertsising at it's best.

I booked a room on priceline.com. After getting what I thought was a good rate, I called the hotel directly and learned that parking overnight would be $27 on top of the priceline rate. I called priceline and attempted to cancel the reservation but priceline informed me that no refunds would be issued under any circumstances. It appears to be impossible to reverse any reservation made through priceline. Even my credit card company claims they can not dispute fees with priceline.

Moral of the story- Do not use priceline.com for hotels/motels without first checking with the actual motel for possible hidden fees not negotiated with Priceline. Do not change your plans, or become ill after using priceline. This company has instructed its employees to give NO leeway under any circumstances.

Priceline.com has charged my credit card for over $3000 in disputed, I would argue fraudulent, charges. On June 27, 2009, my credit card company alerted me to the fact that instead of 3 tickets (for a trip I made abroad with my family), I had been charged for 6. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that Priceline.com had charged my credit card accounts for 3 plane tickets connected with Flight Request #[protected]. The funny thing is, I never made this Request, and I never received any notification e-mail from Priceline.com of having made such a request!

In the past, I had submitted three other Flight Requests through Priceline.com to purchase tickets on-line. They were not accepted, and they were listed as unaccepted (as shown via the "MyTrips" page in the attached photo). As the attached photo shows, there is no showing of Request #[protected]! Also, as the photo indicates, the Requests actually made, on the "same date" as Priceline.com claims, are drastically different. Given the fact that these Request Numbers progress chronologically, Priceline.com's claim that the Request was made on the same day makes absolutely no sense.

Its Customer Relations Department contends that I made the request on the same day, 6/27/09 with other attempted requests. However, the request in question is not shown anywhere on my Online Profile alongside other, legitimately made Flight Requests. The number in question is #[protected]. As you can see, it does not appear on the MyTrips portion of my page. Nevertheless, Priceline.com has persisted in charging me over $3, 000 in conjunction with this purported Flight Request!

Moreover, the Customer Relation's staff does not seem to care about this complaint. So far, they have not responded in any meaningful way to my submitted complaint.

Priceline.com says that because a Flight Request, bearing this number, exists somewhere in its system, that is what counts. I am responsible for the charges, regardless of the fact that I never purchased, or even knew, about this Flight Request!

The matter remains in dispute. I sincerely hope that Priceline.com will remove this disputed charge from my account. But in the meantime, it is an uphill struggle with Priceline.com's Customer Relations Department.

This company is a complete sham. I purchased the basic service and after a sort while realized that it doesn't work and didn't help at all. After many calls from real-estate agents who thought I was interested in purchasing a home instead of renting (which they didn't handle) I tried to get a refund and they will only do so if you show proof of address change, even if you don't use their service to find a place. This company sucks and all buyers should be aware.

I booked a vacation package on priceline.com. The flight shown was cheap, direct with reasonable departure and arrival times. However, after actually "booking" the trip, my default flight arrangements were changed and one stop added in. We went from 21/2 hours direct to a 6 hours flight w/ one stop in the wrong direction and a layover. We actually get to our destination 4hours later.

Priceline would not change my flights. I challenged them to find the flight that I had received because it was not in the selection list the first time, or when I checked five minutes after booking. It was random out of no where. No luck and I've used priceline for years. Last time.

Never ever using Priceline again!

1st Problem - the first car was too small, so I upgraded. Driving to my hotel aprox 30 miles away, there was no leg room. The next morning driving it, started to hear noise coming from one of the tires, immediately took it back, and got yet another car, upgraded again.

2nd problem - I arrived at my airport at 4:30am (EST), wanting to avoid any boarding problems. At 8:00am I was in my seat on the plane, when my name was called to get off (it was very embarrassing). They over-booked the flight. I booked my flight one month before, plus getting their before anyone else, it was very disheartening. They put me on a later flight, arriving at the destination at 10pm (pst).

The reason for my trip was to attending my sisters wedding. I was scheduled to arrive at 3pm, when I finally arrived the celebration was over! Due to our father passing, I was to escort my sister during the ceremony and reception. This once in a lifetime event. It I knew this was going to happen, would of booked with someone else.

3rd problem - arriving at my hotel at 11pm Friday (22 hours after my wife dropped me off at the airport for my flight out). I checked out of the hotel Sunday morning. The clerk said to contact price-line for my refund owed to me. I emailed and received a standard answer - no refund.

I am one step away from backing out the charges to my credit card - because I did not get the service and satisfaction that was presented to me. You broke the contract. I want some type of restitution.

Lastly - the main reason for using priceline, was all the commercials of Willian S. (Capt Kirt). If you are reading this - "Shame on You" - you are not the man you use to be!

I won a name your price on a hotel thru priceline.com. After winning the bid, and recieving confirmation, I read the hotel description. It said I had beach Access. I called the hotel directly, to make a room request. I was informed that priceline.com guests are placed on the opposite end of the resort where there is no beach access. I asked how long of a walk it was to the beach. I was informed that guests who stay thru priceline.com, are NOT permitted on the beach because the rooms on the beachside of the hotel are alot more than the rooms on the other end (we had to cross a busy street to get from the "main mansion" to the "villa side". I offered to pay for beach access but was declined. I was told this is mentioned on the hotels webpage. I checked it out, and yes, it did state that guests on the mansion side were allowed beach access but gests on the villa side were not. BUT according to the description of the hotel on priceline.com, it stated that thier private beach awaits us.I called priceline.com. They simply didnt care.After we got back, I filed a complaint with the Better Buisiness Beaurea. My final reply from priceline was that they stand by their decision.I tried to continue, , , all I wanted was some sort of compensation for the false advertisement.They simply DO NOT CARE for their customers. I suggest to use other discount sites.stay away from priceline and thier false advertisments.By the way, the hotel description slill remains the sameeven after a month later.They haven't changed the lie!

I had a bad experience with Priceline.com, also! In May 2009, I went to Priceline.com to rent a car for our trip to Hawaii in December 2009. My brother told me about their 'Name your Price' section of their website. When I did the request, the price was not accecpted for a midsize car. But, when I tried to do it again, the midsize option was not even there for me to request. I had to select another size car altogether. That seems like a 'bait and switch' tactic to me. The only way you can keep requesting the size car you want, with a different price, is to start all over again.

Two months after I got the rental for $25.00 per day for a compact car, I got one of those bulk emails stating that you could get a car for $13.00 per day in Hawaii. I called them to see if I could get that price, they told me NO. I couldn't even cancel the request and place it again to try to get a cheaper price, otherwise I would've lost my entire amount I spent on the first request.

I don't know how they can say "Best Price Guaranteed", if you DEFINITELY are not getting the best price!

I already contacted my Attorney General in Pennsylvania to have them find out if this practice is legal. I got a letter back from them today, and they said they will be in contact with me. It is just so unfair that you can't cancel ANYTHING you get from them, even if something unexpected happens to you! I feel they are ripping people off COMPLETELY!

DON'T USE PRICELINE.COM FOR ANYTHING! I LEARNED MY LESSON!

I thought I was excited to win a bid for a hotel on Priceline.com on the Riviera Maya in Mexico. My first 2 bids were rejected, though they were around the price that apple vacations was charging. That should have been a hint not to go forward. The hotel that was chosen for me was $2 less than from the hotel site. But this was not the kicker - the hotel was 3 miles from the beach on the other side of the highway and tripadvisor.com suggested I needed a rental car to get to the beach each day or pay for cabs.

I called customer service at priceline. This hotel was not acceptable. Before I bid - I actually looked at all the hotels in their database. This hotel was not listed. All their hotels sh0wed they were either on the beach or a few blocks. Customer Service said it was non refundable. His manager said I got what I chose for the savings. (3%savings) That in fine print - the hotel they give us is not necessarily one they when you do a search on their list of hotels. Misleading much. The description talks of sandy beaches before you bid - This hotel is on the other side of a highway...mmmmm

I was then told his manager does not speak to customers and he has more important things to do.

BEWARE OF PRICELINE!

On 5-7-09 I attempted to purchase 2 first class tickets thru priceline.com and I bid what was a reasonable price for first class tickets, I had to enter in the credit card info that they would charge for the tickets, the bid was accepted, I had to initial that I was going to pay for the tickets, etc. All this without their showing me what I was saying I would pay for. Then the screen pops up with 2 coach class tickets! I immediately tried to get Priceline to delete or void the transaction and they refused. I talked to a supervisor, she refused. I emailed the VP of customer relations and she referred the problem to another customer service rep. and she also refused. This transaction was a "bait & switch" scheme. I talked to the airline and they told me they couldn't help because Priceline purchases a "bulk" set of tickets and that Priceline still held the tickets, technically, so they couldn't change, cancel, etc. the tickets. I tried Priceline again and they said it didn't matter, I had basically promised to pay and they refused to cancel. I am talking to my credit card company right now to get the payment stopped because I am being charged for something I did not ask for and also I don't have the item, it was not used, etc. There has to be something that the FTC and other agencies could do about these things. I saw there are lots of other complaints against Priceline on this website. They truly use bait & switch tactics on the consumer. I think I should have been able to see what I was supposedly accepting before I agreed to pay. Stupid move on my part but I was trusting them to be a reputable company, they are large and they advertise all over the place. I even plan to complain to William Shatner. His voice is even on their hold message! I will also report them to the FTC, their state's attorney general, their state's BBB, to news media, and everywhere else I can think of to stop this and I want my money back, I want the tickets cancelled, and I will never use their services again!

In name your own price, you think you are getting a 4 star but in reality you could be getting a 2.5 or 3 star. Never, Never use name your own price. If you have a question, Customer Service has the same answer if you can understand their english, "Oh we are very sorry sir but we can't change anything (we have never been out of India but we do know where hotels are in Vegas). They will never admit they made a mistake and could care less if they lose a cutomer for life. I booked a 4 star hotel in Vegas and got a dump hotel - Westin. If you like dog pee, torn carpets, and walking past drunks on the way to the strip then it is a good hotel. Priceline is a disaster.

A family member booked a package deal to include car rental and roundtrip airline tickets to take her kids to Orlando FL.
When she went to return her car on the date she booked for she found out that her airline tickets were booked to return two days prior. She booked a package deal but somehow there were two different dates on everything. Since her airline tickets were now no good she had to buy one-way tickets to get her and children home and it cost her $3000.00! I have sent several letters to Priceline and keep getting a copied generic response about how important customer service is to them. My family member did call Priceline when she found out her tickets were no longer good and they told her "too bad" it wasn't their problem.
Customer service is not important to them at all. Please save yourself some money, frustration and stress and DO NOT use Priceline. A good deal could cost you several thousand dollars.

This company lies about the location of the hotels and the star rating. You think you are booking a 4 star hotel that ends up being maybe a 2.5 star. When you call you someone who has a canned response that in summary say screw you and we don't really care. Their customer service is trained to be polite and do nothing. Never, never use priceline. Priceline translated means we are here to screw you.

This company is horrible. The people here do not give a care about you or your family, they only want your money. I recently booked a vacation and had to cancel due to my mother-in-law becoming ill. After spending $280 on the hotel that we were suppose to go to and an extra $10 for the insurance, we were told that we could not get a refund without a doctor's excuse. I mean REALLY? These people treat customers like they are in grade school. My mother-in-law already does not like me, there is no way that I am asking her to produce a doctor's excuse of her ailment for me to inspect.

Needless to say priceline.com got my $280 and my $10 for the insurance (which was obviously bogus). However this will be the last dollar that they ever get from me.

I would impress on anyone thinking about using this service to refrain, these people are ridiculous. If you do not believe me, just take a look at the other posts concerning priceline. Negative reviews outnumber positive at least 15-1.

I booked a trip from Nashville to Austin. I understand that getting the best price for a flight usually involves a stop over and change of aircraft. What priceline never told me - and are REQUIRED to under the law - is that I will be traveling on my first flight leg on a small, puddle jumping, regional aircraft. Had I known this, I would have never booked the flight. I would rather pay more and be on a better aircraft. When I called them, they said I had been informed. Then, in contradiction of their statement that I'd been informed, they said they have no access to information about type of aircraft. Both are lies.

I was a recent first-time customer of Priceline. My recent atrocious experience in booking a hotel room in San Francisco and the subsequent interactions with Priceline’s inept, ineffective and “sorry-excuse” for a customer service team has ensure that I will never use Priceline’s service again. I have chosen to write this message to highlight my issues with Priceline and to warn potential travelers to stay away from Priceline.

My nightmare began when I decided to give Priceline a try based on a recommendation from a friend. I went to the Priceline website on Thursday night (5/21/09) and made a $100-per day bid for a room in 3-star hotel in San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend. Within a minute of submitting my bid, I received a message that my bid was accepted by the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway hotel in downtown San Francisco (by the Civic Center).

On the Saturday morning (5/23/2009) on my way into San Francisco, I decided to give Holiday Inn Golden Gateway a call to check on the hotel room configuration (twin sharing or king/queen size bed). I spoke to the hotel representative who informed that my Priceline confirmation number was invalid and that there were no more rooms available. Confused and worried but still confident that Priceline would be able to straighten this confusion, I called the Priceline customer support number. Spoke to customer reservation specialist named Crystal and she called Holiday Inn Golden Gateway to find out the problem. She got back to me, explaining that she did not know why my confirmed reservation was not valid. She also mentioned that the hotel was overbooked and that Priceline can only give me a refund. I told that this was NOT ACCEPTABLE. I had a CONFIRMED reservation (not a “tentative”, not a “maybe” but a “CONFIRMED” reservation). I told Crystal that I expected a call ba
ck in an hour for a status update because I was on my way into San Francisco and I needed someone from Priceline to be on top of this.

At 12.15 pm, there was still no word from Crystal or any Priceline representative. I decided to call Priceline again. Spoke to another representative, Layla or Leila. I told her that I needed to talk to Crystal as she was helping me. Layla explained that there no way to transfer the call to Crystal and that she would help me instead. I had go through my issue with Layla again and had to wait while she contacted Holiday Inn Golden Gateway (which had already been done by Crystal). After 20-30 minutes on hold, Layla got back to me – giving me the same explanation as Crystal: Priceline does not know what happened to the confirmed reservation, the hotel was overbooked and Priceline can only provide a refund. Again – I explained my position: I am IN SAN FRANCISCO, I do not want a refund, I needed a hotel room. I told her that I do not really care where the fault lies but I am holding Priceline responsible because I received a confirmation number from Priceline. Layla said she w
ould call me back.

Later in the afternoon, Layla called me back that she had tried contacting the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway’s “sister” hotels and can get me a room for $180. I was fine with that as long as Priceline pays the difference ($80). She told me that I needed to pay $180 for the room and that it was not Priceline’s policy to pay for difference in the hotel room charges (even if it was Priceline’s mistake in the first place). I drove the point home that my accepted bid was confirmed for $100 which was what I have been charged and was willing to pay. I also mentioned that this mistake was ultimately Priceline’s fault and since it was Priceline’s responsibility in providing the confirmation, Priceline would need to ensure that I get a 3-star hotel room for $100 (the bid that was accepted by Holiday Inn and confirmed by Priceline). Layla was adamant that there was nothing Priceline can and will do except provide a refund. I told her that I wanted to speak to her supervisor. She refused – explaining that I would need to go to the Priceline website and escalate my complaints there. After a few choice words (in the heat of the moment), I accepted the refund under protest. There I was – stuck at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco at 6.30pm on Memorial Day weekend without a hotel room (despite having a Priceline confirmed reservation at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway).

I was very lucky to have some good friends in San Jose and drove 40 miles to bunk with them. I wonder what kind of MICKEY MOUSE operation is Priceline running? One that strands their customer in the middle of a foreign city, with a confirmed hotel reservation that is not even fit to be used as toilet paper and utilizing customer support resources from the Philippines who can’t even speak English well or slow enough for Priceline customers to understand (though they seemed very good at saying “Sorry”). Priceline and Holiday Inn were given a chance to go above and beyond to help a customer in need, a customer through no fault of his own was left in a lurch by Priceline and without a room by Holiday Inn BUT BOTH PRICELINE AND HOLIDAY INN FAILED MISERABLY.

I have been wondering if there has been some form of racial profiling from Priceline and Holiday Inn, especially with my Asian last name. How convenient that my confirmed reservation would mysteriously disappear or given away to another guest. I also found it convenient that a more expensive room ($180) would be made available to me while Priceline and Holiday Inn refuse to honor the $100 confirmed reservation. Perhaps the racial profile had Asians at a higher income bracket who could afford more expensive rooms. I sincerely hope not but I shall be looking more into this.

I have emailed the entire Priceline and IHG (parent company that owns Holiday Inn) management team. What I got as a response was another pathentic apology call from Paula (some executive communication resource). Stay clear of Priceline. Rubbish, useless, horrible are key words to decribe this pathetic company.

I booked hotel rooms through priceline through name your own price. had an offer accepted. Checked into hotel..checked out and was charged by the hotel again for the nights that were supposed to be prepaid already...Thought it was a mistake, but I booked another Hotel room again and the same thing happened. I got off the phone with the hotels and they said that Priceline usually gives them the money through a "ghost" credit card, which in my two seperate instances did not happen. Isn't that some sort of scam of stealing? I'm in debt now 500$. Am I the only one? Can i get responses so I can get a class action law suit. This is definitely not right. We need to stick together and not let corporate america take advantage of people because they are major.

REgards

Stay away from this online booking agent. Not only do they not have their physical address listed for their business on their website.. which by the way I thought was a legal requirement they also take your credit card information during registration promise to find you a hotel room at a 40% discount rate and then charge you for a ratty room at a higher than listed rate. I think that there are grounds for a Class Action Lawsuit... Priceline... you need to change your ways, or you will not be around long. The news will spread to those of us who know how to use the web to put you out of business. Your practices are unethical.. listen to what people are saying? They steal your money...