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Priceline.com review: mistake cost family $3000 70

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5:43 pm EDT
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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.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

70 comments
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Pat Stroy
wash, US
Nov 13, 2012 10:53 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

On November 1, I went on the web to do a price search the cheapest rental car for a family member who was in town. we weren’t traveling; just wanted a rental car. I went on Priceline.com.. Checking the rates, I did reserve a car. Normally when we rent a car we are charged at the time we pick up the car. Unfortunately, we were not able to make the pick up; to my surprise that morning Priceline had taken out $171.00 dollars plus 45 dollars from my account. I called Priceline Corporate office they were not very nice in fact I I couldn’t get another car for the money. I was told that the site I went on some special Priceline site no refunds and no exchanges. They just took my money, just like that. They claim that their policy, “Oh to steal money from the consumers.” What can I do.
We also went on Hotwire and they did the same thing…they took out $101 and has refused to refund my money. These two companies took over $300 dollars in one night
And told me they are not giving me my money back..
Pat Stroy, DC

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sashagorsha
Montreal, CA
Jun 27, 2013 10:06 am EDT

Such bad customer service. Not only did we get screwed because we didn't get ANY deal, but we got horrible customer service. We booked with "Name your own Price" and we got a worse deal than the hotel itself. So we called and it took an HOUR for them to accept to give us a refund of the difference. On top of the fact that we weren't even able to cancel, we got a horrible deal because they don't include a cancellation option and the hotel itself did. So not only did we not GET A BIG DEAL, as the Priceline website states itself, but we got a WORSE deal than we would have gotten by booking directly with the hotel. Such a bad experience. Never again!

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chris bartholomew
Prairie View, US
Aug 22, 2014 11:00 pm EDT

I put in my destination for Hayden CO with Priceline and book my flight and hotel and rental car. Printed my itinerary and found their software booked me to Denver CO, four hours away from Hayden CO. When I tried to cancel my reservation minutes after I booked it they informed me there was a cancellation fee of $ 400.00. Cynthia Explained to me it would not have mattered if it was 1 minute after I booked it. She also told me there was no one above her to resolve the issue of the software mistake on their part. It will be the last $ they see of mine, or my family & friends $'s. Its a small world with Facebook Enjoy your short lived company.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Oct 15, 2008 5:36 am EDT

On Sept 17th around 12:30 I went online to book a room with priceline, I need 1 night in Towson, MD. They had a Ramada Inn for $69 I figured its a Ramada they say 2+ stars so I booked it. Afterwards I went to the hotels website to find they rate themselves a 1 star hotel and have unbelievably bad reviews on there own site. People who have stayed there in the last 30 days who have had breaking and entering occur, and a huge bed bug problem where a woman had to go to the hospital. So 1 hour after booking I began my quest to cancel reservation that would not be in play for 1 month from now...I spent several hours on the phone with several priceline reps and have sent 6 plus emails to customer service who tell me sorry your beat. No offer to book in another hotel, no apology, nothing - just sorry your beat...? I called the hotel and they said sure you can cancel. i told priceline and they say i never spoke to the person whom i gave them the name for?

customer service i dont think so...

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Amy Robinson
New Haven, US
Jul 02, 2010 8:15 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I've been reading here all the complaints about priceline, and well.. my complaint is to all those costumers that didnt took 5 min to read "important information". Im a priceline costumer care representative. I've been reading this site for about 3 months now, just to know exactly what people concerns are, but today i received a call that gave me the courage to just go ahead and write this down:

I wasnt even finishing the "thank you for calling costumer care my name is Amy, may i have your full name and request # " when the costumer said in a really bad tone "are you able to handle your job or not?!" and i got confused ... he didnt even told me his name! well i carried on .. since it is MY JOB.. i politely asked "oh sir, of course! by the way how are you sir?", i just got a " can we skip this part im not interested n having any kind of conversation with you" . I just thought to myself " oh dear! this guy obviously is having a BIG PROBLEM.. maybe his flight got delayed, maybe he got an accident or a loved one.." NOOOOOOOO! the issue was that he wanted to unlock his account! I’m not writing his full name here because thank god my parents raised me well and i received a proper EDUCATION. Then i told him "sir, can I place you on hold just for 2 min while I check on your info...” He was unnecessarily RUDE and told me that if I wasn’t able to handle my job and if I kept him on hold for more that 2 min, he wanted to speak to my manager ( WE DONT HAVE MANAGERS) so I can get fired. Is this even fair? Is it? The call ended well, I helped him out, he was very rude I don’t know why, I kept on being polite but inside I was very humiliated, I NEVER EVER could treat anyone not even him the way he treated me.

People: the 20% of the costumers are actually VERY NICE the other 80% ARE NOT, of that 80% the 90% don’t read the IMPORTANT INFORMATION and just type their initials on their contract page so smoothly. So my advice to all the people that purchase via internet (not just n Priceline) would be to READ all the info, big letters, regular letters, RED letters, all! If you're taking the time of booking and purchasing, take your own time and read WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO PURCHASE. And if someday you need to call costumer care, please realize that we are people and our job is to HELP YOU ruled by the policies (the same you have to read and sign). Also remember that WE DONT MAKE THE POLICIES, we have to stick to em, it's our job, we have family to support, we have bills to pay, we actually understand you, but sometimes we're just not able to help you, and that's not because we dont want to, it's because we can't. Honestly our job would be more easier if we only say “yes” to people all the time, we wouldn’t received threats nor swears, so if we say “Im so sorry, im not able to do anything for you because the policies said that your reservation is non changeable non cancellable” it’s because we tried our best to give you the best resolution, but the POLICIES that u initialed or signed at the beginning say exactly that the product is non changeable or cancelable.

That's all. Thank you for time.

Amy Robinson.

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Pisso
, US
Sep 10, 2010 12:36 pm EDT

Booked car rental at O'Hare through priceline. Alamo wouldn't honor reservation without me paying additional $56 in tax despite confirmation that included all taxes and fees. I wouldn't pay additional fee and even though Alamo manager agreed to cancel transaction on the phone with Priceline (documented in their incident notes)

Priceline refused to cancel transaction and is attempting to charge me for a car that I never got because the price they confirmed would not be honored by Alamo. Alamo told me that this had happened to as number of Priceline customers recently. Priceline still refuses to cancel they transaction that they renegged on!

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erockaf
Coram, US
Feb 02, 2011 9:42 pm EST

hey robinson... yeah you were raised right and had a proper education alright... so you said you are a costumer? what kind of costumes do you do? who do you provide costumes for and finally, do YOU wear a costume? did your education include tact, grammar, spelling, forming sentences...etc...you said all those "costumers" didnt "took" 5 minutes to read the scam in fine print and your job would be "more easier" if ppl were nicer...i would guess amy robinson that a priceline COSTUMER rep is the best you can do in life, but my opinion is that youre better off at mickey d's and sticking to "do you like fries with that"... cant mess up that sentence... priceline should fire you immediately...

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TreP33
, US
Sep 21, 2009 11:00 am EDT

Booked car rental on Priceline on my CreditCard and in my name for use by my wife. Budget was assigned the rental. Wife went to pick up the car. Budget would not give her the car. Called Priceline. They did not change the name on the contract to my wife's. Called Budget. They could not change the name on a Priceline contract.

After many calls to Priceline and Budget, Budget issued a new agreement. I paid for two cars. One was never even picked up or used. Priceline and Budget will have the money for providing no service. I will be out the cost and lots of time lost for my family while waiting to get a resolution.

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CustomerReview
Dallas, US
Feb 25, 2010 7:44 pm EST

Called to purchase a simple package deal of 2 airline tickets and 2 cruise tickets. They quoted us $X dollars. Got credit card, ready to pay...oh no! They come back with the office is closed, system is down, etc etc. We'll call tomorrow and get you setup.

SetUP alright. The price magically goes UP $500

BEWARE OF THIS SCAM.

ALSO...

Customer service is HORRIBLE. You can tell they run an unethical org. when the employees are so easily defensive and yell at you. Common phrases "If you will shut your hole and listen" "We sell millions of dollars a day, and you are the only one who has an issue with how we run things" lol. They will lie and tell you they left messages with urgency that if you don't call back in 10 min the price goes up. So when your phone rings and nobody answers on the other end...gee, guess who is trying to make a papertrail.

I will NEVER use them again. PERIOD.

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Txbound
Arlington, US
Dec 19, 2010 3:38 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I booked a flight on Priceline for my disabled mother to come visit for the Christmas holidays. I happen to call back and found out that the flight was booked for me instead of my mother. I asked if they could change the information and they said that they couldnt. I was then told that they would keep $150 of the ticket as nonrefundable. The original ticket price was $364. I suggest to everyone that reads this that they discontinue doing business with Priceline and call their states Attorney General to make a complaint against their fraudulent practices. The customer service department act as if they were located in another country like India or somewhere.

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QueenAnn
, US
Dec 02, 2013 10:47 am EST

I have no major issues with Priceline and have utlized them for many years. However, I did have an issue w/ Admiral Hotel in Arlington, Texas. I went to the Cowboy's game on Thanksgiving day and the hotel manager Sherry, recommended that we use a guy by the name of Corry, shuttle services. For whatever reason, their shuttle services were not available but there was a van parked there. She told me that the cab drivers were trying to rip people off and would charge maybe in excess of $80 to drop us off to the stadium. Well he seemed to be the one doing thr rip off. He charged us $50 to drop us 5 minutes away, although the sheet he uses to advertise in the hotel w/Sherry's permission says $25 for 3 people round trip but then there's something below that says each way for 1 person it's $10. The advertisement contradicts itself. He came to pick us up about an 1 1/2hr after the game, so unorganized. He assigned numbers but did not keep track of who paid and who hadn't. We asked for our $25 back because we were in the freezing cold, my daughter was not feeling well at this time, and he stated that we need to go thru the hotel. Sherry was not trying to accommodate us, at 1st and said he is an independent contractor and not connected to the hotel, so we reminded her that she recommended him and allows him to advertise. So she became upset, told the nice rep Joanna, to give us our $50 back and stormed away. Wow! She is the general manager. The hotel itself was not clean, elevator and floors appeared to have not been vacuumed in awhile, kids were playing football on the 3rd floor we were on, hotel towels were placed on the elevator floor, I assume for another guest to pick up because they were understaffed so no one could deliver them, socket did not work for us to charge phone, phones wasnt working for other guests while I was downstairs and the wifi barely worked. I would not recommend this hotel and I'm still in awe that the manager Sherry Smith walked off. Joanna, the night shift worker was very helpful, as best as she could be. I would not stay here for free. We checked out and stayed at Aloft and had a blast, no complaints.

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jeansy
Houston, US
May 04, 2011 6:00 am EDT

This is a serious complaint!

Background: I booked a ticket through priceline on august 2, 2017 going from iah to ewr. I got the tickets for united. Due to an emergency, I had to change my plan and I called priceline (With united on conference) to change my schedule or cancel the ticket. They couldn't change but they agreed on cancelling the ticket (After calling 4-5 times in 3 days talking for over 2 hours each time). They also agreed on issuing refunding initially. I called in after 2 days to check on the refund, now they said money cannot be refunded. I had to argue for about 2+ hours to convince them to atleast issue me a credit. They eventually agreed on it and asked me to use to credit with a year of cancellation (I. E. Till august 2017).

Present: I called priceline today to book a trip I need to make in about 2 weeks. I wanted to use the credit, I was promised, against booking the ticket. When I spoke to paris (Yy) at the manila center, she told me there's no credit issued to me. After a brief and a soft argument I was forced to speak to a supervisor, keith (Um). I was told a credit can be given but on conditions:
1) the credit amount will only be the price of the ticket ($221.03) and not the tax ($48.75) on the ticket. (I was not informed about this when the credit was agreed.)
2) there is a $150 airline exchange fee. (Again, it was not mentioned while giving credit and no where on the site is it stated.)
3) I can book tickets only with united and no other airlines. (This was also not mentioned while giving credit and the rules on the site state "before calling, we suggest that you review available flights and fares on our website to find your desired flights on".)

This is ridiculous. It is worst customer service I have ever experienced. The representatives did not know what they were talking. I have been mis-lead and there is so much false information.

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warningu
Riviera Beach, US
Nov 10, 2010 3:35 pm EST

Booked Days Inn hotel reservation in Key West. Horrible experience from day one. Front desk clerk asked daughter to show chest to get a strand of FantastFest beads. Room flooded with water and ants. Dirty and dog pooh on deck of pool etc. Long story short, Priceline offered me $10 credit (cost of room was $200 per night x 3 nights) and told me front desk denies ANY complaints. So happens I had my husband call corporate on second day to be given a case number and told to it would be 4-5 days to get back with us. Pleases think twice before you use Priceline. Customer service is not helpful and really does not care about you or your experience. They refer you back to the hotel and bear no responsiblity. I will never use them again nor their $10 credit. Thank you

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JWall
Natchitoches, US
Jun 17, 2011 6:58 pm EDT

Priceline you name the price option, sounds like a good idea but the problem is they name the hotel for you. If you don't read the fine print or be careful to read it, they will automatically select the hotel in the area you choose and you cannot cancel it sometimes. My problem is that the hotel could not guarantee the room selection because of the type of option I choose to purchase the room (Priceline name your price), I can only find out what I am going to get when I show up to the hotel. Priceline said nothing to help but to say I was screwed.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Oct 31, 2008 9:56 am EDT

I requested airlines tickets on Priceline.com. I wanted to plan a 3 day week end on memorial day from Saturday to Monday in San Diego. I requested to leave San Francisco early morning on Saturday and return on monday from San Diego late in evening. What I have got was tickets leaving SF at 2:39 pm and returning on monday at 6:20 am! What a memorable memorial day! The worst thing is there is nothing I can do to change or transfer my tickets. I am completely stuck! Priceline.com SUCKS! At least we should be able to choose the timetable and have the choice to cancel the order!

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RicO45
, US
Jan 30, 2010 2:31 am EST

In January 2017 we booked a hotel through Priceline.com and we've been disppointed start to finish with the transaction. First, I requested a 3 1/2 star hotel (bid $75.00)and after reading some of the less than stellar customer reviews online pertaining to the hotel Priceline assigned us, I began to wonder who determines the 3 1/2 star rating.

A few days before our scheduled hotel check-in my husband became sick.

The reservation had been made for a hotel in Philadelphia so we could visit a medical specialist who practices there. I rescheduled the appointment with the doctor and called the hotel. The front desk manager told me it was no problem to change the date of our stay, but to call Priceline as well.

Oh, brother was that an eye opening experience. Priceline wanted to charge us an additional $25.00 to change the date of our reservation (same hotel that was originally booked) and now for the real zinger...they wanted a note from the doctor in Philadelphia verifying the appointment. How ridiculous is that?

My husband and I put $98.00 on our credit card to stay at this hotel... and due to illness we weren't able to keep the Priceline reservation and we weren't permitted to change the date. That $98.00 includes the $75.00 bid and the other $23.00 in taxes and fees. We might as well have flushed that money down the toilet.

We'll be coming to Philadelphia to visit the medical specialist in a few weeks but you can be *** sure we won't be dealing with Priceline. I'll never look at William Shatner the same way again.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Oct 31, 2008 9:52 am EDT

I attempted to purchase airline tix on 9/25/02 of this year to Raleigh, NC and ended up with tixs to Greensboro, NC. Now I am forced to rent a car and a hotel room the first night that I arrive because my flight doesn't get into Greensoboro, NC until close to 11pm and my family and friends are more than an hour away from where I will arrive. I feel that I was mislead by the wording in the "contract" and the no refund policy is unfair. When I called to complain the customer svs reps response was "It is 64 or 65 miles away from Raleigh so if you drove 60 miles an hour, how long do you think that it would take you to get there." I will never use this company again. I was not surprised to see the many complaints on this website and other sites about this company. It's funny I had never used priceline before because I was skeptical abt their svs but something came up and I needed a reasonable price for airline tixs and look what happens. I didn't even get the price that I wanted it cost me $100 more than I expected for the airline tix and flying into unwanted site and have to pay additional cost just for using this service. NEVER AGAIN!

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Ms.Webb
Philadelphia, US
Feb 17, 2010 6:17 pm EST

I booked a room for Valentine’s Day at the El Greco Hotel through Priceline and the stay was awful and life threaten. The morning that me and my boyfriend was to check, he headed to the bathroom to take a shower when he reached to turn on the shower the ceiling have caved in and pieces of debris fell on his head. Thank god that he has fast reflexes others wise we would have ended up in the hospital. I went to the front desk to report it to the manger and he informed me that it had happen before and that he would send someone up to look at it. Around 11:30 we got a knock at the door and it was a maid that he sent up and instead of himself well let’s just say she had no clue what to do. We then checked out and the manger asked us if we come down here offend I said no then he said that if were every in the area that he would give us a discount on the next room. I called Priceline the same night to file a complaint they listen well but two days later informed me that the hotel would not give any compensation and his first offer still stood with a discount on the next room. I am saddened that this is how this matter turned out. The hotel manger did not care at all about the situation and obviously know about the ceiling previously and still did not fix the problem. I would not recommend anyone stay at this hotel because it is dangerous and someone is liable to get hurt. I would not book through Priceline either because they were no help in this matter.

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Max
, US
Jul 28, 2010 4:08 pm EDT

I booked a hotel room through priceline.com at normal hotel rates with Omni hotels worldwide. I canceled the reservation within the window that Omni offers a full refund. Priceline stated that their policy is to issue no refund to the customer regardless of what Omni Hotel refund policy are. In other words they decide to keep you money and you have no recourse. They even refused to deal with my credit card company on this. PRICELINE COMPANY ARE SIMPLE THIEVES WHO STEAL MONEY AND DO NOT CARE WHO YOU COMPLAIN TO. PRICELINE SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED BY ALL BUSINESS TRAVELERS.

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mark p
venice, US
May 25, 2009 4:10 pm EDT

Just purchased a hotel room on priceline. Paid in full - then they charged me 20% tax and fees on top of that. When I got to the hotel - the hotel told me they were allowed to charge me $40.00 per night plus tax for their own fees and taxes. I contacted priceline and priceline says this is completely ok with them and there is nothing I can do. So when you make a bid for a room on priceline - don't think you're getting it for what you bid. I paid double!

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Travel
Northville, US
Nov 02, 2009 1:39 pm EST

Buyer Beware when using Priceline!

I booked a hotel two weeks ago with Pricline. We drove 8 hours to our destination which was our daughter college.

We arrived at the hotel around 10 at night very tired. The hotelwas sold out and the desk clerk informed us that only room left was a smoking room. I was not real happy but took the keys and went up to the room.

The room reeked of old, stale smoke, and on top of that the bathroom tub was moldy. My wife says "There is no way in hell we are staying in this disgusting room"

I go back to the desk to cancel my reservation but the clerk says "You have to deal with Priceline. Tried calling Priceline at 10 in the evening to no avail.

We never check in to the hotel and have to leave and drive around town for an hour to find another place to stay. The next morning I call Pricleine to discuss the condition of the hotel they booked me in and they basically said "Sorry...but you are not getting any kind of refund"

So I had to pay for the two nights booked through PL at a hotel that we never checked into and was totally unacceptable, then pay for another two nights at The CourtYard.

Since I arrived home I have tried 3 times to get PL to discuss and resolve this problem but they will not even talk to me about it. The hotel clerk said they have had nothing but problems with Priceline in the past and that she wished that PL did not book their hotel.

I travel alot, and am not hard to please. A clean room would due just fine. I would NEVER book ANYTHING through Priceline again. If you have any kid of issue at all you are basically screwed!

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Priceline is deceptive
, US
May 11, 2010 4:11 pm EDT

I booked a room through name your own price on priceline.com. I selected a four star or higher hotel and was given a 3.5 star hotel. It has a 3.5 star rating on every other comparable site including Expedia, Travelocity, and hotels.com. Priceline customer service is horrible! All of their customer relations departments are based outside of the US and they all seem to be reading scripts. They claim they have no way of connecting you to a US based office. After three weeks of calling and emailing to get an answer that made sense, they told me they have different standards by which they rate hotels, which could be lower and they are not going to do anything. They are only site that uses “different standards”. I feel that their advertisements are incredibly deceptive. You think you are getting a good deal but the way they give you that good deal is by fudging the ratings. Yeah, you can get a 4 star hotel for less…only because it’s a 3.5 star ;) ;) They give you less and claim it is more. I will never again use them for anything! They should be investigated for their deceptive practices.

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bcavalier
Hudson, US
Jun 18, 2011 5:59 pm EDT

My husband and I booked a vacation with Priceline in February and due to bad weather the flight was canceled. We had to go to another airlines at the smaller airport here in Minneapolis. We paid over $1000 for a one way flight just to get out of here (we were headed to sunny California after a miserable winter). I called Frontier Airlines when I got back after not hearing anything about the refund they had promised me. When I called them in the middle of March they informed they had already sent the refund to Priceline on 3/2/11. Everytime I call Priceline they tell me they have not received the refund, bounce me around to different departments and then after 45 minutes of getting the run around they tell me they don't have the money. It is ridiculous, I just want my $258.62 back. It is a matter of principal now!

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Dec 02, 2008 11:11 am EST

I made hotel accommodations totaling $249.08 on 11/01/05. At the time, priceline.com offered an email address and phone number for customer service. First of all, you can't reach a human being, which is a sign of fraud. Their phone and email system was circular. Even now, at the time of this writing, 11/17/06, their website actually discourages you from calling. They now actually have a 'contact us' form to email with. That is hopeless as well.

My letter isn't anything new. The basic idea that a company won't allow you to change, cancel, or give you a refund on any kind of purchase is unethical. I didn't even check in, and they charged me.

In fact, priceline charges right away so they can get your money. If you book with any other entity, they wait until you finally checked out and are satisfied.

I'll never buy from them again.

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Vonore666
Vonore, US
Jul 31, 2009 9:39 pm EDT

If you ever want a case study in horrible customer service, try Priceline. I had a dispute, on hold for 10 minutes, person could barely speak english, canned answer, and they plays game when requesting to talk with supervisor. Fedex letters to home office go unanswered. The VP of hotels should be tared and feathered in the streets. He is either really stupid, married to one of the founders daughters, simply a idiot. I have never experienced a more miserable experience trying to resolve and issue with a company. NEVER, NEVER, USE PRICELINE in name your ownprice for a hotel.

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mee32
Richmond, CA
Aug 13, 2009 1:18 am EDT

Priceline.com has the worst service! We bid a hotel room through Priceline.com.08/09 When we arrived the hotel exhausting from the long drive, we heard the terrible news. The front desk told us that our room was not booked. The hotel was already fully booked for three weeks. Priceline.com simply made a mistake. No way they could let us have a room that night. We called the Priceline customer service holding on the line for 30 minutes (was 1:30 am) and the only thing we got from them was there's nothing they can do, the only thing they can do is refund the money. Otherwise, we had to wait for another 30 valuable minutes for them to search another..but they could not guarantee. Horrible service! Story did not end here...after we returned from the trip, found out that we did not get the refund from Priceline.com. Called them again, XXX Priceline said we canceled our reservation for the reason why we did not get our money back. HORRIBLE! Okay, so later someone from Price.com finally called us for apology but they are not sincere AT ALL!
This is what they wrote:
" If your reservation included travel insurance, then this refund does not include the travel insurance premium.
Your refund will be posted by your credit card company within the next 10 business days.
We would like to remind you that this cancellation has been granted based on the extenuating circumstances related to your reservation. Under normal circumstances, reservations cannot be changed or cancelled."

YES I understand reservation cannot be changed or cancelled, but you didn't give us a room ! you didn't do any service for us. In the other words, you stole our time and money! idiot Priceline

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Carla
,
Feb 11, 2008 12:00 am EST

I "named my own price for a hotel" and in return got a hotel not even listed in the web site!We were going on vacation for Valentines day, but I have a 3 year who will be heart-broken if our hotel doesn't have a pool. I e-mailed and called them seaveral times, as did my husband, but all they would say is all bookings are final. I asked to cancel, change, take a credit or anything to no avil.DO NOT USE PRICELINE! It is a scam!

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Howard Roe
Boerne, US
Apr 23, 2011 2:47 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

After calling priceline and trying to get them to fix the mess with my reservation and being on hold withttp://travela.priceline.comh American Airline for over 15 minutes with two different agents I get this notice...I did not cancel my return date as priceline wanted over $200, American wanted over $300 however I could buy a new ticket from AA for $148 and if I wanted to drive home in the car I rented through Hertz they wanted over $500...
Dear Howard Roe,

We have received notification from your airline that your reservation has been changed according to your request, or has been cancelled due to day-of-travel flight cancellation or traveler no-show.

Because these changes have been made directly with or by the airline, any questions regarding your itinerary should be directed to the airline; we will be unable to address any questions or requests regarding this reservation. Please reference the following ticket number(s) when communicating with the airline:

Continental Airlines-DRN5CG
Continental Airlines-DRN5CG
American Airlines-KVUXHU
American Airlines-KVUXHU

Please note that future changes, including schedule change notifications from the airline, will no longer be sent to us, which means that our website will not reflect your most up-to-date itinerary. Please call your carrier prior to each departure to confirm your flight information.

If you believe this cancellation or change by the airline was made in error, please contact our Customer Care Team at [protected]. Please be ready to enter your Request number [protected] when prompted.

Thank you for using priceline.com.

Sincerely,

The priceline.com Customer Service Team

P.S. -- Please do not reply to this e-mail - e-mails sent to this address will not reach an agent. To e-mail us, please visit the priceline.com website.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Jul 10, 2008 6:57 am EDT

When I wanted to go on vacation with my family I made the mistake of going to Priceline.comto book a hotel. When you first enter the home page you see many signs saying how you can save 15% or more just by using there website. So I found a nice hotel and booked it (which it did not say how much you could save on it till you booked it) I had to purchase something else to save money! So i called them up and someone told me that all there hotels were discounted at least 40%, so i called the hotel and the hotel's room rate was exactly the same as Priceline's. I feel that i have been lied to and cheated, I hope that you will never use Pricline, I won't!

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Stan
, US
Mar 22, 2010 10:52 am EDT

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 Priceline 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!

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Valerie
, US
Oct 31, 2008 9:50 am EDT

You should never, ever do business with this company. Last summer I purchased 5 roundtrip tickets to san juan, pr. American airlines overbooked the flight and my family was bumped off the flight. We weren't worried until the counterperson told us that since we were not traveling on the date on the ticket (The next flight out was after midnight) our tickets were void. Priceline blamed the american airlines and american airlines blamed priceline. We were able to get to san juan because we were traveling with my 93 year old grandmother and the counterperson did the right thing. I spoke with a priceline supervisor (For at least an hour, who was unhelpful and basically told me these tickets were worthless. We also found out that since we missed the flight the return tickets were void. I sent e-mails and letters to priceline - no response. I then had to purchase 5 one way tickets to come home. Once I was home I called priceline to try to get some of my money refunded. I was told that there was no supervisor with the name I had been given and that the return tickets could have been used. Buyer beware this is one of the worst companies I have ever done business with.

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dsingleton9
new market, US
Oct 07, 2009 8:41 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I booked a flight on priceline and before I could finish they offer me a visa with 50.00 off my ticket I was purchasing. I applied to get the discount and to have the ticket put on that card. I was approved but my ticket was 290.04 and I was approved for 250.00. They ask for another credit card. I paid with my other visa thinking that 250.00 went on the priceline visa. I had to search for a credit card statement to see what had transpired. To my suprise the entire amount was put on my credit card and I didn't receive the 50.00 off my ticket I was purchasing. I was told that it was declinded because the ticket cost more than I was approved for.in actuallity if I had recieved the 50.00 discount I was promised the for appling, the ticket would have only cost 240.00 and I would have had enough to paid for it with their card. I cancelled the card right then. I was told I would get the 50.00 credit on my first purchase with the card. Needless to say that had nothing to do with what I was promised or what I expected. Just another ripoff.

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Bev W
Shawnee on Delaware, US
Jul 31, 2009 5:59 pm EDT

On July 31 my husband and I used Priceline to book two rooms in NYC for the weekend of August 7-9 2017. I chose Soho, 4 stars and ended up with a room in a hotel in the financial district, which is not where we wanted to be. We called Priceline, spoke with Tammy, to explain to her that we were tryng to book a room in Soho, not the financial district. Tammy said she would credit us all but 238.80 and once we re-booked the room through Priceline we would get all that money back except for $25.00, so we went back on Priceline to try again. Ended up getting a Hilton in the finacial district, which again was not where we wanted to be. We called them to see if we could possibly switch it to 60 Thompson, advertised on their site for 269 per night in Soho, to which they said no and now they are not refunding us the 238.80, which Tammy said would be refunded once we re-bid. Needless to say we are not happy with priceline the hotel or the dishonesty that Tammy displayed.

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Unhappy with Priceline
Tucson, US
Jan 03, 2009 9:28 am EST

Until now, I have never had problems with Priceline. But now I will never use them again. I went to book a hotel as I regularly do. The hotel I was given was supposed to be a 3-star hotel. Here's the Zagat customer review of this hotel, posted on the Priceline website. Does this sound like a 3-star hotel?

Though "many stars have stayed here in the past", "historic is one thing, but outdated is another" note guests of this "centrally located" Downtowner, where the "rather humble" facilities include "cramped" rooms with "paper-thin" walls and "minuscule" "baths worse than a Super 8"; though the staff can be "friendly", the lack of "modern conveniences" and the "substandard food" mean many folks would "never go back."

When I called Priceline to tell them this is not a 3-star hotel, after an hour on the phone and talking to two "customer service" reps, I received nothing but argumentiveness. I asked to talk to someone about how to petition for a hotel's star rating to be changed so that Priceline doesnt continue to mislead customers and make them very upset. I was directed to their company website. I typed in my issue and chose the option to request a phone call rather than an email response. A day later, I got a standard email response (they said it was "too early" to call me) without addressing my concerns.

This poor treatment of customers trying to improve the company will ultimately cost Priceline more lost customers. I will never use it again, and will encourage my friends to use Hotwire and Expedia instead of Priceline.

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frustrated eileen
Nashville, US
Oct 16, 2010 5:06 am EDT

I booked a room thru priceline and tried to cxl within the day and they would not let me cxl it and charged me for a room I couldn't use due to major car problems. although it states no cxl fees they charged me anyway... a real scam artist. I did not bid either, it was just a regular booking, they claim that they have to pass on what motel policy is and so I called the motel and they only charge for one day, not five $174. plus $67 cxl fee.Talked with supv. and got nowhere!WHAT A BUNCH OF THIEVES! I had a $2400 car repair due to overheating, and these charges (priceline)are ridiculous! They like kick you when you're down and laugh all the way to the bank. I am a sr citizen and am damn of being taken advantage of! YES, NO ONE DEALS LIKE THEY DO! TURN YOUR FANTASY INTO A NIGHTMARE!
THIS IS COPIED AND PASTED FROM THEIR SO CALLED CONTRACT..NOTICE ELIMINATED ALL PRICELINE CANCELLATION AND CHARGE FEES!
In the face of high travel prices, booking fees must be destroyed!
That's why the Negotiator has eliminated all priceline cancellation and change fees on every published-price airline ticket, hotel room, rental car, cruise and vacation package where changes or cancellations are allowed. Please note that while we won't charge you change or cancel fees, our hotel partners may impose change or cancel fees that we are required to pass along to you. Typically, these fees are greatest when cancelling within 24-48 hours of your date of stay.

But the fee chops don't stop there.
We're also working hard to keep priceline's hotel booking fees lower than Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and even Hotels.com. Lower fees means lower prices on the hotels you want. So before you book your hotel anywhere else, be sure to check the bottom-line price which includes the lower booking fees.

Your satisfaction is his obsession. OH REALLY HIS OBSESSION IS TO SCREW YOU OVER!

If, within 24 hours of making your Name Your Own Price® or Priceline Published Price hotel booking (applies to any published price hotel marked with our best price guarantee), you find a better publicly available price, excluding taxes and fees, on another Web site for the same hotel and dates, call us at [protected] (U.S. or Canada) or [protected] (from anywhere else). If you qualify, we'll refund 100% of the difference and, for customers with U.S. billing a

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Jennifer Woodroff
Vancouver, CA
Mar 17, 2009 3:27 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hello:

I am a travel co-ordinator for a Canadian fundraising operation, with offices in Australia and the United States. I have recently encountered some difficulty with Priceline. I would be contacting the BBB, but I understand Priceline has been expelled from that organization and is now suing for reinstatement.

I booked a hotel for a colleague, currently working in Boston at our office there. Due to a miscommunication between the various offices, my colleague was unsure as to where she was to present herself to check in and decided to leave the city for the weekend. I did not know this until the next morning. Upon discovering that this had occurred, I called the Intercontinental Hotel Boston. They were not interested in discussing the matter. I then called Priceline.

I spoke with two Priceline representatives. Neither of them was any help to me at all and, in fact, I found there was something of a language barrier. It seemed to me they were reading from scripts; parroting Priceline's policy. I had asked, simply, that my colleague be permitted to check in late, as the booking was for eight (8) nights. I explained that she had not missed an airplane, but had simply not presented herself for check in on the appointed day. In the case of missing an airplane, I would expect (fully) not to be reimbursed. In the event of not checking into a hotel on the first night, I would expect at least the consideration of a vendor toward a customer that spends thousands of dollars with that vendor every year. The total for the booking was $1.1K, USD ($1.5K, CDN). Normally, in such circumstances, I would expect to lose the first and even the second night (standard procedure for hotels where check in has been missed). Priceline, however, does not see things as others do. They insisted, repeatedly (and in boilerplate), that we were on the hook for the full price of the booking, but would receive no services in exchange for valuable consideration. Citing, over and over again, Priceline's policy in the matter did not take into account the fact that there were fully six (6) room nights that an ethical business that wanted to see this particular customer again, would have honoured. At the very least, something might have been worked out. There was absolutely no interest in discussing any such arrangement. There was no interest in retaining the business of my company. Rather, there was a chorus of parrots, reciting Priceline's draconian (non)refund policy(ever), ad nauseum.

I have, since my fruitless discussions with customer service personnel at Priceline on Saturday, attempted to contact the corporate headquarters of Priceline. The woman who answered phone this morning said she was putting me through to the Executive Offices. She then put me through to yet another service representative, sitting in a noisy phone room. I said to this representative that I was aware I had not been directed to the Executive Offices, which she thought was quite funny. Again, I was treated to the standard boilerplate response for customers seeking to be treated fairly by this company. I concluded the call and called the same number, asking to be put through to the CEO. I was put through to a voicemail line and subsequently, left a message.

Since then, I have even gone so far as to contact the public face of Priceline, as he appears to be the only human being associated with the company: William Shatner. Yes, that's right. I have contacted Captain Kirk, because it doesn't seem I can find anyone at Priceline that is not either a parrot, or someone who thinks stealing from customers is funny. One never knows how a public figure might respond to being associated with this sort of piracy. Certainly, I hold out considerably more hope that Captain Kirk will raise a fuss with head office than I do that head office cares about its customers. After all, Captain Kirk has a reputation to protect. Priceline, apparently, has squandered theirs by treating customers with the utmost contempt.

I understand that the Attorney-General's office in Connecticut (who have received the same email as I'm now sending to you) has investigated Priceline before. I am also aware of many complaints about this vendor, peppered across the internet. While I am not hoping for any actual action at this point, from any of the contacts listed (even the esteemed Captain Kirk), I am hoping that one more drop in this particular bucket will serve to tip it over and that Priceline will no longer be permitted to steal from consumers in this manner.

Thank you for having taken the time to review my concerns regarding this company.

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MB444
New York, US
Jun 12, 2009 11:59 am EDT

Several weeks ago I attempted to book a vacation package through Priceline, but my efforts failed. After several tries of entering my payment information my reservation was rejected because the price had "just" changed -- increased that is. I tried several times, but to no avail. I finally decided to call a representative to help me book a package. I went through the process of booking the package at a surprisingly lower price than advertised on the internet. I was thoroughly excited after the process was complete. After receiving my itinerary I noticed the representative had entered the wrong dates - the wrong month that is. I notified the Priceline Customer Relations department of the representative's mistake, which was no help either. I was informed that I agreed to the wrong dates throughout the booking process, therefore I was not going to be reimbursed. I find it hard to believe that I would not pick up on the wrong month throughout the book process, but apparently I did-- according to them. With this in mind, I asked the Customer Relations rep for a copy of the conversation or a transcript to prove this, but again was denied. Overall, I am out $700 without proof of the mistake other than an email from a faceless rep saying sorry, but we are not going to help you. The situation is outrageous and I would urge anyone using any site, epsecially this one to be careful. There is no going back once a mistake is made, no matter who made the mistake.

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Chiksmer
, US
Jul 23, 2010 6:09 pm EDT

I have done the name your own price with Priceline and it has been very disappointing..Two weeks ago I name my price for a 3 star and got The Hyatt in Woodfield Illinois..This hotel is not a 3 star and as one reads the reviews you will find not many happy travelers...This time I expanded my area on Priceline and ended up back with the same hotel, , Imagine all those hotels out there on priceline and for $69 I got the same one that I had gotten 2 weeks prior..Hmmm what are the chances of that..I tried to call priceline and of course therey have only automated phone system and there will be no refund or changes to reservation..I contaced the hotel to explain and they said there is nothing I can do..Priceline is out to make its money misrepresenting themselves..as for Hotwire..not 1 bad experience..

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giob
Waxhaw, US
Aug 01, 2009 6:18 pm EDT

I booked a cruise through Priceline.com and one of the bonuses I received was a voucher for a 2 night hotel stay through their "name your own price" process. I received the voucher and went through the "name your own price" process for a hotel room in NYC. I chose only 4 and 3 1/2 star hotels knowing I would not be able to pick the specific hotel, but wanting to make sure it was decent. I also included trip insurance at an additional cost in case an emergency came up and I needed to cancel my trip (I have a child with chronic health conditions so that could be a possibility). My price was accepted by a hotel and after learning what hotel it was I proceeded to go to the hotel's website---Affinia Manhattan. Immediately, I learned that the hotel allowed pets in the hotel rooms and main lobby areas. I am highly allergic to cats and knew I would not be able to stay at that hotel. I called Priceline's customer service immediately. They told me to call back i
n the morning because they would have to contact the hotel's reservation department which had already closed. I did call back the next morning and spoke with a customer service representative who told me they would refund all of the money that had been charged to my credit card for the total hotel stay (which was for 3 nights) minus the trip insurance and minus $75 until I provided them with a letter from my doctor stating I had a severe cat allergy and would not be able to stay at that hotel. I did get the letter from my doctor and faxed it to priceline that same day. When I asked them about getting the bonus voucher back to use again (for my husband who has no allergies), they told me "it had already been used and would not be sent again". This is the point where I became upset with them. The voucher had not been used and was worth at least $150. No one stayed in NYC. The reservation had been cancelled immediately. I have a medical condition which didn't allow
me to stay at that hotel and I had trip insurance which gave me the right to cancel the reservation as well. I felt like they were stealing money from me. I also didn't agree with them not refunding the trip insurance, but at least I could live with that. I asked to speak to a manager of customer service and was told no one would speak on the phone and I should instead write the VP of Customer Affairs online. I did write her and was hoping someone in that capacity would be much more understanding that they were in the wrong here. But to my surprise and disappointment, they gave me the run around-- told me that the voucher link could only be used one time (I asked them to send a new link or something comparable even-- if they couldn't send another voucher), they told me that had been generous in allowing me to cancel -- that's not true-- I had trip insurance, a note from a doctor, and nowhere on their website does it say that you may be given a hotel that allows pets -
-especially a 4 or 3 1/2 star hotel- or I never would have booked through them in the first place. I told them that this was unacceptable. The voucher was rightfully mine and they should not be taking it away from me. They basically told me that they would not reinstate the voucher and to expect no further response from them regarding this matter. Unbelievable. I have read online other people complaining that their customer service borders on criminal and in this case, they are truly stealing from me.

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pruettr
Tullahoma, US
Jul 20, 2009 11:26 am EDT

I made hotel reservations thru priceline in dec. 2017. Noticed recently my credit card was being billed for $ 11.99 by tlg greatfn. Called greatfn and got a cancellation number that it would be stopped and was started by sister company priceline. E-mailed priceline requesting a refund for seven months. The following was my reply from priceline customer service kamrate k. : when you place your pricline reservation, we offer you a 15% cash back award, if you sign for this after the first month you will be charged $ 11.99 per month.
I can only guess how much money priceline and sister co. Tlg greatfn have made over the years with this scam, but be aware, it should be stopped.