Comments on: Credit Card Dispute Against Priceline

By: TZO

TZO — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:13:24 +0000

Did a O/W rental car via PL. Somehow in “submit bid” it got changed so I had to return car to pickup location. I only found out when I arrived at 01:00 at DTW. I got taken! But I had already paid!!!!
PL website did that little favor for me. (To make it better, lady at Hertz counter could have cared less too.)
Had to contact another rental company for the O/W rental.
Buyer beware. Joke was on me b/c I had already paid when submitting bid.

Lesson: GO WITH A REPUTABLE COMPANY AND BOOK THRU THEIR WEBSITE. STAY AWAY FROM PL.
If you haven’t been taken yet, your turn is coming.

By: James Garcia

James Garcia — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:53:35 +0000

Priceline is due for a serious class-action law suit. I was a victim of the “bait and switch” when naming my own price for a 5 star hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. My bid was accepted only to find out by the hotel (Trump Hotel) that I would be charged an additonal $20.00/nt in resort fees on top of what I had already paid Priceline. I was told by Trump Hotels that the fee was mandatory, and that I would have to pay it regardless if I used the services it covered, i.e pool, newspaper, fitness center, parking. I complained to Priceline and asked for a refund with no luck. I was told by Priceline that their policy clearly states that hotels may charge a “resort fee”. They would not budge. I even told them I would pay a cancellation fee just so that I could get some of my money back as I will not be staying at the Trump Hotel. They refused this offer as well. I even offered to pay them the profit that they would have made on the transaction and just be refunded the hotels portion since they were willing to cancel the reservation, but claimed that Priceline would have to initiate the process. Still no luck. These exta fee’s added on are very deceiving and totally uneccessary. Why not just include them in the price of the hotel? Greed that is why. You would think it would be in Priceline’s best interest to settle these matters, and just charge a fee for the service. They need to learn a thing about customer service. Oh, well lesson well learned even if it did cost me $300.00.

By: yinan

yinan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:14:02 +0000

Priceline is really a very irresponsible company
I booked 2 rooms rated as 3.5 star through PL, but was told there is only one full size bed in each room, if you requires 2 double beds which i think is the standard configuration for 3.5 star hotel, you have to pay 40 dollars more.
I called PL, and was told they cannot do nothing about it because i agreed on the contract and i couldn’t cancel it. I warned to dispute the charge through AMEX, and was laughed.
I am gonna do this.
PL is really a very notorious company i will do any business with!

By: TFB

TFB — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:17:11 +0000

Brad – Sorry to hear about your bad experience. From another article I read about Priceline, I think I’m going to go with 4-stars and up in the future. A bad 4-star wouldn’t be that bad. Although this also means I’ll probably pay the equivalent of the full price for a 2.5-star.

By: Brad

Brad — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:38:16 +0000

Just happened to me. I have used priceline many times in the past and while it is not always a “wonderful” experience, I realize you get what you pay for. Last night was a nightmare priceline experience. Booked two rooms in a 2.5 star hotel in pittsburgh. Got here and were told all they had were smoking rooms. We walked in and my daugher threw up from the smoke smell. I have been a smoker before and must say even for me it was BAD! I went back to the front desk a couple of hours later (different clerk) and pretended i was a new customer and was given a non-smoking room!!!. That sux. I Let my wife and daugher stay in the non-smoking room and my son and i toughed it out in the smoking room with broken windows, loud AC, 19″ crappy TV.

Not sure how to fix this while still using PL. I plan on talking to my CC company and seeing what they think. Like i said i have always been satisfied with PL and in this case i dont think it is there fault but they were the ones to charge my CC.

How hard would it be for them to pay for the room without letting the hotel clerks know how it was paid for or how much was paid.

By: A Angel

A Angel — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:25:59 +0000

Yep…I echo everything that has been said—the old bait-n-swith. Hooters hotel and casino in Las Vegas was rated a 5 star and it IS NOT. you are in the DESERT for freak’s sake and one day there was no A/C, the next day the was NO WATER. Priceline is MUM, acts like I’m invisible (so does the CC company) and Hooter’s by the way)…I’m filing with BBB and the Rip Off Report.

By: Will Pierce

Will Pierce — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:55:40 +0000

I ordered 2 nights through priceline at a “three star motel” and upon arrival asked to look at the room before accepting the room. The room was a flea bag hotel and I refused the room and went elsewhere. My credit card company “wachovia” has done nothing to resolve the issue and priceline after many conversations refuses to talk to me anymore. Priceline indicates that the services were rendered to me and without written proof of the conversation with the clerk they will not correct the problem. I guess I will need to carry a tape recorder and make people sign affadavits. William Shatner and his people can kiss my ass.

By: Soren

Soren — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:10:43 +0000

I won a disputed AMEX charge recently against a Hotel that was impossible to stay in due to outrageous and continued noise. The property told me to suck it up and no refund. I warned them I would publicize the case all over the internet. They laughed and told me to do my worst. I managed amongst other things, to get them pulled off the State’s tourist board list of recommended Hotels, a rebuke from their franchise owner, and many many travelers alerted to the type of treatment they may also receive.

This was not a Priceline stay, but I use Priceline frequently. I am currently in communication with a particular property I may end up winning in a PL bid. This Hotel assigns it’s PL customers with its oldest and dirtiest rooms, then tries to sell you an upgrade to a room approaching the quality level you thought you were bidding on in the first place. This has been bought to PL’s attention to no avail. There are PL user forums that document such behavior.

When you purchase a Hotel room at a particular star level, you have an expectation of merchantable quality commensurate with the generally accepted standard of that particular quality level.

Priceline generally will ignore all complaints about quality levels.
So, if you use PL you have to understand and accept its business model and shortcomings going forward.

Always, always, complain about bait and switch, and poor quality. It raises standards and improves chances for all of us. Ignore the amateur travelers that accuse us of whining. They generally need to stay out of airplanes and hotels, and off the roads.
YMMV

By: The Bald Monkey

The Bald Monkey — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:25:48 +0000

I know I am reviving an old post here but I just wanted to comment with my own frustrations in a similar situation. If you want to read all about it you can go here:

http://thebaldmonkey.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/why-i-will-never-stay-at-holiday-inn-again/

The long and short of it was that I was quoted one price and charged another. The hotel denies the quote and I have been fighting them for 2 months now. BBB has gotten me nowhere and I am sure the credit card dispute won’t either as the hotel says they have signed receipts for the charges. But I can hope that someone with some authority will see my side and agree with me at some point.

I still have the Chamber of Commerce up there and the Attorney Generals office to complain to.

By: TFB

TFB — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:03:00 +0000

M, I applaud your fight for your rights all the way to the OCC. I wish you’d win. Can you share with us what “very specific words in a very specific format” they were looking for? It will help others who face similar issues with quality of service. Thank you.