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Never Use Priceline.com - Ever Ever Ever!!!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

We (my family, my sister-in-law's family) planned a weekend trip to the NJ shore on 8/22/14-8/24/14. We had 10 people traveling with us. I had never used Priceline.com before, but was referred to them. I bid on 3 rooms for 2 nights at $91 per night (plus taxes) and got my bid offer accepted. When I received the email from Priceline.com telling me that, it didn't specify what bed setups were included. I called the hotel, and found out that they were reserved as 3 King beds. With 10 people that wouldn't work, but the hotel clerk informed me that they cannot make changes to a Priceline.com reservation.

I then called Priceline back and was told that they cannot guarantee rooms to be how you want them. I said, ok, I'm a first time user and want to work with them. How can we make this unusable reservation so that it's usable? They put me on hold and called the hotel, then tried to charge me an additional $300+ to make the rooms the way we needed them. I said that, “I could've gotten reservations directly from the hotel for much less than that.” I was informed by a very rude agent that I should have made the reservation direct then.

I asked for a supervisor who was also very rude. I said I would be disputing the transaction with my Discover card. They again rudely told me that I would lose. I contacted Discover, and began the dispute. In 5 days (approximately 7/1/14) they put a temporary reversal on the charge of $643.08. About a week before the trip, I contacted Discover to find out the outcome, and was told that it was still pending.

So we went on our vacation. After a day at the beach with all 10 of us, we arrived at the hotel in NJ at approximately 6 pm. We were then told that the reservation had been cancelled by Priceline. I was shocked since we were given no notice that it was cancelled prior to the trip. The only rooms they had available now cost me almost $1100. We paid it and salvaged our almost destroyed-by-Priceline vacation.

About a week or so after returning from the trip, I received a message from Discover that they had found against me in the dispute and had re-charged my card $643.08. I called and was finally able to get the agent to see that in the pages of documentation that Priceline had provided to Discover in the dispute process, buried deep inside, was a notation that THEY (Priceline.com) had cancelled the reservation. So, Discover once again issued a temporary credit to my account for $643.08. About a month later, I again received another email from Discover telling me that they AGAIN found in favor of Priceline.com. I again called, told them I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone.

How can you (Discover) keep finding in THEIR favor when THEY admittedly cancelled the reservation making it impossible for me to use it? They again agreed, and again issued yet another temporary credit to my account. Then today - once AGAIN I receive a message from Discover that they have again charged me for the reservation that Priceline made sure I COULD NOT USE. I called them, and they explained that they cannot find in my favor as they're only the payment source, not an arbiter of what is right.

I then called Priceline.com today and was again handled somewhat rudely - going in circles. I asked them "How can you try to charge me for a service you INTENTIONALLY MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO USE?" I was given no answer other than "we're sorry we cannot give you the answer you desire." I informed them that I would be contacting and filing a complaint with the NYS AG's office. Filed that, filed with BBB, and now posting to any and all sites that have the ability to warn others to stay away from this scam of a company.

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Priceline Stole $1,128.43 from me
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

TX -- I booked a British Airways flight from Texas to London with
the flight costing $1,059 + flight insurance $68.87 for April 17, 2018.
Unfortunately, unforeseen events occurred and I was not able to make my
trip to London. I called months before my flight date and the only
option that was offered to me was to put my flight credit on hold until
Nov 19th 2018. The flight was non refundable or transferable. The only
fees they mentioned were the re-booking fees of $275 + $30. The agent
told me that as long as I use my credit before Nov 19th, 2018 there will
be no problem re-booking the flights. Firstly, Priceline's customer
service is subpar..every agent I spoke to was rude, short tempered, and
uninformed. I was not informed that my my flight insurance from the
original flight was non-transferable so $68.87 was stolen from me right
off the bat. Skip ahead a few months to June of 2018... I called
Priceline to use my flight credit and book new flights. I was shocked at
how I was treated and mislead. The website at the time of re-booking
listed flights From Texas to London to cost around $1,200. When I spoke
to a Priceline agent to book the flight she told me it would be $5,000+
for the same exact flight. I asked her why they did not honor the
current price listed on their own website and she told me that the
prices on the website are 'discounted rates' and can only be used when
buying a flight for the first time. Since I was using a credit I had
with the company I was not authorized to the 'discounted rate'!...The
agent went on to blame British Airways for the price hike and told me it
was not Priceline's fault. I asked her if the price would drop in the
near future or if this is the normal rate of $5,000?? She told me that
this is the rate she usually sees when re-booking flights...I then
called British Airways and asked them their rate on the same exact
flight and they quoted me around $1,200...The agent at British Airways
told me that they do not hike up the price. This lead me to understand
that Priceline is a shady company that I will never use again. When I
placed my flight on hold I should of been informed that all flights are
inflated 4-5x over the original rate paid. I do not understand how this
is legal?!?!? I could not afford to pay the $5,000 total amount to
rebook my flight..it would of been totally pointless because I could of
purchased a brand new flights at a fraction of the cost.

In Conclusion, I was not able to take my trip to London because of the 5x
price hike on the ticket price and Priceline has stolen $1,128.43 from
me. If I could rate the company a negative 4 stars I would in a
heartbeat. This is the first time I have ever written a negative review
about any company. Please learn from my experience and never use any of
Priceline's services.

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No transparency, horrible customer service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

Horrible Customer Service...

I've had many dealings with them, most of the time negative, but this last one was the last straw. Among the many concerns I've had with them was their lack of transparency in the fees for their site and the hotels they advertise through Priceline Express. I've rented 2 hotels through them that lacked any mention of a $22+ parking fee per night, which only told you once you agreed to purchase and pay for the hotel. When I contacted customer service, not only did they not show any empathy, they completely brushed it aside and said "there's nothing I can do." So what they may advertise as a $80 hotel turns into $100 due to fees and taxes and then an extra $22+ for parking per night. So it advertises as $80/night and you pay $125/night.

However this last time, that was it. I'm a student at UTMB in Galveston, and had to drive up here to escape the flooding and hurricanes. I had nowhere else to stay and was on a tight budget, so went for a 2.5 star hotel. This place is not anywhere near a 2.5 star and they should not be offered to any guests. The least horrific part first was that there were many dead cockroaches in the bathroom. Okay, whatever, the rest of the room seemed clean, so I tossed them in the toilet and went about my day, I'm not very high maintenanced. The entire night was a disaster.
#1 - The neighbors were slamming the door the entire night coming in and out and yelling at each other. When I went out there to see what was going on, it was quite obvious to me that there was some type of drug activity going on.
#2 - Looked out the window when I saw sirens, police would periodically monitor the parking lot throughout the night because there were sketchy looking figures everywhere ...
#3 - If you looked directly across from my room to the neighboring motel, you would see some of the tenants from the hotel I was staying out walking over there, purchasing drugs from a guy standing outside of his door (they'd give money, he would duck in grab it, and then bring it back out - so damn obvious).
#4 - Looked out about 4:00am because I heard a bunch of voices outside my window. 4 people were hot wiring a mini-van. Called the police and they responded eventually.
#5 - All throughout the stay multiple people would walk up to the housekeeping staff saying they left their keys in their room. They would just let them in any room without double checking. I saw the same woman go into 3 different rooms asking 3 different members from the housekeeping staff to open the door. I then went to yelp to look at the reviews and saw multiple complaints of people having stuff stolen from their room. Well there's your reason.
7am came around with maybe an hour of sleep and I got out of there as fast as possible. No way was that place a 2.5 star worth $75 / night. Took it to Priceline and they basically said "thanks for letting us know, we'll take it into concern when we renew our contracts." No empathy, no 'let us make it right', basically just a SOL, you're out of money, a restful stay, and we didn't even provide you with a safe place to stay for your money.

Goodbye Priceline, you are worthless, lack transparency, and have horrible customer service. I'd rather spend more of my small budget on a company with morals and transparency that puts their customers first.

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Wrong advertised rates
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

OHIO -- Ok, so I work at a hotel. Here's the deal with Priceline. The hotels in my area are all advertised on Priceline. But here's the deal why can't Priceline get the rates correct. Yes, the hotels change the rates but the rates should be reflected on Priceline. Priceline advertises a low rate where are they getting those, Not off the hotels website.

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Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

We were driving in eastern Kentucky and were told motel rooms were scarce and we needed one room to be a pet friendly room so we thought we better make a reservation. Cell service was poor but we found a phone number for a motel in the next town 30 miles away. We called and got a guy that sounded like he was working from home from the background noises. We proceed to tell him what we need and start with the painful download of personal information. Somewhere in the exchange we lose cell service but he calls back.

All this time we are pounding down the interstate at 70 mph and are getting close to the town. He says, “Should I make your reservations?” and we say, “Yes” reluctantly. He goes silent and then says, huh, my first choice doesn't have any rooms. We are a mile from the exit and he says let me try another. We have no idea what he is referring to and are getting more nervous. He finally says yes they have rooms, let me book them.

I am exiting when he says, “Huh, it didn't go through and I am looking at the motel.” He says, “Let me try again” and we pull into the lobby parking just as he says, “Huh, (his favorite expression) it still won't go through.” We say, “Look, we appreciate your effort, but, you can't get our reservations and we are at the motel so we will just get our own rooms.” He says nothing and we say thanks, goodbye. Now it's 6:30 on Oct 4 and the guy had our phone number and never called us.

We checked in and the rooms are $5 each cheaper than the Priceline quote and we ask if anyone has placed a reservation for us and are told no. Two weeks later we get our credit card bill and, huh, there's the Priceline charge right along with our legitimate charge. A big dispute ensues consuming a lot of my time and ends when Priceline says we cannot produce a cancellation receipt and our credit card company gives up. We later found out the Priceline reservation come in at 3:00 Am on Oct 5 after the shift change at the motel. I called the motel manager, who couldn't have been nicer and he called Priceline and got blown off as well so the motel refunded our legitimate charges because "what happened wasn't right". We will never use Priceline again and frankly don't know why anyone would use them.

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Russian Roulette Service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

1983, COLORADO -- You may have used Priceline before, or had a friend/family member who has, and may be thinking to yourself, "This doesn't seem too bad". But the problem with Priceline is that behind the prices are a litany of horrible customer service practices just waiting to betray you, and ruin your vacation or work trip. You cannot ever trust when/if this will happen, but for certain, if you keep pulling that trigger at Priceline then you are eventually going to wind up getting shot.

My hotel was canceled 3 hours prior to checkin on a vacation. I had a 4-star Marriott booked that simply decided to sell my room to someone else AKA "overbooked". Priceline allowed this activity. What's worse, when someone informed me they would get me another room at the same rate, they lied. They simply canceled my room and returned my money. When I called customer service to ask what was happening, they said because I canceled my room there was nothing they "could" do. I explained they canceled my room, I did not. They called me a liar and said an agent couldn't do that, like a mysterious force was keeping their hand from clicking "cancel" until I blessed them to do so. I received absolutely no assistance and was told I would have to wait 2-3 days for them to review the situation. I paid over 5 times the amount for a same day hotel replacement. For my trouble and considerable cost, Priceline sent me a 5% off code. 5%! I would have felt better if they sent someone to slap me in the face. A week later an email came that said, "Because you canceled your room, there is nothing we can do."

So there is an obvious and intentional policy scam in place for these situations that everyone unwise enough to use Priceline should be aware of. They do not care about you or your business as much as the do retaining a modest profit margin on a simple transaction such as above. Just think about how many more times I would be using their service if I could trust not being shot in the foot on vacation for it! But instead I am dropping this review everywhere I can imagine. This is a foolish, badly managed business that you should either stay away from or expect to have an important trip seriously ruined by. Don't say you weren't warned.

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Scammers
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- The worst customer service ever, I booked a room at the Marriott hotel in Paris for my husband, my 10 month old and I, the room policy said they accepted up to 2 children under age age of 12 in the room and they provide free Crib and breakfast included, Priceline took the money, then Oops, the hotel can not accommodate my reservation! interestingly enough the same room is freaking still available on Priceline website and other websites. They offer to relocate me and I nicely accepted despite spending over a week looking through all options, hotels, location, the rooms criteria, reading the reviews, finding the best value for money and all the details. They relocated me to Napoleon hotel which was in my opinion kind of tiny downgrade, at least location wise, as the Marriott in the main champs-Elysées street and the other one is not, but whatever, no big deal I thought. non the less feeling that they sold me a product they do not have to start with (I can't prove that though), but it is called a scam in my opinion.
few days later I contact the New Hotel (Napoleon) asking whether the crib is free of charge as Marriott was, to My surprise, the agent who relocate me according to the hotel email did book the "Classic" room that accommodate max 2 adults and not children at all.
I called Priceline to clarify that and no one can help me, they actually lied to me telling me it is the hotel policy and they can not change it, when the hotel email clearly said that specific room is not safe for children, but they have other ones that my accommodate us.
so Priceline asked for 1 to 3 business days to "see what they can do" they failed to admit there mistake, they tried to put it on the hotel back, they were not able to call me on my International phone number (as I am not in the US at the time of the events), they won't let me talk to a manager (they directed me to the website), they do not care that even if they refund me in 3 days the hotel prices online is going to double (actually that is where they want to take me I feel, to trap, gaining some time until I can not afford last minute prices so I will accept whatever they offer me) they also were rude enough to encourage me to go for dispute through my credit card to get my money back... Unbelievable, can't imagine that there is still in US a company that treats there customers this way... wow!

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Misleading
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

I booked through Kayak, but was referred to Priceline, which helped me book a rental car from Hertz. For the experience I went through, I would NEVER recommend Priceline again, nor would I hope for Kayak to ever user Priceline on their website.
I flew into Seattle and booked a rental car. When I booked flights and rental cars through the site, I thought naturally I would be picking the car up at the Hertz location closest to the airport.
After getting off my flight, I hopped onto the shuttle that took me to the Hertz location. When I arrived, I was told the location I'm supposed to pick the car up at is 35 minutes away, and the only way for me to get there would be to take a taxi or Uber. I was not able to cancel my reservation at the other Hertz location at this point because the airport location was completely booked.
I decided I needed the car so I bit the bullet and paid the $54 Uber ride to go to the other location. When I finally picked up my rental car, I asked if I could change the drop-off location. As I thought, they charged me $40 to drop the car off at the airport.
I understand Hertz might not be at fault for this, but I am very upset with Priceline. My car rental for 2 days cost me about $45, but with all the hiccups, I ended up spending an extra $95 because Priceline placed the car pickup location so far away from the airport.
When I called Priceline about this, they refused to do anything for me and said I would have to deal with this through Hertz. I talked to Hertz, and they said they are not responsible because they were not involved with the booking process.
I've decided to not pursue any monetary losses, but I am going to make sure everyone around me does not use Priceline, and to be weary about which company they chose when they're on Kayak.

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Good if you want to pay MORE
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CONNECTICUT -- I'm sure William Shatner would never use Priceline if he had the experience that I did.

First time (and last time) user and here's my experience:

I had made reservations on Travelocity for a girls getaway in April. Nice hotel, I was pretty happy with my choice. Then a friend mentioned the fantastic deal she found on Priceline. Told me she put in her choices, offered a price and it was accepted! (Four-star hotel in the area she wanted for a price she liked.)

Why not give it a try, I thought.

I'll tell you why, because they suck!

I put in my parameters, just like my friend did. Four stars at $175 per night. (Yeah, I know wicked low.) It was rejected. Okay, let's try $200. Bingo! This price was less than the originally booked hotel on Travelocity so I was happy! I clicked the link IN PRICELINE to check out the hotel and found that the rack rate there was $173. $27 less than the price I was required to pay with Priceline.

Wait. I didn't think that was how it worked? I bid and pay more than I would had I just booked the hotel online?

So I clicked "Chat with Priceline" and had an annoying conversation with Raymund. In the end, he did refund me the difference between the two prices (or *said* he would, I've yet to see the transaction.) but I have to say, online at least, I preferred the first hotel.

There was no way out of the "deal" with Priceline. I did pay for the cancellation insurance because one of the travelers has an ill parent and may need to cancel the trip. Of course Raymund (and yes, that's how his name was spelled) said I could not cancel just because I didn't like Priceline.

So, in the end, Priceline sucks. Unless the deal you want is to pay more than rack rate.

BTW, Travelocity? They canceled my original plans without blinking an eye.

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Priceline- Be Very Careful When Booking Through Them!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

We recently booked a vacation package through Priceline: Hotel, Airline, and Rental Car. You see the price for the package and you think it is a wonderful deal. Well, THINK AGAIN! There are many, many, many (did I say “many”?) small hidden fees and other extra charges that are not even disclosure while booking. Unfortunately, you will find out about the extra charges the hard way after you have already paid/booked the deal.

Although our package said “all taxes and fees included”, we ended up paying more at the end of our vacation than if we would have booked everything separately and with the companies directly. The airline charged extra for some fees (not the bags, just to clarify) they said Priceline does not cover. The hotel charged us an extra 28% “service fee” per day that they also said Priceline does not cover. And finally, Priceline charged 4 days of rental car just because the drop-off time was booked 15 MINUTES after pick up time (pick up time was scheduled for 2pm and drop-off was scheduled for 2:15pm).

The Rental car company (Avis) has a policy of 1 hour break or they charge for the extra hour after it (NOT THE ENTIRE DAY). We dropped the car at 2:03 pm and Avis gave us a receipt confirming the deal was a 3-days rental car… BUT Priceline did not want to make any refund for the extra day they charged for 15 minutes (even though Avis allows an extra hour at drop-off AND we returned the car at 2:03pm AND charges in Avis are per extra hour and not per day).

None of the companies involved in the package will help you to solve any issues if the deal is booked through Priceline. They pretty much wash their hands and send you back to call Priceline. Customer service at Priceline is extremely poor. Representatives barely speak English and all they say is “no refunds”. Make sure you research before booking with PRICELINE, it is not a good deal after all.

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Priceline Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.1 out of 5, based on 110 ratings and
168 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Priceline
800 Connecticut Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06854
203-299-8000 (ph)
203-299-8948 (fax)
www.priceline.com
executive.services@priceline.com
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