Priceline Hotel Bookings Consumer Reviews - Page 4

I almost didn't book this trip, based on the reviews I read here. But I also had to say, once I read and understood the limitations of this service, and the dumb things a lot of customers expected, and did, I decided to give it a try anyway.

Am I ever glad I did. The bottom line is, you have to do a little research before you book a hotel. So long as you have a little flexibility in the flight times (times of day, not the date) that worked nicely too. For the hotel, they will not GUARANTEE your room type. Once you understand that, there are ways to really extend the odds of getting what you want (ie.: king or two doubles, etc). You're also NOT likely going to get the best view in any of these hotels, but if you have any chance at all, when you call the hotel, after you book, ask them!!!!!!!!!! If it's available they'll likely put you down for it (again, no guarantees, but what the heck!).

In my opinion it was all worth it. We looked into two high end 4 star hotels. The first, I called to see how booked they were and they were in the range of 80-90% booked for the dates I wanted (there was a convention booked for that weekend). I knew right away, there was little or no chance of getting the king room I wanted.

The second hotel, had only around half that booked, and while again they said they couldn't GUARANTEE I got a king if I booked, there was a much better chance I would. Because it was only 5 days before the date I wanted to go, and knew there was no chance a huge convention would get booked there in the next 4 days, I decided to give it a try.

Of course, BTW, I checked various reviews on the hotel I ultimately booked, before I did. The flight was fine. It had one connection, as expected. the hotel was beyond my expectations. I got my king room, and lousy view. but I paid well less than half of what the hotel was usually getting. All in all, this was a great experience, and I will do it again in a heart-beat. For all you people who complain about your experience, most of you should chalk it up to not thinking before you booked. I'm sure there are some legitimate bad experiences, but I hardly think this company is "corrupt" as some reviews suggest.

Any service oriented company like this is going to have complaints, valid or otherwise. If you do a little homework, use a little common sense, this is an amazing way to save a ton of money, if you like to travel.
BTW, I paid $379 per person for airfare AND HOTEL (when the cheapest airfare alone I could find, with one stop, was $360 return per person) for a hotel usually charging $125/night. I have NO idea how they can do that, but it was a great trip and can't wait to do it again.

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 in 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.

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT -- We recently booked a stay through Priceline and for $110 were "awarded" a full bed in a boutique hotel. We read a few reviews which indicated that the hotel was family un-friendly, so we thought we'd better call ahead, as our young children will need to travel with us this time. We certainly expected to pay a "bit" more for our children, but were told that at 144 square feet the room was absolutely unsuitable for our children (even in sleeping bags) and that we'd have to pay an additional $90 per night for a room for our family, nearly doubling our bid (an outrageous percentage increase for a respectable room size and the company of small children).

We are aware that Priceline's commitment is for a maximum of two adults, but we read this as it is meant by hotels in the real world -- no more than two adults in the room. We were willing to accept reasonable and customary additional charges for our children. It would be more honest to explicitly state that Priceline is appropriate "only" for two adults traveling together without dependents and who are willing and able to share one full bed. This is far different from a "maximum of two adults."

I contacted the corporate office, and my husband received a phone call from a subordinate of the VP of Hotels. She had called the hotel and confirmed that they would indeed require us to upgrade for an additional $90 per night if we were to bring our children. She was calling to kindly 'warn' us that the room we didn't want -- at the increase we were not willing to pay -- was passing us by: she said that the hotel claimed to have only one larger room left, a dubious claim.

My husband informed her that we are not interested in rewarding poor practices, even if it means booking another hotel (we have since done so for less than the $90 upgrade, NOT through Priceline). This hotel seems to only accept Priceline bids knowing that they will up-sell the original booking by $60 (for a queen) or $90 (for two double beds) within Priceline policies (customers' responsibility for "hidden fees" -- there is no provision for reasonable and customary).

The woman who called assured us that Priceline would look into the situation to prevent future travelers' woes. Yet she informed my husband that neither she nor Priceline would provide us any relief -- even if it was determined that the hotel was indeed, taking advantage.

To not reimburse a customer whose complaint is found to have been a valid complaint regarding the legitimacy of pricing structure (or star rating) is a very poor practice, particularly in a period when leisure travel is down and there is heavy competition for traveler's business (and while Priceline's airlines department is also troubled by numerous far more serious complaints).

This situation could have been avoided or ameliorated a number of ways; it could certainly be prevented by language as specific as my proposal above. We have since heard that Priceline could fax approval to the hotel for the upgrade (with Priceline receiving a smaller share of the rate) but they have not offered to do so, and seem to no longer be accepting my communications, which is incredibly insulting. We hope that Priceline will learn from this situation, as we surely have.

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK -- DOES NOT DISCLOSE HOTEL IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION/RENOVATION. I bid on a three star hotel on Priceline.com, which was accepted for a Holiday Inn in Syracuse (Liverpool), NY. When I arrived I thought I was at the wrong place. The parking lot was empty. It turns out the hotel was under construction to renovate the lobby, restaurant and lounge.

I drove around to the side where there were several large containers of construction debris and a temporary entrance. They set up some tables in a ballroom that was supposed to be a restaurant/lounge. Walls throughout the facility were plywood. I told the person at the desk that I booked the room through Priceline, but was not told about the construction. She said I should have been told in advance. I told her not to check me in, because I wanted Priceline to move to another hotel.

I called Priceline and told them I wanted to be moved to another hotel because of the construction and condition of the hotel, which was not disclosed to me. Priceline put me on hold to call the hotel. They came back on the line and said that Holiday Inn told them that the construction should not affect my stay. I told him that is unacceptable as the condition of the hotel and amenities does affect my stay and that PRICELINE has the obligation to disclose this information.

He refused to transfer me to a manager. He said I could only email management. Then I called American Express and explained the situation to them. Amex told me that if I dispute the charge, they will probably reverse the charge. Since this was part of a vacation, I had my camera with me so there is evidence of the construction. Then I called Priceline back and told them what Amex said and would give them one more chance to remove the charge or get me a different hotel.

The representative said he would have to call the hotel to get them to agree. I told that I refuse to stay at this hotel and that he should make sure he speaks with a manager at the Holiday Inn. You must have guessed it by now. When he came back on the line he said there were no managers on duty at the Holiday Inn, only the clerk the previous representative spoke to. He said he would call back and speak with a manager the next morning and call me. Of course I never received a call.

So now I send the email to "management" at Priceline. In the email, I told them that Priceline keeps putting the responsibility on Holiday Inn, but it was Priceline that took my money and did not disclose that the hotel was being renovated. Of course the reply I received stated they spoke to "someone in reservations" at the Holiday Inn and that the hotel did not feel the renovations were enough to make a refund, but Priceline could send me a link that would add $10 to an offer price for up to 5 nights on a future Name Your Own Price hotel. What an insult.

At least there was a number to contact this person. I called and asked who she spoke to at the hotel, a desk clerk. I asked for her title, Assistant to the Executive Office. I asked for a manager and was told she is the highest level I can speak to and got the same pitch as the other rep.

Quite frankly, I have used Priceline on a number of other occasions with no problems. I had even booked 4 nights at a hotel in another city through Priceline on this same vacation. They don't care if they lose a customer or not. They just want my $98. At this point I wrote a letter to the CEO of Priceline and sent him the pictures I took. I filed a dispute with AMEX. THIS WAS MY LAST RESERVATION WITH PRICELINE.

UPDATE: on 5/5/2009 I received a call from the representative I spoke to at the Executive Offices and she told me that the VP of Customer Service received my letter and pictures of the hotel and they would be issuing a refund to my credit card. She went on to explain that this is not normal, but the situation was unusual. I replied that I wish it didn't take four phone calls, one email and a letter with pictures. I also received a call from American Express the same day advising me they will honor my dispute. I told them about the call from Priceline.com. She said if the credit wasn't issued within a week she would reverse the charge. The credit posted a few days later.

WORLD-WIDE -- Complaint Description: Priceline.com may quote you a price for a hotel, but the website does not adequately inform the buyer that you maybe subject to an array of hotel fees that are not optional. In our case, the fee is over two hundred dollars! Now, we are subject to that fee and unless we pay it, we cannot use our hotel rooms, which we already paid a great deal for - approx. $1000. I feel like I have experienced a "bait and switch". We agreed to one price, but then we were subjected to hidden fees from the hotel, which raised the price a great deal.

Priceline is aware of this problem and condones the practice as the customer service agent told us this, today (3/19/09). As you will read below, the list of possible fees is quite long. (I cut and pasted the letter below from Priceline below.) I feel like the public should be made aware of this practice. I certainly was not aware of it. Furthermore, Priceline has sunk customer service to an all time low. There is no phone number at which I can even talk to someone about this problem! They only allow phone calls if you are "approved" for one. I was forced to wait three hours for an email response!

I hope this is not the wave of the future. It is bad enough that customer service is so often outsourced by businesses and customers are forced to speak to people who's native language is not English, but now this practice of email only "customer service"! I've been treated like a second class customer. Never again, will I use Priceline! As mentioned before, below is the letter written by their "customer service" staff who outlines about 10 different fees a hotel subject customers to. Priceline works with these hotels and quotes customers a price - therefore, Priceline should be responsible for informing their customers of these fees!

"Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you would like to know whether it is a standard policy for a hotel to charge you additional fee (e.g. spa, bellman, resort) for the facilities that they offer. Depending on the property you stay at, you may be charged certain mandatory hotel specific service fees.

For example, resort fees (which typically apply to resort type destinations and, if applicable, may range from $10 to $40 per day), energy surcharges, newspaper delivery fees, in-room safe fees, spa fee, tourism fees, or housekeeping fees and/or certain optional incidental fees, for example, parking charges, minibar charges, phone calls, room service and movie rentals, etc. These charges, if applicable, will be payable by you to the hotel directly at checkout.

For specific information on additional hotel fees, we ask that you contact the hotel directly as they will be applying these charges. You may contact the Resort And Spa directly. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you find this information helpful." Did you count the number of hidden fees, which are considered standard?

WAIKIKI, HAWAII -- The company falsely claimed the lowest price hotel in Waikiki for a 2.5 star was $147 so I put $93 thinking it would be a deal. When in fact at other websites the same hotel was under $90. The hotel that my bid was for was not even LISTed in the list of hotels they gave me for Waikiki. This is misleading. When you make your bid it does not say anywhere that these are examples of hotels and prices. Your ads say you save 40%, I saved NOTHING! I've spent countless hours on the computer. I have printed out everything. The first reservations we made they had us staying in a hotel 2 hours from Waikiki, they charged my credit card $150 for that.

I went to the website and took these quotes from Competitive pricing & Subsequent savings: "You can save so much money with Priceline's Name Your Own Price hotel service because we're a pricing service - not a shopping service - which is why participating hotels give us rates you generally cannot find anywhere else. If we find rooms at your price on your travel dates, we immediately charge the credit card you provide. We will not show you a list of participating hotels or rates before you make a decision."

"A little flexibility goes a long way toward saving BIG money with Priceline! If the thought of not knowing the exact hotel you'll be staying in until after your transaction is complete doesn't appeal to you but saving money does, you can choose the hotel you'd like to stay in with our Shop & Compare option. While you won't save as much, you gain more control over your reservation and have access to great deals at thousands of hotels all over the world. Select the Area you want to stay in and we'll show you a list of available properties and the price per night. No surprises - just savings."

No surprises?!!! The last line says it all. I got a BIG SURPRISE when I got a hotel not on the list and at a higher price. They did a bait and switch on me. I bid $93 on a 2.5 star hotel at what they said was $147 cheapest. But what they did is switched hotels. We printed out all the pages for hotels in Waikiki from Priceline that night, there were only 2 hotel that are 2.5 stars in their website. And the hotel they have us in is not listed. We are not going to Hawaii until Feb. and I am so sorry I used their site. They will not talk to me anymore or answer my emails. I cannot believe William Shatner supports this company.

NORWALK, CONNECTICUT -- Booked a hotel room which Priceline guaranteed was $169, tax & fees included, and stupidly paid it. Hotel provided an invoice showing my room was $102, tax & fees included. Priceline pocketed the $67 plus their cut of the booking. I could have walked in off the street & saved $67!

TEXAS -- I used their express fare service, which affords discounts on hotels in certain areas. I had searched Brookline, Massachusetts and chose the first option but they gave me a hotel in Newton, Massachusetts, a 20-30 minute drive from Brookline.

I contacted their customer service which said they were unable to do anything about this booking, but after talking with the hotel, they informed me that Priceline is, in fact, able to cancel it, they just refused to do so. The hotel was great; Priceline was horrible. Just a ridiculous customer service experience that took hours of my time.

TEXAS -- I booked a room today in San Francisco for 3 nights after they assigned indicated no air conditioning, due to medical reasons we need it. Contact customer care and they only gave option to cancel and would take days to get refund . Horrible service wouldn't recommend and trust this company.

.COM, NEW YORK -- Booked a hotel at a marginally better price. Big mistake! My bad for not paying close enough attention to the details, but life is busy. Paid over $500 for a 2 night hotel stay. I needed to delay the reservation 10 days, would happily have paid a fee to make the change, but the booking could have NO CHANGES. Priceline got my $500 but they won't get another penny from me. I would recommend taking your business to any other company. Good luck.