Priceline.com

I made reservations via Priceline.com. I had requested 2 rooms that could each accommodate 4 persons. After my price was accepted, I called Ramada Inn Carlsbad to confirm rooms, and check in times. I was informed by Patricia (Associate at Ramada Inn) that Priceline.com only reserved me rooms that accommodated 2 people (each room only had 1 queen bed) and that I would not even be allowed to check in 4 guests per room (Fire Marshall regulations). I then contacted Priceline.com thinking there had to have been a mistake, but sadly I found that there was no mistake at all. This is how Priceline does business . The first associate I spoke to was named Abby. Abby told me that there was nothing they could do for me about my rooms being reserved for only 2 occupants , and that it was my problem if the hotel would not let me check in having 4 people per room. I then asked to be transferred to an associate at a higher up level. I then spoke to Tania and she confirmed what I had already been told by Abby. There was NOTHING Priceline.com would do, and I would likely have to forfeit my reservation plus the $430.00 that had already been charged to my credit card. So here I am out $430.00 for 2 rooms at the Ramada Inn Carlsbad that I will be unable to use and Priceline.com could care less! I would NEVER use Priceline again:(

I would definitely NOT use Priceline.com again. I would not recommend it, especially if you need to be flexible. First of all, they send e-mails for car rentals for $12 a day. I would like to know where those are as you can never find this deal. I made a weekly rental in a city we went to for medical reasons. I no longer needed a car as I was admitted into the hospital. I was told I would get a refund, but I did not. So instead of a bill for $90.00 I was charged $222.00. Big difference. They would not give any refund. They are not flexible and maybe this is how they make their money.

My first booking with Priceline was in 1999 when the company was new and bookings were primarily done by phone. Back then not only was I getting 3 star hotels for as little as $25.00 a night I traveled across country by air numerous times without a problem. My problems with Priceline started back in 2006 with an issue involving a car rental thru them that was not honored by the rental company nor reimbursed by Priceline. My fault, for becoming so frustrated with customer service that I dropped the matter. You see, Priceline’s customer service would only talk to me and the rental company’s customer service would only speak with me but neither company would speak with each other. Yeah, I gave up after a week and said some very unpleasant things to a customer service rep and called it a day. But it still took awhile for me to accept that I was no longer receiving the best prices for air travel and their hotel/motel ratings are no longer dependable. There were a few more mishaps before I completely gave up on them. I actually continued to book most of my trips via Priceline right into 2009.

I’m going to share an incident from 2007 , when I drove cross country from Maryland to Arizona. I had a problem with a Santa Fe hotel room that came with two rude desk attendants and a plunger in the bathroom. The not so clean looking toilet that I was afraid to use apparently backed up, I was told infrequently. The ready plunger was just a precaution. Uh huh. It was 11:pm and I was tired from driving so I had to deal with it. The final straw came in 2009 when I found I had booked a flop house situated across the lot from "LIVE NUDE GIRLS. There was prostitutes and pimps running in and out during my family‘s discussion with the desk clerk. Would you believe the desk clerk insisted we pay an additional charge for a double room, I had already paid for via Priceline. How this filthy dump got on Priceline in the first place is beyond me. Of course we didn't stay, we were traveling with children. The lesson here is , never , ever book motels with them unless you're familiar with the facility.

Customer Service at Priceline has become "I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION".
They have never returned any of my money, even though I was a loyal customer who spent thousands of dollars on their services for 10 years . I understand that, they have a no refund policy . My new personal policy is " No Dealing With Companies That Have A No Refund Policy".
Personally I think Priceline sucks.

I've never used it personally, but my primary road-trip buddy (who I've mentioned on here before as "The Crustacean") uses it regularly when the two of us hit the road in search of baseball, beer and irresponsibility. We've stayed in good to excellent hotels at extremely good prices while indulging our various vices. From what I've seen, it seems easy to use, it's rules are spelled out clearly (notably the "no refunds" policy some reviewers are bitching about) and it provides good value for the money.

I don't know anything about its ability to provide anything but hotel rooms, so I can't speak for that.

I recently booked a hotel through priceline. I had to leave early due to a funeral and the hotel assured me that I would get a refund.

The hotel informed me at checkout that they only charged priceline.com for the nights that I stayed at the hotel. When I called priceline, they admitted that the hotel was correct, but they would not refund my money because it was their "company policy to issue no refunds."

I know now that they put this in fine print on their site, but I think it is unethical and a bad business policy to keep the $120 that I feel they owe me. Especially when they very obviously tried to prevent me from seeing this information. After all they don't tell us about that on the commercials.

In an economy like this one, can we really afford to give our business to a company that won't assure us that their service is an outstanding one?

Trying to book a rental car in Omaha, NE. Their published rates are $46 for an economy car per day. Thats fine....ok, no great deal, whatever. They boast save up to $40% off these rates through "name your own price". So, 40%, well let me try and getting the car for $35-$39, surely this is a fair offer considering I wont even know which car rental agency I will get, and its far less than a 40% discount....I was rejected stating this offer is far below what they are willing to accept, and I would have a good chance at getting for $50 per day, and great chance at $51 per day. I dont know if these people think were idiots or what, but I can go anywhere and get $46, why would I bid $51? This company should be referred to the better business bureau, in fact, I will do it myself, as their business practices are unethical and misleading. If you need a rental car, try Costco or AAA. I even have a coupon from my Entertainment book that gives a better discount than what Priceline was able to "Negotiate"........

If I could, I would rate this website and its services lower! My husband and I booked an itinerary through Priceline from Wichita to Philadelphia. Wichita has a small airport and we were scheduled to connect in Atlanta. Well, to make a long story short our flight from Wichita to Atlanta was canceled, and our need to cancel the itinerary at that point was out of our control. Because we were to be at a wedding the next day, we made other arrangements asap and I contacted Priceline immediately. At first I was pleased, a rep called me back after investigating the situation and confirming that our initial flight had been canceled. He assured me we would receive a full refund within 7 to 10 business days. Wishful thinking.

Well, they did refund the one night stay in a hotel - like $80 or so...but the car rental and the airfare were no where to be found. After waiting an appropriate amount of time, I called about the refund. I found that although I spoke with 3 different people about the different portions of our trip, the car was never entered as canceled on their computer system. I had to talk to 3 more people to get this issue resolved and about 15-18 days after our original flight date we were refunded for the car. However, the airfare was still a no go! I called and called and my husband called and called. We just kept getting the run-around. They said they couldn't connect us with a manager, they couldn't connect us with the accounting department where they said the hold up was - they could only email - and we could only wait...again.

It was only after we mentioned a complaint with the Better Business Bureau that they magically found an extension to a upper level customer care manager who says he will get the issue resolved immediately. Who knows...it has been almost 40 days since our trip and the company still owes us about $600. Their customer service is really awful and it is infuriating to feel like you can't get answers from anyone with the ability to actually help.

I would encouarge those of you with valid complaints to file with the Better Business Bureau. This company needs to be exposed for their terrible response time in these kinds of cases. After looking at the reviews, I don't know how they are still in business.

I will never use Priceline again.

Priceline.com is the worst site ever! I booked a room for two nights, to attend a wedding...not only did they make me pay for the room X4...yes thats right they charged me 4 times for the same room!!! but when i arrived to check in, because they had charged me 4 times..the hotel declined my card!! I couldnt even check in to the hotel!! So there I am 3 hours from home with 4 small children and we had to sleep on the bride's couch!! Then after numerous phone calls to priceline's so called customer service where I was not permitted to speak to a manager...I was flat out told no...they have yet to return the 800 dollars that they stole from my account saying that they have to confirm with the hotel that I never checked in...HELLLO!!! if you dont know that information then why they hell are you charging me?!?!?!? I have never ever in my life, as a customer, been treated so rudely or been ripped off the way priceline rips you off...at this point im considering a lawyer...DO NOT EVER USE PRICELINE!!! THEY ARE THE WORST COMPANY ON THE PLANET!!! I've used hotels.com on many many occassions and never ever had an issue...I would book my room...show up at my hotel...show my id and card...given my card key and welcomed to the hotel...never an issue....PRICLINE.....stole my money, treated me like dirt...and I never even stayed at the hotel!!

Priceline is NOT for everyone. If you cannot do the research and follow simple instructions, you shouldn't be using Priceline. People keep complaining that Priceline wouldn't refund their purchase or change things to fill their particular needs. EXACTLY.

You're missing the point. YOU GOT THAT CHEAP PRICE ENTIRELY BECAUSE PRICELINE OPERATES THIS WAY. If you need a room for more than two people, or that allows pets, or that has a pool, etc... or a flight that follows a certain schedule... DON'T BID ON PRICELINE. If you think you may need to cancel for any reason or can't handle not getting a refund if you do... DON'T BID ON PRICELINE.

I'm currently sitting in a 3 star hotel that normally runs $128/night... I paid $50. However, if I had needed to cancel, I'd still have paid $50. That's just the way it is. That's part of the deal. THIS IS WHY IT IS SO CHEAP. How can you not understand this? Customer service will say "no, you cannot cancel." As they should. It allows them continue to provide low prices and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In short: Don't use Priceline if you have specific needs for your hotel or flight schedule or if you're stupid.

EDIT: Priceline is pretty clear about what you are getting. You just have to actually read it... If you have a bad experience at a particular hotel it isn't Priceline's fault unless they have misrepresenting the star rating. It is the hotel's fault. It is also very clear that the room will accommodate 2 people.

Priceline "Name Your Price" doesn't tell you that you are going to get the worst hotel for the price or that the staff at the hotels will treat you like trash because you used Priceline. We received terrible service and Priceline doesn't tell you they only have to accommodate 2 people per room, so if you are families of four you only get one bed. My husband and 5 year old had to sleep on the ground without any pillow or blanket because we went through Priceline to get the hotel. The service from both Priceline and the hotels we stayed at were terrible.

1 STAR IS THE ONLY NEGATIVE OPTION????? THAT IS NOT NEARLY LOW ENOUGH FOR PRICELINE.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The customer service is horrendous and once you pay you are screwed. THey want nothing to do with you. They also have deceptively worded links for what the service does when you click the link.
I travel for a living and used them two times and both times got screwed. My fault for trying that second time.
if you want cheap RELIABLE travel plans deal directly with the airlines or car rental places. You WILL get screwed if you don't. And once screwed priceline will not show one iota of care or customer service.
There is a reason they can offer those prices and it is because they give you the most tenuous and least reliable travel options in existence. That is why you can't see the options before accepting the price. No rational human with a few brain cells knocking around would accept what you end up if shown in advance.
SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHES AND BOOK THROUGH THE CARRIERS DIRECTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst customer service experience ever. Tried to cancel a reservation. Was told to call the hotel. Called the hotel they said call priceline. Call priceline tell them I want to cancel. They put me on hold....let the noon time pass and BOOM sorry cant refund you as you passed our noon policy to cancel. I escalate and the manager says its too late ... See Moreand that I should have cancelled earlier to avoid this...ummmm I didnt plan to cancel frucker. Ask for another escalation he says the only way to get in touch with her is to MAIL a letter.

I will never use Priceline again. The trip package that you sold me was lame. The airport was a 3 hour drive from the hotel. I was traveling with an infant and an elder, making the trip miserable. I can not believe Priceline sold me such a bogas package. They would not refund me my money or offer me a hotel closer to the airport, saying they do not have the ability to get me a closer hotel. WTF, they have access to thousands of hotels. Again, I will never use there site again.

Total rip off. I booked a room at the LAX Radisson for Thursday. The cancellation policy said no fee if canceled 1 day before check in. The meeting date changed, so I canceled in Wednesday morning and was charged the full $104.25 fee for the room.

I called customer service, even spoke to a customer services manager, who explained to me that 1 day means you must cancel on Tuesday for a Thursday reservation. Am I alone here? It says on the booking form on the website no fee is canceled 1 day before check in...if I check in Thursday, doesn't that mean Wednesday? Not in Priceline.coms world...it means 48 hours before check in.

Total rip off, crooked advertising, misleading verbiage...DON'T USE PRICELINE!

The priceline website is ridiculously NOT user friendly. They allow you to hit return instead of making you actually click on the button that says you will be ASSIGNED a hotel. You have NO authorization to accept or decline what they choose for you. Then when they assign you a hotel 45 minutes from where you need to be they refuse to do anything about it. They read you the script that they have been given saying you cannot change or cancel the booking you never intended to make. Totally unacceptable. I would NEVER EVER use priceline again!

WORST SITE. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES. Needed to go to Bologna, Italy for a one day business trip. Searched for a hotel in Bologna, Italy and was given several options. Picked one and booked. Turns out the hotel is not only NOT in Bologna, but is in a region almost 3 HOURS away! Only realized this when I started detailing my trip a couple of hours after making the reservation. Immediately called customer service only to be told repeatedly that I contracted for a no cancellation reservation. I explained this was not entirely my fault as I never dreamed the website would include hotels so far away - it's like asking to be placed in Los Angeles and ending up near the border in San Diego. All I got in response by 3 different women was "we're sorry ma'am but you contracted for this hotel." I spent hours butting my head against the wall dealing with personnel from the Philippines whose rote responses almost caused me to lose my mind.

So I called the hotel. They had no record of my reservation. They did not even recognize priceline.com. (As a side note it turns out their direct rates were cheaper by $50 per night - so in addition to the aggravation of the distance I was being gouged rate wise) Contrary to priceline's assertion that the cancellation policy was that of the hotels, I was told that it would be no problem to cancel and refund my credit card - except they could not help me as they had no record of my reservation.

To sum up, the website search function sucked, the cancellation policy was ridiculous and not even consistent with the hotel's true policy, the rates were way higher than what the hotel would have charged, and the customer service personnel located all the way in the Philippines (accents were horrendous and difficult to understand) was the worst. What else could priceline have done wrong? I do not know but never again intend to find out.

PRICELINE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON THE DAY THAT I WAS TO LEAVE LINCOLN, NEBRASKA AND RETURN HOME TO NEW JERESY I BE CAME ILL.

I HAD TO GO TO A DOCTOR IN NEBRASKA AND HAD TO CANCEL MY FLIGHT OUT OF LINCOLN ON MACRCH 22ND. i RE BOOKED THE FLIGHT FOR THE NEXT DAY MARCH 23RD.

NOW HERE IS THE CATCH WITH PRICELINE. I PAID THEM THE $150 TO FLY OUT OF NEBRASKA ON THE 23RD. THEY TOOK MY MONEY FROM THE CRDIT CARD RIGHT AWAY.

I GET HOME AND LOOK AT MY CHECKING ACCOUNT ( AND LOW AND BEHOLD) PRICELINE HAS CHARGED ME ANOTHER $150 AND A ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF $228.30 . THIS IS ALL FOR THE ONE TICKET THAT I HAD EXCHANGED AND THAT TICKET WAS PAID FOR.

WELL, BECAUSE THE CLOWNS AT PRICELINE DID THIS IT OVER DRAFTED MY CHECKING ACCOUNT.

THE OVER DRAFT FEES ARE $36 PER DAY IF THE MONEY IS NOT PLACE BACK IN YOUR ACCOUNT BEFORE 4PM. NOW I HAVE FOUR DAYS OF OVERDRAFT FEES TOTALING $144.

PRICELINE AND I GOT ON THE PHONE WITH MY BANK AND THE BANK TOLD THEM THAT THE OVERDRAFT FEES WERE CAUSE BY PRICELINE DOUBLE BILLING ME.

EVEN THOUGH THE REP FROM PRICELINE HEARD THE BANK SAY IT'S THIER FAULT THEY STILL WANT ME TO FAX THEM PROOF THAT THEY WERE THE ONES THAT CAUSED THIS MESS..

I WILL FAX PRICELINE WHAT THEY NEED AND I WILL COME BACK HERE TO LET YOU ALL KNOW IF I GOT MY MONEY BACK FROM THEM.

BEWARE OF PRICELINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY SUCK BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT USE PRICELINE!!! AVOID IT AT ALL COST!

Again like another consumer, I would've gave it 0 stars if I could!

Their customer service SUCKS terribly! They will do ABSOLUTELY nothing to try to help you! They don't even CARE! I asked them to speak to a manager and was told their manager does not speak to the public! Really? Then what is it that they do??? Sit in their office and collect their 250K annually doing NOTHING?

Something so simple and easy to resolve...they did not help at all! And it was possible, but guess what? I had to find out from the hotel side from a nice person telling me what to do, and not from Priceline which could've helped me the 3hrs I was on the phone with them!

If you would like to read the whole story, you can do here: http://sklub105.blogspot.com

If not, just trust me, DO NOT USE priceline! you will usually get the same rates and prices from their competitors and you won't have to put up with their so NOT customer service!

This company has the worst customer service ever! They rip you off and absolutely will not help you with anything. The website is a complete scam. I spoke to an Indian customer service representative (David 825147) who barely spoke English yet claimed he was "the highest person in the company" I could speak too but that he could not help me. I guess David is the company's CEO?

Horrible company. I will never use Priceline again!!

Priceline.com is a site I would NOT recommend to you!

I have never written a negative review before, but after my experience recently, I feel compelled to at least say something for those of you who are researching priceline.com.

If you need to cancel FOR ANY REASON AT ALL....they will offer you nothing but an apology. No credit, no refund, no understanding. They also DO NOT offer any type of INSURANCE in case you need to change your plans, or if by any act of God (weather, natural disasters, etc.) Most other sites do offer an insurance option.

You are essentially gambling all or nothing with PRICELINE.com.

Also, the employees are very hard to understand...literally. Their diction and pronunciation is atrocious!

My business deal went south less than 36 hours after I booked with Priceline and with more than two weeks before my reservation.. On making the reservation, a pop up window cam up under canceling flights and said there was $100 fee. I was perfectly willing to pay this fee, but when I went to cancel, they said it was not possible to cancel the reservation. They then referred to a policy that is buried 15 pages into thier web site that i could not find and was certainly not displayed when i made the reservation. Talking to the servie reps was like talking to robots. They just kept spouting their policy, refusing to connect me with a manager. They also refused to give me the contact info for their corporate hedquarters. This was the fist and last time I will ever use their service as I am no out of pocket $500 that they refuse to refind. They also refused to refund my car rental reservation. Now how absurd is that. All in all, it is the single worst and most costly experience i have ever had with an online company. I suggest never using Priceline as their policies are deceptive and hidden until you need to make a change. Then they tell you exactly how to get to them. If they were up front with their policies and put them on the pop up window that comes up when you click on the cancellation policies then I might understand. However the DON'T. The also hung up on me when I finally got upset after being switched three times and lisening to the robotic responses and complete lack of interest. The customer service is in Mexico and the people on the line sounded so unuinterested in my problem I felt like I was keeping them awake. If your plans may be changed, do not use Priceline. They are the worst possible people to deal with.

Priceline.com is different from companies such as expedia or orbitz, in two major ways:

a) you really can get a very good deal on flights... better than most places.

b) They are completely non refundable and don't take to changes or cancellations kindly.

The problem is this:

THEY DO NOT MAKE THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS CLEAR IN ANY WAY and CUSTOMER SERVICE IS EXTREMELY HARD TO ACCESS and is RUDE and UNHELPFUL:

examples:
1) The terms and conditions show up in 'legalese' jargon in a little link on the bottom of the site

2) The customer service line does it's best to get users to use the FAQ on the website by stringing callers through an automated system of 15 - 20 minutes before you can talk to a real person. In order to actually get to a real person I had to press buttons to divert myself to a department that had nothing to do with what I wanted to ask about.

3) When talking to a customer service representative, they seem to be well trained in circuitous, hard to understand language, that purposely hides hidden fees.

4) Wait times are horrendous..... I spent nearly 2.5 hours on the phone line, with only about 20 minutes talk time regarding a change in flight due to a death in my immediate family.

5) When I finally did talk to a representative, I was told many times that the flight was unchangeable, but through persistance, they finally admitted that the flight could be changed for a fee of $125 +/- any change in the actual airline ticket price.

6) Prices quoted by the representative changed after every time that he put me on hold (I understand that airlines are often changing their ticket prices, but this was a little extreme), and then falsely quoted the price that I had payed for the original ticket as over hundreds of dollars lower than what I paid. If I hadn't noticed this, they would have made an extremely large profit off of my flight change, essentially, without directly telling me.

7) Upon pointing out how slow, and unhelpful, and full of tricks the customer service rep was being, this representative began to talk down to me and ACCUSE ME OF BEING STUPID and not listening to what he was saying.

Overall, I feel like priceline.com is not clear enough about its policies to warrant it being worth the dollars saved or worth the headache that comes along with with working with them.

I have used priceline.com three times (mostly out of hope that my first two bad experiences were just an exception), but will never use them again, even if it means spending a little bit more or postponing travel until costs change.

If there was a rating of less than 1 i would have clicked that.

I used Debit or cash for everything. With that being said NATIONAL rental car requires you to have a credit cards to rent.

So I guess I am out the $183.11.

Forgot to mention that Priceline just charges another $45.00 fee to my account for CANCELLING the rental so now the total is $228.11.

I will never use priceline or national rental again.

Sean

PRICELINE SUCKS. YOU CAN'T GET THE PRICES THAT THEY HAVE ON THEIR WEBSITE AND THEIR "NAME YOUR OWN PRICE" DO NOT GIVE YOU THE BEST PRICE. I TRIED BOOKING AIR+HOTEL PACKAGES TO HAWAII AND NONE OF THEM WORKED, THEY SAID I CAN'T GET ANY OF THEM BUT DO NOT GIVE YOU ANY REASONS WHY NOT. THEN I WENT TO "NAME YOUR OWN PRICE" AND I ENDED UP PAYING $150 MORE THAN IF I BOOKED THROUGH THE HOTEL'S WEB SITE. BASICALLY, PRICELINE TAKES YOUR MONEY AND MAKES SURE THEY DO ANYTHING TO KEEP THE MONEY AND NOT GIVE YOU ANY KIND OF REFUND BACK EVEN IF IT'S THEIR FAULT.

After purchasing a hotel room reservation through Priceline.com and after reviewing the itinerary, I noticed it was a double occupancy rate. I have 2 young boys and a husband so I needed to ensure I had at least 2 queen beds. After further researching, I understood that the hotel could charge me more at the time of check-in. I decided to call Priceline.com to see if I could upgrade to a suite & pay more money to ensure I had two beds upon my arrival. I wanted no surprises at check-in.
I called the hotel to see if I could upgrade, they referred me back to Priceline.com since this is who I booked my hotel with.
I called Priceline.com, I was on hold for a bit and then transferred to another number. When Customer service came back, the phone disconnected shortly thereafter. I called back and the CSR that picked up said that he couldn't help me, that I had an open issue, that the person is suppose to call back in 3minutes if a disconnect occurs. He couldn't/didn't help me.
I waited overnight and was going to call the next morning. I did receive an email with a phone number to call, the hotel's number to check on availability. Called the hotel and they had availability but couldn't honor the online rate, referred me back to Priceline.com.
I called Priceline.com who said that they couldn't give me the Priceline.com rate, they quoted me the rate of the hotel. Why should I go through Priceline.com again?
Finally I called the hotel back and got their rate. Not the King suite, the one with two beds. I got a room with a King size bed with a sofa with pull out bed for the 2 room rate. RIP-OFF! Priceline.com sucks. They're the middle man who probably gets the money that we could have saved. Priceline.com is very inflexible and know nothing about customer service. Will never do business with them again!!!

You can get a great deal with priceline but you can also get screwed. If you are a big gambler and willing to take your chances, use it for your flight only. Don't use for hotels, because hotels can add other fees when you checkout (big risk). I think I have used priceline 3 times. Twice I got screwed and one time I got a great deal on a flight with stopovers. From now on I am just going to use Kayak.com. They give you the best deals from all websites.

No complaints with priceline so far. People that complain about wanting to cancel baffle me. In exchange for not committing to a particular hotel and making your reservations non-refundable, you can receive some spectacular discounts. I had to cancel a vacation the night before a close relative passed away, but I never complained or acted bitter about losing my money because I knew the deal going in. Priceline is great if you take it for what it is.

The worst customer service that I have ever experienced. Booked a hotel with the information that I had to cancel by noon and found out an hour away from the deadline that plans had been changed. Spent the next HOUR AND 20 MIN trying to cancel the reservation and then was told that it was now past the deadline (after the HOUR AND 20 MIN ON THE PHONE) and there was a penalty. No customer service was willing to help at all or had any responsibility or authority to provide any assistance at all.

Oh, where do I start?! How hard is it to cancel a reservation?!
Listen to this....
I bid for a hotel stay on Priceline about 2 days ago. The Hyatt Long Beach accepted the bid. Then, I found out that Hyatt has a no pet policy, which is a no no for me, since I have to travel with a pet. So, I immediately called Priceline the next day. Why is it that Priceline doesn't have that option for the customers to choose if they want a pet-friendly hotel anyway?
Anyway, of course, when I called, all I got is your standard response, sorry, we have a non-cancellable and non-refundable policy. I explained my situation again, their rep said that I can try to call Hyatt directly and see if they'll cancel the reservation. So, before hanging up, I asked the rep again, so, if I canceled the reservation, are they still going to charge me? He said, exact quote, "We'll do what they'll do."
I called Hyatt, of course. After explaining everything to the lady at the reservation desk, she seemed annoyed that Priceline always sends customers their way to negotiate a cancellation. And when and if they do cancel a reservation, she said that Priceline yells at them. She also mentioned that she can't refund me since no charges were made. Then, I told her all I need is to cancel the reservation because they have a no-pet policy.
So, she gave me a cancellation number.
Now that I got the cancellation number, I called Priceline. They took down my info and said that they'll send my case to Customer Relation for further research and get back to me via email in 2 days.
Well, I did get an email, basically saying, Josh Thomas, from Account Dept of Hyatt Long Beach said that they never agreed to cancel my reservation. So, basically, I have to eat up that $147!! WHAT?! The cancellation number is no longer valid?
I responded, reiterating why I had to cancel... all I got was them telling me the same thing FOUR TIMES in each and every one of their replied email, they're bounded by contracts with the hotel that offers a cheap rate and all about their non-cancelable and non-refundable policy.
I'm so upset and asked them not to email me anymore, if they don't have a resolution for me. I will talk to that Josh Thomas from Hyatt myself, since Priceline is no help, but adding more grief!
All that talk about how customers' needs are their priority and are important to them, but yet they have nothing to show for it. What hypocrites!

Buyer beward. They advertise "satisfaction guaranteed" but there is absolutely no guarantee. We got stuck in 2 rooms - each with only one bed - with 4 older people who do not sleep together. Now 2 of us are going to have to sleep on the floor. We are too old to sleep on the floor. Priceline could care less and they are not willing to do anything to satisfy me. I spoke with the hotel clerk and she said that it happens more often than not with Priceline - that their customers are not happy with the service. It may be a good deal if you do not care whatsoever what type of a hotel or room that you get.

Over a year ago, I booked a rental car through priceline. During the booking process, I was asked if I would be using a check card to process the payment. I indicated "yes". No red flags or anything. I got to the counter to pick-up the rental only to be told that I was required to use a credit card. Priceline never advised me of this. Now I am there in the airport, my credit card is home because I have decided to use my check card for purchases and now I have no car. Lucky for me Hertz accepts check cards. Do you know Priceline still charged me for the vechicle even though I clearly did not complete the rental. It has been over a year and I still have not gotten my refund. I receive a message from Priceline finally that they are refunding the payment, but now I no longer have the bank the check card was issue through at the time of the rental.

Priceline customer service sucks. They are unwilling to refund the payment in the form of a check. It's not rocket science. They are a bunch of idots.

Edward Horne

same experience as below. gave parameters for search and was booked in a hotel in a city next door, not the city I specified.

I was booked in a much cheaper city and I paid MORE than the published rate.

when I tried to call their toll free number for their lowest price guarantee: could never get to a place to address it. I called 3 times and listened to all the menus.

will NEVER use them again.

shame on you william shatner

Naming your own price to get a reasonable rate has usually been worth the trouble... until Priceline booked me at a 2.5-star timeshare instead of the 3 star hotel advertised. The 3 star designation appears on Priceline's website while other sites (Expedia, Hotels.com, etc.) show a 2.5 star rating.
Upon learning the name of the hotel where I was booked, I checked the TripAdvisor website and found that reviews of the Ridge On Sedona Golf Resort are mostly negative. Past guests refer to high pressure sales pitches to purchase timeshares. These guests also refer to insect problems in the rooms, including cockroaches and scorpions. Gee, I can't wait to check in!
Not that this "resort" doesn't sound good enough already, past guests also refer to dirty rooms and rude personnel, especially when you refuse to attend their sales presentation. They apparently save the worst rooms for those special guests.
They also require a $100 deposit at check-in to cover any damages. In one case a former guest mentions her effortis to recover this deposit.
Since Priceline has a "no cancellation" policy when you name your own price, there is no recourse other than writing off the dollar loss and finding another hotel.
Passing off a timeshare as a hotel is a deceptive practice and marks the last time I'll use Priceline for hotel stays.

I paid 2 months in advance for reservations at the Sheraton Mission Valley San Diego for 2 nights in May. We arrived late and they had given away our room. We had to drive 30 minutes out of our way after midnight to another hotel. Sheraton said both nights would be reimbursed through Priceline. We never received the reimbursement, which I wasn't surprised from the poor customer service at the Sheraton experience, but when I contacted Priceline, they only saw to it that we got reimbursed for 1 night. The breakfast at the other hotel cost us as much as a night at the Sheraton, so we ended up spending more money with travel time and inconvenience. I was very disappointed in Priceline, as they basically blew us off and did not make the Sheraton honor their agreement with us.

I tried to book a mid sized car and on two occasions my bid was rejected. On the third try, Prceline.com accepted a bid on my behalf for much more than I had planned to pay and could have gotten the same car from Alamo for much less (I phoned Alamo that same night).
They are totally unethical to deal with and they wont even listen to a complaint by phone or e-mail.
I will never use this service again and would suggest to anyone to not use it unless you like being RIPPED OFF - BIG TIME.

William Shatner would NEVER use Priceline. And in his old age he has lost negiating skills.
Just after we booked our trip we found really bad reviews of hotel. We called CHAMBER of COMMERCE in the town and they said "NO WAY " on that hotel or any in that town!!!!
Can you believe the Chamber said that. Well we tried to change to another hotel in a nearby
town thru Priceline. But of course all the way "up the line" they just read the "contract" we signed.
So we wasted 3 nights and booked another hotel in another town. Couldn't even find a homeless
person that would use that room.
Airfare with all add ons ended up being more than I would have paid thru airlines AND we couldn't chose seats and were on very back row with no window. Flight Attendants said Priceline gets
the worst seats. So beware if you bundled everything with Priceline as you have to know you are going to like the hotel when you get there (we knew before we went we wouldn't ) you don't care where you sit on plane and you can't even think about changing or cancelling trip (without
all kinds of paper work and insurance)
It is a lot simpler, perhaps cheaper, more flexible to do it all on your own.
Can't see where Priceline will stay in business treating customers the way they do.
I have posted this on many websites and with many friends.

I had a terrible experience with price line got an approval request and itenary, Got to the hotel andf they were sold out priceline told me I should have checked in the day befor.There I weas in downtown Houston with small children. Priceline would not refund the mponey or find another hotel without a nberw cvharge I am just out 220.00. I live paycheck to paycheck and saved to give my grandchilren a little vacation befor they go back to school, Well I am just out of tyhe money priceline ruined our vacation and there is nothing I can do about once they have your credit card number they have you. Iwill never use pricdeline they should renbame to we take your money and there is nothing you canb do about it!

My boyfriend and I booked a flight to NY thru Priceline over two months in advance on the SAME ITINERARY!!! We selected our seats and received our confirmation. The day before the flight, when we went to check in on line, the seats we requested were not assigned to us. Instead, I was given a middle seat on the back of the plane(I requested an aisle because I tend to use the restroom multiple times) and my boyfriend was not even assigned a seat!!!!!!!!! I called the airline and they said they never received any seat requests from us!!! So much for booking well in advance!! Now my boyfriend and I have to sit in completely different areas of the plane and the poor person next to me is going to have to get up multiple times when I have to use the restroom. And to make matters even more frustrating, when I called the airline, they stated that the same issue happened on our return flight as well! When I called Priceline all they could say was that they cannot guarantee seats. When i asked them why the airline never received, they gave me the same response. And when I asked how can two people who were booked under the same intinerary not be next to each other, even if it was not the requested seats, guess what answer I got???? So basically, my vacation has been marred before it has even began! NEVER AGAIN!!

I have used them several times for rental cars and one night lay over stays in hotel rooms. I have saved a lot of money using them. I had a recent experience that shows what the company is like when I used a bid again email they sent me on a rental car. They kept all the information of the previous bid including amount, dates and location but they switched the car type to economy. I didn't notice that switch and ended up paying double for an economy car. I notified them immediately and talked to the manager on duty and they of course said no refund. They do allow you to do a quick upgrade to another car for exta money because evidently they catch a lot of people this way. They blamed it on Alamo rent a car not allowing them to cancel the reservation. When I called Alamo they were fine with letting Priceline cancel the reservation. I then notified priceline on their customer service emaol line and they said that they would let me know the result of their decision 7 to 10 days after the DROP OFF DATE OF THE CAR RENTAL.

I even showed them all my recent unsuccessful bids and the fact that thery were all on a minivan; as it keeps old bids in your profile. I am a family of five and it would be illegal to try and ride in a four passenger car with only four seat belts. I explained that it would be far to late to wait until after my holiday was over as I wanted to book another vehicle and don't want to risk paying for two vehicles. They sent me the same email signed by another rep. This of course is a way to force you to use the rental while they are looking into it

I am adamant that this was a problem they created by switching the type of car I was bidding on but keeping all the rest of the details the same. They know this will catch some bidders and yes it is technically the bidder's fault. However, it shows that they are a slimy US corporation when it comes to ethics. But I guess in today's business climate they would be seen as saints compared to AIG etc.

I wouldn't however shed a tear if they lost money as a company and I will certainly show them zero loyalty as a travel company and would never consider buying their stock.

If I could give No Stars I would do that. Absolutely the worst company I have ever dealt with. The Cowards in Management won't even allow the useless Customer Service folks to put you through to them or even call you back. I will tell everyone I know not to use Captain Kirk Inc. They suck.

I will never use Priceline again. Their advertising is false. They claim that they do not charge a booking fee. Nevertheless, they charged me $230.00 more to book a room for 8 days at a Holiday Inn in DC than it would have cost me if I had booked directly with the hotel itself. I recommend that anyone will do better price wise, if they phone and negotiate directly with the hotel, car rental, airline, or whatever.

I will never go for priceline.com!!!

I used their "name your own price" and requested for min van and offered $45. It failed instantly as offer was not accepted. Sounds Great !!! After two days I got an email from priceline.com to retry the same request and I followed the email, this time it went through for $45 but guess what I got an "ECONOMY CAR", which I could get $10 any where. I called up their customer service, who kept me on hold for about 20 min and finally said, they can not any thing and I have no choice other then taking this "economy car" for $45. On top of that they also added their own fee for this service...

VERY VERY BAD EXPERIENCE !!!!

I booked a hotel in Pensacola and booked orginally for 2 nights however we had to check out and return back to Mississippi due to an emergency. I checked out of the hotel and spoke with the front desk clerk she assured me that even though priceline had booked for 2 nights that they were only going to bill for 1 night. Upon arriving home I called priceline and explained the situation and was immediately told that we can not help, you will have to speak with the hotel again and get the persons name, title and time you called them. No problem, I did just that and called them back. Customer care documented the record and transferred to me customer relations only to be told that the hotel has to issue a credit to your card. Mind you, the hotel did not charge my credit card priceline did. The young lady also said that she called the hotel and they told her that I was advised that they billed me for 2 nights and that they also told me they would not issue me a credit for the second night, again a lie, because the hotel did not bill me priceline did. So I called the hotel again and the manager said she told you what? He laughed and said we told her no such thing and have her call back and speak to me directly. Now on my 4th call to priceline I went through the whole story again and was told yes maam let me document your account and get you over to customer relations. I spoke with David this time and I told him exactly what transpired on the phone call to the hotel. He then called the hotel back and confirmed what I said the first time and refunded $94.90 to my account. I will never use priceline again because it shouldnt be this hard to receive a credit back to your card.

I will NEVER use Priceline again. I found cheaper flights, but the hassle of the trip wasnt worth it. We were sold flights with a connection, using Delta. THe first flight left a little bit late and arrived about 5 minutes before the second flight was to depart. Delta left everyone on our plane at the airport and didn't hold the second flight. After trudging back and forth through a huge airport, with our bags and our infant, I called Delta and they told me that we shouldn't have been sold those flights. SHe said there wasnt anyway we would have ever made the second flight and Delta wouldn't have offered it as a route. I tried contacting Priceline and they did nothing. We had to wait hours at the airport, with the very UNfriendly Delta crew (I will also never fly Delta again). We have always flown Southwest and we will always fly Southwest from now on. The employees at Delta are hateful and short and are only concerned with the amount of time they have until they are off work. It appeared employee moral in that company is pretty bad. Going forward, our flight home was also a mess. We were supposed to be on a 1 stop flight, but when we checked in, we found out we were on a THREE stop flight! I tried calling Priceline, who again offerred no help, and was told I needed to call the airline. We flew home on continental (Pricelines arrangement). In calling Continental, they informed me that Delta was paid for our tickets by Priceline, so I would have to call them to arrange another flight. THe first girl I spoke with transferred me to their 'help desk' because they were supposed to be able to wave the 300 in fees to change the flights. When I got that dept on the line, I explained the situation and told her I was transferred because this was the dept that could wave the fees. Her exact response was "WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT?". I couldn't believe it. SHe refused to help and told me to contact Priceline. I tried that again, and Priceline instructed me to call Delta. I finally just said FORGET IT and we took the long flight home. Continental Airlines were very nice employees and the flights were all on time, but it took us so long to get home, that it made everyone late for work the next day, etc. because we were on all of these planes. So if you want a good deal on airfare, I reccomment Southwest. They are very nice and we have never had a problem with them. Priceline, to me, is a big joke. They sell you cheap prices, because you get on these flights that don't work with each other, but there is empty space, so they fill it. Guess who loses on that deal? YOU. Their customer service is HORRIBLE. Once you pay for your trip, you are on your own!

read this from bottom to top, this is the response i got from priceline after i complained about getting a crappy 2 star motel when i made a offfer for a 2 star hotel.
what do you think? are hotels and motels the same?



Reading your respond I have counted 9 times the word "hotel" and yes that is exactly what I places a offer for.
Priceline provided a motel. The star ratings in the travel industry for hotels are different than motels.
Below you yourself said that you provided a 2 star hotel, but the name is Palmyra Motel, not the same product.
Just as a 2 star resort differs from a 2 star hotel. Correct?
Everyone in the travel industry knows that B&B, Motels, Hotels and resorts are different categories and each have a their own star rating.






Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you would like to inform us that you would be disputing charges with AMEX regarding your reservation at the Palmyra Motel, as you are unhappy with the quality of the hotel.

We evaluate each participating property on many different criteria, including cleanliness, guest satisfaction, decor, etc. We screen participating hotels carefully and update our information constantly to ensure that you always receive the best available hotel.

We are sorry to hear that you feel that this hotel does not meet your expectations. While placing your request, you agreed to accept any 2 or higher star hotel within the area(s) you selected. Your hotel does have a 2 star rating.

All properties offered through priceline.com have been evaluated according to the specific star level standards that we have developed exclusively for our program and described on our web site. While you may feel that this property should have a different star rating or is rated differently by other groups, we are confident that our evaluation of this property will meet your expectations.

When you placed your request, you selected the area you wanted stay in and the star level of the hotel. When we found a hotel that matched your specifications, we immediately booked your reservation in order to lock in your rate and reservations cannot be changed or canceled.

We apologize if this hotel falls short of your expectation; however, your reservations are non-refundable.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience and hope this information is helpful to you.






------------------------
Thank you,
I also would like to notify you that I have entered a dispute with AMEX for the last charge/reservation, due to the reason that I made an offer for a 2 star hotel room, not a 2 star Motel room. As you should be aware there is a difference .
I have been a loyal Priceline customer for many years and your company has never disappointed me in the past. This is a very dirty trick sticking people with crappy motel rooms after making offers for hotels.
I will be posting Priceline.com warnings on travel sites, for people to be aware of making 2-3 star hotel reservations offers and ending up getting
2-3

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 contruction to renovate the lobby, restaurant and lounge. I drove arount to the side were 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 pricline to move to 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 ammenities does effect 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 likely 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 then one more chance to remove the charge or get me a different hotel. The rep said he would have to call the hotel to get then 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 rep spoke to. He said he would call back and speak with a manager the next morning and call me. Of coarse 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 coarse the reply I received stated they spoke to a clerk 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 occassions 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

This service has saved me hundreds of dollars already for four business trips to Atlanta, Georgia. I used to spend more than $150 per night on mediocre accomodations when I had to stay in the City. Now, I book a few nights ahead of time on Priceline.com and get to stay at 3-star hotels for about $50. It has been a money-saver at a time when my margins are tighter than ever. Thanks, Priceline.com!

Terriible
I would give Priceline a negative rating.
I wanted to have a hotel close to downtown Athens. Georgia and the hotel chosen by Priceline is 4 miles outside the city. Had I known I would have to take a taxi to town, I would not have taken the risk and booked through Priceline. I specifically requested a hotel in the downtown area. Priceline's response was that the hotel was within the grid of the map. Buyer Beware. They may place you way out in nowhere....and of course some of those hotels are the cheapest ones that you wouldn't choose in the first place.
I wish I had read some of the reviews in Rate it All before using Priceline.com.

If there was a negative star I would chose it. I requested a hotel room in Olympia Wa. and they booked me in a neighboring city stating it was in the AREA of Olympia. I was on foot and the city they booked me into was miles away and I would be required to take a cab to Olympia eating up any money I might have saved. After checking the down town hotels I could have stayed for the same amount as my 'great deal' and it would have been more convenient.

I have used Priceline 30+ times for hotels and more than this for rental cars -- always on the "name your own price" section. I have never yet had a bad experience.

Those who are complaining have obviously not read their terms of service. Priceline is VERY clear that all reservations are paid at the time of booking and are completely non refundable. If there is a chance that the room or car will not be used, don't use Priceline!

This weekend I am staying at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Tampa for $49 ... last weekend I stayed at the Hilton Altamonte Springs for $49 and the weekend before that I stayed at the DoubleTree in Wilmington, De., for $49. Notice a trend ... all three are 3.5 - 4 star hotels - and all were bid at and accepted at $49.

For rental cars, I usually check one of the individual car companies first and then bid 40% lower. 90% of the time, the bid is accepted.

Never in the dozens of times I've used them have I been treated differently than I would have been as a "full fare" customer.

Read the rules, folks. Know what you are bidding on, what dates you're bidding on, and what area you're bidding on.

It's called personal responsibility!