Complaint Review: priceline.com

I am writing in as a first time user at priceline, and a last time user. My problem began with priceline back in Sept. You see, my daughter is getting married on Nov 2nd, 2008. They were not planning on taking a honeymoon because the wedding is going to be really nice, and they wanted to save their money and maybe take a honeymoon when they built up their savings. But a good friend of mine decided to give them a honeymoon trip to Playa de Carma, Mexico.
I decided I would buy the airline tickets, because of the generosity of my friend, I could not ask for the airline tickets as well as the trip. My daughter and her fiance' were estactic. So, I am on a tight budget, because I have already invested a lot of money into the wedding.
I went to priceline.com and shopped around for a flight that I could afford for two round trip tickets to fly from RDU in Raleigh N.C. to Cancun. After shopping the site for awhile, I decided to make a bid. I put my bid in for 300.00 and it was accepted, but then it disclosed that I would have to pay an additional $117.00 for taxes and fee's, I was still happy that I found a round trip flight for $834.00.
When I recieved the itinerary, I noticed that both plane tickets were in my name. I did'nt think anything of it, because it advised that it was only a confirmation that my bid was accepted and I would recieve my electronic tickets at a later date.
Today, I recieved an email from priceline confirming the tickets, and I became concerned that my name was still showing on both tickets, so I called Delta because this is who the flight was booked through. I stupidly thought that this was something that was just a oversight on pricelines behalf and that it would be no problem to correct it. You see, when I made a bid on the tickets I never seen a place where I could enter my daughters and her fiance' name. I just gave the credit card number, made the bid, and it was accepted.
The customer service rep from Delta advised me that I would have to call Priceline to have this error corrected. This was just the beginning of a horrible nightmare for me, I have spent the entire day trying to get this mess straightened out.
Then I called Priceline and explained the situation to the CSR for priceline, and she told me that she was very sorry but there was nothing she could do. That the tickets were non-refundable and non-transferrable. I have only flown once in my life and I did not puchase the tickets for that flight, so I am not very knowledgible in this area granted. So, she explained to me that she would have to hang up if there not anything else she could help me with. So I thought, surely there is something that can be done, I'm not asking for my money back, I just need my daughters name and her fiance' name on the tickets. I called Delta back, to no avail, they could'nt do anything, I would need to call Priceline back, this time I talked to a guy who seemed like he really wanted to help, but he told me that pretty much his hands were tied. Now the panic is really starting to set in.
I then googled corporate office for Delta Airlines, assuming that surely because of the recent bailouts someone would be willing to assist me with my dilema, and I did get a very nice lady by the name of Heather that told me that yes the names could be changed, but that I needed to call Priceline back and ask for someone at the help desk, and then the helpdesk could call Delta and make the name change.
I called Priceline back, and got a specialist at the helpdesk, her name was Pam she advised me that there was really nothing that could be done because Delta had to make the name change, I then told her that I spoke to Heather at Corporate and she said that Priceline would have to call them to make the change, she acted confused, but did tell me that she would call Delta and ask to speak to Heather, and I gave her the number in which I spoke to Heather at, She placed me on hold for about 20 minutes, then came back to the phone and advised me that she called and there was no Heather at the number I gave her, and that this was pretty much, just my problem.
I started crying because now I'm thinking about having to tell my daughter that she cannot go on her honeymoon because both names on the ticket were in my name, I asked her why would I purchase two tickets with my name? That would be ludicrious. I even begged and pleaded her to help me out with this situation. I told her that I would go to the Delta counter and take them with me so that we could show proof of I.D. So, then she told me she would Call Delta back and see if she could do something, I was placed on hold again for another 15-20 minutes, she came back to the phone and told me that Deltal would be willing to make the name change for an additional $150.00 per ticket. $300.00 more dollars for me to pay that I don't have. I explained to her that I just do not understand why this is so complicated. She then proceeded to tell me that it was not their fault, that it was Delta's, that Delta set the terms. So, I told her that I would see if I could come up with the money and could I call her back.
In the meantime, I went to a site called jigsaw.com, they have numbers that are difficult to locate, like access to the higher ups in corporate, I got a number for a lady by the name of Carol that was head of customer relations for Delta, she too was not sympathtic or willing too help, she told me that I should go ahead and take the deal from Priceline because it was a very good offer, I asked her why was this so difficult to just make a simple name change, especially considering that I would go to the Delta counter at the airport and provide proof of I.D. She told me that it was not up to Delta to make the change because they were bound by a contract with Priceline, and that also this could be a case of fraud, that someone could have just found the tickets and trying to change the name so they could take the trip, and she added that I could'nt just go to the DMV and have the wrong name put on my drivers license and then go back and expect it to be changed, what is this, does she really think that I would be that stupid.
Bottom line she told me, that this was just not something she could help me with, and that if she did it for me, she would have to do it for everyone, Is this really that big of a problem for the airlines? She also said that she could not make an exception because not everyone lived within driving distance of a major airport, so that would'nt be fair to them if she made the exception for me. So, this is where I am at now, not knowing what to do. I would just like for everyone out there that is considering using priceline to please read the blogs that people have taken time to keep this kind of thing from happening to them, and as for Stephen in Washington that was acting as if everyone on this site were stupid, maybe one day something like this will happen to you, and you will have a little more empathy.
When you have two major companies like Priceline and Delta both pointing the finger to each other, and you can't get anywhere because neither is willing to help, it is very frustrating. No wonder the government is having to bailout all of these major buisnesses, including the airlines. It seems to me that would be doing everything possible to help keep customer retention, instead they are just losing more customers on a daily basis. Maybe, when it becomes a public utility, and they lose their jobs because the government will be in control, like before deregulation, then they too will also be more sympathtic to be in a heart wrenching situation such as the one I'm in now, because now I am going to have to tell my daughter and my future son-in-law that they can't go on their honeymoon because of an error that was not my fault. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to read this, and please if someone is planning a trip, just use the airlines themselves, it maybe a little bit more expensive, but in the long run. WELL WORTH the extra money spent.

Susan
Eden, North Carolina
U.S.A.

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