- Report: #1434004
Complaint Review: Hotwire - San Francisco California
Reported By:
Stephanie -
Los Angeles, California, United States
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Hotwire
San Francisco, California, United States
Web:
www.hotwire.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Hotwire They cancelled my flight and said they were going to refund but they did not San Francisco California
Never book from Hotwire unless you want to be deceived. I purchased a flight from Kayak which led me to hotwire for a return trip to Bali, Indonesia last december. The flight consisted of two legs which was from Los Angeles to Taipei and Taipei to Bali, Indonesia. A few days before my flight, one leg was completely cancelled due to Volcanic activities in Bali so I would have been stranded in Taipei. I contacted Hotwire and they arranged me on another flight NOT informing me that this change will void me from a refund if they cancelled again. The day after the airline cancelled my new flight and at this point I called Hotwire to ask for a refund and they informed me this was impossible. After 6 hours on the phone, being disconnected and reconnected again to countless customer service representatives who seemed to have no clue what they are doing they finally processed my refund.
I even received a refund email saying it will be processed within 5-7 business days. A few weeks go by and I realize that the refund has not hit my account so I call hotwire to try to locate it. This is where they start changing the story. Saying they cannot refund me because I changed the flight and then telling me to contact the airline instead. I brought up saying that I have a copy of their email saying the refund is processed and to tell me what my refund status is. Each time I wanted to talk to a manager I would be placed on hold for up to an hour then suddenly the line would disconnect.
Other times when I did get a manager because he had to contact the airline he asked me to provide a call back number and they never called me back! This happened over the course of one month and I should have just disputed the transaction with my bank but they kept giving me hope and I did not out of good faith. Finally the time ran out and it had been over 2 months since I booked that cancelled flight without a flight nor the refund promised when I called and threatened to report them to Ripoffreport or BBB and surely enough they got on the ball but managed to only refund me partially, claiming the airline had to take a "change flight fee" so I accepted this since not only have I wasted so much of time but I dont want to decline seeing this is their best offer. They promised this is processed right away and that was almost 3 weeks ago.
I check my account, and still no 'partial' refund today. I called them earlier and I keep getting the same clueless representative unable to give me any accurate update as to when I can expect the partial funds back in my account. From the promised 5-7 business days they are now saying 6-8 weeks. Then the line disconnects again. This company just takes your money and has 0 customer service. I will never book from them ever again. Not only did I have to purchase a last minute flight that cost me double, I spent about 20 hours in total with them on the phone if not more, and until now my refund that was promised has not been received. I feel completely ripped off and unhappy with the way things have been dealt. I strongly suggest to purchase your flights and travel else where.
