Complaint Review: Priceline Priceline.com - Internet

Other than using Priceline a couple of times I have NO relationship with Priceline, or any other travel company.  But really do get a good laugh out of it when people accuse me of being an employee(as I can't really see what other relation they think I may have) when they don't agree with what was said.  Then they feel justified to use the employee excuse to ignore everything that was said. 

First of all you HAD to have entered the bid amount because it requires that BEFORE you enter your CC information.   Whether or not you "remember" doing that or not is another matter. 

Second I don't know what companies you have dealt with but I have never been "forced" to sign a contract.  I have never been tied to a chair, had a gun stuck to my head, or had the threat of my first born being taken.  When I read the terms if I don't like them or don't understand them I get up and walk away(or in this case close the web page).

In the end you can ignore everything that was said, but I really do hope that you take this as a learning experience before you enter any Credit Card or personal information into a web site.  Because unless you fully understand what you are getting into you have no idea what the card or your information would be used for.  Just as companies can not "force" you to sign a contract, I do not know of any companies that "requires" a credit card to just register as a user.  If there is one it is not a site I would be visiting.

Sara,
I know plenty of folks have a great experience with these guys. I unfortunately didn't. I also know there are quite a few people that have had the same problem. When I entered my credit card number I thought "this is odd...seeing as how I don't know what the costs are". Their process is counter-intuitive. Even on an Ebay auction you can contact the seller and work with them to find a solution. Ebay is an auction site, you know this going in so you're careful not make a mistake. When you bid on Ebay you actually have to enter your maximum bid or the process doesn't go forward. You also don't need to enter your cc number until you win...and then even then you're doing it on Paypal. Priceline, if you've never used it before is part auction site and part legitimate travel site with set prices and there's a fine line separating the two. I forgot to mention in my original posting that as soon as I found out there was no turning back a total of 11 minutes went by before I called them to cancel.


Robert,
You're obviously somebody that patrols these sites to just be as contrary as possible. As far as I know you have some closer relationship to this company. The fact of the matter remains regardless of your points. At no time did I enter a bid amount. There is a glitch in Pricelines system. I was actually shocked when I was informed of 'winning". I entered my cc number and initialed the "contract" because as with most sites you need to register to do anything. I thought this was part of that process. Have you ever taken a wrong turn driving? There are signs everywhere but it usually doesn't mean you lose anything...especially $300+. I'm not trying to defraud the company or admit to anything other than it was an innocent mistake that doesn't deserve a $300 loss on my part on top of poor customer service that will just sit there and repeat the rules over and over again without realizing that in most places NOT getting something but paying for it is criminal....just because a contract is signed doesn't mean that the company can't break it in the case of a mistake that was called in 11 minutes after the "bid" was made...or that the contract is even fair to begin with.

Big companies can "force" you to sign a contract. They have high powered lawyers working with language in an effort to legally get the consumers money with little recourse. We as consumers are taken advantage of on a daily basis and thank god for sites like this where I can find others who've had the same problems with the same company. "Stole" is a correct word with regards to this encounter. I am out $300+, no services rendered, no goods exchanged, an error was realized almost immediately and a good faith effort made on my part to rectify. Hit me with a cancellation fee...don't take all my money....especially in this economy.

They admitted they entered their credit card number, unless they are saying that somehow Priceline magically guessed at their credit card number(and all of the verification information).

Unfortunately this company takes all your credit card info before you realize you made a mistake.

They even admitted that they entered their initials which is to VERIFY that they have READ the terms that state that they are bidding and if accepted their credit card would be charged.

Even after initialing a contract I was unaware that I was bidding on a trip I was researching

Then on top of that Priceline just magically came up with an amount of $600 because they did not enter in any amounts

I entered no amount. I physically did not enter on my keyboard any numbers so I have no idea how it could have happened. I was charged over $600

Yep it was ALL Pricelines fault...

No..in reality they bid on a trip and once they found out the times of the flight they couldn't do it so they figured they could get out of it.  Yet that is the purpose of bidding they do not give you the details until the end.  Unless you are flexible in the times you can go you should not bid, and go through other more standard methods.  But to come here and post that they didn't enter in any information and was just "researching", if true should be a very good lesson to actually read what you are agreeing to before you enter in any personal information into ANY web site.  But the OP is actually very lucky as up until recently they did not allow the cancellation of any portion of the trip.

As for the suggestion of having the OP turn it over to their credit card company.  Most likely Priceline will come back and with the fact that they entered their initials that said they accept the terms, any dispute would be denied.

I've used Priceline a few times and never had a problem.  I was able to research prices, hotels and different flights before I made a final selection.  When you try the "save 50% option" and can't pick and choose where you are staying, you are still able to get ballpark figures of what you would be paying BEFORE you even give your credit card number.  At some point, you must have entered your credit card information.  Once you do that, you need to be careful. 

Is there any way you can take it up with your credit card company to get the money back?