Bob
Orlando,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, November 17, 2004
Tim is 100 % right. Priceline has always operated under the premise of price. They do the same thing with airlines as they do with hotels. It's similar to an auction, you input the parameters. They work with hundereds of hotels that feed them rates. Priceline marks that rate up and this is the price they will sell at. If they have a hotel that matches your price, you get that hotel. The catch is, you don't know the specific hotel. In the future, avoid all the headaches and hassles. Book with the hotel directly. Any hotel that is worth staying at will have a lowest rate guarantee on their website which means; that particular hotel chain guarantees you wont find a rate lower on any website than they have on their website. The benefit to you is not only the hotel itself guarantees you have the lowest available rate at that time BUT in the event you experience a problem, they will have the authority to make any adjustments or refunds if necessary. If you go through a 3rd party website such as Priceline or Expedia and pay Priceline or Expedia, then any refund would come from that company. It is just a bigger headache and chances of a refund diminish when you deal with 3rd party providers. BOOK DIRECT in the future and you will know exactly what you are getting and no surprises. Good luck.
Bob
Orlando,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, November 17, 2004
Tim is 100 % right. Priceline has always operated under the premise of price. They do the same thing with airlines as they do with hotels. It's similar to an auction, you input the parameters. They work with hundereds of hotels that feed them rates. Priceline marks that rate up and this is the price they will sell at. If they have a hotel that matches your price, you get that hotel. The catch is, you don't know the specific hotel. In the future, avoid all the headaches and hassles. Book with the hotel directly. Any hotel that is worth staying at will have a lowest rate guarantee on their website which means; that particular hotel chain guarantees you wont find a rate lower on any website than they have on their website. The benefit to you is not only the hotel itself guarantees you have the lowest available rate at that time BUT in the event you experience a problem, they will have the authority to make any adjustments or refunds if necessary. If you go through a 3rd party website such as Priceline or Expedia and pay Priceline or Expedia, then any refund would come from that company. It is just a bigger headache and chances of a refund diminish when you deal with 3rd party providers. BOOK DIRECT in the future and you will know exactly what you are getting and no surprises. Good luck.
Bob
Orlando,#4Consumer Comment
Wed, November 17, 2004
Tim is 100 % right. Priceline has always operated under the premise of price. They do the same thing with airlines as they do with hotels. It's similar to an auction, you input the parameters. They work with hundereds of hotels that feed them rates. Priceline marks that rate up and this is the price they will sell at. If they have a hotel that matches your price, you get that hotel. The catch is, you don't know the specific hotel. In the future, avoid all the headaches and hassles. Book with the hotel directly. Any hotel that is worth staying at will have a lowest rate guarantee on their website which means; that particular hotel chain guarantees you wont find a rate lower on any website than they have on their website. The benefit to you is not only the hotel itself guarantees you have the lowest available rate at that time BUT in the event you experience a problem, they will have the authority to make any adjustments or refunds if necessary. If you go through a 3rd party website such as Priceline or Expedia and pay Priceline or Expedia, then any refund would come from that company. It is just a bigger headache and chances of a refund diminish when you deal with 3rd party providers. BOOK DIRECT in the future and you will know exactly what you are getting and no surprises. Good luck.
Bob
Orlando,#5Consumer Comment
Wed, November 17, 2004
Tim is 100 % right. Priceline has always operated under the premise of price. They do the same thing with airlines as they do with hotels. It's similar to an auction, you input the parameters. They work with hundereds of hotels that feed them rates. Priceline marks that rate up and this is the price they will sell at. If they have a hotel that matches your price, you get that hotel. The catch is, you don't know the specific hotel. In the future, avoid all the headaches and hassles. Book with the hotel directly. Any hotel that is worth staying at will have a lowest rate guarantee on their website which means; that particular hotel chain guarantees you wont find a rate lower on any website than they have on their website. The benefit to you is not only the hotel itself guarantees you have the lowest available rate at that time BUT in the event you experience a problem, they will have the authority to make any adjustments or refunds if necessary. If you go through a 3rd party website such as Priceline or Expedia and pay Priceline or Expedia, then any refund would come from that company. It is just a bigger headache and chances of a refund diminish when you deal with 3rd party providers. BOOK DIRECT in the future and you will know exactly what you are getting and no surprises. Good luck.
Tim
Valparaiso,#6Consumer Comment
Wed, November 10, 2004
Norman, you no doubt got yourself in a bad situation. Unfortunately, I don't hold out much hope for getting your money back. The law's not on your side, nor will Priceline be. Your only real option at this point is probably to beg. I'm not normally one to fault the consumer, but did you notice that the button you clicked after entering all of your credit card information was labeled "BUY MY HOTEL ROOM NOW"? Did you notice that right above that button it says: "If we find a hotel that accepts your price, we'll immediately purchase your hotel rooms on the credit card you provide to us"? Did you stop to think that maybe giving out credit card info when you weren't ready to buy was a bad idea? I hope you are able to get your money back, but I don't see it happening. You're asking Priceline to do precisely what they don't do to make money. Priceline operates in a manner significantly different from other websites. You choose the specs, if they find something matching those specs, you pay for it, and then they tell you exactly what you just paid for. I stay away from Priceline because they don't allow you to compare anything, just plug in your info and buy. Some people like that. I prefer another site (it rhymes with "potfire"). On that site you can see and compare set prices (you still don't see the names of the exact properties) before plugging in your credit card info. Here's one lesson you should definitely take from this: NEVER give a website your credit card info if you don't plan on being charged.