Priceline.com – Overpriced!

yes_2_bargains

Hi. Has anyone else out there had any problems with Priceline.com?

I made a bid for a 4 star hotel which was accepted and then allocated a hotel. I looked at the hotel and found out that if I booked directly with the hotel I would be charged £20 less per room per night. I immediately rang Priceline’s Customer Services, explained the situation and quoted their price promise policy. I volunteered that if easier, I’d rather be upgraded to an executive room which was the right price or that I be allocated a better hotel (it was only 3.5 star not 4 star and above which is what I selected). They said they couldn’t do either. So we had to go through the palaver of going through their processes. We were on the phone for over an hour, the person I spoke with looked at the hotels website, keyed in the same details as I had chosen, calculated the currency conversion and finally conceded that I was overcharged. He confirmed that I would be given a refund of over £80 and that it would be in my account within the next 5-10 working days. I asked for a confirmation email of our conversation but he assured me that everything was on their system and that I didn’t have anything to worry about. That was over a month ago, and no credit still so I followed it up. Their email reply said they have declined my refund request, no explanation whatsoever.

I will continue to pursue the matter with their Customer Services and their complaints Department, but any advice would be very much appreciated. I need as much “ammunition” as possible. Apart from the Trading Standards who else can I make aware of this wrongdoing? How would you go about it if it happened to you?

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from other MSE’rs.

dmg24

From their website:

Priceline's 'Best Price Promise' does not apply to hotels booked using 'Name Your Own Price'.

This will be why your claim has been declined.

GlennTheBaker

Unfortunately, this would appear to be one of those things where you learn and move on. I've used Priceline's Name Your Own Price system many times and have had some fantastic deals. The first time I used it I went in a bit 'blind' but got lucky. I now always do some research on www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com before placing any bids as well as having a cancellable back-up in place in case I get nothing.

rlc22

Unfortunately I'm not sure that you can do anything as it was you who entered the price you would be willing to pay to begin with.

A bit upsetting I know, but probably best to chalk up to experience. Glenn's recommendations of those 2 websites are really good to look at as they can advise on bidding strategies so that you can get the best price. I hope it hasn't totally put you off priceline as you can do really well out of it. In fact, use it again applying a strategy to your bidding and you might be able to save more than the £20 that's the difference now.

yes_2_bargains

Hi All. I did my research before I made the bid- The price I quoted was lower than what it would have been if I was allocated the proper 4 star accomodation. Also, here is the link from their site quoting 100% price refund if available for less on another website. I did not ask for 100% refund, only the difference in the price- over £80. :-(

http://partners.priceline.com/hotels/hotels_guarantee.asp?session_key=3F0011AC400011AC2007073116151201fe41348694&plf=pluk


Extract from page- fyi


Best Price Guarantee

When you Name Your Own Price® for Hotels you can expect to save up to $100 a night over other leading sites.2 That's why we guarantee in writing that you'll always get the best possible price on your hotel. Here's how it works: If, within 24 hours of making your priceline.com hotel purchase, you find a better publicly available price, excluding taxes and fees, on another Web site for the same hotel and dates, call us and we'll refund 100% of the difference.

Voyager2002

I think the key issue is that you were mis-led: apparently you believed you were bidding for a four star hotel, but once you had paid you found that it was not four-star. Since you are not told which hotel is on offer until you have entered into a legally binding contract, it is rather important that descriptions of things like star-ratings are accurate on priceline.

On that basis, I think you would have a valid claim for reimbursement or some alternative arrangement. However, I think you muddied the waters by seeking to invoke a price guarantee that did not apply to your transaction. It is also surprising that the person who answered the telephone did not understand their terms and conditions and promised you a rebate.

I suggest you start again, on the basis that you made a bid for a four-star hotel but that was not what was sold to you. If you paid by credit card you might also like to request a charge-back.

GlennTheBaker

For what city/star rating/price/dates/etc did you bid?

dmg24

yes_2_bargains wrote: »

Hi All. I did my research before I made the bid- The price I quoted was lower than what it would have been if I was allocated the proper 4 star accomodation. Also, here is the link from their site quoting 100% price refund if available for less on another website. I did not ask for 100% refund, only the difference in the price- over £80. :-(

http://partners.priceline.com/hotels/hotels_guarantee.asp?session_key=3F0011AC400011AC2007073116151201fe41348694&plf=pluk


Extract from page- fyi


Best Price Guarantee

When you Name Your Own Price® for Hotels you can expect to save up to $100 a night over other leading sites.2 That's why we guarantee in writing that you'll always get the best possible price on your hotel. Here's how it works: If, within 24 hours of making your priceline.com hotel purchase, you find a better publicly available price, excluding taxes and fees, on another Web site for the same hotel and dates, call us and we'll refund 100% of the difference.

Did you book through the US site or the UK site? It appears they have different rules.

Infidel

yes_2_bargains wrote: »

We were on the phone for over an hour,

I hope it wasn't an 0870 no., or worse. :eek:

yes_2_bargains

Dmg, glenn- I did it through priceline.co.uk, selected name your own price, read “How our service works” which is the link I pasted above- no mention on the price guarantee not being available in the UK, not even in the T&C’s that you have to initial before completing the transaction. (yes- I kept a copy of the T&C).

Voyager – thanks – that’s one I can use. Expedia etc rated the hotel as 3.5 star whereas my bid was for a 4 star or superior.

Infidel – yikes! – no it was an 0800 number. The thought of losing £80 is more than enough for me (that’s one weeks food shopping for my family!).

blindman

yes_2_bargains wrote: »

Dmg, glenn- I did it through priceline.co.uk, selected name your own price, read “How our service works” which is the link I pasted above- no mention on the price guarantee not being available in the UK, not even in the T&C’s that you have to initial before completing the transaction. (yes- I kept a copy of the T&C).

Voyager – thanks – that’s one I can use. Expedia etc rated the hotel as 3.5 star whereas my bid was for a 4 star or superior.

Infidel – yikes! – no it was an 0800 number. The thought of losing £80 is more than enough for me (that’s one weeks food shopping for my family!).

Sorry to hear you've had a bad time with PL.

I take it you didn't read my guide

You should be entitled to a refund of the difference between your winning bid and the actual cost if you'd have paid directly.

Email address I used a while back

UKhotel1@service.priceline.co.uk


Chase them up!