PricelineReviews 2,679

I booked my hotel with priceline after comparing the prices of the hotels listed prices with other sites. After my stay, the amount on the bill at the hotel checkout was $86. Priceline had charged me $106 for the room. I contacted customer service, asking that they refund me twenty dollars. I provided the hotel bill and they told me they would do nothing for me. Never again will I use this site. What a waste of money and terrible customer service!

I reserved a hotel for san antonio and pre-paid the room to make sure we would have somewhere to stay when we arrived. The hotel cancelled the reservation because we arrived 20 minutes late. I called priceline so they could find another hotel but were unable to help me. I pre paid the rooms because it was Spring break and knew all would be full. I went to like 30 more hotels and nothing. Priceline would refund me my money but it would show in my account in 5 business days. I did not have a room for all of my 5 kids, we had to sleep in a parking lot until 7:30 when I went to a small hotel who probably felt pitty for us and got a king size bed for 6 of us. Price line did not do anything to help us out. All they could offer was a refund wich was no good since we felt like homeless people. I will NEVER use priceline again.

Their "BEST PRICE GUARANTEE" is very DECEITFUL! While booking my vacation package with a sales representative at Priceline, I was informed that as part of their "Best Price Guarantee" program, that I had until the day my trip started to inform them if I find a cheaper package on another website (i. E. Travelocity, Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz, etc). I got this confirmed twice before I hung up the phone. I didn't know anything about a "price guarantee" or that one even existed, so as anyone would be, I was excited to hear that I had until the day of my trip to inform them of finding a cheaper vacation package (as long as it was the same hotel, flight itinerary, etc). They said that if I find a cheaper package "ANYTIME before my vacation started" they would refund me the difference and send me a $25 priceline voucher.
It wasn't even a week later that I found my exact same vacation package (same hotel, same flight itinerary, etc) for $200.00 less on Travelocity.com. So I called Priceline thinking that they would honor their claim but they told me that I was misinformed by the Sales Representative and that I really only had 24 hours after booking to let them know about a cheaper package.
I was very disappointed. I would have been fine had I been told the truth on the front end by the Sales Representative that I only had 24 hours to inform them of a cheaper package. But because of this deceitfullness, I don't anticipate booking another vacation through Priceline.

I believe I was purposely tricked into booking an extra car rental with a expertly placed request of "do you want to add a rental car" button right after my flight confirmation. I had already asked to have a rental car with the flight and filled out all the info once then it only gave me back confirmation about the flights and the totals for the flights and asked me about adding a rental car, so I clicked on this - I ended up with both rental cars booked. The customer service people (after much holding and stalling and I imagine hoping I'd hang up) just insisted they could not cancel either reservation. Damn them. How could they call this customer service at all?

Purchased airline tickets three months in advance of our travel and bought their travel insurance as well. Two months prior to travel the airline cancelled our flights and refunded the cost of our tickets in full. Priceline however would not refund the cost of the insurance even though it was for flights that were two months away and were eliminated by the airline itself. Bottom line... buyer be ware, when you pay for travel insurance with Priceline the money is gone regardless of the circumstances and even if the airline pulls the plug on the flights months in advance of the trip.

If you want to pay outrageous amounts then go to this website!
If you go onto the website and see a GREAT deal... you will soon find out it is just a catch to get you to spend more!

I called them and the package for two was suppose to be 500 dollars and they set it up and then it was o it went up 11 dollars so I said that was fine... then it jumped all the way to 723 dollars because suddenly in about 2 seconds it had become unavailable.

Needless to say when I asked about it they had no answers were extremely rude to me and said o sometimes the internet may be wrong we have the MOST updated prices... HAHAH then I continued to check out the website because they told me maybe the website was slightly slower and it was still the same price for a week after o and I just looked and still there!

I however went to a different website. Got a round trip direct flight, free baggage, 5 nights in a hotel, two free day trips, and money back gurantee for nearly half the price and am completely satisfied!

Don't let these people trick you

I was only trying to book a vacation for my birthday and was treated like CRAP!

I Have used Priceline for several reservations and, until now, I have been satisfied with the service. I have not felt fooled or deceived in any way. This past weekend I bid on a hotel room in Downtown montreal. I was taking my wife and kids there for the weekend to enjoy the city.

I first put a bid on the room but it was not sufficient. The website advised then to increase the bid by $20 and the request was accepted. I was then surprised to see that i had TWO RESERVATIONS MADE FOR THE SAME BID IN THE SAME LOCATION (DOWNTOWN MONTREAL). When I called priceline, they told me that the reservations were not cancellable, refundable, ect. And that I basically had to pay the two different hotels.

It is obviously extremely enraging and frustrating to be charged twice in the first place and the lack of response from priceline was even more disappointing.

Why would I make two separate requests for the same dates, locations, at the same bid price? Why would priceline.com process two similar requests for the same customer at the same bid price?

Their system is highly prone to system errors, honest mistakes, and their inflexible policy does not provide any safety measures to consumers.

I booked a refundable flight, and tacked on a rental car. Then I realized I didn't need the rental car and tried to cancel. Unfortunately, it only said in the fine print that the rental car could not be canceled, even a month in advance.

The fine print said that the rental car could not be canceled if you purchased with the "Name your price" plan. I was never asked to name my price or told I was purchasing with the name your price plan, so this basically seems like a scam. To top it off, it says nothing about the car being non-refundable until you're almost done with the payment (I went through it again to verify this)

This seems ridiculous to me, because other sites like orbitz and yahoo travel allow you to completely cancel rental cars up to 24 hours in advance.

The agent tried to get me to just suck up the loss, but I got angry and asked to speak to their manager. Eventually, they told me I could only cancel the rental car if I also canceled the flight, and payed a $36 fee.

No way to cancel the rental car without canceling the flight?! You gotta be kidding me. It's not like the rental cars come attached to the plane.

They talk about how great their negotiator is in their ads, but instead of him negotiating for you, it's more like you're negotiating against him.

Stay away from this site. Use orbitz or yahoo travel, which both have much better customer service, and allow rental car cancellations.

Be careful with Priceline.com! I booked a hotel on 9/16/2010 for $343. After that I never received any confirmation emails. Two days later, I called them but was told the booking on 9/16/2010 was not found in their system so I decided to make another identical reservation on 9/18/2010. When I checked my credit card bill two days ago, I saw the booking on 9/16/2010 was charged. Priceline.com refused to issue any refund. Their attitude is:"We made a mistake but you have to pay for it!" Their customer service is a disaster, very unhelpful and rude.

I will never ever visit their website again. They are just a bunch of cheaters.

On September 15,2010, I used Priceline.com to book a hotel room. My hotel receipt was for $121.55. Priceline charged my credit card $151.26. I entered into agreement with Priceline to provide a hotel for the "BE$T PRICE GUARANTEED". Priceline not only failed to meet their guarantee, but they also proceeded to charge me more than the actual cost of the hotel. I was traveling on business and turned-in my expense statement using the hotel receipt. I just received my credit card statement showing Priceline charged my more than the cost of the hotel room and it is now too late modify my expense statement and recover my costs. I called Priceline's Customer Service and explained the situation and was told they could not refund the difference because I had agreed to the price. I explained I agreed to the price based on Priceline's guarantee. Priceline failed to provide the services I paid for, which is a guarantee I can't get the room for less. If Priceline does not fulfill their advertised guarantee, I will spend a great deal of my spare time posting this story online and in many, many service reviews on Priceline.

Here is Priceline's response:
Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you have been charged more by us than the hotel for your reservation at the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn and would like to receive the difference in rates according to our Best Price Guarantee.

We apologize; however, your claim for the Priceline Best Price Guarantee can not be accepted.

In order to qualify for the Priceline Best Price Guarantee, we require that you contact us within 24 hours of purchase and prior check-in. The reason we ask you to do this is because prices are constantly changing, and it's important that we have the ability to compare pre-check-in pricing.

You can review our guarantees on our website at www.priceline.com.
Please click on the Help link at the top of our home page and enter the word "Guarantee" as a search topic.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

Amit L.
Customer Service Specialist

If I would have received my credit card bill within the 24 hour window, I could have responded, but from responses I've received from Priceline so far, it would not have made any difference.

Counter strategy when using Priceline.com: sure they say that once you make a reservation you cannot change it, but years ago, I discovered how to deal with this sort of nonsense. I had a client who ran a bridal store chain and after working with him saw that his customers could not trust him; he'd keep their money anyway he could if they didn't like a gown they bought from one of his stores. He confided, though, that if his customers used a Visa card he was pretty much at a loss if they complained to the card company. What it comes down to is this: if Priceline books you with a dirty motel, which they recently did when I selected their hotel, just phone up your Visa issuer and say you decline to pay, that the hotel you discovered reading reviews, or whatever, is not what it should have been. Priceline may well have charged your card immediately after you make the reservation, but as long as you actually don't stay at the motel you should, judging from my experience, get the amount refunded. Maybe even if you do stay but find the hotel deplorable you can get a refund. Visa will say that will suspend the charge while they investigate, and may require that you write a letter explaining what was wrong. I'm sure you can abuse the system and Visa may not be well disposed if you do this a lot. I believe once I tried the same with another credit card company, which would not accept my decline to pay declaration.

HIDDEN HOTEL FEES! USERS BE WARE!

I booked a room with The Village Lodge at Mammoth on 5/17/2010, Request Number: 138-197-692-57. My billing came out to
Room Subtotal: $416.25 (USD)
Taxes and Fees: $54.12 (USD)
Total Room Cost: $470.37 (USD)
While at the resort, I did not incur any additional charges like ordering room-service, order pay-per-view, or take linens etc. When I checked out of the hotel, they charged me a "resort fee" of $68.25.

I called Priceline customer service, they claimed that this fee is an "incidental charge" and cannot be refunded. This is the first time, out of tens if not hundreds of online hotel booking, domestic or international, where I was charged additional hidden fees at the end of my stay. While $68.25 isn't going to break the bank this time, I have no way of knowing that next time I book a hotel with priceline, I won't be stuck with a hidden fee of hundreds or thousands of dollars.

I too had one (and believe me ONLY one) bad experience with these clowns. It's all hype and no substance. Those ridiculous commercials only exist because Bill Shatner got buried to the elbows in the original stock offering back in the late 90s before the "dot com" bust happened.

FIND your hotel somewhere like hotels.com. Take a little extra time to CALL the hotel and handle your OWN booking. Same thing with the airlines. You just have to ask for a special rate and they almost always give it up. For airlines, there are promotional priced seats (ask them for a "Q" status seat) on every flight. They are limited but you can score them pretty easily. I have traveled extensively and seen almost every trick in the book, and know a few myself. I also recommend avoiding this site, it will not perform as advertised.

Priceline is a scam... Buyer BEWARE!
I bid $180 per night on Priceline Name Your Price for a 4 star hotel in Miami in May 2010. I was given a reservation for the Sonesta Bayfront Hotel. When I looked up the standard room rates on line for the exact dates, I discovered that $180 is the standard room rate for this hotel. I complained to Priceline Customer Service and was told that Priceline does NOT guarantee discounted hotel rates. I was told that Priceline ONLY guarantees that the reservation cannot be changed or cancelled or refunded under ANY circumstances whatsoever.

Therefore, I am now unable to change or cancel my hotel reservation after paying the FULL standard room rate under deceptive business practices by Priceline. Priceline no doubt benefits financially at my expense (under the guise of being a "discount" website.) BUYER BEWARE!