Complain about a product or service

Priceline

Priceline • Air Travel • Wrong Airport! • Cruises • Hotels • Rental Cars • Compassion Policies • Cancellation Insurance • Disputed Charges • Defenders • Insider's View --- • Priceline Faces Class Action Suits

The idea of Priceline is appealing. It presents itself as auctioning off unsold seats, beds, etc. But the reality can sometimes be quite a bit different, as the complaints below illustrate. You may be able to get better arrangements for the same price by planning ahead and shopping around. Priceline tends to book travelers on flights that leave at odd times and that require multiple connections.

Other things to be aware of:

• There is little customer service when you are a Priceline traveler. If your plans go awry, it's not likely a quick call to an 800 number will help.
• The airline will not help you and will absolutely not let you exchange your ticket. You don't own the ticket, Priceline does. Even if the airline wants to be helpful, there's not much it can do.
• Priceline fees and surcharges are sometimes higher than those charged by travel agents and airlines, so you may end up paying more even if the ticket price is lower than you might find somewhere else.

Also, remember that Priceline's "secret" is that while the customer specifies what price he is willing to pay, he must commit to pay that price. There's no backing on once the other party accepts the offer. It's important to understand this upfront and to do your price shopping before you enter a bid on Priceline.

We have tested Priceline and found it to be a good way to get cheap airline tickets with just a few days notice. But if you have plenty of time to shop around and live near a major airport, you can probably do better by using Orbitz, Travelocity or a local travel agent.

Amongst all the complaints, we've heard from some Priceline defenders, and a Priceline employee.

Just be sure that what they're selling is what you want to buy -- and be sure you're not paying too much for it. Remember, nothing is free.

A few of the most recent complaints:

Rob of Woodstock, GA June 30, 2009

Intended to surprise my wife with a trip to Florida. I purchased the trip insurance so that in case she didnt want to go I could cancel. Meantime, her mother becomes ill and we have to go to Michigan. Her mother was not ill enough to go to the doctor, and had no insurance. Basically, priceline said I had to have a doctor's excuse to cancel, so i would have paid about 200 for my ill mother-in-law to leave the house and go see a doctor so that I could get the 290 back. Priceline is a joke and I would never, ever recommend this website to anyone. They are very misleading about everything they say and do.

mark of Raby, Australia June 26, 2009

When organizing our holiday to the U.S.A. we used a debit mastercard for all our hotels,flights and car hire.One of our bookings was with priceline.com and we used the same debit card to book a rental car in New York.We were instantly charged a sum for collision damage insurance.When arriving at the car rental shop we were told that they didn`t except debit cards.We then had to hire another rental car at a much higher rate.When returning from our holiday I inquired about getting our money reinbursed but were told that it could not be.

Janice of Seattle, WA June 24, 2009

I booked a car rental with Priceline, using the bidding system. I bid 20, then 25/day. It accepted my bid, added the taxes and told me that my total would be 105.00. Then I initialed the agreement knowing I would be paying now to get a better price. The standard price range from others was 32 to 36 /day. When I got to the next page after giving my CC#, they charged me 33/day.

I called and explained what the program had done and they said --we have you signed contract for 33/day.No recourse. I WAS SCAMMED BY Priceline! This had to be programmed in for the program to do this. I know what I saw--they wouldn't have totaled it, if it was not accepted. I am challenging the charge with my bank. Everyone should be warned . DO NOT TRUST Priceline! They could have charged me any amount on the next page, and I would have been on the line for it. They have lost all my business. Please warn the people you care about.

Lou of Kennesaw, GA June 1, 2009

I booked a car rental for pick up in West Palm Beach (PBI) and drop off in Sarasota (SRQ). The first bid was rejected and I was asked if I would like to a) change the car type; b) change the pick up or drop off date c) change the pick up or drop off time. The only item I could be flexible with was the car type and price. I changed it from an economy to a compact and raised the price from 20/day to 25/day. It was then accepted. When the e-mail arrived, the drop off location had defaulted back to the original pick up location (PBI).

I'm now stuck with a pick up and drop off for the same location on the same day. Not at all what I had requested. "Customer relations" did nothing more than to read off of a script telling me that "if the drop off location no longer worked for me..." then they could waive their policy and cancel the reservation...at a cost of 25! That was the cost of the reservation to begin with!

Veronica of Miamisburg, OH May 27, 2009

I made airline tickets for my weddingmoon to Jamaica through Priceline. When I made the tickets. I made the tickets for my fiancee and me. The problem is, I did not realize at the time I needed to also add my fiance's daughter to the tickets. I was under the impression she was flying down with her grandparents. I realized this error just a few hours after I booked. Of course, Priceline would not add my soon to be step-daughter or cancel our tickets. I spoke to 4 diffrent people. No one would budge. They do not care of your circumstances. They have no mercy on anyone.

We ended-up booking our step daughter a ticket through the airlines, costing us 700.00 for her ticket. My mistake. Lesson learned hard. NEVER EVER EVER use priceline. They lost my buisness.

aminta of doral, FL June 1, 2009

I booked a car rental with my credit card --name your price --then they sent me an email and I checked the rate so they charged me for the car! I am trying to get a refund ---

aman of sugar land, TX May 7, 2009

on 3/22/09 Ibought 3 electronics travilling air tickets on line from price line to travil from houston to minneapolis thigh deniver back to houston. they charge me for each ticket 324.90. totla of 3 tickets 974.90. final I called them steted go to dniver riquested direct back to hoston form minneapolice. they said ok you pay only penality, finally they charge me for 3 additional ticket each for 355.01 total 1065.03 pluse 90, total 1155.03 pluse 974.90 total total chrge from my bank 2129.70. I called them may time refused pay me back the diffirenc.

Toni of The Woodlands, TX May 12, 2009

I booked both a car and a hotel through Price Line. Their map of the Budget rental location was incorrect and took me a while to find. By the time I found the rental location it was after noon. AND, they didn't have one single vehicle available. They said Priceline was often wrong. When I got back to my office and contacted Priceline, they said I would be billed for the hotel room, even though THEY booked a car that didn't exist at a location that was incorrect. They would take no responsibility for the cost of the hotel. This is just wrong. They should have assumed the cost due to their negligence. I doubt I will ever use them again.

Richard of Pleasanton, CA May 7, 2009

My daughter used my credit card to buy a flight to return from college. When she went to the airport she discovered priceline.com had put MY name from the credit card information into the Passenger name field, rendering the ticket useless. She called priceline to get them to change it but they wouldn't and offered ME a ticket (since it was in MY name) to use in the next year, with fees that would cost me just as much as the original ticket! Priceline's online system messed this up and they would NOT rectify the situation.

robert of staunton, VA April 29, 2009

I just spent over an hour on the phone trying to cancel my trip. I was disconnected the 1st time after about 15 minutes. Then had a lady who hardly spoke or understood english who ask me why I was canceling my trip (I broke my shoulder rotator cuff). she kept me on line for 20 minutes. Then told me she couldn't do anything for me. Then transfered me to another guy whom I could hardly hear. I can prove that I will be unable to travel because of surgery, I go in tomorrow at 1pm for surgery. That did not seem to matter to them.

I just upset at this how this was handle and the fact that I am not getting over 400 refunded for my airfare. I could understand a charge of 100 or so if you canceled, but when you are hurt in an accident and can prove it and basicly lose the entire airfare it seems ridiculous. He was telling me I have a credit but will be charges a fee of 180 on top of what I spent to get a new ticket. It would be cheaper for me to buy a new ticket than try to use the credit. I'm out at lease the 450 I spent on airfare. If i want to spend 180. I could the use the tickets but iI could probably get a better price on Expedia or Orbitz

Back to the top |