A Problem with Priceline Payment
 

Hi,

My bid was accepted but the bank blocked the charge. Priceline asked for 50% of the amount as preauthorization.

I called PL and they say the reservation is fine.

Is this typical? Do they charge the full amount on a later date? I don't want to end up with any trouble when I show up.

I suppose I could call the hotel.

Thank you!

Also PL claimed the charged 100% already but I am not sure if I believe them as that's not what the bank is showing.

If PL thinks the charge is fine, the hotel is probably going to think it's good as well.

Shouldn't you be talking with your bank?

Well I did but they seemed to have difficulty understanding this was PL. They were telling me hotels preauthorize 50% of charges, but I would have assumed PL wanted 100% up front.

So I an worried that PL would cancel reservation and it might happen when it is too late for me.

These fraud detection schemes are awful.

Your bank has a putz (or several) working for them . . . What the heck does it matter that some >>hotels preauthorize 50% of charges<<. That is just so weird.

That's silly -there are as many different hotel authorization procedures as there are hotel chains.

Plus you aren't even booking w/ a 'hotel'. You are bidding on Priceline.

Inquiring minds want to know . . . What bank???

janisj, let me guess -- it's the same sort of bank who tells people that you don't need to change money in Europe -- they all take dollars now -- or that tells you there are no fees for ATM's there. Or maybe it's one of those banks that says there is no fee for getting foreign currency, but then hits you with an extra 5 or 6% which isn't a fee, it's just an "exchange rate" difference.

:D

Like I said - a staff full of putzes . . .

Well it's a major bank. She was insistent (rude) and kept repeating that it was a hotel reservation so they would have asked for a 50% preauthorization.

I asked to speak to her supervisor, and at first she said that she was the supervisor, and then I said, well, you must have another colleague I could talk to.

So I ended up talking to this guy for a few minutes who was no help whatsoever.

What I don't understand is how the reservation could have gone through on PL. The charge must have been rejected so wouldn't they come back to me and say that my card was rejected? Instead they said that I'd won -- and still show that I have a reservation.

I'll write the hotel. But even if they say they have it now, I don't know if PL will cancel it later. This is a real PITA.

To be honest, I'm not sure if these fraud detection schemes have ever detected any fraud for me.

I suppose it's possible PL has waited to charge the full amount. The bank people said they saw no rejected charges.

What are other people's experiences? I find it a bit hard to believe that PL would wait to charge, as isn't the whole point about PL prepaid and non-refundable?

Since when does a bank decide how much of a charge they will put through on a credit card charge?? You charge, the charge either goes through at 100% or the whole thing gets declined. They don't monitor what the charges are for - is this a US bank??

Priceline no longer requires full prepayment on some reservations. It should have said that when you booked. Was this a name your own price or just a purchase?

The name your own price is non-refundable and gets charged in full upon winning bid. But a regular reservation often says, "Pay when you stay". Others do say, non-refundable. What hotel, what city?

Yes, it's a US bank.

Yes, it's name-your-own-price (as I said, "My bid was accepted").

I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking in your first paragraph. In any case, I don't think that's particularly relevant, unless I'm missing something.

You said that the bank "blocked the charge". Why would it do that?

<i>She was insistent (rude) and kept repeating that it was a hotel reservation so they would have asked for a 50% preauthorization. </i>

Did a charge go through or not? 50%? Look at your account. See what is there.

Every time I have won a bid, my card has been charged in full, right away. No 50%.

The bank suspected fraud, so put a block on the card.

I could see that there was a 50% preauthorization request from PL online. (I'm able to check all my card activity instantaneously on this card -- which is not the case for otehrs.)

"Did the charge go through or not?"

This part is speculation. I suspected PL tried to charge 100% but the card was rejected, as there was a block on it. But the bank said that there were no charges rejected.

So I suspect the sequence of events was like this:

PL asked for 50% preauthorization.
Bank put a block.
PL asked for 100%, charge rejected. (?)

But what I find puzzling is that PL would let my bid be completed. Evidently it must have thought the 50% preauthorization was good enough? But then I called them and they said that it'd been 100% paid, though I suspect it's another case of someone who didn't know what he was talking about.

"Why would it do that?"

As I said, it was their fraud detection program. I've encountered this a lot. I've even had cases when I've called them to say I'd be traveling and then still get the card rejected.

Fraud detection creates more headaches for me than it's worth, to be honest.