missjanna

This was posted on citibay.com as of September 14th about the problems with Priceline.com
As of Sept. 14, Priceline is no longer a Better Business Bureau member in good standing because of lingering customer complaints and hasn't resolved the underlying causes of customer complaints.. Travelers bid on a ticket and Priceline sees if one of its airline partners can provide it. The conditions are strict: The traveler can't pick the airline, time, or even the specific airport, and sales are final. And once your bid is accepted, you are stuck with the ticket. "You can never change a ticket." William Shatner (Priceline's ad campaign spokeman) -- who, by the way, told CBS he had never used the service to buy a ticket.). For air tickets, the company serves airlines, not travelers, first: Through Priceline, airlines get to dump unwanted seats on unsuspecting users, who end up with odd routings, long layovers, and surly customer service from airline employees, who know they bought cheap tickets and hardly rush to rebook them when flights are delayed.

clark

Ho-hum, sounds like the typical complaints of a customer who didn't bother to read or understand the terms of purchase.

Jen

The scandalous conditions that are spelled out in the first post on this thread are also spelled out clearly in Priceline's web site. If a certain level of service is required in order to join the BBB, then perhaps PL doesn't qualify. But they're honest about their conditions (e.g., odd routings, long layovers), and that's how they keep prices down. I have no problem at all with that. You get what you pay for, and Shatner can probably afford to pay for first-class reserved seats wherever he goes!

Jim

I have to agree that if "missjanna" did any research at all she'd know that these same old tired complaints about Priceline have been articulated over and over and over. If you read Priceline's policies, you know what to expect and won't be surprised. I use them almost everywhere these days and have yet to have a problem. I've cancelled two trips and "eaten" the charges but that's okay because my prices were so low!

Also, travelers CAN pick the specific airport. Priceline gives the option of choosing neighboring airports to get a better chance of winning a bid, but you can hold firm to "LAX to JFK", for example.

Owen O'Neill

If you do some through investigation into the Better Business Bureau's structure you'll quickly understand why it may not matter to Priceline whether they are a member or not. I can understand that the Better Business Bureau charges businesses to belong but as a consumer I was distrubed to find that (in my area at least) in order to get detailed information about reports on a business I would have to call a 1-900 number and pay a hefty price per minute to get the information I sought. Hardly a civic minded service in my opinion.

doc

Two cliche's.. buyer beware...you get what you pay for.

Peggy

I thought priceline.com and hotwire.com were both kind of similar....?? I used hotwire.com to fly between LAX and JFK and was on a PERFECT American Airlines non-stop! Certainly no complaints there. Maybe priceline.com is better with getting good deals with hotels and rental cars than with airlines.(??)

Peggy

Should have added that the American flight was non-stop both ways.

xxx

Concerning the OP; this is hardly new information. Those of us that use priceline do understand the terms.

gail

The same could be said about many venues where one purchases goods or services off-price. Of course, buyer beware and you get what you pay for - but there are bargains to be had for those who are informed, suspicious and willing to spend the time to do the legwork.

For example, some good deals at flea markets, antique shops, discount stores - but also a lot of junk. Some of us also enjoy the bargain hunt. Even on things for which I could easily afford to pay full price, I get a thrill out of getting it for less.

The key here is "unsuspecting users". No one has an excuse for being an uninformed user of Priceline - the rules are right out there. Sometimes I choose to play by their rules, and sometimes I book using another method.

celeb

The original post was moderately interesting until I got to the part about Wlliam Shatner.

I am shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- that Shatner doesn't actually use Priceline. What's next? Martha Stewart doesn't shop at Kmart?

It's enough to shake your faith in humanity.

Dick

I was going to try Priceline. But BEFORE placing a bid, I read their terms and conditions and decided that Priceline wasn't for me.

You have to figure that one a company's niche is based solely on price...there have to be conditions attached.

As much as some people knock Southwest they will allow you to credit the cost of unused tickets for future travel. To me that is worth something.

You get what you pay for.

missjanna is

missjanna, wake up. The BBB is the biggest scam in this country! Basically, any business who pays the annual fee is listed as a BBB member. I used to think a BBB symbol meant something, but it's a money-making business just like any other. And priceline makes no secret about their policies -- the complaints probably come from people who bid and think "yeah, but I bet *I* won't get a long layover, I'm only flying from A to B --" then they get a layover and are pissed that they can't change the ticket. Caveat Emptor.

Patty

The above poster is absolutely correct. The BBB is simply a paid for listing. I used to trust them too until we started getting their sales pitches at our company. They use telemarketers that basically try to get your attention by saying that they have negative information on your company. Once you start questioning them, they then reveal that they are just trying to get to buy a membership. At least this is the case with the SoCal branch. I actually called the BBB once to complain about their own sales tactics, quite ironic huh?

Sam

LOL, Patty! Were they a member?

xxxxxx

I've used pricelone 6 times this year and have NO complaints for hotels. Now think, if you pay $80.00 for air travel across the US don't you think you'll end up with the worst routes? Common sense here. They still get you where you need to go for less in case of an emergency.

Candee

I would have to agree with the earlier poster that based on my own experience, priceline.com is probably the best with hotels (haven't tried rental cars)not airlines. I bid successfully to fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (a 40 minute flight or a 3 1/2 drive from my home in Corona)....I won alright...a flight on America West that changed planes and had a layover in Phoenix!! It ended up being about a 3 hour ordeal. I was pretty disgusted considering there are a zillion non-stops each day from LAX to Las Vegas on many major airlines. At least I DID KNOW that this was a possibility when I bid though so I had no one to be angry with but myself. It seems that hotwire.com is the better site for getting non-stop flights based on my own experience as well as other family members. I still will use priceline.com for hotels though. I just don't always feel comfortable giving my credit card before I even bid....oh well, it's their candy shop and they'll make the rules!

KenCT

I, too, had been hesitant to use Priceline/Hotwire. Then all the positive comments here and on Bidding For Travel got to me. Did my homework, read all the FAQ's, and made my first move last spring. Haven't looked back since.

Since then my biggest bargain was a $312 round trip (Hotwire) from Newark to Anchorage last August. Most recently I stayed at the Toronto Renaissance last weekend for $40US/night. My last pre-Priceline hotel in Toronto was a Comfort Inn for three times that. You do the math.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you have definite airline or hotel preferences you shouldn't use these services. It's as simple as that. If you're willing to be flexible and take responsibility for your choices when you hit that "Buy" button, you cannot beat these services.

xx

I thought I knew what I was doing. I looked at all the 3*s I could get (I thought), and all seemed ok. Only thing is, not every hotel you might get is on the list! I got a 3* that wasn't and got exactly what I paid for, alright. Now you know this going in, but you just don't expect it's going to happen!! That was my one and only venture and never again!

Also, I understand that hotels give THEMSELVES the # of stars they want and no one checks it out. There are no controls, other than what the hotel puts on itself!!

jvs

Martha DOESNT shop at Kmart??!!