osborn11

I recently went online to Priceline and put in a price of $150 per ticket - total for 3 tickets of $592. I had to put in my credit card number and initials. I was then taken to a screen that said Check My Status, which I clicked on, and was taken to a screen that said my price was accepted - but for $388 per ticket, a total of $1165!!! Twice the amount that I authorized.

Priceline has absolutely refused to negotiate at all. They claim that I authorized this amount, even though their "proof" is a completely different request number that doesn't show up anywhere else.

We consulted with a lawyer who advised us to get word out and find other people who have had similar problems with Priceline. Even the bank is very familiar with cases of people having similar claims.

So, if any of you out there have had problems with Priceline, I would be very interested in hearing from you!!

You can reach me at [email protected]

Thanks!!

Andrew

Well, your first call should have been not to your lawyer but to your credit card company, which should allow you to dispute the charge. If you have a good record with them, they'll investigate and you have a shot at having it reversed (if you dispute something every week with them your odds are not as good). I see no reason even to call a lawyer unless your credit card company doesn't cooperate - unlikely.

As part of the investigation, the credit card company will contact both you and Priceline, and Priceline will have to provide some proof that you indeed authorized said amount. I'm guessing they will have to have some sort of electronic paper trail to back up such claims - e.g. a log file showing the form data you entered and submitted, along with your IP address, etc. This must be a comon thing in e-commerce when such requests are audited, so requesting information about your transaction should not be unusual for them.

If Priceline has been a common issue and you are with one of the big credit card companies, they will have encountered it and know how to handle it. Your CC company will probably have had to figure out the difference between some schmoe having second thoughts and lying about authorizing the request and someone who has a legitmate case. They'll also consider how often people dispute Priceline transactions vs. other types of e-commerce, though I admit Priceline's is a unique way of doing business. But, internet transactions are not new territory anymore.

Andrew

lcuy

I had a very similar thing happen a couple years ago... bid $400 or some on a Honolulu to San Diego trip...checked it carefully before hitting the final "send" and then was horrified to see I'd won a $400 LA to San Diego flight!

I couldn't reach Priceline right away...their phone number was buried very deep, so I called my Visa company. They said they would pay Priceline, as the charge is specifically authourized by your bid.

Luckily (??) when I finally reached Priceline, they said each customer is allowed one mistake (nevermind that it was a computer mistake, not mine!).

I think that I was allowed to bid again on the HNL-SAN route, and if I couldn't get it for the $400 or so dollars, I would be refunded the money. In the end, I got my charge reversed, but I was so upset, I've never used Priceline again.

emd

This is a scary thought. I wonder if this only happens on flights, or has anyone ever had it happen ona hotel, where you bid on one and get a different one, or get a different rate, different city, etc.?

emd

I just cheked eopinion.com for "priceline" and scanned the many results. I saw some where this had happened to people, being billed more than they authorized (one by jlowery), although these posts are a few yrs old, but you might want to scan them for how they resolved it.

nytraveler

If you can;t resolve it any other way just take them to small claims court - its easy and painless - and usually operated on the basis of what' sensible. Chances are PL would not even bother to send anyone to dispute it.

JohnNewOrleans

"fraud" is a strong word. This implies Priceline is trying to "screw" the customer. In reality, it's probably a computer glitch!

osborn11

Thanks for all the responses.

Actually, I did all I could do with the credit card company. I first went to my bank, who gave me the money back while it was in dispute. (They said they've had lots of Priceline complaints.) But since Priceline gave them some sort of "proof" with my initials, they said they don't have any chargeback rights and took the money back out of my account. That's when we called a lawyer. Small claims court is the next step.

It was kind of interesting - it took Priceline 2 days to actually send me anything with my initials on the higher price - and even then the request numbers didn't match up. The first 2 people I talked to said that they would send me proof, but when I looked at their emails, my initials weren't there - then when the "proof" finally came 2 days later - it was with a different request number.

I'm convinced that originally what happened was a computer glitch - I don't think that Priceline is intentionally ripping people off. But I do think that once they become aware of the situation, and refuse to negotiate in any way to return the money they took out of my bank account unauthorized, that it then does become fraud.

If anyone else has a Priceline problem, or has heard of any, or read any, please email me your story or the links.

Much appreciated!!

Teresa

vacationdreamer

re: "fraud" is a strong word. This implies Priceline is trying to "screw" the customer. In reality, it's probably a computer glitch!

Well, if there is a computer glitch that Priceline refuses to reimburse customers for, so that you bid $150 and get charged $388, that sounds like getting screwed to me!

antlori

I have used Priceline many times but only for hotels and never had a problem. But everytime I put in a bid and hit the enter button, I have a moment of panic thinking that maybe I've screwed up and put $600 instead of $60. I always agonize until it finally comes back with an answer.

Elizabeth

I hope this gets straightened out. My experiences with Priceline so far have all been fine.

If you need help have you though of the Conde Nast Traveller ombudsman feature?

Also, have you written to the highest officer of Priceline? And to their legal department? just a few thoughts.

osborn11

Yes, I have talked to quite a few people at Priceline. I got someone on the Management Team, Barbara Ayers, who just kept reciting policy to me like everyone else.

She kept saying that contractually they can't change the price of a ticket, so I asked her if they could simply change the amount of money they were taking out of my account, and leave the price of the ticket the same. I said that I can't imagine that Delta Airlines would care if they refunded some money to me. To which Barbara curtly repled, "No, Delta wouldn't care, but we're not going to do it. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Then she hung up on me.

coast2coast

My wife tried to find a hotel for me that would give us a good rate for 21 days. When the screen came up about possible matches, it included several nice extended stay hotels with kitchenette type suites. She clicked OK and learned that she had booked me into a Holiday Inn (worst one in the city) with no fridge or kitchen or anything. To add insult to injury I called the actual hotel and was quoted a rate $3.00 less than the Priceline rate. They refused to honor the price warranty.

Priceline will not work with you and they do practice bait and switch. Years ago I used them with success, but of late they have become an organized ripoff.

Andrew

Steve, your story doesn't quite make sense. Priceline books hotels for you in two ways: through blind bidding (you pick a zone, quality level, and price and only find out the hotel if your bid is accepted) and through traditional booking as you can do with any other travel site. If your wife did blind bidding, Priceline would not give her examples of which hotels she was going to get (only examples of possible hotel name brands). It seems like she confused some price offers for traditional booking (in which price and hotel are openly disclosed) with blind bidding, in which you don't know any of that.

Sounds like, unfortunately, your wife made a mistake and never meant to bid for the kind of hotel she wound up bidding for. With blind bidding, Priceline does not allow you to select amenities like "kitchenette". Priceline does guarantee certain amenities per quality level, but none guarantee kitchenette, microwave, etc. as far as I know.

Andrew

Anonymous

Steve, your story confuses me, too, especially the part about "When the screen came up about possible matches, it included several nice extended stay hotels with kitchenette type suites." I've used PL a lot in the past year, don't recall seeing any such lists, and wouldn't keep using it if I ever felt ripped off.

I suspect that osborn's experience was some computer glitch that PL should have remedied, but he can't prove he didn't overbid the same as your wife did.

WillTravel

Steve's report sounds more like Hotwire (which does show amenities) than Priceline.

Who can say what happened with the wrong prices for the airfare? Is it possible you accidentally accepted a counteroffer?

Note that with hotels, Priceline will refund you the difference if you find a lower rate online. So if by some horrible mistake you did bid $600/night for a $60 room, you would be able to get most of that money back. In the case of Hotwire, they will provide double the difference.

See http://www.betterbidding.com for extensive discussion. I'd urge osborn11 to post his/her winning bid and problem there also, in case someone can help.