Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Positive Priceline Refund Experience

I was dreading calling Priceline to cancel my pre-paid car reservation for this weekend in Tampa. For the record, this is the first time I have ever used their service. For some reason I was feeling cheap :o and did not want to shell out $40/day on weekend rental in Tampa. Due to the hurricane all flights were cancelled. I called and waited through the long options tree and messages and finally got a live body. I told them the situatation and they processed the refund in 3 minutes.

Bravo Priceline..... ^

As they should have. I'm glad to see they did the right thing.

Just to clarify - I don't believe that they refunded your reservation because you were feeling cheap. I believe that they made an exception ONLY because it was for this weekend in the Tampa area where a hurricane is heading towards.

I am writing this just in case other people see your post and think that they can cancel just because they feel like it. I have tried to cancel Priceline reservations, and it is extremely hard to do. You agree when you place the bid that the reservation is noncaleable, nonrefundable, and nonchangeable.

I agree Steve. The did the right thing here because of the unusual circumstances. They have no obligation to refund usually.

Steve,

You are 100% correct. I originally used priceline beacuse I was cheap, I had to get a rufund because I had no way to get there (hurricane)....

The Hurricane is considered an act of god, and therefore is the only reason I was able to cancel and get a refund....

Listen...all these travel companies...Priceline or American Airlines, or whatever...they figuratively and literally have a button in their computer they can push to refund your transaction whether the rules call for it or not. Agents at all these companies have tremendous discretion. I have probably used Priceline about 25 times in the last year. There was one time when I missed a hotel reservation. I thought the hotel, since I am a frequent guest, would take care of it and let me stay another night. I didn't even need a refund. However, the hotel gave me the BS Priceline run around about how rules are rules, etc. They must get some kick out of doing this once in a while. I then contacted a travel writer and contacted Priceline. I don't know if the writers intervention had anything to do with it, but shortly there after, I received an email that they would be refunding my money as an exception. I have also heard of cases where people were allowed to use Priceline rooms on different dates than were originally reserved. There was one time also on a Priceline air reservation that I was able to get 3 out of 4 segments upgraded, and one segment was a covetted "double upgrade," from coach to biz to first.

I'm not saying folks should go out of their way to try to change travel plans, but I want people to understand that no matter which one of these companies you are dealing with, they do have a button in their computer they can push to make it right for you. They want you to believe that it is exceedingly difficult for any kind of exception to be made, but really it is just a series of keystrokes that someone would be making in to their terminal. I hate when these companies try to tell you their is absolutely nothing they can do when in fact it is more like "we won't do anything."

That being said usually I book P/L with in about 2-3 days of my need when I am very sure of what I want. Any kind of P/L change you make, besides situations like a hurricane, you will either be very lucky to get an accommodating agent at the supplier you deal with or you will be put through a hassle where you have to call and write Priceline and "beg" for your refund or exchange :).

The Hurricane is considered an act of god

Getting a refund from Priceline is the REAL act of god. ;)

jetsetter - Although I value your opinion, I have to disagree vehemently with your statement above. It may be physically 'easy' for an agent to push a few buttons and refund your Priceline bid, they shouldn't be ever refunding it unless it is an extreme case.

Why? Well, the hotels, airlines, and car rental companies that participate with Priceline all give them inventory at extreme discounts knowing what the 'rules' are (ie: nonrefundable, noncancealable, nonchangeable, etc). We, as consumers, then bid for discounted rooms, flights, cars, etc knowing these ‘rules’ and terms & conditions. This is why the system works and why we can get such large discounts.

If they made it easy to refund or cancel your room, then the whole Priceline model goes out the door (might as well just be like a regular hotel/air/car booking engine like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc). Although it can be frustrating to get a Priceline refund in extreme circumstances (death in the family, acts of g-d, etc), and Priceline doesn't always apply their 'rules' evenly (some people get around the system and get refunds and others don't), I still agree with the principle that it should be extremely hard to cancel a reservation. My only request is that Priceline treat everybody the same and apply the 'rules' evenly.

Getting a refund from Priceline is the REAL act of god. ;)

I Hear an Amen in the Fog,

mrspilot

jetsetter - Although I value your opinion, I have to disagree vehemently with your statement above. It may be physically 'easy' for an agent to push a few buttons and refund your Priceline bid, they shouldn't be ever refunding it unless it is an extreme case...My only request is that Priceline treat everybody the same and apply the 'rules' evenly.

steve100, I'm with you...PL rules should be followed CONSISTENTLY and FAIRLY. I'm an avid PL supporter because over the last 2 years I've saved alot of money while staying in some very fine places. However, I also can understand jetsetter's frustration, too, because customer service is not always doled out consistently or fair or at all.

For example, I booked a 4* PL hotel last year that was questionably a 4* (Embassy Suites). PL later downgraded it to a 3*. I only found that out because when I checked my reservation it had been changed in the PL system to a Congratulations You Won a 3*. Now, if their computer knew to do that to my reservation, I would think the same computer system could have generated a notice to me since I hadn't traveled yet to that hotel. I still had a copy of the 4* res and called PL about the downgrade. PL only offered to refund my reservation (one-time, immediate offer) or I could let the res ride as is. Those were my options. I asked if I could have the opportunity to at least re-bid to ensure I got another room before requesting a refund...PL said no, now or never. I do not think I was being unreasonable to ask for an opportunity to see if something in a 4* was available (or even a 3* at 3* rates since I paid a 4* rate for a 3* hotel) this close to travel date before having to make an "immediate" decision on the refund. At the least, what would it have hurt for PL to say, "I'm noting your account that we will give you a refund due to the recent downgrade of your hotel if you are able to obtain a PL bid that is more satisfactory?" At best, why didn't PL notify me my hotel had been downgraded? I think everyone knows the answer to that and I wouldn't call it FAIR.

Let me reiterate again I've had only 2 bad experiences with PL, the one above and one regarding a hotel itself. Therefore, I'd wholeheartedly recommend PL but, like other travel services, it's not a perfect system. PL doesn't exactly go out of their way to provide customer service. I hope these occasional customer service incidents don't scare off new PL users because, despite a relatively few frustrations it's still the best bargain I know of for hotels.

Sharing PL Opinions in the Fog,

mrspilot