Originally Posted by
MarciaLF
It seems like the days of Priceline being a good deal and reliable have come and gone.
The last time I used them I found out most people at the hotel had paid less, this time they put me 30 minutes from the location I requested in a (three star) dump!
As for the location, I called immediately when it came through that it was not where I requested and they refused to refund it without a $25 charge. I'm done with Priceline and I urge everyone to be really careful. (And don't go for the straight pay -- the prices are always HIGHER than you can get on the hotel website.)
Marcia
This thread will get moved to the appropriate travel bidding forum, but I must say it sounds like your complaint is mostly the result of ill-informed bidding. You will NEVER get a hotel out of the designated zone, which is easily viewable on the website. If you do, I am CERTAIN they will refund your money.
There is an occasional problem of getting a lesser quality hotel than what you think you'll get. What's a "4 star" is, obviously, subjective. I have a severe problem with this about once in every 25 or 30 accepted bids. I have a "questionable" rating about 10 to 15% of the time. You ALWAYS want to bid on the assumption that you'll get "not really a 4 star" and bid below what a 3 star hotel would cost. After all, the only reason to use priceline is to save A LOT of money over what booking direct would cost. If other people were paying less than you for the hotel, you were bidding too much.
Sorry for the pointed reply, but this is how priceline makes their money. Over-bidding. If you ever want to use the service again (which seems doubtful), you want to do some research before naming your price. Betterbidding and biddingfortravel would be two places to start.
BTW, if you ever really screw up a bid and pay more than a published rate, call priceline and they will refund the difference.