fwfdan

In no way can priceline keep the money when the carrier changes the flight. There is something in the airline industry called conditions of carriage that includes rule 240 that addresses changes in service, specifically addressing schedule changes.

You are entitled to a refund. If Priceline refuses the Department of Transportation might be interested in knowing that priceline believes it can invalidate US Airways conditions of carriage.

alhcfp

It seems that everyone is forgetting the the airline refunded the purchase price to Priceline. Therefore, Priceline needs to refund it it back to the customer.

jabez

While I understand PL's hard line re. it's rules,I can't understand why they sometimes don't see the big picture. Ask most "average" travelers why they don't use PL.They will probably tell you about a "horror story" they heard re. PL. There are times when "giving in" creates good will.This is one of those times.

MoreMiles

People who support Priceline's nonrefund policy should realize that most tours, car rentals, or even hotel bookings also cannot be cancelled. If you make plan to catch a tour AFTER you have the Priceline ticket, would it be fair to get a call at the airport or the night before telling you the flight is cancelled or changed?

The "anytime of the day" agreement is for BEFORE purchase. Now the contract is signed by the ticket purchase, you enter ANOTHER agreement.

Think about this, a used car dealer can offer "any car made in 1990" deal. You pick the year and make, and they find you a car. Once the sales contract is signed, you then went to buy some accessories for a Cavalier. Then the day before you went to pick up the car, after the purchase contract is SIGNED, the dealer gives you a Civic. Is this right? How about all the stuff you bought for your car, especially if they are not refundable? The car purchase agreement was already decided at the time of charging the payment. It is determined and agreed. It's then either that deal or no deal.

Priceline customers (JS especially) should understand this, this is your right. The agreement discussed here is different at different stages of the game!
It's the same thing as

mpeter

I've had almost the same problem happen to me with a past Priceline itinerary. USAirways significantly altered the flight schedule about a month after I won the bid on Priceline. They worked with me to find alternate routes but were unable to find anything close to the original schedule and agreed I should be issued a refund.

I contacted Priceline but they refused to issue a refund. I ended up writing a complaint to the BBB and about 2 weeks later I received a phone call from someone in Priceline's executive offices. They agreed I should receive a refund and apologized. A few days later I had the refund.

Keep fighting. I no longer use Priceline for flights because of this risk, but still find it useful for Hotels.

Mike

dogcanyon

I think the management of their airline division is slowly digging itself an early grave with their lack of customer service and lack of common sense. It shouldn't take a letter from the BBB in the situation outlined above for them to refund the money. In the long run the bad PR they are generating out of their pettiness and refusal to be reasonable is going to cost them much, much more than if they had just done the right thing in the first place.
But, then again these are the same guys that recently had a promotion where they would pay $25 if they could not beat any fare quoted on Orbitz, Travelocity, or Expedia fare by $10. Who in their right mind would give up frequent flyer miles, choice of airline, and choice of departure time, plus possibly add an unnecessary time-consuming connection (complete with added PFC's and segment taxes that could more than eat up the "savings") to save a mere $10?

JS

It's not a good idea to schedule an arriving flight and departing cruise on the same day with published fares. Using Priceline, that would be a very bad idea. If you get an airline ticket through Priceline and then schedule a cruise departing the same day, that's your risk.


I'm no lawyer, but I would surmise that only one contract is formed, and that contract is created at the instant you submit your credit card number. How can there be a second agreement if you never get a chance to agree to the chosen schedule? A contract requires agreement on both sides, not just one.



Just like tight scheduling around a Priceline ticket, this is also the customer's fault. What kind of idiot would buy car accessories without having the car yet?

chazas

Moremiles, I'd venture to guess you're not a lawyer.


It's not an issue of "fairness," it's a matter of what your contract with Priceline says.



There's only one contract.



In your example, the buyer got to pick the car under the terms of the agreement. Of course the dealer couldn't change the buyer's choice if that wasn't provided for in the agreement. But what if instead the contract was, buyer, you get any car made in 1990, dealer's choice, delivery to occur on a date a month in the future. If dealer tentatively identifies a Cavalier, but then the Cav is totalled before the delivery date, dealer could substitute whatever it wanted, so long as it was made in 1990. It would be your problem for having bought accessories in advance. That's how Priceline's deal works.

If you're able to pressure Priceline into a refund by making a bunch of noise, congrats on successfully working the system. But technically, you've gotten away with something.

Personally, it's not very often I would be able to live with restrictions like this, so I don't buy air travel on Priceline.

wideman

Did no one (especially those who continue to claim that Priceline is correct) read dogcanyon's definitive post a few days ago?:

Do the crack legal minds (JS, chazas, maybe others) waving the Priceline flag have a response to dogcanyon?

pssst: Don't even think about suggesting that info from Priceline on their web site isn't part of the contract or terms & conditions, or that the info is a scrivener's error.

JS

Yes, Wideman, I have read that. In my crack legal opinion, there is an implied word "voluntary" there. You cannot call Priceline and say "I want to change, or I want to cancel my flight", nor can you call the airline and make such a voluntary change. Just my opinion!

wideman

Actually, that's an interesting point. The language of the help is ambiguous because of the passive voice ("cannot be changed by Priceline"). I read the phrase to mean "Priceline cannot choose to change...," and JS reads the phrase to mean "You cannot ask Priceline to change..." I'd suggest that either reading is reasonable.

If this were a court, one might argue persuasively that Priceline wrote the ambiguous information, and that ambiguous portions of a contract are construed against the party who prepared the contract and ambiguous text. However, this isn't a court. So, the real lesson is that the passive voice is to be avoided.

Err, I mean you should avoid the passive voice whenever possible.

JS

Excellent point, wideman.