Lost $426.94 on rental car in Denver last week. Booked through HOTWIRE to save money. How stupid could I be? Never again! After waiting for shuttle Wed night for over an hour with family, I asked another shuttle driver about ACE car rental shuttle. They laughed! And all to save a few bucks! Had to scramble to get another rental at the airport, fortunately I was able to get one that late. Neither ACE rental or HOTWIRE would refund, they both said the other was responsible. EXPEDIA and its subsidiary , HOTWIRE are both ripoff companies. Avoid them both like the plauge!
I had purchased 2 tickets for my fiance and me with TAP Portugal for our destination wedding in Italy for September 2020.
Understandably, due to Covid, travel was forbidden and TAP Portugal had to cancel our flights in March 2020.
Month after month we had contacted our travel agency, Hotwire/Expedia, for a refund of the canceled flights.
Month after month we've been issued the same statement; that the airline would not authorize a refund for the flight they canceled.
It is now 15 months since these flights were canceled, and we have yet to receive a refund from either Hotwire/Expedia or TAP Portugal.
During a year that was supposed to be a happy moment, stressed over our lives with Covid, both Hotwire/Expedia and TAP Portugal showed lack of customer service, empathy and forgiveness for the thievery they all were involved with.
As an attorney, I will be seeking out others who have similarly suffered harm from Hotwire's unconscionable business practices in order to form a class.
Hotwire's "Hotrate" is an unfair business practice that allows for unfair surprise for the average, ordinary consumer. No renter would anticipate the possibility that they would pay $297.76 in advance with not only the possibility, but the likelihood that not only would they would neither be provided the vehicle they have reserved, nor would they would receive a refund. The general warning that some car rental agencies are not granting free unlimited mileage for local customers is not a sufficient disclaimer because:
1. It does not also note that some agencies forbid out of state travel completely,
2. It does not note that the agency will not issue refund because, they claim, only Hotwire is collecting these fees (I guess car rental agencies such as ACE have volunteered to provide services to Hotwire for free, as this is the reason that was provided to my family as to why ACE would not issue a refund ) and, most importantly,
3. Even if the above details were clearly spelled out, it would still be unconscionable term in a click-through agreement as it is beyond the contemplation of the average consumer that they would pay in advance, for an unknown car at an unknown agency without the opportunity to receive a refund if there was a problem with the rental that was caused by the rental agency arbitrarily changing its policies during this COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many travelers stranded without transportation and without the money needed for the rental (one member of our party was pregnant).
The "Hotrate" method of renting a car is effectively gambling. Only after agreeing to the lowest price offered on the Hotwire.com website, which invariably is this "Hotrate" offer, and only after making the payment, is it revealed what car rental agency will be providing the vehicle. This means that the consumer does not even know with whom they are actually making a contract, and without the identity clearly stated of all parties, there is no valid contract.
This is the key point because, as here, it was only after making the payment that it was revealed that ACE Car Rental was the agency and that their policy was not to allow locals a rental of over 100 miles without paying $.40/mile extra. We may have nevertheless agreed to pay this amount if necessary because it was already so late on a Saturday night that we did not believe we could find another rental. However, when we were asked to where we were driving, we were outright refused the rental because we would be driving across state lines, from Orange County, California to Bryce Canyon in Utah.
I have been renting cars in California, for business and pleasure, for over 35 years, and for almost two decades, these rentals have been made online. I have never had such limitations imposed, so I therefore never even contemplated this possibility. I understand that this is related to Covid-19 concerns, and I also understand that a business can set whatever terms it wants, but if new and totally unexpected terms are to be imposed, it is only fair that the consumer be provided a reasonable opportunity to withdraw their acceptance of egregious contract terms (paying something for nothing is pretty egregious). I SUPPOSE I SHOULD JUST BE GRATEFUL THAT MY RENTAL WAS FOR SEVEN DAYS AND NOT THIRTY DAYS, AND I SHOULD ALSO BE GRATEFUL THAT ONCE THE PARTICULAR RENTAL AGENCY WAS REVEALED, THAT I DID NOT LEARN THAT THIS AGENCY HAD OTHER POLICIES AS WELL, SUCH AS AN EXTRA $1000 CHARGE IF I DO NOT QUALIFY.
ACE, or any other car rental agency, that knowingly participates in this "Hotrate" method of renting a vehicle, should be ashamed because they are aiding and assisting Hotwire with causing great harm to consumers. The manager of the agency in Los Angeles, Luis, informed us that he has multiple such failed rentals EVERY DAY. There is simply no valid reason for Hotwire to refuse to issue a refund. Hotwire has incurred no lost time, effort or materials. It would be one thing if this was a plumber who had traveled to my home or a carpet cleaner who had mixed chemicals to clean our floors, but here, Hotwire neither risked nor expended anything of value in this one-sided deal.
The average, ordinary consumer is unwittingly playing on an unlevel playing field because the renter is forced to accept unconscionable terms that can lead to an unfair surprise. It should also be understood that the harm caused by a failed rental goes beyond the money that is lost for that particular transaction, as a car renter that ends up at the agency with their family is now left without transportation, and this can lead to great complications - especially if there are no ride-sharing services or taxis available, or when one has a group that is too large for a taxi.
I hope to hear from others who trusted Hotwire and lost their entire rental fee. Perhaps the most dumbfounding aspect of all this is the ill-will this practice is creating. Prior to this instance, I was one of Hotwire's best customers and one of their biggest advocates, recommending this service to fellow lawyers. My sons, who were members of our party, are making it their mission to ensure that their colleagues at AbbVie, Allergan and Loan Depot NEVER use any service related to Hotwire, Expedia, or any related affiliates again.
Shame on Hotwire for the harm this caused my family on Christmas!
Upon learning that the businesses In Tennesseee were closing and being told by the governor of Colorado that the citizens were to stay at home unless necessary, I cancelled my flight and tried to cancel my car rental.
I called Hotwire on 03/29/20 @6:21 and talked to Kesha who said that she coudn't refund or credit my account. I had asked for a credit, because I knew I needed to go to Tennessee when everything settled down. I asked if I could talk to her supervisor to which she responded that it would do me no good they were sticking to their policy.
I was offered throught the hotwire website a 2 day car rental from PHX Sky Harbor airport and when I booked it my price and days were correct. Upon getting to the airport to pick up this reserved vehicle I was told now because I was a resident of AZ where I was picking up the car that my unlimited miles offer was not valid.
I said this was never told to me in the original offer therfore they need t ogive me the car I reserved. The attendent at the counter then said I can offer you unlimited for $20.00 more which due ot the fact I have now been greatly inconvienenced I would pay it. Once he gave me the addtional bill it was now another $52.00(I had already paid Hotwire $59.92 per their internet offer).
The $20.00 was now $20.00 per day and a duplicate amount of airport taxes which I had already paid in the hotwire offer. I was suspicious of the rental attenedent as beforre me he was assisiting some Asian visitors where i heard him not only try to sell them everythig he could he had put them in a diesel vehicle which they did not want and tried to convince them the diesel would be faster than a gas vehicle and gas was cheaper which is not true in AZ.
Advantage and hotwire engaged in decietful and false advertising and I have field a complaint with the Attorney Generals offcie of Arizona.
The mapped area does not match the location I had choose to stay. This is not the first time I used Hotwire and I have been happy all previous times, including booking in the downtown Denver area. This time I did the search and the area and the hotel they selected is outside the mapped area. I am highly dissatisfied and called immediately with no assistance.
Never book from hotwire unless you want to be deceived. I purchased a flight from kayak which led me to hotwire for a return trip to bali, indonesia last december. The flight consisted of two legs which was from los angeles to taipei and taipei to bali, indonesia. A few days before my flight, one leg was completely cancelled due to volcanic activities in bali so i would have been stranded in taipei. I contacted hotwire and they arranged me on another flight not informing me that this change will void me from a refund if they cancelled again. The day after the airline cancelled my new flight and at this point i called hotwire to ask for a refund and they informed me this was impossible. After 6 hours on the phone, being disconnected and reconnected again to countless customer service representatives who seemed to have no clue what they are doing they finally processed my refund.
I even received a refund email saying it will be processed within 5-7 business days. A few weeks go by and i realize that the refund has not hit my account so i call hotwire to try to locate it. This is where they start changing the story. Saying they cannot refund me because i changed the flight and then telling me to contact the airline instead. I brought up saying that i have a copy of their email saying the refund is processed and to tell me what my refund status is. Each time i wanted to talk to a manager i would be placed on hold for up to an hour then suddenly the line would disconnect.
Other times when i did get a manager because he had to contact the airline he asked me to provide a call back number and they never called me back! this happened over the course of one month and i should have just disputed the transaction with my bank but they kept giving me hope and i did not out of good faith. Finally the time ran out and it had been over 2 months since i booked that cancelled flight without a flight nor the refund promised when i called and threatened to report them to Yscamor bbb and surely enough they got on the ball but managed to only refund me partially, claiming the airline had to take a "change flight fee" so i accepted this since not only have i wasted so much of time but i dont want to decline seeing this is their best offer. They promised this is processed right away and that was almost 3 weeks ago.
I check my account, and still no 'partial' refund today. I called them earlier and i keep getting the same clueless representative unable to give me any accurate update as to when i can expect the partial funds back in my account. From the promised 5-7 business days they are now saying 6-8 weeks. Then the line disconnects again. This company just takes your money and has 0 customer service. I will never book from them ever again. Not only did i have to purchase a last minute flight that cost me double, i spent about 20 hours in total with them on the phone if not more, and until now my refund that was promised has not been received. I feel completely ripped off and unhappy with the way things have been dealt. I strongly suggest to purchase your flights and travel else where.
I just made a reservation on Hotwire.com for a rental car for an upcoming trip. I ended up purchasing the hotwire rate and upon reviewing it in my email confirmation, saw I had picked up the wrong fare. Keep in mind: I was at work doing when I made the reservations and saw I needed to change it. Typically, like most common sense people, when I get a fare on one of these sites I will review the options thoroughly to make sure I get the best fare. So it takes me more than 30 minutes. Anyway, after review I called Hotwire to speak with a representative thinking of course they will cancel this, I just made it two minutes ago. I was transferred to an overseas office and spoke with someone named Lisa (I'm sure this is not her real name). I told her my issue. She then says, we need to make a new reservation and then we will return your old one. WHAT?? So you want me to put more money on my card ($200 more) while I wait 10 days to get my $150 I already paid back? That is ridiculous!! I then began to tell her, ma'am I understand you policy but I just made this 15 MINUTES AGO! You mean to tell me that you are going to penalize me for 15 minutes?? Most other average companies will give you that courtesy. Oh, but not Lisa. She stuck to her script and continued to say, I cannot give you the refund without a new reservation!! THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS BULLS* I HAVE EVER HEARD! I asked for her supervisor. She asked me why and I told her, because you are not hearing what I am saying and are wasting my time trying to gauge me for more money. Its not right. She puts me on hold and comes back to say, I cant give you the refund without a new reservation. Do you still want to speak with my supervisor? If you are still going to penalize me for a mistake caught in 15 minutes...YESSS! She pretty much refuses to let me speak with her supervisor. A WORD OF CAUTION: DO NOT MAKE ANY RESERVATIONS WITH HOTWIRE. THEIR SERVICE HAS GONNA DOWN THE TUBES. THEY HAVE PRETTY MUCH SOURCED THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE OVERSEAS TO INDIAN NATIONS THAT DON'T GIVE A d**n ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. STICK WITH EXPEDIA OR ANYTHING ELSE THAN HOTWIRE. IF YOU DO, YOU ARE ALMOST GUARANTEED A NIGHTMARE. THIS WAS NOT MY FIRST CONFLICT WITH HOTWIRE BUT IT IS d**n SURE MY LAST!
First off, I've never ever filed a complaint on the internet and have actually been a happy hotwire "hot rate" hotel customer for years.
That said, I felt compelled to share my recent experience with hotwire as it relates to their Low Price Guarantee for standard rate hotels.
I booked 1 night at a hotel for an upcoming trip and shortly after my booking realized that if I had gone directly to the hotel, I would have been able to book for approx. $20 less.
While not a huge deal, in principle I decided to call hotwire to invoke their guarantee since I assumed that their prices would not be beat and that I would indeed have "peace of mind".
This is where the (mis)adventures began...
1) first off, I went through 3+ hours of conversations with multiple agents and numerous calls
2) each of the agents were relatively incompetent as a whole and frankly several were difficult to understand given their accents
3) each one to a tee (seems to be company policy), would find ways to invoke some sort of "fine print" not obvious to the consumer to invalidate the claim. Often this ended in some rote recitation of the policy which I can plainly read myself and an inaccurate attempt to apply their arbitrary rule to my case
4) bottom line - I was told everything from "this policy only applies to hotwire guaranteeing price protection against their own price dropping post facto" to we're not going to honor this b/c it only applies to "pay now" vs. "pay later" standard bookings - a point that is moot given that I booked 1 night and the deposit is for 1 night.
5) I will specifically call out a manager "Raven" who kept reassuring me during the call that we will take care of/resolve thsi problem, only to follow that statement with "I'm sorry but we will not issue you a $20 credit". REALLY? That's resolving the issue??
At the end of the day, they can keep my $20, but the goodwill they lost from a long time customer and the negative word of mouth they've generated through this mishandling/false advertising of a guarantee will cost them far more!!
I went on hot wire web site looking for a great deal, I saw a wonderful rating on a hotel where 90% injoyed this hotel, it had business center, hot breakfast, complete Gym, pool wow sounds like heaven!! So I rush and book the fabulous hotel. And it came back a Hotel 8 what!!!! A hotel 8 are you kidding me??? I was beyond angry would never ever stay at this hotel it said it had a a business center yeah right a tiny desk with a small computer with no ink for the printer bad, this hotel is for truckers not single ladies at all!! I was rip off. They are liars with fake rating and someone needs to get the to stop these lies. I will never book with them s
So I booked travel on Hotwire to attend some training in the Dallas area. On my way to the airport I ran into some unexpected road construction and arrived at the airport 15 mins to late to board my plane. I could have made the flight because our airport is so small but the airlines wouldn't print off my boarding pass 30 minutes before departure. Ok, fine I should have given myself more time and I was willing to take that responsiblity. I ended up paying an additional $530 for a one way on top of my already purchased tickets to get to Dallas to make my training on time. So I bought a seperate one way ticket and just figured I would have to eat the additional cost.
This is where it goes down hill fast. I was told by the airline desk person that since I missed that flight Hotwire would cancel my returning flight as well. I never read this or saw this on my itinerary that Hotwire sends you and even have looked since to see if it indicated this which it did not. I called Hotwire's customer service and explained what had happened and that I was still going to need my return flight. I was informed that there was a penalty fee of $125 to keep my return flight. I was irritated but paid this fee thinking that all was well and the worst was behind me. I was wrong because when I tried to check in for my return flight this morning it was unable to verify my spot on that plane. I called the airlines to see if maybe I was putting in the wrong information but they confirmed that I was not booked for that flight. The airlines said they saw the orginal itinerary but it had been cancelled and not reinstated by Hotwire.
I am currently on the phone with Hotwire and have been for 1 hr and 26 mins most of it on hold trying to get the ticket I already paid for and paid a fee to keep it. I still don't know if they are going to fix this and get me on that plane or if I am going to have to buy another over priced one way ticket to get home. As of now I have paid approximately $1400 for the travel bundle, $530 for a one way ticket to Dallas and $125 to keep my returning flight that as of now I'm not even booked on. I am a single mother and my training was on a scholarship so I do not have the money to be throwing around like this. I paid for a service that has not been provided to me and caused a considerable amount of stress and anxiety that never should have existed. The amount I saved wasn't even that much of a difference from what it would have cost to book everything seperately and I wouldn't have had any issued with rebooking my original flight or my return flight. Don't use hotwire they will rip you off any chance they can get.
I was trying book a hotel for a family vacation I acedntly canceled this company said they charge 50% of the hotel just for the canceling fee. I was already mad enough then I went the bank the next and there was nothing they had took all the money out the bank. I feel bankrup will not vacation. I needed to take vacation to not be stressed but now I am stressed worried and mad about this.
So I made the terrible mistake of booking a hotel room in London via hotwire. I was bait and switched with promises of a 4-star, brand-name hotel such as "Omni, Hilton, Westin, Intercontinental or similar" discounted from $180 per night to $124 per night. Most of the brand-name, 4-star hotels in the area ran around $180 a night, so it seemed legit. After booking, we were put into a no-name, self-described "budget hotel" with TERRIBLE reviews on every website I could find it. Fact was, it was only listed on a few websites, that's how obscure it is.
After calling hotwire, they told me it was listed as 4-star on their website and that I should "give it a chance" because my reservation was non-refundable even 30 minutes after I booked. The hotel isn't even listed their website, so I find that peculiar. You can't look at any reviews what-so-ever.
Hotwire's parent company, Expedia, only listed it a 3.4 based on customer reviews and those reviews all mentioned it being cheap place to stay that wasn't a hostel. The hotel's website even lists the hotel at a much lower rate than what the I paid.
I booked a hotel through Hotwire.com on 11/02/2016, for one night in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Drury Plaza hotel in downtown Cleveland. After driving hundreds of miles and several hours, I arrived at the hotel and was told Hotwire.com sold 5 rooms to 30 people. A Drury employee told me I was being 'relocated' by Hotwire to another downtown Cleveland hotel. Instead, I was offered options more than 30 minutes/miles outside of downtown Cleveland. In addition, I was hung up on or disconnected multiple times by Hotwire.com, I spent over two hours on and off the phone with them. The company refuses to do anything but place the blame on others.
We booked a room with Hotwire which was supposed to be for 3 adults. We got a king bed and a pull out couch at the embassy suites which was okay being that it was a blind booking. What was not okay is that it was a malfunctioning handicap room. The shower had the seat in it with 2 drains but they didn't work properly. The first night we didn't realize it because we got in so late but that morning when we took a shower the water went everywhere. We couldn't even get dressed in the bathroom because everything kept getting wet. When we asked the hotel for a new room they said they were booked already.
So we went ahead and left for the day thinking the water would be gone by the time we left and came back, but it wasn't. The water was still everywhere, we couldn't go use the restroom or anything in the bathroom without out getting our shoes, socks, and the bottom of our pants wet. The next morning we called Hotwire and told them what was going on because it was becoming very inconvenient and was ruining the trip and I also told the embassy suite. After sitting at the front desk for an hour they finally switched us. The hotel knew the room was messed up because the maid told us and when I called the day before the guy said oh yea those rooms are like the we can give you some towels to wipe up the floor. In the mean time I was still trying to make a complaint with Hotwire.
After being transferred to a regular rep twice the fourth person we spoke with said they couldn't do anything and sent us to a supervisor. The supervisor said that wasn't her department and she couldn't find my booking and that she would get another rep on the phone who could then get another supervisor on the phone. They then put me on the with a rep who claimed they were getting an supervisor phone who ended up being Alex who claimed he couldn't find the booking either. So at this point I'm really upset. So I call back and told guy I wanted to speak to a supervisor and he wanted me to repeat the story for a 10th time and I wasn't so he told me he wouldn't transfer and over talked me to say have a good day and hung up.
My mom and sister who started calling from their phones and were getting the same thing. The first guy my sister got was also rude and when she said she was going to report him he said go ahead and hung up. The lady my mom was on the phone with had her on hold for an hour to get someone from cooperate on the phone when we finally did he was real nonchalant about the situation and said he was getting another rep on the phone. They finally agreed to give us a partial refund if we left which so wrong and unprofessional we couldn't even enjoy our little trip. The hotel knew that room was messed up and Hotwire didn't care. Also most of the reps refused to give their name or and agent code.
On June 7th, I booked a hidden Hot Rate Deal for a 2-1/2 Star Hotel which stated a "80% Recommended" customer rating.
What I got was the LaQuinta Inn, Roswell, GA. Nasty Hotel in an unsafe part of an otherwise nice suburb of Atlanta.
Priceline rates this hotel as 1 Star. Hotwire's own Hotel section shows a "60% Recommended" based on their own reviews, not 80%.
This is the second time I have used Hotwire in recent weeks only to get a lesser hotel than what I bid on. The first time I thought it was just bad luck, now I know it's how this company operates.
I called Hotwire customer service to complain and the customer service rep argued with me that this hotel was as advertised. Really, you know that all the way over there in India? Ridiculous !! You agree to the no-refunds policy of course when you blind bid, but they shouldn't have a free hand to just outright cheat people, then hide behind the policy.
I will not do business with this company again and want to warn others to stay away. Priceline isn't perfect either, but they seem to do business a little more honestly.
I went online and booked a car rental throgh HOTWIRE.com, I decide to take my own personal vehicle after the reservations were made. Within an hour I called Hotwire to cancel my reservations. The lady on the other end asked me why I was cancelling and refused to cancel. She told me in an indirect way, the reason wasn't good enogh to cancel my car reservations. Itold her, as a customer, and here in the states, that is my right. She still refused to cancel. I Informed her I would be contacting my credit card company if they refused to cancel and dispute the charge. I hung up the phone, and could not locate my card, so I contactEd my credit card company to cancel the card. After canceling the card, I looked at my itinerary with hotwire, and there was no type of notification to the customer about their "cancellation policy". They were going to still charge my card for services not rendered. Use Expedia, they are not like Hotwire, I had to cancel a hotel Through Expedia.com and I had no problems. And before booking anything, always find out about that cancellation policy first, before giving your credit card number.
I just got burned by Hotwire!!! I booked a hotel for Ottawa while in Canada. After booking I learned (as is their normal procedures) that I would be staying at the Lord Elgin Hotel. Hotwire Total for 2 nights $510.26. That sounded fine to me until I received my Credit Card Statement and realized I ‘ve been charged CAD $690. Nowhere in the Hotwire Reservation / Itinerary does it say that the rate is in USD$. You would assume that if you are booking in Canada and for Canada the rate is in CAD$ !!!!!
Given that I made this reservation well in advance, I called customer service and requested that this reservation be cancelled and they give me a different hotel downtown that would cost me around CAD$500 for 2 nights, which is what I am willing and able to pay. Customer service answers out of the Philipines and they refused!!!! VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.
The worst part of it is that since I booked online I’ve been receiving offers for those same dates and for the same hotel. If I had booked thru Booking.com I would have gotten a much better rate, would not have had to pay in advance and would have been entitled to cancel with no penalty.
I was so burned that I will never use them again. Shame on you HOTWIRE!!!!
The worse customer experience of my life (and I have comcast!)
Last week, I arrived around 5pm at the hotel I booked through Hotwire. I had booked an unknown 4-star hotel in central Philadelphia, which was helpful for me because I came in on the train and planned to walk to the daily event I was in town for. When I attempted to check-in, the hotel agent told me that there is no booking for me and that Hotwire "didn't confirm with us". She then told me that (unsurprisingly for 6pm in May) they were full. This is despite the hotwire confirmation e-mail saying: "There is no need to reconfirm your reservation with Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing or Hotwire"I said I was not picky but she said I needed to give her names. So, I went on google maps and proceeded to read out hotels in central Philadelphia. Three times during this long frustration, the agent had me read my credit card details only to find that there was in fact no available room at a hotel when she went to click submit. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, I was told that the only available hotel is a 1.5 star hotel that is a 25 minute drive out of the city. I then proceeded to stay in this hotel for my journey and took an Uber every day, back and forth to the center! I won't tell you about the hotel I stayed in (with its smoking room and the fake taxi they called to take me to the station).
So at the end of my trip from hell, what was I left with? Instead of the 4-star hotel within walking distance, I lost:
- 1 hour and 20 minutes of my time on the phone
- $144.85 of my money on Uber fees
- About 30 minutes every day additional travel time
- The hotel quality I paid for (I went from a Hilton to . . . ugh).
I then called Hotwire support. I was then on the phone for 1 hour 20 minutes. After seeing that yes, Hotwire had screwed up, what proceeded was like something out of a parody. After putting me on hold for 20 minutes while the agent checked various hotels (your system makes you check them one at a time??), she asked me to give her hotels that I want to stay in.
Prepaid car rental at hotwire com.when i arrived at thrifty rental car in little rock,i was in disbelief that i was charged $21 more.attendant told me that hw ,didint include facility charge fee on my booking .called up hw right then and there and was told by CS that they will follow up on the case.three weeks after,was told by hw that it was my fault as i asked for facility charge and i need to dispute with thrifty com,which i did,during the time of my rental .agent told me it was hw fault .so future hw clients ,please please refrain from doinmg with thic company again,no matter how low their rates are as you will und up paying more than their competitors.i am deleting my hotwire acct and will not do business with them again,even if they offer me complimentary car or hotel accomodation,as their business partners will likely me charge me ,when i arrive there!
I made reservations thru Hotwire for a car and they set me up with Dollar car rental. When I picked up the car they hand stamped the rental agreement with "RETURN EMPTY No reimbursement for remaining gas" No mention was made of this at the time of the reservation or when I picked up the car only hand stamped on the agreement. I called Hotwire to complain about this and they wouldn't even take the complaint they just said it was between me and Dollar Car Rental. My complaint is with both companies for deceptive practices.
I am a frequent traveler and have been burned by Hotwire in the past. Unfortunately, I am not one to learn from past mistakes and decided to use hotwire to rent a car for an impromptu family road trip. Like many other competing websites, Hotwire had some great deals on car rentals.
Hotwire had a deal for a car rental that was $292 for the week. I called customer support and asked if I would be able to take the car out of state. I was promised that I would be able to take the car wherever I would like and had unlimited miles. I even spoke with a supervisor who confirmed that I would be able to take the car out of state. (This is a very important piece to the story since I was planning on taking the car OUT OF STATE)
The mistake I made is that I did not have the agent "check me out", instead I checked out via the website. Once I did this I received my confirmation for the car rental. The FIRST line of the agreement in the confirmation email....the FIRST line stated.....MAY NOT LEAVE THE STATE. Naturally this caused some frustration and I proceeded in calling customer support...10 times! Only to be hung up on and told "Tough Luck"
I was forced to do a chargeback on my credit card, and now Hotwire is fighting the chargeback stating that I agreed to their terms. The issue is I would not have agreed had I not been told by a rep and a manager that I would be allowed to leave the state with the car I wanted to rent.
Booked a hotel on hotwire that was suppose to be a 3.5 star hotel. Once i received the confirmation and the name of the hotel and reviewed it is listed as a 2.5-3.00 hotel on the other sites. Other comments on Hotwire describe the same thing. They list hotels as higher ratings than what they are to lure customers to their site for cheap rates. It is misleading and fraudulent activity. Once i called hotwire they admited that it is a 3 star hotel but will not cancel. they are requesting that i book at a much higher rate only on their site and they will refund me. Hotwire agent said they have their own ratings based on feedback that we cannot see. This is highly misleading. TRUST do not book on HOTWIRE. What you get on HOT DEALS may not be the rating hotel you think.
Hotwire and Best Western Plus ripped off a woman and left her stranded on the streets. I prepaid 2-nights through Hotwire’s Hot Rate deal, but when I arrived in the early morning at Best Western Plus, I was told that the night before the hotel had cancelled my entire stay. I did not receive a courtesy call from either Hotwire or Best Western Plus about this significant change to my travel plans. My travel predicament worsened when Best Western Plus told me that the hotel was sold out, which meant I was stranded on the streets.
My Hotwire payment receipt explicitly says that the Best Western Plus room is confirmed, and no changes are allowed. I spent an irritating two hours on the phone going in circles with the front desk at Best Western Plus and a Hotwire customer service supervisor. Best Western Plus told me the reason they cancelled my prepaid 2-night stay was because I did not call Best Western Plus to tell them about the change in my arrival time.
Hotwire’s reason for still paying Best Western Plus the full amount, even though they double booked the room, was because all sales are final through Hotwire’s Hot Rate deals.
I had to contact my credit card company and open a dispute to get a reasonable resolution. Then, and only then, did Hotwire and Best Western Plus agree to a partial refund of the prepaid 2-night stay. However, I am still disputing for the full amount.
My fiancé and I booked a hotel through Hotwire.com for our March 17th, 2016 vacation. The hotel was good for the price and of course, the look of the room was very decent. We were very excited about it because this was our very first trip together as a couple. However, tradegy had struck! The car rental place that we had rented the car through said that we needed a major debit card when we got to the counter instead of saying that on their website. We immediately called the hotel and told them what had happened and of course, to call the third party (hotwire) to tell them what happened so, we could get our money back. We did what we were told and they told us, in order to get the $178.06 back, we would have to book yet another hotel. We didn't have anymore money to spend except for that amount. I have had the phone hung up in my face not once, twice, but three times. This company does nothing but grab your money and don't pay it back, not even if something like this was to happen. I would recommend that nobody mess with this company. I definitely learned my lesson! Never again!
On March 10th of 2016 I booked a hotel through hotwire.com for an out-of-town job interview. The job interview was canceled so I called Hotwire to cancel my room they said they would give me no refund and I had to call the travel insurance company sell their travel insurance through. When I called the company, Allianze travel insurance, they told me I could not get a refund unless it was some kind of medical emergency which I had to have documentation for.
They claim all of that was sent to me in email after I purchased the insurance! Well I never got this email and it doesn't matter if it was after the fact. The person I spoke to could barely speak English as was the situation with the person from Hotwire. They don't explain approved situations on the website, a complete and utter rip-off I am unemployed and cannot afford to lose the money. Stay away from Hotwire and certainly don't buy their worthless travel cancellation insurance.
Am completely disgusted by the way you handled my situation.. 1- You booked me at a crack head hotel, where my taxi cab driver would not even drop me off at.. His words.." From my heart, I can't let you go here, you will not be here tomorrow" 2- After he kindly took me into down town by the beach 35 mins away (where in my request for my vacation I had put, must be by beach in the first place) he took me to a hotel that did not have prostitutes outside and a man smoking crack in a crystal pipe. 3- Being that it's valentines day weekend, they had no rooms available.. They did direct me to another hotel a few blocks away... So I packed up my luggage and walked there.. Well... They were booked also.. This happened 4 different times!! I walked around with my luggage downtown California, by myself for HOURS trying to find a room. 4- All the while waiting on hold in your customer service dept... 5- Finally found a room for ONE OF THE TWO night's (Friday) for 220.89 at a Best Western. 6-After being on hold, being transfered 3 times and disconnected twice.. I felt as though I needed to book this, so I was not out on the streets when it got dark... As it almost was... 7- I spent the first day of my trip in an emotional panic. 8- Finally got ahold of someone in customer service. .. Whom told me they could not do anything for me... Then transferred me to a manager.. . who then told me he could credit me back 100.00. !!????? But not showing any rooms for my 2nd day!!! I demanded to talk to his manger.. Who was too busy to talk, but promised me a call back within 30 mins. 9- STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ANYONE... STILL HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET THROUGH!!!
It's now Sunday, the last day of my trip. 10- I AM NOW ON MY 18+ HOURS OF BEING AT THE AIRPORT... THE BENCHES HERE ARE NOT VERY COMFORTABLE TO SLEEP ON!!! But this was my only safe option. 11- You left me with nothing, no concern of my safety.. No regards of your responsibility to your customers 12- I want a FULL refund of this disaster trip!!! 13- I want to be compisated for having to book another room.. When one should have already been booked (one that I would still be living after an hour of being there!) 14- I want to be compisated for all is this emotional turmoil this has caused me. I've never been so scared and cried so much! 15- I want to hear back from you within a timely manor or I will seek council for this un believable horrible experience.
On 9/27/15 I used Hot Wire online service to reserve an auto. The final report came up MSP and not MSN. I did chat link with Hot Wire and got nowhere. Tried it again with supervisor - got no where. Did phone call next to Hot Wire and got no where, then did e-mail asking them to change the error, or let me online to change the error. They refused both. I live 250 miles from where they gave me a reservation, and after several tries to change the error I sent them a cancellation notice, which they have not acknowledged.
I then asked my credit card company to intervene - they said they couldn't change anythihng. Since, I'd successfully used they technique before, I went back to credit card company for another try to cancel this error. They again, told me nothing could be done. I've since lodged a complaint with their president.
I've since written to Hot Wire, car rental company, and credit card company; asking why this continues to go on? A review of ConsumerAffairs.com has 30 complaints over about 75 day period in late 2015. I'v also filed a report with BBB in California asking for a refund of this $217 charge, when no service could be provided nor was provided. And simply because Hot Wire refused to offer any customer service in this matter.
My goal is a refund, and until we have that I'll continue to file a report about this incident.
I bidded for a 2 1/2 star hotel and was downgraded to an inferior motel upon the booking payment. As advertised on the site the 2 1/2 star hotels are : Hollyday Express, La Quinta, Best Western, Ramada and others ( see picture attached) I was given a 2 star hotel upon payment - Super 8, wich is not even a hotel but a motel.
I'm very disppointed and frustrated with Hotwire. This site is really not trustworthy as I'll describe below:
1. I booked a hotel in New York for February 2016 using the Hot Rates and selected a 4.5* hotel with an advertised discount of 29%. I ended up getting the Novotel Times Square, which is actually rated as 4* by every other hotel site (Expedia, Priceline, Tripadvisor, etc), including Novotel itself. Only Hotwire considers this hotel a 4.5*, which is purposely misleading and fake. On top of that, the deal I got is not really that great, as it's only $23 (2.6%) cheaper (total cost for 4 nights including taxes) than what's openly published by Novotel, Expedia and Priceline. Not even close to the 29% discount informed when I booked! I trusted Hotwire to get a true 4.5* hotel and great deal and I was deceived! Didn't get a 4.5* hotel nor a significantly discounted deal!
2. Interestingly, even though my reservation confirmation came saying that this hotel is a 4.5*, if I enter today my reservation at Hotwire's website it shows the hotel as 4*. In fact, it advertises 4.5*, delivers 4* and even recognizes it on its own site. Absurd!
3. At the time of booking, some months ago, I got this hotel for $167 a night as a HOT RATE. It turns out that today (Jan 8) that same hotel is selling openly on Hotwire for $124, a lot more than I paid a while back. I contacted Hotwire to ask for a refund of the difference and they denied saying they don't guarantee lower rates after 24 hs. Well, that's a website that brags about providing great deals and guaranteeing the lowest rates and that doesn't stand behind those promises to customers who bought from it trusting they would be guaranteed the lowest rate for the same stay period. In my opinion, a very bad business practice.
I tried already many times to discuss and solve this with them and only get negative answers. They simply don't care and are ok deceiving and misleading customers.
So, my advice is to stay away from Hotwire! They don't give real good deals, they lie and don't care about solving the issues.
Hotwire took money off my card when the error message said my card was not charged I call the customer service number and the tell me my account is with risk management and can't tell me any thing else I call risk management and they never answered I leave voicemails and get no call back I called my bank and they say hotwire had to release it I've called over 100 times in the last 3 days and I'm getting no where they are a complete ripoff and liars
On Cyber Monday, I was seeking a deal on a Hotel Stay. After comparing sites, Hotwire had the best deal. A 3 star Hotel, with logos of several great hotels, normally $169 per night, over 56% off.. great dealy , no. I booked the deal, only to receive a hotel who's maximum rate is $99 per night. The rate was $75 per night. Very disappointed since it was a romantic getaway and I was seeking a better hotel, feeling very mislead!
I attempted to rent a car on the weekend, the Hot Wire representative, told me it was no problem, and that she could help me rent through Avis in my area. Sounded so easy, however....when I called the number to confirm the car rental, and time to pick up the car, they could not be reached.
I called back and told her this, she told me there is a no refund policy. I explained, I did not get the service, so logically, I should be refunded. She said she would attempt to call the company herself.
After being put on hold for twenty minutes, I decided to call back to get someone else. They claimed my name, address, or e-mail was not in the system.
I told them, however, they did magically, charge my credit card. They never did help me, just robotically tell me how great my "deal" was, and that there was a no refund policy.
How I wish I had read othe reports about this company. Don't end up like me with Buyer's regret, and a 77.00 charge, that will take a long time to get back.
I am writing to you to see if you maybe able to assist me with my ongoing issue since August 2015. I had a reservation with hotwire 5517283787 for a hotel reservation. I ended up with an upper respiratory infection that stayed with my for over a month. I was unable to make my reservation due to me being so sick. I call hotwire on 8/24.2015 telling them my situation and I was sent an email on 8/24/2015 stating I would need to send medical documentation to them., etc. On 8/27/2015 I faxed over 3 pages at 0733 am to 415-814-0874 with a cover letter, medical doctors note and a copy of the email that was sent to me the day before. I received my fax confirmation email stating that it have meed been received. I have called back on August 29, 2015 and I was told that they had received my information and that it was under review. In addition they stated it would take 7-10 business days and they would be back in touch with me. To date, I have made at least 20 phone calls in to the Customer Service Department where I am constantly given different information. I was asked on 9/11/2015 via customer service to re-fax my paperwork in. So I re-faxed my paperwork again at 0925 am with confirmation of receipt. On 10/1/2015 I spoke with Wendy who informed me that my refund of 421.84 was being processed and it would take 3-5 business days for a refund. That has not happened so I have called back again multiple times only to have to re-fax my paperwork in again on 10/2/2015, 10/15/2015, and most recently as of last night was asked to re-fax my paperwork once again as they don't seem to have any of the previous paperwork and everyone I speak to has given me a different story and nothing is getting resolved. There are no Supervisors available to talk too, there is not one in the department that handles the refunds to speak with and I am left on hold for 20-30 minutes at a time and the call center is in the phillapines where they have refused to allow me to speak with a representative in the US
On July 10th 2015 my husband and I reserved a car on hotwire.com for July 11th. An itinerary was emailed to us for July 25th. We immediately called them to tell them their system changed the dates (my husband and I double-checked everything before paying) and we were put on hold for 2 hours, afterwords they refused to cancel, refund or help us in any way.
We called our bank and disputed the charge. Hotwire disputed back, and charged the money to our account again. We sent Capital One our receipt to another car rental we had to make with Enterprise for the 11th because hotwire gave us the wrong dates. We sent Capital One 6 other customers with the identical mistakes and complaints as us, within a three month time frame of our incident. Obviously, hotwire is having some technical issues on their website.
Capital One said because we didn't take screen shots of our booking process we do not have proof. Even though I sent screen shots of other complaints the same as ours, and our reciept of another car rental place for the correct date, it was not enough proof. I asked them if I am such a retard who could not pick the right dates then why did I pick the right dates for Enterprise?
The six complaints of wrong dates within three months of our complaint was only on 1 website. I am sure there are thousands more effected whom did not file a report, or filed it on a different website. As you can see from this text, I can follow directions, I am aware of my actions and I am not a retard.
I reserved a hotel night through this website for an offer which specified that the hotel was a three star hotel near La Canterra in San Antonio similar to a Hilton Garden Inn. When I received the information for the booking it stated Hotel San Antonio. This hotel was not listed on any of the major travel websites. I actually had to Google the address to find a website that displayed the hotel which was listed as a 2 1/2 star hotel. From the pictures it was a secondhand Holiday Inn Express. It takes a lot for a hotel to lose its franchise. I contacted Hotwire and received no response although it is clearly a case of false advertising. How is is fair to auction a hotel that isn't even interested enough in its business to market itself legitimately? The hotel instead relies on shady backdoor deals to increase its bottom line. The expectation is that the customer will not stay at the hotel and never have their money refunded
I was searching for a hotel in Vail for the weekend for my wife and I to get away. It was Oktoberfest in Vail and we wanted to find a place in Lionshead, a specific part of the town near the festivities. After searching various sites, I cam across Hotwire.com's Hot Hotel Deals. They listed a "4-Star Hotel in the "Lionshead Area" that was rated awesome. As part of the enticement, they use hotels like Interconntinental Hotels, Le Meridien, etc., hotels that deliver 4 star or better service. They even go as far to say that Hotel don't want to advertise such a low price to keep their good image. And to add one more enticement, right before you click, they generate a pop up of a 4 star hotel in that area that is truly a hotel and 4 star mentioning that someone else just got this deal.I clicked on the deal and agreed to the no refund policy. I figured that there may be some variation of the hotel, but at least it is in the Lionshead area and should be decent. However, after locking me in, the reservation came back completely different from the promoting site. Instead of a hotel, I was booked at a condo. Instead of being in the Lionshead area, I was across the highway, nowhere near the festivities. And although I agree there is some latitude in ratings, this definitley is not a 4 start property.
Upon calling the customer service at Hotwire, I was connected to what I am sure was a representative in the Philippines, judging by the accent. I do not have a problem with that. She place me on hold to see what could be done. After 3-4 minutes, she came back telling me there is nothing they can do as that is the policy and that she called the property and they said it was a hotel. Furthermore, she said the property is within the area the designate on their map. Had I looked at the map, I would have seen this. Upon further diagreement, I was promptly disconnected.
Here are the facts...the property actually has its own website and lists itself as a condo (even timeshare driven), it is located a half mile outside of Lionshead with nothing else around it. Vail calls the areas Sandstone. As to the 4 Star, it is dated, lacks the warm and coziness of a hotel. And to add insult, had I wanted to stay there, I could have booked directy and saved $75 off the two nights.
I called back to customer service and spoke to another woman (with the same dialect and hence the Philippines) and this time asked to speak to a supervisor. This individual was even less pleasant and then began to argue that a condo is a hotel and that Hotwire lsits them interchangeablly. Funny things is that I can now pull a similar search on Hotwire and they a property now as a condo! Bottom line, they did not care neither about the listing, the representation nor the location. IN short, a nice way of saying %$!#!! to me. This is not a case of buyers remorse or setting too high and expectation on my part. I can see someone doing this. But the fact that it is not a hotel nor in the area, is just plain wrong!
I have disputed my charge with AMEX bu I am unsure where it will land even though the person on AMEX had mentioned a similar experience in which AMEX successfully denied the charge.
Hotwire, profited by the misrepresentation and fraudulant portrayal of the property at my expense. I will not use them again as thier integrity is severlly lacking, their customer service is horrible, and the deals are not really "deals."
I was interested in an offer for Paris where in the site it said it was a 4 Star hotel, my surprise when I do the payment and it's a 3 Stars. The hotel situation is horrible and the price is even better outside of the site. So, I don't understand why they offer something not real at all.
I've called to complain and look for a solution, and they kept saying is "non-refundable", but they didn't let me explain or didn't seem to be interested in helping me.
I'm really frustrated, it's a trip I'm willing to do so strongly and I hate that I'll be in a hotel of low quality.
Be aware of this, when you book with hotwire there is an option tells you that your money worth it so if you buy the cancellation insurence ($38) you will have the flexibility, I paied that extra for the flexiblity but then immidate after I decided to reschuedule my travle date it turned out (after long hours of talking to their customer service) that I can not cancell or change the date even though it clearly stated in the confirmation email that I have paied for "Travel Protection – Cancellation Plan".
So if it is not possible to change/cancell why they tell you to purchase this plan??
Booked a hotel with Hotwire that was "pet friendly" according to their website. After being "awarded" the hotel we looked at the hotel on the internet and found that Hotwire did not disclose that the hotel charges $75 a night for pets. Hotwire said too bad, sounds friendly to them. After the first one hour call a manager gave us a reference number after telling us they would refund the charge and called the hotel and said we were not booked. I called the hotel and they said we were booked for the night. Called Hotwire back and the reference number to our case was bogus, nice. They would not refund us in any way, this was another 1 hour call. I have 3500 customers in my database for my business and everyone will see this. Last time for Hotwire. The savings is not worth the aggravation. Call direct to the hotel.
I used Hotwire to book a car rental in my area, after purchasing the car rental I was given the name of the agency. The agency is located 40 miles away from where i live. I contacted hotwire to try to change the agency, and they would not do it, i also called the car agency who told hotwire that if i drove to my local airport, they would send a shuttle to pick me up and bring me to the agency. The only problem with this gesture is it would take 1 hour and two interstates to do this. I tried to get a refund but I received no help from them. I lost my money and now have to re book with another agency, lesson learned I will NEVER work with Hotwire again.
I purchased a hotel from hotwire.com because they had advertised the hotel as "38% off the regular price" and that it had a "100% satisfaction" at this hotel. Upon purchase I found out that the actual hotel offered a lower price and only a 78% customer rating. Hotwire did refund me the difference in price, however I wouldn't have made the purchase to begin with had they provided accurate information. I made the purchase based on the false information provided by the site.
Hotwire, Inc. Reviews
Lost $426.94 on rental car in Denver last week. Booked through HOTWIRE to save money. How stupid could I be? Never again! After waiting for shuttle Wed night for over an hour with family, I asked another shuttle driver about ACE car rental shuttle. They laughed! And all to save a few bucks! Had to scramble to get another rental at the airport, fortunately I was able to get one that late. Neither ACE rental or HOTWIRE would refund, they both said the other was responsible. EXPEDIA and its subsidiary , HOTWIRE are both ripoff companies. Avoid them both like the plauge!
I had purchased 2 tickets for my fiance and me with TAP Portugal for our destination wedding in Italy for September 2020.
Understandably, due to Covid, travel was forbidden and TAP Portugal had to cancel our flights in March 2020.
Month after month we had contacted our travel agency, Hotwire/Expedia, for a refund of the canceled flights.
Month after month we've been issued the same statement; that the airline would not authorize a refund for the flight they canceled.
It is now 15 months since these flights were canceled, and we have yet to receive a refund from either Hotwire/Expedia or TAP Portugal.
During a year that was supposed to be a happy moment, stressed over our lives with Covid, both Hotwire/Expedia and TAP Portugal showed lack of customer service, empathy and forgiveness for the thievery they all were involved with.
As an attorney, I will be seeking out others who have similarly suffered harm from Hotwire's unconscionable business practices in order to form a class.
Hotwire's "Hotrate" is an unfair business practice that allows for unfair surprise for the average, ordinary consumer. No renter would anticipate the possibility that they would pay $297.76 in advance with not only the possibility, but the likelihood that not only would they would neither be provided the vehicle they have reserved, nor would they would receive a refund. The general warning that some car rental agencies are not granting free unlimited mileage for local customers is not a sufficient disclaimer because:
1. It does not also note that some agencies forbid out of state travel completely,
2. It does not note that the agency will not issue refund because, they claim, only Hotwire is collecting these fees (I guess car rental agencies such as ACE have volunteered to provide services to Hotwire for free, as this is the reason that was provided to my family as to why ACE would not issue a refund ) and, most importantly,
3. Even if the above details were clearly spelled out, it would still be unconscionable term in a click-through agreement as it is beyond the contemplation of the average consumer that they would pay in advance, for an unknown car at an unknown agency without the opportunity to receive a refund if there was a problem with the rental that was caused by the rental agency arbitrarily changing its policies during this COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many travelers stranded without transportation and without the money needed for the rental (one member of our party was pregnant).
The "Hotrate" method of renting a car is effectively gambling. Only after agreeing to the lowest price offered on the Hotwire.com website, which invariably is this "Hotrate" offer, and only after making the payment, is it revealed what car rental agency will be providing the vehicle. This means that the consumer does not even know with whom they are actually making a contract, and without the identity clearly stated of all parties, there is no valid contract.
This is the key point because, as here, it was only after making the payment that it was revealed that ACE Car Rental was the agency and that their policy was not to allow locals a rental of over 100 miles without paying $.40/mile extra. We may have nevertheless agreed to pay this amount if necessary because it was already so late on a Saturday night that we did not believe we could find another rental. However, when we were asked to where we were driving, we were outright refused the rental because we would be driving across state lines, from Orange County, California to Bryce Canyon in Utah.
I have been renting cars in California, for business and pleasure, for over 35 years, and for almost two decades, these rentals have been made online. I have never had such limitations imposed, so I therefore never even contemplated this possibility. I understand that this is related to Covid-19 concerns, and I also understand that a business can set whatever terms it wants, but if new and totally unexpected terms are to be imposed, it is only fair that the consumer be provided a reasonable opportunity to withdraw their acceptance of egregious contract terms (paying something for nothing is pretty egregious). I SUPPOSE I SHOULD JUST BE GRATEFUL THAT MY RENTAL WAS FOR SEVEN DAYS AND NOT THIRTY DAYS, AND I SHOULD ALSO BE GRATEFUL THAT ONCE THE PARTICULAR RENTAL AGENCY WAS REVEALED, THAT I DID NOT LEARN THAT THIS AGENCY HAD OTHER POLICIES AS WELL, SUCH AS AN EXTRA $1000 CHARGE IF I DO NOT QUALIFY.
ACE, or any other car rental agency, that knowingly participates in this "Hotrate" method of renting a vehicle, should be ashamed because they are aiding and assisting Hotwire with causing great harm to consumers. The manager of the agency in Los Angeles, Luis, informed us that he has multiple such failed rentals EVERY DAY. There is simply no valid reason for Hotwire to refuse to issue a refund. Hotwire has incurred no lost time, effort or materials. It would be one thing if this was a plumber who had traveled to my home or a carpet cleaner who had mixed chemicals to clean our floors, but here, Hotwire neither risked nor expended anything of value in this one-sided deal.
The average, ordinary consumer is unwittingly playing on an unlevel playing field because the renter is forced to accept unconscionable terms that can lead to an unfair surprise. It should also be understood that the harm caused by a failed rental goes beyond the money that is lost for that particular transaction, as a car renter that ends up at the agency with their family is now left without transportation, and this can lead to great complications - especially if there are no ride-sharing services or taxis available, or when one has a group that is too large for a taxi.
I hope to hear from others who trusted Hotwire and lost their entire rental fee. Perhaps the most dumbfounding aspect of all this is the ill-will this practice is creating. Prior to this instance, I was one of Hotwire's best customers and one of their biggest advocates, recommending this service to fellow lawyers. My sons, who were members of our party, are making it their mission to ensure that their colleagues at AbbVie, Allergan and Loan Depot NEVER use any service related to Hotwire, Expedia, or any related affiliates again.
Shame on Hotwire for the harm this caused my family on Christmas!
Upon learning that the businesses In Tennesseee were closing and being told by the governor of Colorado that the citizens were to stay at home unless necessary, I cancelled my flight and tried to cancel my car rental.
I called Hotwire on 03/29/20 @6:21 and talked to Kesha who said that she coudn't refund or credit my account. I had asked for a credit, because I knew I needed to go to Tennessee when everything settled down. I asked if I could talk to her supervisor to which she responded that it would do me no good they were sticking to their policy.
I was offered throught the hotwire website a 2 day car rental from PHX Sky Harbor airport and when I booked it my price and days were correct. Upon getting to the airport to pick up this reserved vehicle I was told now because I was a resident of AZ where I was picking up the car that my unlimited miles offer was not valid.
I said this was never told to me in the original offer therfore they need t ogive me the car I reserved. The attendent at the counter then said I can offer you unlimited for $20.00 more which due ot the fact I have now been greatly inconvienenced I would pay it. Once he gave me the addtional bill it was now another $52.00(I had already paid Hotwire $59.92 per their internet offer).
The $20.00 was now $20.00 per day and a duplicate amount of airport taxes which I had already paid in the hotwire offer. I was suspicious of the rental attenedent as beforre me he was assisiting some Asian visitors where i heard him not only try to sell them everythig he could he had put them in a diesel vehicle which they did not want and tried to convince them the diesel would be faster than a gas vehicle and gas was cheaper which is not true in AZ.
Advantage and hotwire engaged in decietful and false advertising and I have field a complaint with the Attorney Generals offcie of Arizona.
The mapped area does not match the location I had choose to stay. This is not the first time I used Hotwire and I have been happy all previous times, including booking in the downtown Denver area. This time I did the search and the area and the hotel they selected is outside the mapped area. I am highly dissatisfied and called immediately with no assistance.
Never book from hotwire unless you want to be deceived. I purchased a flight from kayak which led me to hotwire for a return trip to bali, indonesia last december. The flight consisted of two legs which was from los angeles to taipei and taipei to bali, indonesia. A few days before my flight, one leg was completely cancelled due to volcanic activities in bali so i would have been stranded in taipei. I contacted hotwire and they arranged me on another flight not informing me that this change will void me from a refund if they cancelled again. The day after the airline cancelled my new flight and at this point i called hotwire to ask for a refund and they informed me this was impossible. After 6 hours on the phone, being disconnected and reconnected again to countless customer service representatives who seemed to have no clue what they are doing they finally processed my refund.
I even received a refund email saying it will be processed within 5-7 business days. A few weeks go by and i realize that the refund has not hit my account so i call hotwire to try to locate it. This is where they start changing the story. Saying they cannot refund me because i changed the flight and then telling me to contact the airline instead. I brought up saying that i have a copy of their email saying the refund is processed and to tell me what my refund status is. Each time i wanted to talk to a manager i would be placed on hold for up to an hour then suddenly the line would disconnect.
Other times when i did get a manager because he had to contact the airline he asked me to provide a call back number and they never called me back! this happened over the course of one month and i should have just disputed the transaction with my bank but they kept giving me hope and i did not out of good faith. Finally the time ran out and it had been over 2 months since i booked that cancelled flight without a flight nor the refund promised when i called and threatened to report them to Yscamor bbb and surely enough they got on the ball but managed to only refund me partially, claiming the airline had to take a "change flight fee" so i accepted this since not only have i wasted so much of time but i dont want to decline seeing this is their best offer. They promised this is processed right away and that was almost 3 weeks ago.
I check my account, and still no 'partial' refund today. I called them earlier and i keep getting the same clueless representative unable to give me any accurate update as to when i can expect the partial funds back in my account. From the promised 5-7 business days they are now saying 6-8 weeks. Then the line disconnects again. This company just takes your money and has 0 customer service. I will never book from them ever again. Not only did i have to purchase a last minute flight that cost me double, i spent about 20 hours in total with them on the phone if not more, and until now my refund that was promised has not been received. I feel completely ripped off and unhappy with the way things have been dealt. I strongly suggest to purchase your flights and travel else where.
I just made a reservation on Hotwire.com for a rental car for an upcoming trip. I ended up purchasing the hotwire rate and upon reviewing it in my email confirmation, saw I had picked up the wrong fare. Keep in mind: I was at work doing when I made the reservations and saw I needed to change it. Typically, like most common sense people, when I get a fare on one of these sites I will review the options thoroughly to make sure I get the best fare. So it takes me more than 30 minutes. Anyway, after review I called Hotwire to speak with a representative thinking of course they will cancel this, I just made it two minutes ago. I was transferred to an overseas office and spoke with someone named Lisa (I'm sure this is not her real name). I told her my issue. She then says, we need to make a new reservation and then we will return your old one. WHAT?? So you want me to put more money on my card ($200 more) while I wait 10 days to get my $150 I already paid back? That is ridiculous!! I then began to tell her, ma'am I understand you policy but I just made this 15 MINUTES AGO! You mean to tell me that you are going to penalize me for 15 minutes?? Most other average companies will give you that courtesy. Oh, but not Lisa. She stuck to her script and continued to say, I cannot give you the refund without a new reservation!! THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS BULLS* I HAVE EVER HEARD! I asked for her supervisor. She asked me why and I told her, because you are not hearing what I am saying and are wasting my time trying to gauge me for more money. Its not right. She puts me on hold and comes back to say, I cant give you the refund without a new reservation. Do you still want to speak with my supervisor? If you are still going to penalize me for a mistake caught in 15 minutes...YESSS! She pretty much refuses to let me speak with her supervisor. A WORD OF CAUTION: DO NOT MAKE ANY RESERVATIONS WITH HOTWIRE. THEIR SERVICE HAS GONNA DOWN THE TUBES. THEY HAVE PRETTY MUCH SOURCED THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE OVERSEAS TO INDIAN NATIONS THAT DON'T GIVE A d**n ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. STICK WITH EXPEDIA OR ANYTHING ELSE THAN HOTWIRE. IF YOU DO, YOU ARE ALMOST GUARANTEED A NIGHTMARE. THIS WAS NOT MY FIRST CONFLICT WITH HOTWIRE BUT IT IS d**n SURE MY LAST!
First off, I've never ever filed a complaint on the internet and have actually been a happy hotwire "hot rate" hotel customer for years.
That said, I felt compelled to share my recent experience with hotwire as it relates to their Low Price Guarantee for standard rate hotels.
I booked 1 night at a hotel for an upcoming trip and shortly after my booking realized that if I had gone directly to the hotel, I would have been able to book for approx. $20 less.
While not a huge deal, in principle I decided to call hotwire to invoke their guarantee since I assumed that their prices would not be beat and that I would indeed have "peace of mind".
This is where the (mis)adventures began...
1) first off, I went through 3+ hours of conversations with multiple agents and numerous calls
2) each of the agents were relatively incompetent as a whole and frankly several were difficult to understand given their accents
3) each one to a tee (seems to be company policy), would find ways to invoke some sort of "fine print" not obvious to the consumer to invalidate the claim. Often this ended in some rote recitation of the policy which I can plainly read myself and an inaccurate attempt to apply their arbitrary rule to my case
4) bottom line - I was told everything from "this policy only applies to hotwire guaranteeing price protection against their own price dropping post facto" to we're not going to honor this b/c it only applies to "pay now" vs. "pay later" standard bookings - a point that is moot given that I booked 1 night and the deposit is for 1 night.
5) I will specifically call out a manager "Raven" who kept reassuring me during the call that we will take care of/resolve thsi problem, only to follow that statement with "I'm sorry but we will not issue you a $20 credit". REALLY? That's resolving the issue??
At the end of the day, they can keep my $20, but the goodwill they lost from a long time customer and the negative word of mouth they've generated through this mishandling/false advertising of a guarantee will cost them far more!!
I went on hot wire web site looking for a great deal, I saw a wonderful rating on a hotel where 90% injoyed this hotel, it had business center, hot breakfast, complete Gym, pool wow sounds like heaven!! So I rush and book the fabulous hotel. And it came back a Hotel 8 what!!!! A hotel 8 are you kidding me??? I was beyond angry would never ever stay at this hotel it said it had a a business center yeah right a tiny desk with a small computer with no ink for the printer bad, this hotel is for truckers not single ladies at all!! I was rip off. They are liars with fake rating and someone needs to get the to stop these lies. I will never book with them s
So I booked travel on Hotwire to attend some training in the Dallas area. On my way to the airport I ran into some unexpected road construction and arrived at the airport 15 mins to late to board my plane. I could have made the flight because our airport is so small but the airlines wouldn't print off my boarding pass 30 minutes before departure. Ok, fine I should have given myself more time and I was willing to take that responsiblity. I ended up paying an additional $530 for a one way on top of my already purchased tickets to get to Dallas to make my training on time. So I bought a seperate one way ticket and just figured I would have to eat the additional cost.
This is where it goes down hill fast. I was told by the airline desk person that since I missed that flight Hotwire would cancel my returning flight as well. I never read this or saw this on my itinerary that Hotwire sends you and even have looked since to see if it indicated this which it did not. I called Hotwire's customer service and explained what had happened and that I was still going to need my return flight. I was informed that there was a penalty fee of $125 to keep my return flight. I was irritated but paid this fee thinking that all was well and the worst was behind me. I was wrong because when I tried to check in for my return flight this morning it was unable to verify my spot on that plane. I called the airlines to see if maybe I was putting in the wrong information but they confirmed that I was not booked for that flight. The airlines said they saw the orginal itinerary but it had been cancelled and not reinstated by Hotwire.
I am currently on the phone with Hotwire and have been for 1 hr and 26 mins most of it on hold trying to get the ticket I already paid for and paid a fee to keep it. I still don't know if they are going to fix this and get me on that plane or if I am going to have to buy another over priced one way ticket to get home. As of now I have paid approximately $1400 for the travel bundle, $530 for a one way ticket to Dallas and $125 to keep my returning flight that as of now I'm not even booked on. I am a single mother and my training was on a scholarship so I do not have the money to be throwing around like this. I paid for a service that has not been provided to me and caused a considerable amount of stress and anxiety that never should have existed. The amount I saved wasn't even that much of a difference from what it would have cost to book everything seperately and I wouldn't have had any issued with rebooking my original flight or my return flight. Don't use hotwire they will rip you off any chance they can get.
I was trying book a hotel for a family vacation I acedntly canceled this company said they charge 50% of the hotel just for the canceling fee. I was already mad enough then I went the bank the next and there was nothing they had took all the money out the bank. I feel bankrup will not vacation. I needed to take vacation to not be stressed but now I am stressed worried and mad about this.
Hotwire sold me a 3 star rated hotel room as a 5 star !!!
that happened in jerusalem israel Dan hotel
So I made the terrible mistake of booking a hotel room in London via hotwire. I was bait and switched with promises of a 4-star, brand-name hotel such as "Omni, Hilton, Westin, Intercontinental or similar" discounted from $180 per night to $124 per night. Most of the brand-name, 4-star hotels in the area ran around $180 a night, so it seemed legit. After booking, we were put into a no-name, self-described "budget hotel" with TERRIBLE reviews on every website I could find it. Fact was, it was only listed on a few websites, that's how obscure it is.
After calling hotwire, they told me it was listed as 4-star on their website and that I should "give it a chance" because my reservation was non-refundable even 30 minutes after I booked. The hotel isn't even listed their website, so I find that peculiar. You can't look at any reviews what-so-ever.
Hotwire's parent company, Expedia, only listed it a 3.4 based on customer reviews and those reviews all mentioned it being cheap place to stay that wasn't a hostel. The hotel's website even lists the hotel at a much lower rate than what the I paid.
I booked a hotel through Hotwire.com on 11/02/2016, for one night in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Drury Plaza hotel in downtown Cleveland. After driving hundreds of miles and several hours, I arrived at the hotel and was told Hotwire.com sold 5 rooms to 30 people. A Drury employee told me I was being 'relocated' by Hotwire to another downtown Cleveland hotel. Instead, I was offered options more than 30 minutes/miles outside of downtown Cleveland. In addition, I was hung up on or disconnected multiple times by Hotwire.com, I spent over two hours on and off the phone with them. The company refuses to do anything but place the blame on others.
We booked a room with Hotwire which was supposed to be for 3 adults. We got a king bed and a pull out couch at the embassy suites which was okay being that it was a blind booking. What was not okay is that it was a malfunctioning handicap room. The shower had the seat in it with 2 drains but they didn't work properly. The first night we didn't realize it because we got in so late but that morning when we took a shower the water went everywhere. We couldn't even get dressed in the bathroom because everything kept getting wet. When we asked the hotel for a new room they said they were booked already.
So we went ahead and left for the day thinking the water would be gone by the time we left and came back, but it wasn't. The water was still everywhere, we couldn't go use the restroom or anything in the bathroom without out getting our shoes, socks, and the bottom of our pants wet. The next morning we called Hotwire and told them what was going on because it was becoming very inconvenient and was ruining the trip and I also told the embassy suite. After sitting at the front desk for an hour they finally switched us. The hotel knew the room was messed up because the maid told us and when I called the day before the guy said oh yea those rooms are like the we can give you some towels to wipe up the floor. In the mean time I was still trying to make a complaint with Hotwire.
After being transferred to a regular rep twice the fourth person we spoke with said they couldn't do anything and sent us to a supervisor. The supervisor said that wasn't her department and she couldn't find my booking and that she would get another rep on the phone who could then get another supervisor on the phone. They then put me on the with a rep who claimed they were getting an supervisor phone who ended up being Alex who claimed he couldn't find the booking either. So at this point I'm really upset. So I call back and told guy I wanted to speak to a supervisor and he wanted me to repeat the story for a 10th time and I wasn't so he told me he wouldn't transfer and over talked me to say have a good day and hung up.
My mom and sister who started calling from their phones and were getting the same thing. The first guy my sister got was also rude and when she said she was going to report him he said go ahead and hung up. The lady my mom was on the phone with had her on hold for an hour to get someone from cooperate on the phone when we finally did he was real nonchalant about the situation and said he was getting another rep on the phone. They finally agreed to give us a partial refund if we left which so wrong and unprofessional we couldn't even enjoy our little trip. The hotel knew that room was messed up and Hotwire didn't care. Also most of the reps refused to give their name or and agent code.
On June 7th, I booked a hidden Hot Rate Deal for a 2-1/2 Star Hotel which stated a "80% Recommended" customer rating.
What I got was the LaQuinta Inn, Roswell, GA. Nasty Hotel in an unsafe part of an otherwise nice suburb of Atlanta.
Priceline rates this hotel as 1 Star. Hotwire's own Hotel section shows a "60% Recommended" based on their own reviews, not 80%.
This is the second time I have used Hotwire in recent weeks only to get a lesser hotel than what I bid on. The first time I thought it was just bad luck, now I know it's how this company operates.
I called Hotwire customer service to complain and the customer service rep argued with me that this hotel was as advertised. Really, you know that all the way over there in India? Ridiculous !! You agree to the no-refunds policy of course when you blind bid, but they shouldn't have a free hand to just outright cheat people, then hide behind the policy.
I will not do business with this company again and want to warn others to stay away. Priceline isn't perfect either, but they seem to do business a little more honestly.
I went online and booked a car rental throgh HOTWIRE.com, I decide to take my own personal vehicle after the reservations were made. Within an hour I called Hotwire to cancel my reservations. The lady on the other end asked me why I was cancelling and refused to cancel. She told me in an indirect way, the reason wasn't good enogh to cancel my car reservations. Itold her, as a customer, and here in the states, that is my right. She still refused to cancel. I Informed her I would be contacting my credit card company if they refused to cancel and dispute the charge. I hung up the phone, and could not locate my card, so I contactEd my credit card company to cancel the card. After canceling the card, I looked at my itinerary with hotwire, and there was no type of notification to the customer about their "cancellation policy". They were going to still charge my card for services not rendered. Use Expedia, they are not like Hotwire, I had to cancel a hotel Through Expedia.com and I had no problems. And before booking anything, always find out about that cancellation policy first, before giving your credit card number.
Beware HOTWIRE bookings!
I just got burned by Hotwire!!! I booked a hotel for Ottawa while in Canada. After booking I learned (as is their normal procedures) that I would be staying at the Lord Elgin Hotel. Hotwire Total for 2 nights $510.26. That sounded fine to me until I received my Credit Card Statement and realized I ‘ve been charged CAD $690. Nowhere in the Hotwire Reservation / Itinerary does it say that the rate is in USD$. You would assume that if you are booking in Canada and for Canada the rate is in CAD$ !!!!!
Given that I made this reservation well in advance, I called customer service and requested that this reservation be cancelled and they give me a different hotel downtown that would cost me around CAD$500 for 2 nights, which is what I am willing and able to pay. Customer service answers out of the Philipines and they refused!!!! VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.
The worst part of it is that since I booked online I’ve been receiving offers for those same dates and for the same hotel. If I had booked thru Booking.com I would have gotten a much better rate, would not have had to pay in advance and would have been entitled to cancel with no penalty.
I was so burned that I will never use them again. Shame on you HOTWIRE!!!!
The worse customer experience of my life (and I have comcast!)
Last week, I arrived around 5pm at the hotel I booked through Hotwire. I had booked an unknown 4-star hotel in central Philadelphia, which was helpful for me because I came in on the train and planned to walk to the daily event I was in town for. When I attempted to check-in, the hotel agent told me that there is no booking for me and that Hotwire "didn't confirm with us". She then told me that (unsurprisingly for 6pm in May) they were full. This is despite the hotwire confirmation e-mail saying: "There is no need to reconfirm your reservation with Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing or Hotwire"I said I was not picky but she said I needed to give her names. So, I went on google maps and proceeded to read out hotels in central Philadelphia. Three times during this long frustration, the agent had me read my credit card details only to find that there was in fact no available room at a hotel when she went to click submit. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, I was told that the only available hotel is a 1.5 star hotel that is a 25 minute drive out of the city. I then proceeded to stay in this hotel for my journey and took an Uber every day, back and forth to the center! I won't tell you about the hotel I stayed in (with its smoking room and the fake taxi they called to take me to the station).
So at the end of my trip from hell, what was I left with? Instead of the 4-star hotel within walking distance, I lost:
- 1 hour and 20 minutes of my time on the phone
- $144.85 of my money on Uber fees
- About 30 minutes every day additional travel time
- The hotel quality I paid for (I went from a Hilton to . . . ugh).
I then called Hotwire support. I was then on the phone for 1 hour 20 minutes. After seeing that yes, Hotwire had screwed up, what proceeded was like something out of a parody. After putting me on hold for 20 minutes while the agent checked various hotels (your system makes you check them one at a time??), she asked me to give her hotels that I want to stay in.
Prepaid car rental at hotwire com.when i arrived at thrifty rental car in little rock,i was in disbelief that i was charged $21 more.attendant told me that hw ,didint include facility charge fee on my booking .called up hw right then and there and was told by CS that they will follow up on the case.three weeks after,was told by hw that it was my fault as i asked for facility charge and i need to dispute with thrifty com,which i did,during the time of my rental .agent told me it was hw fault .so future hw clients ,please please refrain from doinmg with thic company again,no matter how low their rates are as you will und up paying more than their competitors.i am deleting my hotwire acct and will not do business with them again,even if they offer me complimentary car or hotel accomodation,as their business partners will likely me charge me ,when i arrive there!
I made reservations thru Hotwire for a car and they set me up with Dollar car rental. When I picked up the car they hand stamped the rental agreement with "RETURN EMPTY No reimbursement for remaining gas" No mention was made of this at the time of the reservation or when I picked up the car only hand stamped on the agreement. I called Hotwire to complain about this and they wouldn't even take the complaint they just said it was between me and Dollar Car Rental. My complaint is with both companies for deceptive practices.
I am a frequent traveler and have been burned by Hotwire in the past. Unfortunately, I am not one to learn from past mistakes and decided to use hotwire to rent a car for an impromptu family road trip. Like many other competing websites, Hotwire had some great deals on car rentals.
Hotwire had a deal for a car rental that was $292 for the week. I called customer support and asked if I would be able to take the car out of state. I was promised that I would be able to take the car wherever I would like and had unlimited miles. I even spoke with a supervisor who confirmed that I would be able to take the car out of state. (This is a very important piece to the story since I was planning on taking the car OUT OF STATE)
The mistake I made is that I did not have the agent "check me out", instead I checked out via the website. Once I did this I received my confirmation for the car rental. The FIRST line of the agreement in the confirmation email....the FIRST line stated.....MAY NOT LEAVE THE STATE. Naturally this caused some frustration and I proceeded in calling customer support...10 times! Only to be hung up on and told "Tough Luck"
I was forced to do a chargeback on my credit card, and now Hotwire is fighting the chargeback stating that I agreed to their terms. The issue is I would not have agreed had I not been told by a rep and a manager that I would be allowed to leave the state with the car I wanted to rent.
Booked a hotel on hotwire that was suppose to be a 3.5 star hotel. Once i received the confirmation and the name of the hotel and reviewed it is listed as a 2.5-3.00 hotel on the other sites. Other comments on Hotwire describe the same thing. They list hotels as higher ratings than what they are to lure customers to their site for cheap rates. It is misleading and fraudulent activity. Once i called hotwire they admited that it is a 3 star hotel but will not cancel. they are requesting that i book at a much higher rate only on their site and they will refund me. Hotwire agent said they have their own ratings based on feedback that we cannot see. This is highly misleading. TRUST do not book on HOTWIRE. What you get on HOT DEALS may not be the rating hotel you think.
Hotwire and Best Western Plus ripped off a woman and left her stranded on the streets. I prepaid 2-nights through Hotwire’s Hot Rate deal, but when I arrived in the early morning at Best Western Plus, I was told that the night before the hotel had cancelled my entire stay. I did not receive a courtesy call from either Hotwire or Best Western Plus about this significant change to my travel plans. My travel predicament worsened when Best Western Plus told me that the hotel was sold out, which meant I was stranded on the streets.
My Hotwire payment receipt explicitly says that the Best Western Plus room is confirmed, and no changes are allowed. I spent an irritating two hours on the phone going in circles with the front desk at Best Western Plus and a Hotwire customer service supervisor. Best Western Plus told me the reason they cancelled my prepaid 2-night stay was because I did not call Best Western Plus to tell them about the change in my arrival time.
Hotwire’s reason for still paying Best Western Plus the full amount, even though they double booked the room, was because all sales are final through Hotwire’s Hot Rate deals.
I had to contact my credit card company and open a dispute to get a reasonable resolution. Then, and only then, did Hotwire and Best Western Plus agree to a partial refund of the prepaid 2-night stay. However, I am still disputing for the full amount.
My fiancé and I booked a hotel through Hotwire.com for our March 17th, 2016 vacation. The hotel was good for the price and of course, the look of the room was very decent. We were very excited about it because this was our very first trip together as a couple. However, tradegy had struck! The car rental place that we had rented the car through said that we needed a major debit card when we got to the counter instead of saying that on their website. We immediately called the hotel and told them what had happened and of course, to call the third party (hotwire) to tell them what happened so, we could get our money back. We did what we were told and they told us, in order to get the $178.06 back, we would have to book yet another hotel. We didn't have anymore money to spend except for that amount. I have had the phone hung up in my face not once, twice, but three times. This company does nothing but grab your money and don't pay it back, not even if something like this was to happen. I would recommend that nobody mess with this company. I definitely learned my lesson! Never again!
On March 10th of 2016 I booked a hotel through hotwire.com for an out-of-town job interview. The job interview was canceled so I called Hotwire to cancel my room they said they would give me no refund and I had to call the travel insurance company sell their travel insurance through. When I called the company, Allianze travel insurance, they told me I could not get a refund unless it was some kind of medical emergency which I had to have documentation for.
They claim all of that was sent to me in email after I purchased the insurance! Well I never got this email and it doesn't matter if it was after the fact. The person I spoke to could barely speak English as was the situation with the person from Hotwire. They don't explain approved situations on the website, a complete and utter rip-off I am unemployed and cannot afford to lose the money. Stay away from Hotwire and certainly don't buy their worthless travel cancellation insurance.
Am completely disgusted by the way you handled my situation.. 1- You booked me at a crack head hotel, where my taxi cab driver would not even drop me off at.. His words.." From my heart, I can't let you go here, you will not be here tomorrow" 2- After he kindly took me into down town by the beach 35 mins away (where in my request for my vacation I had put, must be by beach in the first place) he took me to a hotel that did not have prostitutes outside and a man smoking crack in a crystal pipe. 3- Being that it's valentines day weekend, they had no rooms available.. They did direct me to another hotel a few blocks away... So I packed up my luggage and walked there.. Well... They were booked also.. This happened 4 different times!! I walked around with my luggage downtown California, by myself for HOURS trying to find a room. 4- All the while waiting on hold in your customer service dept... 5- Finally found a room for ONE OF THE TWO night's (Friday) for 220.89 at a Best Western. 6-After being on hold, being transfered 3 times and disconnected twice.. I felt as though I needed to book this, so I was not out on the streets when it got dark... As it almost was... 7- I spent the first day of my trip in an emotional panic. 8- Finally got ahold of someone in customer service. .. Whom told me they could not do anything for me... Then transferred me to a manager.. . who then told me he could credit me back 100.00. !!????? But not showing any rooms for my 2nd day!!! I demanded to talk to his manger.. Who was too busy to talk, but promised me a call back within 30 mins. 9- STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ANYONE... STILL HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET THROUGH!!!
It's now Sunday, the last day of my trip. 10- I AM NOW ON MY 18+ HOURS OF BEING AT THE AIRPORT... THE BENCHES HERE ARE NOT VERY COMFORTABLE TO SLEEP ON!!! But this was my only safe option. 11- You left me with nothing, no concern of my safety.. No regards of your responsibility to your customers 12- I want a FULL refund of this disaster trip!!! 13- I want to be compisated for having to book another room.. When one should have already been booked (one that I would still be living after an hour of being there!) 14- I want to be compisated for all is this emotional turmoil this has caused me. I've never been so scared and cried so much! 15- I want to hear back from you within a timely manor or I will seek council for this un believable horrible experience.
On 9/27/15 I used Hot Wire online service to reserve an auto. The final report came up MSP and not MSN. I did chat link with Hot Wire and got nowhere. Tried it again with supervisor - got no where. Did phone call next to Hot Wire and got no where, then did e-mail asking them to change the error, or let me online to change the error. They refused both. I live 250 miles from where they gave me a reservation, and after several tries to change the error I sent them a cancellation notice, which they have not acknowledged.
I then asked my credit card company to intervene - they said they couldn't change anythihng. Since, I'd successfully used they technique before, I went back to credit card company for another try to cancel this error. They again, told me nothing could be done. I've since lodged a complaint with their president.
I've since written to Hot Wire, car rental company, and credit card company; asking why this continues to go on? A review of ConsumerAffairs.com has 30 complaints over about 75 day period in late 2015. I'v also filed a report with BBB in California asking for a refund of this $217 charge, when no service could be provided nor was provided. And simply because Hot Wire refused to offer any customer service in this matter.
My goal is a refund, and until we have that I'll continue to file a report about this incident.
I bidded for a 2 1/2 star hotel and was downgraded to an inferior motel upon the booking payment. As advertised on the site the 2 1/2 star hotels are : Hollyday Express, La Quinta, Best Western, Ramada and others ( see picture attached) I was given a 2 star hotel upon payment - Super 8, wich is not even a hotel but a motel.
I'm very disppointed and frustrated with Hotwire. This site is really not trustworthy as I'll describe below:
1. I booked a hotel in New York for February 2016 using the Hot Rates and selected a 4.5* hotel with an advertised discount of 29%. I ended up getting the Novotel Times Square, which is actually rated as 4* by every other hotel site (Expedia, Priceline, Tripadvisor, etc), including Novotel itself. Only Hotwire considers this hotel a 4.5*, which is purposely misleading and fake. On top of that, the deal I got is not really that great, as it's only $23 (2.6%) cheaper (total cost for 4 nights including taxes) than what's openly published by Novotel, Expedia and Priceline. Not even close to the 29% discount informed when I booked! I trusted Hotwire to get a true 4.5* hotel and great deal and I was deceived! Didn't get a 4.5* hotel nor a significantly discounted deal!
2. Interestingly, even though my reservation confirmation came saying that this hotel is a 4.5*, if I enter today my reservation at Hotwire's website it shows the hotel as 4*. In fact, it advertises 4.5*, delivers 4* and even recognizes it on its own site. Absurd!
3. At the time of booking, some months ago, I got this hotel for $167 a night as a HOT RATE. It turns out that today (Jan 8) that same hotel is selling openly on Hotwire for $124, a lot more than I paid a while back. I contacted Hotwire to ask for a refund of the difference and they denied saying they don't guarantee lower rates after 24 hs. Well, that's a website that brags about providing great deals and guaranteeing the lowest rates and that doesn't stand behind those promises to customers who bought from it trusting they would be guaranteed the lowest rate for the same stay period. In my opinion, a very bad business practice.
I tried already many times to discuss and solve this with them and only get negative answers. They simply don't care and are ok deceiving and misleading customers.
So, my advice is to stay away from Hotwire! They don't give real good deals, they lie and don't care about solving the issues.
Hotwire took money off my card when the error message said my card was not charged I call the customer service number and the tell me my account is with risk management and can't tell me any thing else I call risk management and they never answered I leave voicemails and get no call back I called my bank and they say hotwire had to release it I've called over 100 times in the last 3 days and I'm getting no where they are a complete ripoff and liars
On Cyber Monday, I was seeking a deal on a Hotel Stay. After comparing sites, Hotwire had the best deal. A 3 star Hotel, with logos of several great hotels, normally $169 per night, over 56% off.. great dealy , no. I booked the deal, only to receive a hotel who's maximum rate is $99 per night. The rate was $75 per night. Very disappointed since it was a romantic getaway and I was seeking a better hotel, feeling very mislead!
I attempted to rent a car on the weekend, the Hot Wire representative, told me it was no problem, and that she could help me rent through Avis in my area. Sounded so easy, however....when I called the number to confirm the car rental, and time to pick up the car, they could not be reached.
I called back and told her this, she told me there is a no refund policy. I explained, I did not get the service, so logically, I should be refunded. She said she would attempt to call the company herself.
After being put on hold for twenty minutes, I decided to call back to get someone else. They claimed my name, address, or e-mail was not in the system.
I told them, however, they did magically, charge my credit card. They never did help me, just robotically tell me how great my "deal" was, and that there was a no refund policy.
How I wish I had read othe reports about this company. Don't end up like me with Buyer's regret, and a 77.00 charge, that will take a long time to get back.
I am writing to you to see if you maybe able to assist me with my ongoing issue since August 2015. I had a reservation with hotwire 5517283787 for a hotel reservation. I ended up with an upper respiratory infection that stayed with my for over a month. I was unable to make my reservation due to me being so sick. I call hotwire on 8/24.2015 telling them my situation and I was sent an email on 8/24/2015 stating I would need to send medical documentation to them., etc. On 8/27/2015 I faxed over 3 pages at 0733 am to 415-814-0874 with a cover letter, medical doctors note and a copy of the email that was sent to me the day before. I received my fax confirmation email stating that it have meed been received. I have called back on August 29, 2015 and I was told that they had received my information and that it was under review. In addition they stated it would take 7-10 business days and they would be back in touch with me. To date, I have made at least 20 phone calls in to the Customer Service Department where I am constantly given different information. I was asked on 9/11/2015 via customer service to re-fax my paperwork in. So I re-faxed my paperwork again at 0925 am with confirmation of receipt. On 10/1/2015 I spoke with Wendy who informed me that my refund of 421.84 was being processed and it would take 3-5 business days for a refund. That has not happened so I have called back again multiple times only to have to re-fax my paperwork in again on 10/2/2015, 10/15/2015, and most recently as of last night was asked to re-fax my paperwork once again as they don't seem to have any of the previous paperwork and everyone I speak to has given me a different story and nothing is getting resolved. There are no Supervisors available to talk too, there is not one in the department that handles the refunds to speak with and I am left on hold for 20-30 minutes at a time and the call center is in the phillapines where they have refused to allow me to speak with a representative in the US
On July 10th 2015 my husband and I reserved a car on hotwire.com for July 11th. An itinerary was emailed to us for July 25th. We immediately called them to tell them their system changed the dates (my husband and I double-checked everything before paying) and we were put on hold for 2 hours, afterwords they refused to cancel, refund or help us in any way.
We called our bank and disputed the charge. Hotwire disputed back, and charged the money to our account again. We sent Capital One our receipt to another car rental we had to make with Enterprise for the 11th because hotwire gave us the wrong dates. We sent Capital One 6 other customers with the identical mistakes and complaints as us, within a three month time frame of our incident. Obviously, hotwire is having some technical issues on their website.
Capital One said because we didn't take screen shots of our booking process we do not have proof. Even though I sent screen shots of other complaints the same as ours, and our reciept of another car rental place for the correct date, it was not enough proof. I asked them if I am such a retard who could not pick the right dates then why did I pick the right dates for Enterprise?
The six complaints of wrong dates within three months of our complaint was only on 1 website. I am sure there are thousands more effected whom did not file a report, or filed it on a different website. As you can see from this text, I can follow directions, I am aware of my actions and I am not a retard.
I reserved a hotel night through this website for an offer which specified that the hotel was a three star hotel near La Canterra in San Antonio similar to a Hilton Garden Inn. When I received the information for the booking it stated Hotel San Antonio. This hotel was not listed on any of the major travel websites. I actually had to Google the address to find a website that displayed the hotel which was listed as a 2 1/2 star hotel. From the pictures it was a secondhand Holiday Inn Express. It takes a lot for a hotel to lose its franchise. I contacted Hotwire and received no response although it is clearly a case of false advertising. How is is fair to auction a hotel that isn't even interested enough in its business to market itself legitimately? The hotel instead relies on shady backdoor deals to increase its bottom line. The expectation is that the customer will not stay at the hotel and never have their money refunded
I was searching for a hotel in Vail for the weekend for my wife and I to get away. It was Oktoberfest in Vail and we wanted to find a place in Lionshead, a specific part of the town near the festivities. After searching various sites, I cam across Hotwire.com's Hot Hotel Deals. They listed a "4-Star Hotel in the "Lionshead Area" that was rated awesome. As part of the enticement, they use hotels like Interconntinental Hotels, Le Meridien, etc., hotels that deliver 4 star or better service. They even go as far to say that Hotel don't want to advertise such a low price to keep their good image. And to add one more enticement, right before you click, they generate a pop up of a 4 star hotel in that area that is truly a hotel and 4 star mentioning that someone else just got this deal.I clicked on the deal and agreed to the no refund policy. I figured that there may be some variation of the hotel, but at least it is in the Lionshead area and should be decent. However, after locking me in, the reservation came back completely different from the promoting site. Instead of a hotel, I was booked at a condo. Instead of being in the Lionshead area, I was across the highway, nowhere near the festivities. And although I agree there is some latitude in ratings, this definitley is not a 4 start property.
Upon calling the customer service at Hotwire, I was connected to what I am sure was a representative in the Philippines, judging by the accent. I do not have a problem with that. She place me on hold to see what could be done. After 3-4 minutes, she came back telling me there is nothing they can do as that is the policy and that she called the property and they said it was a hotel. Furthermore, she said the property is within the area the designate on their map. Had I looked at the map, I would have seen this. Upon further diagreement, I was promptly disconnected.
Here are the facts...the property actually has its own website and lists itself as a condo (even timeshare driven), it is located a half mile outside of Lionshead with nothing else around it. Vail calls the areas Sandstone. As to the 4 Star, it is dated, lacks the warm and coziness of a hotel. And to add insult, had I wanted to stay there, I could have booked directy and saved $75 off the two nights.
I called back to customer service and spoke to another woman (with the same dialect and hence the Philippines) and this time asked to speak to a supervisor. This individual was even less pleasant and then began to argue that a condo is a hotel and that Hotwire lsits them interchangeablly. Funny things is that I can now pull a similar search on Hotwire and they a property now as a condo! Bottom line, they did not care neither about the listing, the representation nor the location. IN short, a nice way of saying %$!#!! to me. This is not a case of buyers remorse or setting too high and expectation on my part. I can see someone doing this. But the fact that it is not a hotel nor in the area, is just plain wrong!
I have disputed my charge with AMEX bu I am unsure where it will land even though the person on AMEX had mentioned a similar experience in which AMEX successfully denied the charge.
Hotwire, profited by the misrepresentation and fraudulant portrayal of the property at my expense. I will not use them again as thier integrity is severlly lacking, their customer service is horrible, and the deals are not really "deals."
I was interested in an offer for Paris where in the site it said it was a 4 Star hotel, my surprise when I do the payment and it's a 3 Stars. The hotel situation is horrible and the price is even better outside of the site. So, I don't understand why they offer something not real at all.
I've called to complain and look for a solution, and they kept saying is "non-refundable", but they didn't let me explain or didn't seem to be interested in helping me.
I'm really frustrated, it's a trip I'm willing to do so strongly and I hate that I'll be in a hotel of low quality.
Be aware of this, when you book with hotwire there is an option tells you that your money worth it so if you buy the cancellation insurence ($38) you will have the flexibility, I paied that extra for the flexiblity but then immidate after I decided to reschuedule my travle date it turned out (after long hours of talking to their customer service) that I can not cancell or change the date even though it clearly stated in the confirmation email that I have paied for "Travel Protection – Cancellation Plan".
So if it is not possible to change/cancell why they tell you to purchase this plan??
Booked a hotel with Hotwire that was "pet friendly" according to their website. After being "awarded" the hotel we looked at the hotel on the internet and found that Hotwire did not disclose that the hotel charges $75 a night for pets. Hotwire said too bad, sounds friendly to them. After the first one hour call a manager gave us a reference number after telling us they would refund the charge and called the hotel and said we were not booked. I called the hotel and they said we were booked for the night. Called Hotwire back and the reference number to our case was bogus, nice. They would not refund us in any way, this was another 1 hour call. I have 3500 customers in my database for my business and everyone will see this. Last time for Hotwire. The savings is not worth the aggravation. Call direct to the hotel.
I used Hotwire to book a car rental in my area, after purchasing the car rental I was given the name of the agency. The agency is located 40 miles away from where i live. I contacted hotwire to try to change the agency, and they would not do it, i also called the car agency who told hotwire that if i drove to my local airport, they would send a shuttle to pick me up and bring me to the agency. The only problem with this gesture is it would take 1 hour and two interstates to do this. I tried to get a refund but I received no help from them. I lost my money and now have to re book with another agency, lesson learned I will NEVER work with Hotwire again.
I purchased a hotel from hotwire.com because they had advertised the hotel as "38% off the regular price" and that it had a "100% satisfaction" at this hotel. Upon purchase I found out that the actual hotel offered a lower price and only a 78% customer rating. Hotwire did refund me the difference in price, however I wouldn't have made the purchase to begin with had they provided accurate information. I made the purchase based on the false information provided by the site.