I know many of you here use Priceline to get hotel rooms. Have any of you used the Price chop on Priceline? A few days ago I booked a room in Nashville, TN. I spent a lot of time checking room reviews and I saw that many of the hotels were completely booked. After a good hour of trying the name your own price and failing to get a room, I did the Price chop.
After driving for 9 hours, and through several hard down pours, we finally pulled up to our hotel in Nashville. It was after midnight and we were so tired. The receptionist said she hadn't received any reservation in our name and they were booked solid! I was very unhappy!!! I produced the paper work that I printed off the computer showing her I did indeed have reservations. She told me that they had run out of rooms a day before we even placed that reservation. We were left to try to figure out what to do to get another room during a time when so many events were taking place and the hotels were full to capacity.
The receptionist started calling around for us (which I appreciated) and we had to take a room at a Best Western (I would call it a "tired" Western). For many years we were living under a super tight budget and we had to take crappy rooms because they were cheaper and we needed to save money. I have reached my limit for doing that and try to get a nice room that I don't have to worry how old and filthy the carpet is, or think about how long ago the bedspread was washed.
Has this happened to any of you? I thought Priceline guaranteed their rooms. This has now happened to us 2 times in Nashville. I might think it was the hotel's fault except I have experienced this with 2 different hotels in the same city. Have any of you contacted Priceline with a problem before? I will be calling them tomorrow and through the magic of the internet (Facebook, google+, Twitter, AFI) people will know about it if I am not compensated in some way. The social media is a great way to spread bad PR for companies if they fail to do what they advertise. It can also be used to show appreciation for good companies, as well.
I found this at the bottom of their opening page - With our Best Price Guarantee, you can be sure you're getting the lowest rate at top-notch hotels - even at the last minute.
What do you guys think?
Comments
Maija, that was quick thinking on your husband's part. I love it! We should all remember that little trick.
Well, you all have taught me that I need to adjust my schedule and arrive early and call ahead. I foolishly thought that once I made a reservation with a credit card the room was mine. I would hate to be shuttled off 40 miles like Jim. That would be so irritating.
I am sure there are plenty of others who never knew that late arrivals can lose their rooms. If the location is important, get there early.
Now to get my husband to move a little quicker in the future. lol
Keep in mind that the hotel is in charge of what happens at check-in, not Priceline. In my situation, Priceline tried to make it right, but the hotel (Windsor Gardens in Palm Beach) had overbooked, and had not notified Priceline until the last minute. Those with cut-rate reservations will get the shaft more quickly than those who book through the hotel, even though they are pre-paid.
Check in early, if you can. Call if you can't, and make sure your reservation will be honored. I've used Priceline extensively over the years, so I was flabbergasted to be shunted off to a hotel 40 miles away from my reserved hotel. It DOES happen, and it can happen to you, whether you use Priceline, Hotwire, or book through the hotel itself. Be warned.
I use American Express to pay for rooms, regardless of who they are booked through. I get an itemized statement at year-end detailing expenses by category. I also track 'em in Quicken. Any site that allows you to look up your sales history is helpful to have online, IMO.
We've been using Priceline for many years and have had only occasional problems with getting our room as ordered. ( I was stuck into a smoking room once in a Residence Inn in NJ but a "scene" at the desk solved that problem and I came back to my room midday at a Doubletree ( also in NJ) to find the exterminator spraying for "carpet beetles"- a situation which we parlayed into 2 free nights and 3 free meals from the hotel). I do call and confirm room details as soon as I get the reservation and stress the other connections I might have with the chain (Marriott Rewards Member, Hilton Honors etc). I also try to check in fairly early since Priceline customers often get stuck at the very end of a hall or in the room next to the ice machine. I've even had Priceline refund my money when I could not get out of my own driveway during "Snomageddon" and missed a visit to Charleston.
Conversely I have had full priced direct hotel reservations double booked by upscale chains and have had to be sent to other more distant hotels as a result. (Another situation which would have been avoided if we had checked in earlier than 8pm.) The key in each of these situations is to remember the rule " the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Thanks to all who have written. I just started using Priceline, to try to save money. As a newbie, I never knew any of this! So glad this was posted. I'll make sure to check in early AND call ahead.!
A little humor can go a long way.
Thanks everyone. Jim, I bet you are right about arriving late. I can see that now.
I am going to have to not relay on this in the future for cheap rooms. My sister has had great luck but she always checks in early. Me on the other hand am always getting to the hotel late. And that is my problem. I often arrive late. I think I am going to have to change that in the future if I want to keep my rooms. And call to make sure I have the reservations.
I had a very bad experience with Priceline this past February. Booked a room in West Palm Beach in January, for Artigras. Got a decent price for a 3 star hotel, the Windsor Gardens. Paid for it up front for five nights. Went to the show, set up the booth, was eating dinner about 7:30 the evening of check-in.
Got a phone from Priceline. The hotel was overbooked and they could either refund my money or try to find me a room. Since the area was extremely booked (it was President's Day weekend), the closest they could get me a room was in Stuart, 45 minutes away. I had no choice but to take the room and drive the extra 30 minutes each way every morning and night.
Bill and Jon Slade booked the same hotel via Priceline, and had much the same price as I did. They checked in around 1PM, before setting up at Artigras. At about the same I got a phone call, Bill got a call from Priceline, saying they had no rooms available. Bill told them he was sitting in his room already and used the word that Bill is famous for using. Occupation is 9/10 of the law, at least in hotel speak.
Priceline's customer service is pretty non-existent, as I found out later. There are many, many complaints from people that this has happened to. Priceline guarantees the price, but they do NOT guarantee that you have a room. In fact, no hotel will actually guarantee you a room, even if it's prepaid. The practice is know in the industry as "walking the customer". If you arrive late, and the hotel is full, they are obligated to find you a room, ostensibly of similar or better quality, but they routinely overbook, just like the airlines, and can legally bounce you if you are late. In practice, you may end up at the Days Inn, even if you booked the Marriott Towne Place Suites.
This happened to my wife once at a Marriott. She and a client arrived in LA late at night.for a meeting the next day. The hotel claimed they had no rooms, and wanted to "walk" to a hotel 45 minutes away. Since the meeting was early in the morning, my wife refused to take no for an answer, especially since the person in line checking in before had gotten a room. She went ballistic. The hotel said,"You don't understand how this industry works." That infuriated her even more. She held firm, and finally they made a conference room into a bedroom for the client, with a rollaway under the chandelier. The meeting room was scheduled for an 8:00AM breakfast meeting with the pipe fitters union; I believe they met elsewhere that morning.
Best practice is to check-in as early as you can. Calling to confirm is a good alternative, but it won't necessarily guarantee that the room will be there when you arrive at midnight in the pouring rain.
I don't trust Priceline anymore. Even the "name your own price" can be higher than discount rates at the hotel on occasion, or similar to discounts off the rack rate if you're not careful. Doing your research ahead of time is always the best practice. Once I accepted the alternative room in Stuart, I had no recourse, and they offered no compensation for the additional time and mileage I incurred. Priceline does not give a rats ass about you as a customer. You will have a very hard time finding a customer service number or an email address on their site. There are published email addresses elsewhere. Do a search on the interwebz, you'll turn up lots of complaints about their shoddy customer service.
Jackie, I've used priceline for the past 1 or so and haven't had any issue yet. I haven't called in advance to validate my room either, but now that I've read your post here, I'll make sure to do that as I usually wait til the week of my trip to book my hotel hoping to get the lowest price I can bid. I don't like the 24 hour rule when a bid isn't accepted, Which prolongs getting my room on a Monday or Tuesday.
I sure hope you get good results.. I go to booking buddy first then i check all the sites for the motel prices. like i said before, i always call the motel as well before i even book it..
I guess I will have to call the hotel in the future. I didn't realize that I needed to do that. That would sure alleviate arriving to no room very late at night. Thanks for the advice.
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