Hotwire review: Hotwire bad policy! 55

I booked a room through Hotwire. I was pleased to see that for a reasonable rate, I could get a room on the way to the vacation destination at a Comfort Inn or La Quinta or comparable. They booked me for the Knight's Inn in Cookeville, TN. They claimed it was 2 star, but other sites give it 1/2 to 1-1/2. I saw very bad reviews for this hotel. I could have gotten the room there on my own for only 3 dollars more than what they gave me. I could have gotten it through Hotel-Rates for $5 more and would have been allowed cancellation up to the date of arrival. I will never use them again. I contacted them and told them how displeased I was. I pretty much got the song and dance of "Too Bad, So Sad - You're Had!" I booked for another hotel through Hotel-Rates.com.
They got my money this time, but never again.

I booked a 2 1/2 star hotel room from the Hotwire site which is supposedly to be one of these Amerisuites, HolidayInn Express, Country Inn . After I paid for it, it turned out to be somewhat a lot less like a 2 or 1 star hotel( which are rated by AAA). I felt like I have been cheated! And the Customer service rep told me pretty much like " you should have read the fine print and too bad it is your loss!" NO refund, No exchange...This deceptive and BAIT & SWITCH practice should be banned!

Hotwire is a huge ripoff. I booked a hotel and when I arrived there was no parking...Radison LAX...so they directed me to park at the airport...and catch the shuttle back to the hotel...at 1:00am. I told the hotel that I was unhappy but they said that Hotwire should have known...the info was on the Radison LAX website. When I called Hotwire they put me on hold, later hung up and finally after two more calls and some serious switching around I was told that I had paid and they were not responsible for amenities like parking even though it was part of the deal.

What CRAP.

wrong

parking in not included and even when availalbe its at your expense not hotwires

I Book a rental car with hotwire, hotwire do not show you who you are book with until you have booked your rental car and payment has been removed from your account. I am booked with National and did not find out until after I called national they do not accept debit cards, Hotwire do not give you an option to pick you rental car company of choice (UNFAIR). I spoke with Amy at National (OKC), I called Hotwire spoke with Briann, she told me I could get a refund after I was rejected, that is the day of my rental 11/24/2008. I have to travel out on 11/24/2008, I book ahead of time for a reason (duh). As of 11-14-2008 my account is minus 244.00, because their (HOTWIRE) inability to tell me National does not accept debit cards. I budget enough money for one rental not two rentals.

Do not rent from Hotwire, or Expedia they are all in one.

This site "claims" to give you a fake "best offer" that you do not even get details of until you commit to a NONREFUNDABLE / NOT-ALTERABLE transaction. What they describe and what you get are two completely different things and once you realize this you have already made a purchase with no chance whatsoever of cancellation, change ot human interaction whatsoever. I am out $1, 233. The site is all electronic and nobody on their end knows what they are selling - at all. You think you are getting a great deal but realize later you paid FAR MORE than anyone else and cannot cancel the transaction. Do not get sucked into the expensive travel ripoff.

For one month i checked the prices on a flight from atlanta georgia to casablanca morocco everyday at least 5 times a day. Everyday, everytime the price said 1361.00 but when i would click on it ..it would change to 1377.00 when i contacted them after 3 and 1/2 weeks they said it was because of price fluctuation. If that is true why did it always say the same 2 prices every time...buyer beware..they just want to charge more than there advertised price..not good business.

The internet is an amazing tool, however, urls can be copied and information can be hijacked, so maybe you can get extra charges without actual participation by You. On line secure, dosen't always work out that way. Ask the folks who have identity theft cases and cannot seem to get them settled. Ask the children upon entering their first job, who find they have negative credit and have not "bought a thing". Wise up

This web site took $28.95 out of my credit card account and i never even been the site.

My stay at Holiday Inn was very upsetting that I'm leaving after two days of stay. The maid didn't even give clean wash towels not enough bath towels only two towels were given when the room was for three people. There was a sign of the door the please reused towels. The iron was broken water spilled out on our clothing. Called to hotel desk to recieve another iron, they said someone would bring it up. Never happened. Trash was left in the room right by the door. How could you miss it. Hotwire need to stop making you pay for your hotel before you know exactly what hotel you are getting. They list three hotels and you have the expectancy that all the hotels listed will be similiar but they are not. They listed Doubletree, Holiday Inn and one more . I know what to expect at the Dobletree but of course I didn't get that one I recieved the Holiday Inn. Not even a comparison. It sad that Hotwire will not even refund you the money if you don't want that hotel and let you continue on selecting. So, the old saying is you get what you pay for. I went online with the address of the hotel they had chosen for me, the rooms are nothing like it says. No sofa, no microwave, no refrigerator, only one microwave in the hall on the first floor on top of the washer and dryer.

It's pretty well documented that Hotwire, Priceline, etc are horrible. Probably should have just gone to the actual website of the hotel taht you wanted to stay at.

I have also had the same problem with auction hotwire on line...I have never even heard of them until I saw a $67.83 withdrawl on my bank account

Brothers and Sisters my name is Iyke. I am an RN student in a college here in Connecticut. This is my case cum story with hotwire.com. The time now is 11.15pm, Friday August 2009. Unfortunately this day happened to be the worst day of my life. Thank you so much Hotwire.com for this day!
I have used hotwire on two different occasions to book for the following hotels, a night in Hotel Indigo Newton Riverside MA and two nights in Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel Canada. On these two occasions I used my debit card to make the booking and payment. I did appreciate the deal and my stays in these two hotels were great.
This August, I’m on vacation from my job, also my school had closed from the summer section hence this is an ideal time to travel. My sister lives in Germany and she invited me to come over. My wife (Victoria) did promise to pay for my trip but shortage of recourses hindered her good willing (she just bought a new car).She then asked her best friend (Maureen) for assistance. Due to the fact that Maureen was so busy with work, she gave my wife all her credit card information to go on and make the reservation. Hotwire called Maureen's house phone (which is the right thing to do) to confirm if she authorized her credit card. Maureen was not at home, she was at work. Hotwire agent talked to Maureen's mother who is about 75 years old and the poor woman answered that she did not give such order.
Hotwire stopped right there. Hotwire did not talk to Maureen. They cancelled my flight, called Maureen’s credit card company and her credit card got blocked. My wife and I did not know all this, Maureen had no idea about all these either. I only found out when I left my Connecticut home to JFK for departure to Germany, the airliner told me that my ticket was deactivated, this information was given to me just 1:30 mins before departure. I was stunned. I called Hotwire, they referred me to their fraud department number which I also called but it went to voicemail. I left a message. After 20 minutes a lady called me from hotwire telling me that my flight was cancelled because the “owner” of the credit card said it was stolen, that no permission was given to use the card. I was baffled, I replied how that can be true. Remember it is only some one who know you and trust you, can release credit card information to the third party. I called Maureen and she said nobody ever contacted her. She called home and the mother said yes that hotwire did call. At this point I was not mad at all with Hotwire because I felt they were doing their job. Unfortunately it was short lived, the problem began.
Maureen now official told her mom about the incident incase if they call again. I missed my flight for that day. Maureen told my wife to go on and make another booking. Now we checked for Friday, the 21st flight and found Airbelin.com which we booked only to find out that Maureen's credit account has been closed courtesy of Hotwire.
Maureen apologized to us and told us that she will resolve the situation as soon as she can. Time was ticking my vacation time going by too. My wife Victoria talked to her unofficial adopted mom (Barb) who we are living with to help us with the reservation. She accepted. She was also following the whole development. We went through hotwire again since the owner of the card is making the booking herself for me this time. The card did not go through, Hotwire probably have listed my name in high security alert. Few seconds later I got a call from hotwire and the Gentleman from hotwire threatened me that if I ever got to the airport that I will be arrested and he hung up. Minutes later Hotwire called Barb on the house phone and asked her if she made a booking with my name and she said yes. then they told her if she knew that the person she was making booking for, just stole someone’s credit card two days back, Barb said NO that was not true, I stole no credit card and she tried to explain to hotwire agent, but he was so abusive and yelling which he has no right considering he has no credible evidence to support his notion but he was yelling saying that Barb is an accomplice to the fraud and she will be arrested with me. Well, Barb will be contacting her lawyer tomorrow.
Brothers and sisters, Have you ever been accused wrongly? Have you ever been called a criminal when you are innocent? If you have not been in this circumstance then you probably have no idea what it feels like. I have never had any crash with the law, never ever! Please judge this scenario and tell me what illegal thing I have done. Where did I go wrong? Because of hotwire ill and handicapped investigation, people I love are been harassed and accused unjustly. I was wrongly accused. No proper investigation was done and now they are saying I will be arrested if ever I book another airline and go to the airport. Meaning by the time this is resolved my vacation time is over, my vacation time which did not come easy. They verbally abused both I and Barb. They falsely accused me and Barb. This is painful. This isn't right. Where is Justice because I will definitely get to the root. Sure I can forfeit my vacation but I can not give up my right and Justice. I will be back later to let you all know how it ended

Hotwire is a dishonest company. I booked a reservation in a hotel in NY city for one day. Due to the worst snow storm that hit the east coast in several years I called 72 hours in advance to cancel my hotel room... thier policy states (or so they say) that if you cant make it due to weather conditions they will refund you. The person on the phone could see that the highways were closed and there is no way I could make it to NYC since I was traveling from NC. She told me to call back, I asked why... she said.. "just call back and we will give you a refund tomorrow." I called back the next day, same story, they said to call back and they can refund me but closer to the date. I called back the day of the booking and they said "we cant help you with anything".
I was so disappointed because I changed all my plans due to what I was told for 3 days, I thought they would refund me (as promised) but they didnt. They stalled me to not refund me in the end. I asked to talk to a supervisor, who called me a lier, saying I never called them before today, said she didnt have time for my "shananigans" and when I asked to cancel my account, she said "do it yourself." Lastly, I pointed out the horrible customer service I recieved and she said "why dont you just book thru someone else next time." Wowwwwwww I was schoked! These ppl are dishonest, not professional and the worst customer service in the industry. Never Ever book thru them, they are really dishonest and have inconsistent customer service. I had the worst expereince in the travel industry yet and I have been traveling since I was 5.

We'll I was looking to see what deals I might be able to find, And when I came to the end of reading the so called good deal, I went to read the terms and conditions and how they are final and no changes. Decided to check out for fraud and found these comments saving me a really big hassle!

Beware of using HotWire as they sell your name and credit card information to companies such as Travelers Advantage and Rebate Giant and others. These companies enroll you and charge your credit card without your knowledge or consent. This is a scam and I am going to make my State Attorney General aware of it.

NEVER USE HOTWIRE>COM TO BOOK A CAR RENTAL! This company is terrible and their customer services representatives are rude and not at all helpful.

Someone should take this company and put it out of business. I contacted the Better Business Bureu, my state's attorney general office and The Federal trade Commission to compalint about these crooks!

Don't trust the rating system. They rate hotels with a 3 star rating, whereas other sites have rated them 2 or less with poor reviews.

The last hotel had rats in our room. We lost our box of groceries to rats who helped themselves to it. I video taped it and I believe it helped us get most of our money back from Hotwire.

They gave us some credit in a form of Hotwire dollars for the night that we did stay there. However I did not sleep since I was woke up around 3 AM to sounds in the room but by the 3rd time I found that it was rats. We packed up, with out showers and checked out with no place to go at 5:30 in the morning.

Turns out this place is know for bad service and below minimal cleanliness as well as roach problem. But I did not find any bugs or signs of them.

They book rooms that can and should be closed by the Health Board.

So today I thought I would use it. The 3 star hotel was 81.99 - 25.00 credit.

So I get the name of the new Hotel again it has horrifying reviews. And by far is not a 3 star hotel.

I will never use them again since I can not trust the rating system.

I hope this place is not a roach-rat infested place or I'm leaving and calling the news team about my past 2 booking within the last 2 weeks.

I had an experience like this with Hotwire last year. I went through the process of booking a room on their website. On the final screen my price was $33 and change. I take screenshots to be on the safe side. I pressed confirm and booked it. I get an email saying it's actually $83 they are charging me. I called them and get nowhere. I call back several times over the ensuing week, send in my documentation including PICTURES PROVEN MY QUOTE several times. Everybody is lazy, is not aware of the documentation, doesn't bother to get acquainted with the case each time I call. I'm told the dept that actually makes ruling on disputes, cannot be reached by phone, and no rep can talk to them. This dept refuses my refund, and they refuse to look at the documentation, saying only the special dept can look at. I go up the ladder, explaining each time that they cannot quote me a price (which I could prove with photos), then charge me a different one. I'm told nobody can change the decision. I finally get a higher manager. She checks my documents and refunds me. What a bunch of f#$8ing liars. Obviously somebody CAN both look at the info, AND make a decision. Just has to be the right somebody. Thanks hotwire, you dishonest idiots. I have used priceline ever since.

taxes and fees my friend// the cost of the ticket and then before you purchase it gives the total you will be charged/

Hotwire is the most evil and crooked company I have ever delt with. The fact that a company like this is able to operate in the United States is a very disturbing eye openning experience. I highly recomment that anyone who is looking to book a car, hotel or flight go to the company to do and not through Hotwire. CROOKS!

HOTWIRE IS NOTHING BUT A DUMB COMPANY RUN BY SOME JERKS !

HOTWIRE IS MISLEADING !
HOTWIRE SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !

Today I booked a room using hotwire in Erie, PA and immediately upon learning the name of the place, did some research. The reviews for this place, Lake Erie Lodge, are terrible. I called hotwire in disgust and asked for a refund based on the reviews I read on tripadvisor.com. I spoke with a supervisor and she said they only look at reviews for the past 3 months and wouldn't you know it, the most recent reviews are great! I asked how long they partnered with this particular hotel and she wouldn't release that info. What a crock of ###! If in fact hotwire partnered with this hotel a year ago then they should be ashamed of themselves for booking me this room. I asked what if the accomodations are below average and not acceptable. The answer, we cannot answer a what if question! I'm calling my credit card company to dispute the charges...CROOKS!

When I selected a 3 star rating hotel to get a discounted price, I really got a two star hotel, after doing research on the hotel, and after checking other rating other well know internet sites, and googling the location and hotel to see number of unsettling police reports. I am not comfortable of taking my family to this hotel. Call Hotwire to try work out change to another hotel (not refund), but they would not, I would have to go to the hotel first. If room is not satisfactory, and hotel does not correct problem, I would then need to call Hotwire about it . The way they took care of me today, it would probably be another run around, again. The line from the consumer service representative was "there is no Government Standards for rating hotels", maybe these large internet sites should come with some standards. Bad experience will never use Hotwire again, even on their regular site which shows the hotel. Hotwire and La Quinta Hotel got a free $300 between them for nothing.

I booked a two star hotel in charleston.it was 30 min away from downtown it was in strip mall area and was standing alone(normally there will be two or more hotels in same area). It was at night and I asked them to cancel it.happy that hotwire did cancel my reservation and refunded me. The hotwire called up fthe hotel agent and they were ready to cancel it.
Hotwire shouldn't be partnering with hotels like this.I will be scared to book one more time with hotwire because of bad experience and terrible experience my family had to go through

Booked a rental a month ago, 6 - 2 - 2011, and got a email alert about car rentals so i figured i'd check to see what the rates were. The rate for the same dates and times were 25 dollars cheaper. I've cancelled and changed my reservations before and i was told because i'm a "preferred customer" that they would cancel my booking with no penalty and allow me to book a new reservation. When i called today and spoke with Dani, a hotwire reservationist, she told me "just because hotwire did this in the past it doesn't mean they'll do it again". She spoke over me and would not allow me to talk. I told her she was being rude. Hotwire sure isn't going to get my business anymore because of this! It appears that they do something one way on one day and things differently on another day. They sure did ruin their credibility with me today! I won't be using hotwire any time soon. I know orbitz automatically sends a refund check to you if a rate goes lower after a booking.

Hotwire Reviews:

Hotwire will trick you... Hotwire will mislead you... And their customer service agents/supervisors are trained to be A-O! Really, they won't even acknowledge their issues and are rude and don't value the customer AT ALL.

DO NOT TRUST HOTWIRE... why? because they will offer anything... other than what you are interested in and their website is extremely misleading when selecting a "checkbox" for a specific region and then results (ofcourse limited by their info policy) include hotels WAY beyond the area you selected, and since you can't see more info they literally screw you, and there is nothing you can do because you checked the acceptance box... but not even acknowledging customer is MESSED UP!

I stayed at Fort Mitchell, Ky several weeks ago using Hotwire.com as my hotel locator. When searching, they posted this unknown hotel as a "best deal" so I went with it.

They put in a shabby hotel 8 with the listing on the sign as #45 a night. I was charged around $60. No internet (which was advertised as high speed) 1/2 the cable channels didn't work (The hotel told me this was due to a storm approaching and they had satellite. The hotel next to them also had satellite but theirs worked). Towels were rags. This was a class 1 hotel not a class 2.

We were scheduled to stay for 3 days, but we only stayed for 2 and on the weekend. I didn't have hotwire's number and had to wait to get internet connection at which time I contacted Hotmwire. I was givin a number to contact and it turned into a blame game with them not taking any responsibility. I could have got this hotel at a better rate on my own...I fact could have got a better hotel through hotel.com, I found out later, for a better price.
I will no longer use their service and I will defer my staff from using their services anymore. Customer Service is not their priority.

Please do not do business with Hotwire. They show that they will match prices on similar travel bookings if you can find a lower price. Well, I recently booked a car rental with Hotwire and within one day found a lower pice on the same booking. When I pointed it out with Hotwire that it was lower on the same day, same place, same size car, they began a big "why they couldn't do it" explanation with a bunch of very picky things even though I had complied with their guarantee. Hotwire should not even advertise a price match when they have no intention of following up on it even after the customer goes through the guidelines. I have learned my lesson and will not be doing business with them again.

Hotwire provides misleading and deceptive information at its website regarding hotel rating. it sold me a low-star hotel for high star price based on "THEIR OWN REVIEW DATA". And its price was actually higher than it was listed at expedia.com (which shows as a low star hotel !).

Even in their own rating guidance, the chain hotel was listed as low start . I called customer service, I was told for this specific hotel of the chain, it is worth high star.

Such a deceptive and misleading practice should be warned, given consumers can not access to or understand what HOTWIRE REVIEW DATA is. And they can claim whatever the hotel rating is without following the practices of other websites.

I will never use hot-wire!

They did the exact same thing to me! Not good business. I've stopped using them for all travel and told everyone I know to do the same. False advertising and getting away with it, what a shame.

The last (final), time is used Hotwire was the last straw. I stayed in a low-rated hotel that had a 'fridge in the room. Service was good, and the area was safe. In order to stay in the region for a few more days, I booked a higher rated hotel that offered a rather dangerous location, awful customer service, and a tiny room with no 'fridge.

I received an email from Hotwire to write a review on the last hotel, but the email would not open properly, on 2 different PCs; they said that they would post my review if I write them directly, yeah, right. There is more than one way to book a hotel online...

I agree...they are legalised CROOKS! or at least made it look like is legal...Never again I use that service.

Hotwire.com gave us a hotel well-known for its bedbug population. We're now apparently locked into paying $385 for 4 nights at a Kill Devil Hill, NC, hotel that we will *not* sleep in. We're having to cancel our entire vacation now which *was* to have been my wife's Mother's Day gift. Thanks, Hotwire.com!

MISLEADING ADVERTISING I WOULD NEVER BOOK WITH THEM AGAIN.CHRIS WAS VERY RUDE TO ME. I CANT BELIEVE HE HUNG UP ON ME. NO HELP! NEVER AGAIN HOTWIRE.COM. I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT I WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW NEVER TO BOOK A VACATION WITH HOTWIRE.COM.

If anyone is planing to purchase an airline ticket, DO NOT USE HOTWIRE.COM! This company is not customer oriented. Booking on their Website is convoluted and prompt to errors. If by any chance you are not satisfied with your purchase you're ### out Of Luck because they are are as strict and inflexible and the worse when it comes to reach customer service. You press the option to purchase or to book, you get someone in no time. If you dare to select the phone option to rebook, you will wait at least one an a half hour. No kidding. I called late at night to avoid the "rush hour of callers" to no avail. They will not change, alter, transfer, or do anything to your ticket. Basically, I wasted $200 because their site is not user friendly. to make matters worse, I call the airline and they told me that because i bought the ticket through Hotwire.com they cannot help me. Period. No help from anyone. HOTWIRE.COM SUCKS BIG TIME! DON'T USE IT!

I reserved a hotel room through hotwire.com on Sunday July 8 and received a confirmation e-mail from hotwire. I arrived at the hotel around 10 PM and the hotel did not have my reservation and did not have rooms available. The hotel receptionist said they had filled up for Sunday evening several days earlier. I e-mailed hotwire.com support and requested an immediate phone call response. I received an automated response from hotwire saying they would contact me in 12 to 24 hours. The hotel receptionist called her contact at hotwire to report the problem and I spoke with him (Mike). Mike said he would put me through to customer service. Instead he connected met to an automated voice mail system that said they were ususually busy due to demand for hotwire services and the wait time would be in excess of 20 minutes. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND USING HOTWIRE.

Search engines draw you to hotwire.com based on the travel cities and dates you enter. Once you click on the lower fare that I was drawn in by, and the price increases. Click on the increased fare and it increases. This usually occurs three times.

It is a deceptive practice to generate internet traffic, and results in false advertising as well and bait and switch. It should not be allowed and I want to lodge an official complaint, for which I request a response from the Complaint Board. I am considering a class action suit against all travel related websites, because they derive remuneration for the clicks they receive on their respective websites. IT HAS TO STOP. I will never use hotwire.com again until they change their practices.

I booked a car rental to attend my uncle's funeral. After speaking to the funeral home, they were not able to do it until a few days later. After a few hours I called the customer service number and a gentlemen said "as a one time courtesy" he would refund and rebook it for me. I gave him my flight information and after he processed the change, he read a five minute statement recapping the terms and what he did and then we ended the call. I opened the email confirmation and realize that he put the wrong date and time for drop off, I then called back, got an extremely rude woman who said he read the information back to you and you agreed so I won't do anything. I tried to explain the situation to her and there were a million other things I had on my mind, like how to deal with his death and she said you should have listened when he read it back to you. I had hoped she would have a little more understanding given the fact that my uncle died yesterday. I asked for a supervisor and after 2 minutes of the rude woman asking me why she finally put me through to Jessica ID #2024. I explained that my uncle died yesterday and what had happened, she said that Hotwire purchases are final but as a "one time courtesy" she would refund my purchase and told me "you can rebook on your own." I told her I would rebook but not through Hotwire ever again.
HOTWIRE HAS THE WORSE WORKERS AND I WILL WARN EVERYONE TO NEVER DEAL WITH THEM.

Never use this website. They are very misleading and offer no help with your trip if you have a change of plans.