Ripped off by Priceline??Need Your Input

[Barefooter]

IF you use a credit card to pay for Priceline and you feel you've been ripped off, you can always dispute the charge. That's what we did in one situation. We explained the problem to the credit card company, they investigated by contacting Priceline who refused to voluntarily remove the charge. The credit card company nevertheless must have felt we were in the right because they removed the charge from our account and we never had to pay it.

[Toto2Kansas]

Barefooter, that totally surprises me that your CC company did that as PriceLine has set rules that means what it says, NO REFUNDS! When you bid on priceline, excuses are not an option, no matter how serious the situation.
When I bid on PriceLine and receive my confirmtaion, even if I myself dropped dead, I don't expect them to refund my money for the reservation, sorry!

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[Diane&4girls]

Each CC company has it's own rules, however, if you are a valued CC customer, they may remove the charge for the consumer, but Priceline got their money anyway.

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[Barefooter]

Regardless of what rules Priceline may have set up and regardless of what one's intentions are in good faith to understand and abide by those rules, nothing is ever a black and white issue. That's why we have court cases. I am certainly not an attorney, but my understanding of consumer law in California is that if you do not receive what you have paid for, you are not liable for the charges.
I think that's what the credit card company looked at in our case. I think it all depends on individual facts and circustances.

[hdawson]

Barefooter. The OP did get what he paid for. He/she chose (understandably) to not use what had been paid for. I can't imagine any court ruling against Priceline in this instance. Agreeing to the conditions of the transaction constitutes a contract. Tomcat offered some valuable information on the topic.
As for your company travel insurance, I doubt that the company (the insured) covers leisure travel, but you can try. I take it you didn't buy [I]personal[/I] travel insurance. I just received a claim check from CSA Insurance today including a hotel night purchased through Priceline.

[Barefooter]

Well, our facts and circumstances were not the same as the OP's, and I'm just saying what happened in our individual situation. The credit card company took it off our account.

[hdawson]

Barefooter, I suspect your bank chose to eat the dollars for customer good will. Such things do build loyalty.

[DUBIDUB2]

I'm sure that most of you are aware that just because something is "written" as contract in Black and White does not mean it is so. In fact, many terms of many contracts get disputed and won, every day in all the courts across the USA (and the UK where I'm from originally). There are consumer credit acts, consumer rights, sale of goods acts and much more. Companies like priceline cannot change contract law just by words.

However, in this particular case, it seems Priceline were probably right. Also, please realise, just taking the time refunding the money would have probably cost them what teeny profits they make on this one transaction alone. Teeny. They don't like involving "people" (time) in the transaction as this costs them dearly. An always a "NO" policy is cheap for them to run. I think the priceline model works for some people some of the time but eventually everyone will get burnt once. How many of those go Priceline again.

I use expedia each and every time and am now a "Platinum" member. They have gladly refunded me when the situation arises even when they say no refunds and haven't charged a cancel fee when they say there is one. That's why I stay with expedia. They are not the cheapest but they stand behind a good brand name. IMHO - you get what you pay for.



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[hdawson]

You get what you pay for. Make sure you understand what you're paying for. Further, don't try to welch on a deal. In the case of Priceline, the deal is very clearly explained.
Travel insurance is one way to avoid loosing out.

[rance222]

After talking to Priceline I do not feel I was ripped off. When I made the original post I was asking a question not making a statement.

Priceline's policy does allow for "credits" if they feel the situation is warranted after an investigation, which is why they had me document the illness, name of Dr. etc so they could verify the story.

Unfortunately for me there was nothing they could do as the hotel had charged Priceline for the entire stay.

The hotel was kind enough to offer me a credit for my remaining unused nights, which was a really nice gesture, but I said thanks anyways as I couldn't justify flying across the country for 2 nights in a hotel.

All in all I am pleased with Priceline and the hotel.A deal is a deal and unfortunately stuff comes up that can cost you some money by not booking with the hotel directly.

As a side note I will always by cruise insurance, this was just a few nights in a hotel, couldn't imagine losing a paid cruise for 2.

Thanks to all for their input.