Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Seattle (Downtown-Pike Place) Red Lion Fifth Ave

[klc]

Hi there,

I just wanted to warn everyone to exercise extreme caution in using Priceline's Name Your Own Price tool. I accidently confused fields and entered a $657 bid for a 3-star hotel in Downtown Seattle. I called Priceline and was transferred to two representatives, both of whom told me there was nothing that Priceline could do for me. All Name-your-price veterans know that it is very easy to make a mistake when bidding, but Priceline customer service refuses to help come to an amiable solution.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Sorry to hear of the problem/error - can you confirm which hotel you did get (zone, name, star rating) and date/s of travel? Please confirm the details and then we will be happy to share our thoughts and how to maybe approach the issue.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

[klc]

Thanks for the advice. I bid on a 3 star hotel in Downtown Seattle Pike's Place for $657 (obviously by accident) for August 16-18. They gave me the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Avenue (3.5 stars). If you have any advice, that would be great...I really can't afford the charge, and when I call, Priceline service reps tell me there is nothing they can do and refuse to transfer me to management.

[AaronJB]

I'd try one more time and really make the case that you made a mistake. PRICELINE has occasionally let people who made a mistake on one or more elements of a bid pay a fee ($25) and then re-do.

If that doesn't work:

PRICELINE has a best rate guarantee. Travelocity has this hotel for $219 per night for these dates. While that would not be a real deal, it would at least take the total down significantly vs what you paid if they matched that (and they match it and give a coupon for future use or something along those lines, which occasionally seems to happen.)

If they allow you a re-do, then let us know and we would be happy to help with planning a new bid.

Hopefully you can work something out with PRICELINE - please let us know what they say.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[klc]

I called again, and they would not budge. All they offered was a $10 a night discount for up to 5 nights the next time I use Name Your Price. They didn't even mention the best rate guaranteed policy. I then brought that up to them (with the $219 Travelocity price), and they agreed to refund me the difference +$25. Thank you so much for your advice...you saved me over $1,000!!!!! I really appreciate it!

[AaronJB]

I'm so happy to help and thrilled that you were able to get a refund for a large portion of the cost! Thanks for letting us know what happened and really happy that you were able to get the issue taken care of.

Enjoy your stay! :)