Priceline Hotel: Resort Aruba The Westin Aruba Resort

[curlylaura]

I am familiar with PL and have been using it for many many years with no problems. I recently booked a trip for a week at a location I have been to many times. When I put in my option of RESORT only and used the name your own price option, my price was accepted but Priceline gave me a RESORT which was not even listed as available. The hotel I got was not listed in any category for my travel dates. When I contacted customer service they said there is no exchange or refunds period but they are reading off some paper and refused to acknowledge that I got a Resort/hotel not even shown on the list of hotels. How could this happen and if Priceline can do this they need to disclose this fact clearly to people using the "name your own price" option. I have contacted the CEO of Customer relations to see what went wrong. People need to know before bidding that Priceline has the right to give you a hotel not even shown????? This is not right!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

As per Our Rules and Policies:

While we welcome both positive and negative experiences, please keep in mind that the spirit of this message board is helping users.

If you have a complaint, problem, or question with a recent or upcoming Priceline/Hotwire stay, we will be happy to do what we can to help, but please be considerate of the board's primary goal of helping others and first post the details of your 'win.'

It is important for everyone to know when problems and customer service issues arise, but the majority of the users come here to see winning bid information... so please oblige them with this information before asking for them for help.

As per the above, please share the details of your win (star rating, city, zone, hotel name, room rate and dates of your stay) and we'll then comment on your post/situation above.

Thank you.

[Gallus50]

Listed where? What do you mean, not on the list? Whose list are you referring to? The resorts Priceline had available? What "list" are you talking about?

To an experienced bidder, your rant does not make sense.

Furthermore, if you have been bidding Priceline for years, the powers-that-be here are not going to be very happy that your first post here is to complain. I'm not in charge, but it doesn't seem cool to never contribute and then finally post just to whine.

[curlylaura]

I have been using Priceline for years. On one of my recent bids for Resort on the dates I want to travel which are May 20-27th only 2 RESORT hotels came up so I used the name your own price feature. I got the WESTIN for 120.00/night!!!!!! I have stayed at Westin in past and prefer not to stay there. When I saw that the only two resorts available for my dates where Hyatt and Radisson I put in a higher first bid hoping to get any of those two Resorts. When I got the Westin I was floored! I called Priceline and they confirmed that even though the Resort was not shown you can still get a hotel Priceline is affiliated with. I thought that was the whole point of putting in your dates of travel so that the hotels shown are the hotels available. Anyhow I thought this was a classic bait and switch because if I did see Westin as a Resort I would not chance it and use the Name your Own Price feature. Very disappointed. Anyone had this experience or is it known that you can get any hotel even if not listed??? this is scary.

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

The 'retail' and 'opaque' listings each use a different universe of hotels. See the related Using Priceline's Retail Product to Figure Out What Will Be Received Thru Bidding thread in our PRICELINE FAQ.

You should also give this thread a read: Don't Bid Higher for a Specific Hotel.

Please read your messages and we hope you begin to share your future wins with the board.

Enjoy your stay... hope you can make the best of it.

[smartcookie]

Question for the moderators: this win includes my expensive date of 5/26 for only $120. Should I be putting in Resort when bidding? So odd that I'm not winning up to $131 when this is the most expensive date of my stay 5/26-5/30...

[thereuare]

The star rating you choose on PRICELINE is the minimum that you're willing to accept, and therefore PRICELINE is already checking for 'Resort' class properties for you when you place bids at the 4* level. As the area you're bidding has no re-bid zones, if you prefer a Resort vs. a 4*, you could bid Resort first, then if rejected lower your star class to 4* and try again at the same amount, such as:

Select Resort Aruba...

Bid $125, if rejected lower star rating to 4*...

Bid $125

... but it's not as if your $125 at the 4* level would be rejected if there is a Resort class property willing to accept that price for a room.

Any questions on the above feel free to ask, but please do so in a reply to your current priceline hotel thread (and reference this thread if necessary).

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.