Hello:
I am a travel co-ordinator for a Canadian fundraising operation, with offices in Australia and the United States. I have recently encountered some difficulty with Priceline. I would be contacting the BBB, but I understand Priceline has been expelled from that organization and is now suing for reinstatement.
I booked a hotel for a colleague, currently working in Boston at our office there. Due to a miscommunication between the various offices, my colleague was unsure as to where she was to present herself to check in and decided to leave the city for the weekend. I did not know this until the next morning. Upon discovering that this had occurred, I called the Intercontinental Hotel Boston. They were not interested in discussing the matter. I then called Priceline.
I spoke with two Priceline representatives. Neither of them was any help to me at all and, in fact, I found there was something of a language barrier. It seemed to me they were reading from scripts; parroting Priceline's policy. I had asked, simply, that my colleague be permitted to check in late, as the booking was for eight (8) nights. I explained that she had not missed an airplane, but had simply not presented herself for check in on the appointed day. In the case of missing an airplane, I would expect (fully) not to be reimbursed. In the event of not checking into a hotel on the first night, I would expect at least the consideration of a vendor toward a customer that spends thousands of dollars with that vendor every year. The total for the booking was $1.1K, USD ($1.5K, CDN). Normally, in such circumstances, I would expect to lose the first and even the second night (standard procedure for hotels where check in has been missed). Priceline, however, does not see things as others do. They insisted, repeatedly (and in boilerplate), that we were on the hook for the full price of the booking, but would receive no services in exchange for valuable consideration. Citing, over and over again, Priceline's policy in the matter did not take into account the fact that there were fully six (6) room nights that an ethical business that wanted to see this particular customer again, would have honoured. At the very least, something might have been worked out. There was absolutely no interest in discussing any such arrangement. There was no interest in retaining the business of my company. Rather, there was a chorus of parrots, reciting Priceline's draconian (non) refund policy (ever), ad nauseum.
I have, since my fruitless discussions with customer service personnel at Priceline on Saturday, attempted to contact the corporate headquarters of Priceline. The woman who answered phone this morning said she was putting me through to the Executive Offices. She then put me through to yet another service representative, sitting in a noisy phone room. I said to this representative that I was aware I had not been directed to the Executive Offices, which she thought was quite funny. Again, I was treated to the standard boilerplate response for customers seeking to be treated fairly by this company. I concluded the call and called the same number, asking to be put through to the CEO. I was put through to a voicemail line and subsequently, left a message.
Since then, I have even gone so far as to contact the public face of Priceline, as he appears to be the only human being associated with the company: William Shatner. Yes, that's right. I have contacted Captain Kirk, because it doesn't seem I can find anyone at Priceline that is not either a parrot, or someone who thinks stealing from customers is funny. One never knows how a public figure might respond to being associated with this sort of piracy. Certainly, I hold out considerably more hope that Captain Kirk will raise a fuss with head office than I do that head office cares about its customers. After all, Captain Kirk has a reputation to protect. Priceline, apparently, has squandered theirs by treating customers with the utmost contempt.
I understand that the Attorney-General's office in Connecticut (who have received the same email as I'm now sending to you) has investigated Priceline before. I am also aware of many complaints about this vendor, peppered across the internet. While I am not hoping for any actual action at this point, from any of the contacts listed (even the esteemed Captain Kirk), I am hoping that one more drop in this particular bucket will serve to tip it over and that Priceline will no longer be permitted to steal from consumers in this manner.
Thank you for having taken the time to review my concerns regarding this company.
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