I was wondering if you could help me make some of my fellow viewers aware of a problem with Priceline. In short, when you use their Name Your Own Price feature you may be billed up to an additional $40 in 'mandatory' fees per night by the hotel, for things like housekeeping or parking. Moreover, as you may or may not know, once your price is accepted by Priceline you can not cancel or change your reservation. So you are stuck paying the agreed upon price via Priceline and the 'mandatory fees' by the hotel. I recently sent the attached complaint to the BBB, but if you could mention it on the air or place something on your website, I am sure many struggling families would greatly appreciate this information.
Thank you,
Lakietta
My husband and I booked a hotel via Priceline's Name Your Own Price site for $57 per night. On step three of bidding process it clearly states that 'Total charges, including taxes and service fees, are shown on the next page.' However, at checkout we noticed that we were charged close to $140 in 'self parking' charges. I contacted Priceline upon our return to make them aware of the situation. After sending them three emails, I was furnished with a copy of their policy on hotel fees.
"3. Depending on the property you stay at, you may be charged certain
mandatory hotel specific service fees, for example, resort fees (which
typically apply to resort type destinations and, if applicable, may
range from $10 to $40 per day)..."
However, when I went back to their website to find this policy it is hidden in the highlighted text of the phrase 'taxes and service fees.' It is not located on 'how it works' page, nor is it located on the Name Your Own Price Guarantee page.
As, I communicated to Priceline in my complaint, I feel that it is very misleading for a company to advertise that you could name your own price, state on their website that "Total charges, including taxes and service fees, are shown..." as part of the bidding process, but not make it clear that a consumer may be charge up to $40 per day in "mandatory hotel specific service fees." These mandatory charges could dramatically affect the daily rate a consumer would be expected to pay and not everyone may have the money to pay these fees. Moreover, once these fees are disclosed at the hotel, consumers are not allowed to cancel or change their reservation to a more affordable hotel. This seems more like a bait and switch, than honest business practices to me. For your convenience, this is the reference number assigned to our complaint: KMM30464651I15977L0KM.
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