STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

Just want everyone to know that this company is a scam, yesterday I made the biggest mistake by making a reservation with them, they were advertising a four star hotel in fort Lauderdale beach at 64 % off for $91 a night plus taxes. After I made the reservation, what I got was a 1957 hotel, a mile and a half away from the beach which has terrible reviews of being outdated, Dirty and musty. Most everyone commented that there is no way the hotel is 4 stars, not to mention the hotel charges $25 per day for parking which was not disclosed prior to reserving. When I went to Hotwire to complain they said that once I made the reservation I cant go back and cancel it no matter what... Please don't be fooled by this company! I will make sure to spread the word.

Hotwire is a scam. DO NOT USE

Subject: Holiday Inn Boston at Beacon Hill
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North America
Title: Hotwire is a complete scam DO NOT USE


This past summer my wife and I were staying in a friends apartment in downtown Boston while he was away. His apartment (while free) was not close enough to the places we wanted to be(waterfront, fanueil hall) while we were dining we decided to look for a room closer to where we wanted to be for the last few days we were intown. I used the hotwire ap on my phone. I selected the Waterfront and the finacial district as the areas we wanted.
We got an "undercover rate of 150 a night for a hotel in the financial district. There was no detailed map on the phone.( as the claim) When the the purchase was confirmed, the hotel was the Holiday Inn in Beacon Hill !!!!!!!! Beacon Hill is not the financial district, it's Beacon Hill (hence the name) The location was actually further away then where we were already staying. I called Hotwire to dispute the agents were some of the rudest I've encountered. They just kept saying ALL SALES ARE FINAL.( not if it's fraud!!!) It seems if they lie about a property there is nothing you can do about it. My bank (PNC) didn't even help. Of course we did not stay in the hotel. I even called the hotel and told them we were not going to be staying.
Basically, I received nothing for my 300.00 and there appears to be no recourse.
I am just advising everyone to not use Hotwire and Hotels like the Holiday Inn should not allow such a sham of a company to sell their rooms.

Yanet Macias fand die Bewertung nützlich

Enough!!!

Time after time I do this and no more. I don't gamble so why do I use this website? They advertise a high price, cross it out saying 'look at the new discounted rate!!!' compare the hotel you actually get with higher priced hotels (which you never get) and make it out to be a great deal. Then, check your winning hotel with Bing and its the same rate, there's no discount. I actually paid more than the advertised Bing price when taxes and fees are included. It's a gamble that you never win, trust me.

I just don't learn

I've been screwed by this Hotwire more than once and I still gave them a 4th chance and still got screwed. Even though they have a trip watcher once you booked a trip and the price goes down after, you have no options. I've never dealt with this type of crooks

THIEVES!!!!

I planned a trip with my daughter to California back in Dec. Not know that she would have what is called TAKS Testing the week of our trip. I found out a week and half before the trip about the testing that is Mandated by the State of Texas to exit High School. As soon as I found out about this I contacted Hotwire because I did have insurance on the trip. The insurance only covered if my daughter or I had Died or Fell Deathly Ill and could not travel. I would have to back this up with a doctors report. Education to these People is not a Top Priority, MONEY IS THEIR PRIORITY. I AM LOSING OVER $800.00 BECAUSE THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT EDUCATION OF OUR YOUNG IN THE UNITED STATES. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS MY CHOICE!!! REALLY! A STATE MANDATED TEST AND I AM GOING TO JUST SAY WELL, WE HAVE THIS TRIP I AM GOING AGAINST THE LAW. I had two nights at a Hotel in LA for us booked through TINGO...They had the same policy but, THEY GAVE ME A FULL REFUND!!!!! Imagine that, A FULL REFUND!!!!! I would never recommend using Hotwire. They do not believe in the idea of supporting our CHILDREN'S Education!

Watch out for their car rental

We rented a standard car through Hotwire
Their website states that they cant guarantee make or model
We have 2 children in car seats and the picture that they showed was a 4 door car
Their description was a ford fusion , chrysler sebring or similar
Nowhere does it say that you might get a 2 door car!
Which is what we got stuck with
They refused to do anything to change or even upgrade the reservation even though we were willing to pay for it so we ended up paying full price for an upgrade at the rental counter which cost more than the original rental
Dont expect any customer service from these jokers. The supervisor Jessica that we spoke with was rude and stated that her supervisor doesnt take phone calls or talk to customers. When i asked for the corporate office phone number she refused to give it and gave me some po box in Wisconsin when their corporate office is in California. Dont do business with these people - use travelocity or another company that gives you some kind of guarantee. And dont be like me do your homework before you book - it will make your trip much more pleasant.

Hotwire Bait and Switch

I just booked a hotel room with Hotwire thinking I will be getting a 3 star brand name hotel at discounted rates, They said:
“Our 3-star hotels include:
Radisson Hotels & Resorts
Four Points by Sheraton
Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts
DoubleTree by Hilton
Country Inns & Suites by Carlson”
What I got was barley a 2 stars never heard before Inn.
Watch out for hotwire’s bait and switch gimmick.
They refused to change or cancel my reservations.

No refund no matter how quick you request it

My husband and I were booking a hotel through Hotwire because we wanted to save some cash and save time looking for hotels in Seattle Washington. We were simultaneously trying to get tickets for PAX Prime. Sadly, the tickets we wanted for PAX Prime were sold out as I submitted my request for the hotel. I emailed them within 5 minutes of hitting submit, not even enough time for them to charge my card or make the reservation with the hotel. I am now stuck with a two-night stay that is costing me $230 for Thursday to Saturday and we can't even go to PAX until Monday. Yay.... I can't afford Saturday and Sunday night so I'm not sure what we're going to do now.

I'm never going to use Hotwire again because the hotel can't cancel and move the reservation either since I went through a third party.

Oh, also, I applied for the travel insurance but was rejected, I don't know why, and so now even if there's a real emergency I still have to pay.

Sincerely,
Broke College Student

Got screwed 2 out of 3 times I used them

The first time they gave me a company that didn't accept debit cards for deposits. I called, they cancelled the reservation and completely ruined my whole trip, since I didn't have a car anymore... The second time I booked with them and their hot deal, I saw a filter that made only rental car companies that allow debit card deposits to come up. That trip was okay.

This last time I wanted to rent a car to drive to our wedding on the beach. I went to book the reservation, but could not find that filter. I looked all over, went back, tried every different approach I could to find that filter. I assumed that maybe it was a different site afterall (it's not like hotwire is the only site I price) or maybe it was on the next page, one more click. Next thing I know, I'm booked with a company that only accepts credit cards.

I immediately email them. Their response is that there is a filter for that, sorry for your luck. I went back and did the entire process again, getting a screen shot of every page. I replied to the email asking them to show me where this filter is. Their response was to say they understand I'm having trouble finding the filter, here's step-by-step how to get to it. That doesn't do me a lot of good now.

I replied that, according to the screen shot, that filter never appeared while I was trying to book a rental car, I shouldn't have to go find a hidden screen with the filter. Their response was that after looking at the screen shots, it appears that I slected from the dropdown menu that i wanted to pick up my car at "Dallas Lovefield Airport Area" (a convenient and known location for me) instead of "City of Dallas Area". And since this had happened with me before, they won't help me.

My response: why wouldn't I have the option of debit card deposits just because I'm picking it up at the airport? How am I supposed to know that they are mutually exclusive? And if this happened before, why dont you make the filter come up when it's supposed to?

Needless to say, it doesn't look good.

Prices shown are a scam, after giving credit card the rate always increases!

I tried to book a cheap hotel in New Orleans, price advertised on hotwire was $62, after giving my credit card and clicking book an error states that the price is no longer available and that now it was $80. I went back 5 hours later and on multiple computers and the price of $62 always displays. Then I noticed that even though I didn't complete the booking it charged my credit card for the entire stay! I called customer service and after 30 minutes of arguing they convinced me to try again with a different credit card, I had the agent (IAN) promise me that he saw the hotel available at that rate on his end, once I gave him my credit card and I assume the agent saw the same scam he just hung up the phone with no explanation. I had to call back, got a rude lady (JEN) that transferred me, then waited 30min on hold for a manager and all he told me was to try again with another hotel type, NO WAY I said so he offered me a $25 coupon. I realized that the manager was useless and ended the call. Never got any such coupon and now have 2 credit cards maxed out. Not sure if I can even go on vacation now. NEVER USE HOTWIRE! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!!

Get an extra day whether you like it or not!

Caveat Emptor: I just booked a five day trip to California on Hotwire for a "special low fare" and surprise! I got an extra day tacked on!
It's like adding a day to your vacation, right?
It's like getting something for free?

It's like they lied to me on their webpage when they said "arrives the same day" and "departs between 6am and 10pm". This flight does neither of those things.

Now, you might think this is some kind of computer glitch or mistake which calling their offices would help with. Well after half an hour on the phone (mostly on hold) allow me to assure you that this is not the case. They offered to re-book me with another randomly timed trip provided I could front the money again until the re-fund went though or, just this once, they could re-fund the whole thing, you know, in case I didn't need to go after all.

All told, I don't recommend hat anyone book though Hotwire if they have any kind of life or time commitments.

Their great deal was actually regular price

Hotwire not only manipulated the price to made the deal sound greater than what it actaully was but also had the wrong star rating down so when I finished I actually paid regular price for the hotel and it wasn't even the star rating....I am fortunate enough because I actullay got my money back once I mentioned fraud and lawsuit...my advice is to avoid Hotwire and call the hotel directly and negotiate a price

States one thing, sells another!

First: The prices of what the "going rates" that are posted are extremely over inflated.
Second: I booked a hotel showing "Chelsea" area, which is what I preferred, I got a hotel in Times Square instead. I contacted them, and they would not change it. I didn't want a refund,I just wanted the correct area. The agent was very professional, but did not provide me with satisfaction. I never write negative reviews, but this was warranted. I am sadly disappointed.

Cheaters, never will do business with them again

Lied about the regular price of the room, wouldn't refund the full difference, bad customer support. Stay away.

Fool me once, shame on you...

I was booking a hotel in New Orleans; hopefully close to Loyola University, for three days in May. The hotel I ended up securing was not even in New Orleans (which explains the reduced fee) although my search criteria specified New Orleans. My reservation was transferred to an alternative hotel within NOLA. The person I made the change with was not familiar with New Orleans; nor was I. After checking the map carefully, I realised the hotel was still too far for me to walk and I would not have a car. I asked about booking a more expensive hotel, closer to my destination and was told I had already been accomodated once and could not make another change.
If you know the area in which you are travelling, perhaps hotwire might work for you. Otherwise, like me, you are likely to be very frustrated and disappointed. I believe it is a short-sighted, deceptive business model. You can save more money going directly to the hotels or BandB's. ...fool me twice, shame on me.
Candace Coggins

Don't waste your money on these thieves!

Just booked a three star hotel and got confirmation for a motel. They said the regular price was $122, but on the motel page it says $74. Of course, there is a fine print and it's not refundable. STAY AWAY FROM HOTWIRE!!!!

Why does anyone use this site?

I booked a hotel on their site that was rated 2 1/2stars. When I got to the hotel I found evidence of bedbugs and the room was filthy. It reeked of smoke. I couldn't stay there it was so bad. I had to wait on hold for 30 minutes to even get a human and then they said "too bad, no refunds." There contract is written in such a way that your credit card must pay them. Sad.

HORRIBLE!

I had booked a 3 day stay threw hotwire for my birthday weekend, I got the same deal that was listed on all the other sites but chose hotwire because it was the first to pop up on google. Anyway, I purchased the insurance just incase I had to end up cancelling or cancelling a day. So turns out we had to cancel our last day due to a funeral. Of no one personally close but still we had to go. FIRST OFF! Hotwire told us that we couldnt use that as a reasonable excuse, when I finally got it threw to them that it was important, they told us we needed to call all these different numbers, and we had to give hotwire the name of the person and send in PROOF of this persons death. Even though U purchased the protection plan. I couldnt believe this! Even though their disgusting rude insensitive company I sent the stuff in and Still they said since it was noone in relation they could not give us a refund! I was in dis-belief. So they ended up charging us after ALL that and we didnt even get to stay. Never again in my life will I go threw this horrible company. Whos rates by the way are the same as everyone elses.

DO NOT USE HOTWIRE

Confusing and nonchangable booking and nonexistant customer support.

Pure Barnum and Bailey Freak Show

Read the ratings before attempting any transactions with HotWire. They have the lowest scores in Booking Options, Ease of Use and Support. They get you to commit to a Hot Deal , pay for it and Wham you are flying to Los Angeles just to find that their special includes only a 28 hour stay, scripts read to you by their customer service representatives and the word No, No, No we will not change anything. We stated twice that you get what you signed up for. Freak Show with the worst of deals. Bright Red colored Hot Deals should be seen as Red Light - Do not take this deal!
My Hotwire Itinerary No: 82057781277

Classic internet scam conceived by unscrupulous tricksters to systematically pray on the unwary, and by whom I too have now been caught.

Here is what I wrote to this company following my most recent use of their service:

“Dear Sir

With regard to our latest hotel booking under the above reference, on checking in to the hotel in question, I was rather surprised to find myself being charged extra for the not unreasonable expectation that I park my car there.
My surprise turned to distinct annoyance when on querying this with the receptionist, she informed me that had I been paying their "higher" price, my parking would have not been charged - as indeed I would have expected in any case, because having stayed at literally hundreds of hotels all over the world, I have never once been charged extra for parking at any one of them.

This makes a palpable nonsense of your whole raison d’être, because there’s absolutely no point in using your service at all if I’m going to find myself subjected to surreptitious and sneaky charges like this being slid under my door after I have already struck the deal with you - I might just as well have been charged extra for being given the key to my room for all the choice I had to change my mind at that stage.

As you will see from your records, I have only recently started to use your service, so this kind of underhand practice at such an early stage is hardly a very promising start.

If you wish to retain my business therefore, will you please refund the £25 that I have paid for parking at this hotel and also give me your written assurance that when I make such bookings with you in the future, you will declare any such surcharges BEFOREHAND and include them in your quote rather than leaving me to find out about them afterwards.

Thank you.”

And here is their reply:

“Dear James,

Thank you for contacting us in regards to Hotwire Itinerary Number 5915449060.

It is my understanding you were charged for car parking at the hotel.

I regret that the additional fees was an unexpected expense.

At Hotwire, we are committed to providing our customers with a quality experience and strive to present accurate, up-to-date information.

During your hotel search we list the amenities offered by each hotel before booking. This allows you to choose the hotel with the amenities to best meet your needs such as complimentary parking.

Please note incidentals are not included in your Hotwire rate. Some items, such as use of the business center, or local or long distance phone calls, may cause you to incur an extra fee at the time of check-out. We provide as much information as possible about such fees before booking but cannot guarantee that all amenities without fee information are complimentary.

I reviewed your booking and complimentary car parking was not offered by our partner for the rate you received. Hotels may have additional charges - for example, parking, resort fees, or convention fees. You would be required to pay any such fees directly to the hotel. In our terms of use that you agreed to, we recommend that you contact your hotel directly to inquire about any additional charges.

We hope to better serve you in the future.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to reply to this email or contact us directly by phone”.

Looking at some of the other reviews, I suppose I was lucky to get off so lightly.

Hotwire is the best for deals on car rentals!

For all car rental needs, I purchase through Hotwire. That's one of the only services where I don't care who the provider is, and I've been happy with every rental I've ever arranged through Hotwire. I've shopped around to compare against other websites and directly with coupons, but the price has never beat Hotwire. I always recommend their site to my friends and family for car rentals.

SCAM

They have a low-price guarantee: if you find a cheaper deal elsewhere they'll refund the difference. EXCEPT that the newer deal that you've found MUST include a COMPLETE tax breakdown or they're not even interested. The newer deal must be FAXED within 48 hours.

I found a MUCH cheaper deal that INCLUDED breakfast and when I called the customer care line they simply didn't want to know.

#AVOID #SCAM

Suzanne Joseph fand die Bewertung nützlich

Dont trust special deals

Twice I was ripped off this website. Their secrete hotels are cheaper and are infact costlier than the original price, worst thing is you land up with a bad deal with location, prices and quality. Once you learn about the hotel, you cant even cancel it as every booking is final & no refunds

Suzanne Joseph fand die Bewertung nützlich

Ingen besparelse!!!

Jeg ville ikke anbefale at bruge Hotwire i Venedig og omegn. Vi kom til at bo rigtig langt fra Venedig (og Mestre) og blev lidt snydt at Hotwires kort, hvor det så ud som om vi i det mindste ville få et hotel i Mestre.

Hotwire skrev at prisen var inkl. morgenmad men det var det ikke!! Vi kunne ikke bevise det overfor personalet, da Hotwire ikke havde skrevet det i vores bekræftelse. Dårlig stil!!

Desuden var det INGEN besparelse at booke det via Hotwire. Tværtimod var det måske en anelse dyrere når der nu ikke var morgenmad med i prisen.

Når det er sagt, så var hotellet sådan set fint nok. Det er Hotwire jeg er utilfreds med.

Absolute horrible. 0 star if I can give that.

Book Prague on hotwire for dec 2012. Given a hotel out of old town, despite selecting that. Also found lower price. Submitted online form for low price guarantee claim. They ask for guest name (isn't it inside the online form?!?!), after I email them and several reminders, never heard of again... Absolutely horrible! Scam and false advertising.

Suzanne Joseph fand die Bewertung nützlich

Hotwire - Do not book, the worst customer service, they do not care at all!!

Hotwire = Horrible customer service. We made a booking based on the 3 star rating and this hotel was below a 2 star. Had problems checking in, rooms were dirty, urine on the toilet seat and floor, toilet paper all over the floor. Hotwire refused to do anything as they said that we completed our stay. Horrible company and customer service!! Do not book with them, if you have any problems with your booking/hotel, they will not do anything for you, they will leave you stranded at your destination!

Suzanne Joseph fand die Bewertung nützlich

My savings were non-existent

We recently booked one room at a 4 star hotel through the Hot Rate system and got a - seemingly - good deal. Although upon further research it turned out that we could've gotten the same rate by booking directly at the hotel apart from the 10 dollars we saved in total. Yes, 10 dollars.

Our savings amounted to about half a percent of the total cost. With marketing scams like "save up to 50%" and "ridiculously low prices", keep in mind that the only thing ridiculous is your small savings!

Also, please note that the median prices (the crossed out price on the offer) are "based on median published rate we've found on leading retail travel sites in the last 24-48 hours for the same neighborhood, star rating, and stay dates". This DOES NOT mean that the Hotwire hotel costs the stated price. In fact, I'm sure Hotwire has NO hotels with rooms that expensive. Instead you get a hotel with a much smaller saving and they base their prices on other travel agents with nicer and more expensive hotels than what Hot Deals has to offer.

I'll never book anything through Hotwire again.

NO GUARANTEES WHAT SO EVER!

My flight was overbooked and claimed I arrived late cause I had to be at the counter 3 hours prior the departing flight. I was at the counter 1.5 hour before. For some information it wasn't the cheapest flight either I paid $1,198.00 USD for a lousy 3 stop flight with over 18 hours layover. How can a company just shrug while their client's money is being stolen?!
I hope that in the future they can at least know the flight policy and help out.

Sketchy star rating system

I was looking to book a room in the Seattle area for one night. I looked at several other booking websites and knew I wanted a 3 star hotel. I went with hotwire because they were the cheapest. After I booked it I noticed the hotel that they called a 3 star was rated as a 2 star on all the other sites and I could have saved quite a bit more elsewhere. I called them and they said they use ratings based off the customers that stay at the hotels. WTF?!?!? I've never heard of such stupidity in a travel agency! Needless to say I wont be back. Ill go where I know Ill at least get what I pay for!

Best for Hotels

If you would like to have a decent hotel (sometimes exceptional) for awesome prices...book an unnamed hotel...you can trust the recommended by people percentage, I usually take the ones recommended by atleast 80% of the people...and always had a nice experience...

Paid but NO ROOM! Never ever use hotwire again!!!

Never ever use hotwire again!!!

I booked on hotwire to get one night of stay. The order was confirmed and I was charged. However, when I arrived the hotel, there was NO ROOM!

Spent 1 hour on phone with hotwire but they admitted that their system had problem and kept booking the same overflown hotel. They failed to book any room to me and asked me to find a hotel of similar level myself. They said they would refund the charge of my order as well as reimburse my hotel stay because it is their fault.

However, after my stay, I spent the whole week to communicate with them on the refund and reimbursement. Nothing has happened and a new customer representative doesn't even honor what they promised before!

The charge is still not refunded and not to mention the reimbursement! Terrible terrible company. I am going to report its bad service to BBB very soon.

To Fatwallet: please publish my review because it is a real experience. I have all the email communication and order numbers to prove what has happended.

Don’t expect “Deep discounts” as their website claims OR Any Customer Service!!!

I reserved a hotel thru HotWire for 3 persons and paid a total of 74.64.

I have spent the last 2 hours trying to get some sort of service out of their "customer service" people, first of all, the total savings I got was a fantastic total of 2.40 usd which is NOT a "Deep Discount" as their website claims (that is IF I got what I reserved). Once you get ripped off, like I did, and call customer service, they tell you that they guarantee the "Lowest rate on the Internet" which can be as low as 1 cent cheaper and they still claim it's a discounted rate.

Second, I called the Hotel HotWire choose for my reservation just to confirm that they had received my itinerary and the lady told me that I had a HotWire reservation for 1 king bed, then I called HotWire again, and they told me they had a "problem" with the Hotel reservations (or something) and that if I wanted to "upgrade" to a double bed room (which is not an upgrade, it's what I originally paid for) I had to pay an extra 10 usd to the hotel and then mail the receipt to HotWire and eventually HotWire would reimburse me the 10 usd back.

Why do I have to do this????? I paid for a double bed room, Hot Wire selects a roachy hotel for me at a fantastic savings of 2.40 usd, and then I STILL have to go to the trouble of paying La Quinta, sending my receipt to HotWire and then I have to wait for the refund???? Why??? Why the bad service??? Why do I have to do all this running around to save 2.40 and get an inferior hotel that I would have never chosen on my own???

I prepaid the hotel for my mom who is old and does not speak English so she would not have to mess with anything and now she'll have to do all this???? My goodness!!! This is just bad all around!

I've used HotWire before with very good results and have highly recommended it to all my friends and family, but after this I will never use HotWire again and will tell this bad experience to everyone who'll listen!!! This is just wrong!!!


Will NEVER use HotWire again!!!