“I rented a car in Norfolk, but Hotwire changed the city”

Here’s a common complaint from travelers who book through so-called “opaque” sites like Priceline and Hotwire: A customer who tried to buy a particular flight, hotel or rental car, but ended up with a nonrefundable reservation in the wrong place.

That’s what happened to Michael Robinson when he tried to rent a car in Norfolk, Va., through Hotwire. His experience underscores the importance of making sure you get your itinerary right the first time in this day and age of nonchangeable reservations — especially when you’re dealing with the strict opaque sites.

He writes,

I rented a car in Norfolk, but Hotwire changed the city.

I was wanting to rent a round-trip car rental from Norfolk and they changed to D.C. I was, in fact, already in D.C. but had already had a Southwest flight to Norfolk. As soon as I received the confirmation email, within a minute, I noticed it was for a pickup and dropoff in D.C.

I wrote to them right away, within three minutes of receiving the confirmation email — I have time-stamped emails — saying they made a mistake. All they told me was, “All sales are final”. I tried to explain the mistake and explained to them it was only a few minutes from their email to mine. I told them I still wanted a car, but in Norfolk, not D.C.

I tried to have my credit card (Bank of America) help but they reply that Hotwire provided them proof that I made the reservation, I also went around and around with them to no avail.

Can you — would you — please help?

Robinson’s apparent location-shift, as I’ve already mentioned, isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this happening. I get emails from unhappy travelers several times a month, claiming Hotwire or Priceline “moved” their reservation. When I bring these issues to the companies’ attention, they normally say 1) they have proof that the reservation was made and 2) all reservations are nonchangeable. And that’s the end of the story.

But moving a rental location 190 miles seems a little extreme. And Robinson backed up his claim with correspondence between him and Hotwire which seemed to corroborate his story and suggested the company was being less than helpful. So I asked Hotwire for its side of the story.

Here’s what they said:

Based on the records we have, it appears that Mr. Robinson initially booked a round-trip car rental in Washington D.C. Later, we received an email contact from Mr. Robinson stating that this was actually supposed to be a one-way rental from D.C. to Norfolk. We asked him to contact us so we could discuss his situation. They are not included in his correspondence to you, but they were received a couple of weeks before his provided examples below.

Later on the phone, our representative offered to change Mr. Robinson’s booking to a one-way D.C.-to-Norfolk reservation instead, as requested, and quoted him the one-way price. Unfortunately, one-way rentals can be more expensive. Rental locations generally prefer to hold onto their inventory, and paying to get those cars back from other locations can be costly, so they increase their own prices accordingly.

Mr. Robinson declined the one-way option, citing the high price. When our representative informed him that this was a non-refundable car booking (it was an opaque purchase), and we were only offering to change it as a courtesy, he informed us that he would be disputing the charges through his credit card by claiming fraud. The credit card issuer researched the charges with us, and was satisfied that it was a legitimate transaction. As such, there was no refund provided to him.

The email string below [which Robinson sent to you] between Mr. Robinson and Hotwire didn’t start until after the initial contacts happened. Somewhere along the way, his desired itinerary changed, with Norfolk becoming the required destination AND origin city this time. If that were the end goal, we may have been able to help more if we knew that during the initial contact. Unfortunately, this account had already been handed over to our fraud department to help resolve the credit card company’s research, so there wasn’t much we could do for Mr. Robinson at that point.

I don’t think Robinson will be getting his money back from Hotwire, unless he can persuade a judge to see this his way.

Lessons learned? If you use an opaque site to make a reservation, make sure you get it right the first time. If you need flexibility, rent the car any other way — you’ll always have the option of canceling the booking with no penalty.

Also, since a company like Hotwire is under no obligation to share its taped phone conversations with a customer, it’s best to either tape your calls (where it’s legal) or to keep a copy of your email with the company.

(Photo: Sun Down/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Walt Blackadar

    These two stories don’t mesh.

    Someone is lying.

  • MarkieA

    Another Lesson Learned – Don’t ask Chris Elliott for help by providing only half – the beneficial-to-you half – of the story. Wow! This guy sure looks foolish after the WHOLE story – assuming Hotwire isn’t just making stuff up – comes out. Another case of selective memory.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    I read this story two times and it was confusing…then had breakfast…come back read it two more times and it is still confusing. The confusion is that the stories don’t mesh.

  • cjr

    “assuming Hotwire isn’t just making stuff up”

    And if Hotwire is making stuff up, since you’re so willing to assume that this fellow is lying? The fact that he contacted Hotwire immediately after receiving the confirmation leads me to believe that Hotwire screwed up.

    I don’t trust any of these sites, which is why I’ll never use them. The fact that Elliott receives these kinds of complaints regularly leads me to believe that Hotwire has a problem that they refuse to address.

    It seems the only ‘solution’ is that people are going to be forced to take a screen capture of their reservation and hope that everybody believes that, as apparently the e-mail you receive may end up telling you something different.

    Also, for all the talk about how credit card companies tend to side with the consumer over a business, it has been my experience that this is not the case. The credit card company simply wants this stuff to go away.

  • Chris in NC

    I’m not a big fan of opaque sites like Hotwire. However, given a recent experience of a colleague, I’m going to side with Hotwire on this one.

    Last weekend, a friend and colleague booked a room on Hotwire. She accidentally entered the wrong city and didn’t catch the mistake until she got the confirmation and put the address into her GPS. She immediately called Hotwire and made the change for her. She did have to pay the difference in price. She said, the customer service person said, she only had 1 hour and 20 minutes left she could not make the change.

    The above story is consistent with Hotwire’s response. Apparently, they do have a “grace” period where you can immediately call if you make a mistake. As in my friend’s case, they won’t refund your money, but will grant a one-time change (but you will have to pay the price difference) She had to pay the price difference between the incorrect booking and the corrected booking. (wonder if they will refund money if the new booking is lower priced?)

    Sounds like the Mr Robinson tried to make several changes in the booking. Initially he had a RT reservation from DCA, then asked Hotwire to change to OW from DCA or ORF. Then he wanted it to be a RT reservation from ORF. In the meantime, he threatened to dispute his CC. If that is the case, then Mr. Robinson needs to eat the costs.

    As Chris Elliott said, if his itinerary was not fixed, he needed to book directly with the rental car agencies. After all, car reservations for the most part do not require pre-payment or CC numbers. Historically, I have NEVER pre-paid for a car rental reservation because I don’t feel the savings are worth the risks/hassles.

  • Chicky

    I’ve used opaque sites before, but only when I knew my travel plans were pretty much fixed, and it was a simple itinerary, like when I went to Denver and used Priceline to get a car. I was leaving from DEN and returning the car there, so it was no big deal.
    If there is any possibility my plans might change, I reserve with the rental agency’s web site, so I can cancel without penalty.
    Like AZ Road Warrior, I didn’t really “get” the story, either. There’s a lot of tap dancing going on here, and I’m not quite sure who’s doing the most of it. There’s plenty to go around, though.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ cjr – “And if Hotwire is making stuff up, since you’re so willing to assume that this fellow is lying? The fact that he contacted Hotwire immediately after receiving the confirmation leads me to believe that Hotwire screwed up.”
    - – - – - – -
    It is hard for me to believe that if someone selects Norfolk, VA on the Hotwire website that Hotwire will select a car from a car rental company in Washington, DC which is 190 miles away.

    I went to the Hotwire website and I don’t see how it could be Hotwire fault.

    @ cjr – “I don’t trust any of these sites, which is why I’ll never use them. The fact that Elliott receives these kinds of complaints regularly leads me to believe that Hotwire has a problem that they refuse to address.”
    - – - – - — – - – - —
    I don’t use these sites and some of the reasons are: 1) I want to know the property\company\etc. upfront; 2) it is common for that the customers of these sites are at the bottom of the list by the travel provider (i.e. airline, hotel, etc.) in case of a problem, etc; 3) reduced or eliminated frequent guest points; 4) lack of service. The savings that these sites provide are not great enough to offset the negatives.

    I agree with you that Chris Elliott receives a lot of complaints from these sites. It seems like most of the individuals are infrequent travelers, inexperienced travelers, etc. who probably would have benefited from dealing with a travel agent instead of a booking site. It is very rare that Chris receives a complaint for one of these sites from a person that used that site on a regular basis.

  • Chris in NC

    @ cjr
    Opaque sites AREN’T for everyone. Personally, I rarely use opaque sites. My travel schedule often changes at the last minute and I take abide by the non-refundable/non-changeable terms.

    I have a colleague that uses Priceline exclusively for her business travels. She LOVES it, and has never had a problem. (for reference, she does over 100+ nights a year with Priceline) She uses her mobile app, and only makes a reservation the same day that she needs a room. She has been at this one property enough times that they will “upgrade” her room, and even give her snacks and fruit baskets. Then again, she has stayed over 50 nights at this property just in 2010. I asked her why she didn’t negotiate a rate directly with the hotel. To my surprise, she states that she often wins a bid for $42 dollars a night. The public listed rate is $89 dollars a night. She states that the general manager told her that this particular property was penalized if they negotiated too many rooms below a certain price threshold, but that Priceline bids were exempt from being counted towards the penalty. This is a small town in rural NC where there are only a few hotels.

    In the above situation, Priceline makes sense.

    Opaque sites are perfect if:
    1) Your dates are FIXED, and you understand that it NON-REFUNDABLE. In other words, I don’t ever book with an opaque site if I am flying in the same day. If a flight delay occurs, you’re screwed.
    2) You have a simple itinerary
    3) You don’t care about what brand you get assigned to.
    4) You don’t mind not using the perks from your rewards program.

    I disagree with Arizona about the “lack of service.” The times I used opaque sites, my room and service were fine.

    Don’t use opaque sites if
    1) You are picky about brands
    2) You HAVE to have a specific room type
    3) You aren’t prepared for surprise charges (like $20 for parking, or resort fees)
    4) There is even the slightest possibility that your schedule or itinerary will change.
    5) You want to use your frequent stay perks

    Opaque sites can provide stunning deals, but only if you know an area well enough to understand what else is out there. When travelling for business to Denver a few years ago, I would use Hotwire to book my last night’s hotel. I loved paying $29 for a Hilton (free parking), but a few months later the same category switched to the Hyatt (which charged $15 for parking). Still $29 + 15 + $10 tax/fees = 54 was substantial savings over the $99 weekend rate!

  • yuit

    Sounds like fraud to me. Not by hotwire, though.

  • LeeAnne

    Yeah, this dude is totally busted. I’m no fan of opaque sites myself, but his story didn’t add up from the beginning. I’ve also had gaffes with both Hotwire and Priceline – one was my fault, one was theirs. In both cases I noticed immediately, contacted them within minutes, and they fixed them for no charge. They both have grace periods to accommodate the inevitable mistakes. The business model wouldn’t work otherwise.

    As hard as Christopher works to resolve issues for people who’ve been TRULY wronged, it irritates me to see someone abusing his efforts by not giving him the full story. Shame on Michael Robinson.

  • John Baker

    Me thinks someone neglected to tell “the rest of story.”

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Chris in NC – “I disagree with Arizona about the “lack of service.” The times I used opaque sites, my room and service were fine.”
    - – - – - – -
    In order to keep the prices low, it seems to me that several of these sites have ‘skimped’ on customer service…either outsourcing it to a third-party contractor in India, Philippines, etc. or having $ 7.50 per hour script readers based in the US answering the phones. If there is a problem, it seems like they are not resolved based upon all of the stories that Chris Elliott writes about these sites on a weekly\monthly basis.

    I have read comments by hotel personnel that they give the best rooms to their full-rate customers, their elite frequent guests, etc. instead of the Priceline, Hotwire, etc. customers. Also, I have read several comments by the customers of these sites that they ended up with rooms with no views, next to the ice machines, etc.

    I agree with you on the reasons on when opaque sites are perfect and when opaque sites are not perfect.

  • LeeAnne

    I have no doubt that hotels give their “worst” rooms to opaque-site buyers. That’s a given. When it matters what property and/or room I get, I wouldn’t use an opaque site.

    I also agree that their customer service is far substandard to other travel sellers. That’s not what they are there for – they are there to make quick, non-refundable, low-cost, low-profit sales of excess travel inventory. It’s important to know these things about opaque sites before you use them.

    They do offer rudimentary customer service – they have to. But it’s limited, and should not be expected to be as comprehensive or high-quality as full-price travel sellers.

    I think Chris in NC did a good job of detailing when it can be beneficial to use an opaque site – and when you shouldn’t. I have used them several times, always when my plans fit the description in his post. And I’ve been extremely pleased each and every time.

    But I know what to expect, and how to use them. That’s the key.

  • Steve H

    Am I too dense not to understand that all of you brighter folks are presuming (at least I am) that the aggrieved customer screwed up and misentered his information? I know it’s possible, because I’ve done something similar (e.g. a round trip reservation on Alaska from San Francisco to Maui that had me departing back to San Francisco later on the same day I arrived on Maui).
    My experience for car rentals with Hotwire has been excellent with prices offered beating what the tedioius bidding process on Priceline produces. And on once occasion when I did have a problem with a Hotwire reservation, Hotwire was very reasonable.

  • Chris in NC

    @ Arizona,

    The “worst room” in the house should still be clean, have working amenities, comfortable bedding, furniture and working area. No guest, regardless of their status, price paid, or method booked should ever be assigned a room that doesn’t meet basic standards.

    When I used opaque sites in the past, I traveled alone. All I cared about was a clean, comfortable room in a safe, well-maintained hotel. It didn’t matter if there wasn’t a view, or if I were next to the elevator, or whether it had a twin bed, a queen bed, 2 queen beds or a king.

    When I checked in, I never got dirty looks, or felt like I was singled out because I used an opaque site. The front desk clerks treated me no different than any other guest.

    BTW, other reasons when NOT to use opaque sites…
    6) Don’t use opaque sites during high season or if there are special events in the area. Hotels that can’t sell out are the ones that usually have issues, BIG issues.
    7) Don’t EVER use opaque sites for special trips like your honeymoon, anniversary, etc. WHY! WHY? WHY!
    8) Don’t use opaque sites without doing research on the area
    9) Don’t use opaque sites for any hotel less than 3 1/2 stars. There are some dumps in the 2-3 star pool.

    I don’t consider being assigned a room without a view or by the stairway to be a “lack of service.” I don’t think it is wrong for the hotel to assign the best rooms to those who are full-rate or elite-frequent guests. Thats one of the reasons why I remain loyal to 2 hotel chains.

    What travelers fail to remember, is that the opaque sites “sell rooms that the hotel can’t sell and would likely go empty.” If these rooms are a dump or fail to meet the hotel standard, then thats wrong. Otherwise you get what you pay for.

  • cjr

    “I went to the Hotwire website and I don’t see how it could be Hotwire fault.”

    Glitches happen: computer programs are not infallible, websites do weird things. I really don’t think you can discount anything in this situation.

  • woodius

    Christopher writes:

    “Also, since a company like Hotwire is under no obligation to share its taped phone conversations with a customer…”

    If you sue a company, then they are required to share relevant evidence with you. If a company refuses to share recorded phone calls with you, it might be advantageous to remind them that they will have to share the recordings with you, if and when you sue them.

  • Duke Nukem

    Still, I think Hotwire wins on this one!

  • Jason

    I made a hotel reservation in DC on priceline.com. After my offer was accepted, there was an offer to add a car for something very cheap per day. I was so excited about the offer, I added car rental to my reservation as well. Only on confirmation age I noticed pick up location for the car was DCA. I was arriving to BWI. I already had flights booked elsewhere. I immediately called priceline and asked if my car reservation can be changed to BWI. The first person I spoke told me all reservations are final and no changes allowed. But when I explained situation that it was an add on, he transferred my call to another representative who just cancelled DCA car reservation and advised me to look carefully if I do add ons and book a new reservation online for BWI. I was frustrated for a few minutes but it had happy ending.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ LeeAnne – “I also agree that their customer service is far substandard to other travel sellers. That’s not what they are there for – they are there to make quick, non-refundable, low-cost, low-profit sales of excess travel inventory. It’s important to know these things about opaque sites before you use them.”
    - – - – - – - -
    I agree with you. It seems to me that there several people who don’t understand this; who count upon these discounted booking sites as their travel agent; etc. It is a hoot when I am reading travel reviews at TripAdvisors from Priceline’s and other discounted booking sites’ customers. They will give a bad review to a hotel because: 1) they expected the hotel to upgrade them for free; 2) they expected a full-service hotel to give them breakfast coupons; 3) they expected the hotel to put them on the top floors; 4) they wanted the hotel to move them to a room with a view of the ocean, bay, city, etc; etc.

    @ LeeAnne – “They do offer rudimentary customer service – they have to. But it’s limited, and should not be expected to be as comprehensive or high-quality as full-price travel sellers.”
    - – - – - -
    I agree but again, I think that there several people that are expecting comprehensive or high-quality service as full-price travel sellers.

    I think Chris in NC did a good job of detailing when it can be beneficial to use an opaque site – and when you shouldn’t. I have used them several times, always when my plans fit the description in his post. And I’ve been extremely pleased each and every time.

    @ LeeAnne – “But I know what to expect, and how to use them. That’s the key.”
    - – - – - – -
    I agree but if you go to an opaque site they don’t have something on their site telling potential customers when it is beneficial for them to use their site and when it isn’t beneficial for them to use their site…thus the complaints like “I thought that the site wasn’t really serious about the terms of non-refundable and non-changeable” or “I had to cancel my reservation because I was sick and I think that I should get a refund” which appears in the articles that Chris writes.

  • FJP

    I have come very close to booking an incorrect itinerary or date, after initially making the correct selection, due to the way certain website forms work. On many sites, if you select something from a drop-down menu (a date or a city, for example), that field remains highlighted and “live” until you tab down to the next field, and if you inadvertently hit certain keys, the entry in that field will change. So, you could initially select Norfolk, but if you then accidentally hit “I” while the location field is still live, it might change to the first “I” entry such as IAD, hence the OP’s problem. Always hit the tab key immediately after making a drop down menu selection so that won’t happen.

    In other words — the OP may indeed have initially made all the right selections but through one keystroke error, something got changed before he finalized the purchase. Yes, there usually is a final review page where you should be able to double check that, but it’s human nature to see what you expect to see and miss an error.

  • Salami

    Use Expedia or similar to get initial pricing, then book directly from the rental company. I have a trip to NYC in Jan that I’ve already reserved a car from LGA and one from JFK, not yet knowing which I’ll fly into. Then I’ll watch pricing between now and then, cancel the car(s) I don’t need, and possibly get a better price than I’ve seen now.

    Add to that my loyalty discount via National Car and I’m set…