Problem with "Hotwire.com"
"Hotwire" offers discount airfares based upon travel dates and other criteria you provide. The airline and exact travel times are not revealed until after you make the purchase at the quoted price. You have 30 minutes to make the transaction, otherwise the quote expires and you must wait 72 hours before searching with the same itinerary again.I had shopped them on and off for several months in 2001. When I was ready to buy, I went through the process of entering my credit card information and choosing an itinerary. I was quoted a price of $231 on March 27th, 2001, 16 days before I planned to travel.
After confirming my itinerary, I clicked "purchase". Instead of a purchase confirmation, I got the error message below:
(I always take a screenshot of my online purchases for my own records). I believe "NSAPI" refers to the Netscape Server Advanced Programming Interface (Hotwire runs Netscape Enterprise on the Solaris operating system). There were no instructions for proceeding with their transaction, or anything to indicate it did or did not go through.
I clicked "back" and tried again, and got the message below:
Although I could understand this message, it was inaccurate. I had not been inactive for 30 minutes.
I went to the site's Customer Service section and sent a message using their web-based email form. I included the complete text of the error message, my purchase reference number, and user name. After submitting my email message, I received a confirmation which said I should hear back within 12 hours.
I didn't hear back, so I called later that same day. The customer service agent said the site was having difficulties, and the email staff needed a few more hours to get caught up.
I was told my transaction would still be completed at the price I was quoted. In other words, we had a deal; a sale had taken place, and I should not purchase a ticket elsewhere.
Two days passed, and I never heard back, so I called again. I was now told that my my transaction would not be completed, and they didn't have any of the emails I sent.
I was told the price of my itinerary was now several hundred dollars more. They would not honor the earlier transaction or give me the same fare because I didn't "complete the purchase".
They told me the purchase was completed on the phone earlier, preventing me from buying my tickets elsewhere. The 14-day advanced purchase window had now closed, and they were reneging on the transaction we agreed to over the phone.
I was told the website originally crashed due to a "necessary re-cycling of the servers". This is not a technically valid reason for dropping transactions. Hotwire could not explain why my email went unanswered, which is obviously poor service.
I would caution those looking for discount airfares that I found Hotwire (in 2001) to be unreliable their web technology and customer service.
What kind of a company takes your money, and when you tell them the car rental company did not use their coupon get an answer like this:
Thank you for contacting Hotwire Customer Care regarding your travel arrangements on Hotwire Itinerary Number 4214284214. I understand you feel you were billed twice for your rental car.
In order for us to review your situation, your immediate attention is required. Please provide the following documentation:
- Credit card statements showing the payment to Alamo.
- A copy of the rental car receipt
- A copy of this email
Please fax your documentation to us at 1-262-364-2419 immediately. If you do not have access to a fax machine, please send your documents to:
Hotwire Research Department
P.O. Box 22154
Green Bay, WI 54305
Please note, we are unable to accept email attachments for review.
After we complete our review - which may take up to 10 business days - we will notify you of the outcome via email. Please note that we cannot guarantee a specific resolution.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free call us directly at 1-866-HOTWIRE (468-9473). Thank you again for choosing Hotwire, we appreciate your business!
Sincerely,
Krista F.
Hotwire Customer Care
Note the noncommittal statement that we can not "guarantee a specific resolution."
What kind of a company takes your money, and when you tell them the car rental company did not use their coupon get an answer like this:
Thank you for contacting Hotwire Customer Care regarding your travel arrangements on Hotwire Itinerary Number 4214284214. I understand you feel you were billed twice for your rental car.
In order for us to review your situation, your immediate attention is required. Please provide the following documentation:
- Credit card statements showing the payment to Alamo.
- A copy of the rental car receipt
- A copy of this email
Please fax your documentation to us at 1-262-364-2419 immediately. If you do not have access to a fax machine, please send your documents to:
Hotwire Research Department
P.O. Box 22154
Green Bay, WI 54305
Please note, we are unable to accept email attachments for review.
After we complete our review - which may take up to 10 business days - we will notify you of the outcome via email. Please note that we cannot guarantee a specific resolution.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free call us directly at 1-866-HOTWIRE (468-9473). Thank you again for choosing Hotwire, we appreciate your business!
Sincerely,
Krista F.
Hotwire Customer Care
Note the noncommittal statement that we can not "guarantee a specific resolution."
I booked a hotel on Hotwire - my credit card was debited and I received my confirmation notice.
I arrived at the hotel after 3pm to check in and was waiting in a long lineup. At this point I received a message from Hotwire stating that the hotel was overbooked and was now cancelled so I should call to make alternate arrangements.
I had to spend 40 minutes on the phone before getting sent to another hotel. I had already paid for transportation to the "confirmed" hotel and now had to pay transportation costs etc. to the new hotel.
I had made arrangements based on where I was supposed to be staying and my plans were completely ruined. In total I spent 2 hours of my time between phone calls with hotwire and getting to the next hotel.
Despite emails and phone calls to Hotwire I received no satisfaction for the disruption and transportation costs etc.
The attitude was that I was given another hotel for the same cost. No consideration was given to the time and expense their screw up caused me.
Beware - just because you paid for your hotel and received a confirmation email doesn't mean you are ok. Apparently confirmed doesn't mean confirmed after all! I have scanned their website and NOWHERE does it state that they can change a confirmed reservation AFTER purchase.
As I stated to them - if the hotel was overbooked then that is between them and the hotel - I did not deal directly with the hotel - I dealt with Hotwire and I expected them to compensate me not to pass the blame. I have deactivated my account. I will not use them again. They get a big zero for customer service, loyalty and appreciation.
Hotwire has the worest customer service and they are a scam company I bid on a 3 star hotel and got the days inn in a trucking area of Savannah ga .I went through all the phone calls and run around .I think they were deceitful and I can't believe the number of complaints this company has .hope one day there is a class action lawsuit .
I've have had a few bad experiences so I don't use them anymore. I really don't like this company and I do think they are sneaky in the way they run their business.
The "risk management" is only a clever distraction from what they are actually doing. When Hotwire realizes that a lot of people are trying to book and that they can increase the price, they will kick out people who have already made the booking at a lower price under the pretext that there is a "risk management" issue.
The truth is simply that they want to resell the room at a higher price. As this practice is clearly illegal, they are trying to hide it under the pretext that there is a risk managment issue, which makes most people think that there is something wrong with their credit card.
A clear case for a class action lawsuit. This could be won 100%.
Hotwire is a rip off. I booked a hotel with them yesterday. The website said the 3 star was priced at $155 per night, but hotwire price was $100. Got the Holiday Inn express West Palm Beach. I went to their sight to check the rates... Undiscounted was $105 not $155. AAA perferred rate $89. I called and asked for the lower rate, they refused to honor the 48 hour price guarantee b/c it was not available to the public. They pay more than AAA, what kind of a deal are they getting?
I purchased ticket from san jose costa rica and they issued me a ticket from san jose california and do not want to refund. How about that for bad service?????????? No honor, no word.
OMG is all I can say about this miserable online company. I just used it for the first time, and it will be the last. They have the "Low Price Guarantee" posted all over the place. I found a lower price at the same type of room at the same hotel within 48 hours, and they still refused to refund the difference. I even contacted the hotel and one of HotWire's competitors directly and was able to confirm that the rates were cheaper and the rooms were available. I even printed-out the supporting pages from the Internet, scanned them, and e-mailed them to the Customer Service Dept. It replied by stating that they do not open any e-mail attachment because they don't want to risk their computers getting infected with viruses. I am not kidding. I am confident that the owners of HotWire do not give a rat's _ss about the customer service. Their customer service reps are basically drones programmed to repeat the same thing over and over (just slightly differently each time). I sent three separate e-mails to the customer service dept. and someone new always repeats the same thing that the previous rep. already stated. Whenever I tried to point-out the facts and explain why I am convinced that I should get the refund, they come back with whatever reason they can pull of our their _ss at that moment to put a roadblock. It reminds me of a low-class, corrupt businesses in developing countries during the 1970's. Pretty pathetic. I certainly hope that the saying that "what goes around comes around is" true. I just don't see how they can continue to survive as a viable business entity, practicing deceptive business practices.
To top it off, the last e-mail I received from the third, new customer rep. stated that "We sincerely hope that you will continue to visit our website." It's so funny.
25 DEC 2011:I tried to book a flight utilizing Hotwire.com i was routed to this website from the Tripadvisor website. I filled in all the pertinent info & my confidential information, when i was asked to check my travel dates i went ahead and clicked purchase, but i got a message stating my credit card was incorrect. that the card numbers did not correspond to the card issued by my bank. this happened on Dec 25, 2011 approximately 4am.
i then checked my bank account to see if there had been a charge against my checking account; i had 3 charges of $1.00 each dated 28Dec2011(33 days later). This is called THEFT!!! these thieves get your personal information and your money. We must all pursue legal action against these FRAUDSTERS.
Well, looks like there are a lot of bummed out Hotwire users. Basically we all went on to find a better price for something. Yes, hotwire gave us a better price. I went on and rented a car that we a 78% aavings. Wow that was awesome! at this point I love Hotwire. Unfortunately it was short lived. I had to rent the car in Ft. Lauderdale, an hour drive, to get the rate I wanted. I was using my debit card, which I told the girl at Hotwire. She told me that I would have to put a deposit down on my debit card between 200-500. I went to rent the car and found out that National, the agency they signed me up for, does not accept debit cards. I had gotten dropped off and left at the airport. I started to call Hotwire, was left on hold for ages and finally got a customer service agent to help me. She told me she would have to confirm that I was denied, and then she would refund me the money and get me an agency that would use my debit card. You guessed it - the new reservation was at least 80% more! had the first person that helped me, had done it correctly from the beginning, I would have been able to use my card. The agents I spoke with, because I did ask to speak with a supervisor, were not helpful, rude and basically didn't care that my entire Christmas plans had been ruined. when I asked the agent for the corporate office to make a complaint, he told me We don't give out that information - and I will be noting that on your account!!!! He made it seem like I wanted the corporate office to run over there and start shooting people! He was even MORE rude than everyone else put together. Well, Thank you Google. It only took 1 second to get that information. I will not find any way that I can to tell people how Hotwire ruined my Christmas Plans. Thank you Hotwire!
I've been a loyal customer with hot-wire for years....that is until today. I booked a 3 star hotel at the four point Sheraton in emeryville ca. I got an extremely small room that could barely fit myself and my luggage much less two people. There was a full sized bed and no room to even fit a decent sized couch. I could barely get the ironing board out of the small closet. When I called hot-wire the customer service rep Dalton said there was nothing he could do because the room is guaranteed to fit two people and the bed "should" fit two people. When I asked for corporate's number he said he couldn't give me that info. Then he had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to take a survey. WTF! I will never book with hot-wire again.
What can b done at about this scam a** company! I'm pissed!!!
We booked a room at a Philadelphia hotel, thru hotwire, charged us $83. What they don't tell you is that there is a $44 charge to park your car at the hotel! When we received the hotwire confirmation we noticed this $44 charge and called hotwire to cancel the reservation. $83 + $44 = $127 = we could get a cheaper room at a better hotel ourselves without using hotwire's services. The customer service rep. at hotwire said there's no way to cancel a reservation even if you've been defrauded. So, be careful! Hotwire doesn't tell you about the upcharges until after you've booked and then its too late to change! Bad deal, not a company with integrity. We called to politely cancel and hotwire's rep. "Scott", told us you can't cancel and then hung up on us!
in july my husband and i were going to go see our son graduate from the air force 4 hours before we planned to leave a repersenative from hotwire called and told me that there was a problem with the spelling of the last name i asked them what they were talking about we were driving 3 hours to the airport and they could not guarentee that my husband was going to be able to get on the flight i was on the phone for 3 hours getting it taken care of because someone forgot to put one letter in our last name i will never use hotwire again they put alot of stress on us that was totalally unnessary and never got back to me to tell me what they were going to compensate for what happened
HOTWIRE IS A GIANT RIP OFF. DO NOT USE IT. YOU WILL END UP PAYING 2 TO 3 TIMES MORE THAN QUOTED. ABSOLUTLY NO RECOURSE.
It's so funny because all of you that say Hotwire is a scam basically You just don't know how to use it, or didn't get what you want because of the Terms Of Use YOU agreed to. Hotwire is a great site with the best savings around!
Hotwire is a Scam. I cancelled a reservation with the hotel I reserved at the next day, two days before I was to arrive in NJ during their disaster. A representative was to call me back and never called. Hotwire is the only company I know that can get paid for selling you nothing. The government should stop this practice. You should get somethng for your money. SCAM SCAM SCAM
I just booked a room, 3 star, in Pismo Beach. The site said the full price of the room was $166, I paid $88.I booked this room because I was avoiding the crummy Holiday Inn Express. On the Hotwire website it says Holiday Inn Express is a 2.5 star. I checked on the Holiday Inn website the most expensive room is suite for $133. I really thought being selective I would get a better room. Yes you guessed it we are booked into the Holiday Inn Express. My issue is them saying the room was $166 when the hotel has no rooms at this rate, surely THAT is illegal it is completely misleading.
Hotwire's website is designed to mislead it's customers. Deceptive practices. Customer service is of no help. We booked a 2 1/2 star room because all the 2 1/2 star rooms offered on their named offerings all had good reviews. We choose to avoid the 3 star as there were only two listed and one had very bad reviews. We assumed any one of these 2 1/2 star rated hotels would be a good choice. Turns out the great deal we got was not one of these but rather the way over rated 3 star Holiday in in Bath ME that has horrible reviews. My reservation lists it as a 2 1/2 star hotel. Why the disconnect? Hotwire customer service justifies this by claiming that the ratings for the named hotels are not Hotwires ratings but belong to Hotel.com. His claim is that Hotwire rates the same hotels differently as they see fit! Another words they believe that it is ok for Hotwire to have two different star ratings on their website for the same hotel! The other issue was that the price we received is now cheaper on the Hotwire website today. Cust. rep said their low price guarantee only applies to advertised lower prices listed elsewhere not at Hotwire!! Wow. Have used them 4 times and this is my second bad experience. The last time got charged extra fees at check in. Ended up cheaper booking with the hotel if I could have canceled. NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO BUSINESS!!
Well, looks like I am another in a long list of people "taken" by Hotwire. Same experience as many others. Filled out page for a hotel. Clicked submit. Got a page saying transaction had timed out and would need to submit. I did not resubmit. Got no confirmationfrom Hotwire. Booked through Hotels.com. Next day Hotwire charged my card. Customer "no service" rude. When I suggested they check their records to see if they sent me any confirmationemails they hung up on me! I canceled charge on my card. I am emailing all their C levels, President, and V. P's. Also posting my experience on Facebook and filing BBB complaint. Suggest all others do the same.
I booked two rooms via Hotwire.com. The hotel was to be 2.5 - 4.5 miles from destination and the like hotels were Comfort Inn, LaQuinta.. well we received rooms that were futher than the mile range in a hotel not like the respected hotel brands. No complimentary Breakfast. the reviews on the hotel were frightful.
I contacted Hotwire.com and complained, read the reviews to CS Rep that refused to cancel the booking. However, they we so kind as to ask me to complete a survey at the end of the conversation.
all i know about HOTWIRE is that they SSSSUCK!
i wish i would have read all these reports that these poor people had to go through its such a shame. i myself feel like i have been conned. how do they legally get away with it? so sick about the whole situation. HOTWIRE YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED of how you make your money and then how you deal with the customers after you've taken it. NEVER AGAIN.
If you got RIPPED OFF from HOTWIRE like i did then just give your credit card co. a call tell them that they scamed you. It should work.
i heard that hotwire is really bad when it comes to car and hotel rentals they take your money then take you. it is so sad that they had to stoop to this level. i'm not going to rent any cars or use them for anything hotels or flights. i know they can't be all as bad as hotwire. i hope!
when you do business with somebody you think that they would have good customer service so they can have u as a repeated customer. NOP NOT HOtWIRE they could care less. HOTWIRE IS A SCAM. the only word they know is NONREFUNDABLE!
hotwire RIPPED ME OFF.....big bucks that i don't have. don't deal with them or you'll be sorry!!!
I HATE HOTWIRE i will and would not reccomend them to anyone. i had an internet accident with them charging me for a flight twice. i was on hold forever with them so i emailed them 2 times. when i finally spoke to united they said that hotwire is responsible for the return of my money and that they had them on the other line, when put through i was conviently disconnected. around it went again.... on hold, sending me to other departments, 4 hrs. on the phone! bottom line they refuse to credit my card. they gave me the worsed headache i ever had.... so unprofesional. DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM they are disrespectfull and soon they'll get whats coming to them. {by way of mouth is the best advertisement} the way it looks it should be real soon. Tell all your friends because i'm going too.
do not deal with HOTWIRE the SCAMED me out of $400 i will never deal with anything that has to do with HOTWIRE INTERNET SCAM. do yourself a favor dont touch that button! they will take you for what ever they can. sooooo RUDE. be smart run the other way!
hotwire is the most crooked internet site that i ever dealt with. do not do any dealings with them. they charged me for a flight that i didn't even want. will not refund my money. if you can help me with this problem please post it. thank you.. down and out of alot of money.
HOTWIRE SUCKS!!!! they have no morals and even lower standards. do not purchase anything from them. they use the internet to take advantage of you. you think your getting on thing and your buying tickets that you don't even want. they take your cr. card information and use it to their advantage. their site on line totally misleads you. they will not refund tickets for flights that you didn't even want. and they say that you pressed the purchase button, ya for another ticket. its screwed up...they do not care because its not their money.this is the first time and LAST time that i will EVER do business with them. run away from hotwire they will steal your money!
I have never had so many problems then i've had with hotwire. They ripped me off big time. Don't do business with them you'll be sorry. i know it's the worse thing that ever happend to me.
HOYWIRE IS A INTERNET SCAM. On the internet it said that I ran out of time and your purchase didn't go through and to fill out a new form to purchase a new ticket. Come to find out they charged me for two tickets. With the same name, flight,and everything else.. They will not refund me my money they said their nonrefundable. What a SCAM. I'm calling my credit card co.
HOTWIRE sucks. Keep in mind, since you buy tickets or rental cars with credit cards, your credit card company will reverse the transaction! I just spoke to mine and I said, hey just google HOTWIRE scam and you'll see this is a pattern. They looked and said, yes, we will reverse it. I fell for a rental car scam for $8.95 which ended up costing $45.27 for 2 days. Go figure.
I flew recently from mississppi to connecticut bc i had a sick grandmother.I scheduled my fly back for exactly 1 week, well she just passed away 3 days after i got here and they cant even just put me on another flight for 2 days later so i dont miss her funeral!!!! I have death certificate and everything and all they can do is "retain" the value for a later flight with proof, but they only do "roundtrips"! REDICOUILUS!!
HATE HATE HATE HOTWIRE!! I will never EVER use them again. We recently rented a car with them. Unfortunatly our flights were delayed and we weren't going to make it to the rental place in time. We were meeting up with friends so I called Hotwire to see if I could change the person picking up the car to them so they weren't stranded. HOTWIRE would do NOTHING.. they said that they couldn't change the name because of the "great deal" we got. Well, we weren't even going to make it to the airport with in the 24 hours the rental place will hold our car. SOOO if we didn't make it, we would loose our car completly! I called the car rental place directly, told them our problem and they said they've had NUMEROUS problems with Hotwire and that people complain about them all the time. The car rental place was SUPER nice and totally helped us out by letting our friends pick up the car in our place.. PHEW! Thank goodness the Car rental place would work with us. I WOULD NEVER recommend HOTWIRE! I will NEVER use them again, not worth the $$ saved. Just book direct with the companies. I've learned my lesson!
For several years we've had very good trips through Hotwire-up till now!!!! We had back to back deaths in our close family and we're in much stress; and to hassle with Hotwire after paying for the trip insurance (we are senior citizens)-not fair!!!
Instead of taking care of my situation,they are making me fill out a lot of paperwork and going through the hassle of gretting an obituary and mailing this to Access America
I booked a 4* hotel through Hotwire on Kauai. When I got there, there were black stains all over the carpet, garbage behind the fridge, chips on all the furniture, an unclean blanket, a balcony overlooking the garbage facility and the whole thing stank. This 4* also didn't have any WiFi in the rooms; only spot to connect was one table in the lobby.
I did complain with the BBB - Hotwire offered $25 HotDollars, to be spent only when I book something with Hotwire. Like I would do that ever again!
I booked a 4 star hotel in central Berlin for three nights with hotwire.com - instead I got a run down Holiday Inn in a Berlin suburb.
Hotwire insist the hotel is 4 star and will not entertain any refund. Their attitude is deeply arrogant and totally disrespectful of any client complaint.
The describe hotels in a very arbitrary fashion it should be named hit and miss.com
I have checked out of the hotel and moved into a rwal 4star hotel in the centre of the city.
Will never ever use hotwire.com again and strongly urge others to avoid them.
This complaint is more on the motel than hotwire but they are also responsible. I booked a motel. You know nothing about your book until you pay. Non refundable.I arrived, and the motel made my sign an agreement of no smoking or they will screw you. I do not smoke.The motel is not listed as 100% no smoking with hotwire.I was forced to sign agreement non previously disclosed due to no refund.I opened a window and I was accused of smoking and booted to the streets where I was harassed. Not only was I thrown to the streets but the motel charged my card an extra 250.00. If this goes to a lawsuit they will be named also.Do not use hotwire. To many variables.Again customer service could not care less.
I booked 3 hotes with 6 rooms from Hotwire for my family Wedding.When we all came to check in all of them cancel.Please do not book any thing from Hotwire.This website are very bad.
I have a big problem with HOTWIRE.COM and need to know how to report them and or sue if necessary. I pushed enter by accident when I was picking up some papers off of my keyboard and they are telling me that its final!!! I wanted to go through the phone on them. If you have ever resolved an issue with them please let me know how!!!!! Swe2dboone@yahoo.com
Booked a hotel in Las Vegas a 4 1/2 star hotel room SUITE for 2 days, when we get there, we get a regular (not a SUITE as stated in my itinerary) OLD (old tv, old bed, old linens, old bathroom)Room.. ohh and besides paying the 22 dollars for resort fee, which I was fine by paying they wanted me to pay an extra 15 per person to use the gym in the hotel..!!! really seriously! NEVER again using hotwire, and never ever staying at The Hotel Mandalay Bay!
Misleading and fraudelent, how can they say "you are booking a 4 1/2 Star hotel room Suite" with these amenities.. and when you get there you don't get any of it!!!! I'm disputing this which ever way i can!
To Karen and John in Michigan, it varies by state. In some states the car rental company can assess a daily surcharge for additional drivers. In CA this is not the case. Spouses are automatically authorized and additional drivers may be added at no additional cost so long as they're over 25 years of age. Shame on Hotwire for not disclosing this to you.
I have never booked with Hotwire and probably never will. I can tell you that working for a car rental company these people lie to their customers by telling them they'll get a Mazda 6 or similar for a midsize. WRONG! You'll get a Kia Forte for a midsize and for as cheap as these cars go for, we should start renting bicycles because it's absolutely insulting and sickening seeing a car go out for $12.00 a day. Cheap rates beget cheap customers, it's a vicious cycle. Not only are their customers cheap, they're also rude. They won't even let you finish your sentences. Hotwire has been an absolute cancer to the car rental industry and I have to imagine it's the same for the Hotel industry as well. And it's the cheap customers that are the most likely to complain. The ones who actually spend money are the ones who will thank you for your customer service. I can't wait for the day this company goes belly up but I can't imagine that will be anytime soon.
Hotwire are not good!! we booked a hotel with them and although we had conformation they forgot to tell the hotel so they gave the room to someone else!! It was our anniversary treat and hotwire were extremely rude and unhelpful luckily after 30mins of me crying the hotel took pity on us and gave us another room but because of hotwire it really put a low on our anniversary and we missed our dinner reservations trying to sort out our room. We will never use them again or reccomend them to anyone. Their customer service is appauling!
i have been customer with them for more than 2 years since June 2009 I did not had any tiny problem except this July 13 I booked 3 rooms and when I when to the hotel it was over booked and I stay with them for more than 10=17 hours to resolve the problem and they did after that they transfer us to another hotel with upgrade when we arrived to the hotel we found that there were 2 rooms available only image
The other reservation was made on the 17th of July and I had the same problem the hotel was over booked two imagine they fix that problem
After that I did the reservation and the date was not match and they help me after 9 hours n different country different with 5 month baby girl imagine again
Also I did reservation and I could not see this reservation online nether the supper visor and I contact my bank they said no charges was made
the last reservation I made and I have the confirmation page was not the same I booked for they transfer my call to the IT department and they told me we have internal service which take the booking you booked as a picture and the answer was sorry we will cancel your reservation and your account will close because we don’t want take the risk
I was very mad why their do this ,I did not do anything wrong all this years they are rode the customer service is SUCKS I don’t appreciate there service and I will never recommended people to do that
Do NOT RECOMMENDED AT
We recently booked a trip to France and Italy. We searched for hotel in Venice and booked a hotel there. When we arrived to Venice and went to the Hotel Ambascitori and found out that we are booked with the one in Parlemo which we don't even know about the city so no way we searched and booked with it. So we ended up pay and stay there. Hotwire didn't really help, all they said that I confirmed and booked with the hotel in Parlemo so it's my fault. This is my last time with them and I hope they run out of business soon.
Hotwire is the worst! Don't use them ever! I booked a hotel in San Diego and when I got to the hotel with my confirmation in hand, they didn't have my room available and was rude! It was an hour later that Hotwire representative said "sorry, but the hotel didn't honor our agreement" and said they would refund my money leaving me without a hotel - passed midnight and still no room. So I paid the hotel the only money I had left to get a room, meaning I was stuck in this non-friendly/unsympathetic hotel for 3 days with NO MONEY to go anywhere but the vending machine. When I got home, I explained to them what happened and they said " we can't go back in time". They promised me all my money back - its been over a month a got nothing! On the phone for hours just to hear "theres nothing we can do at this point". They are absolutely incompetent and customers are paying for it.
My family recently used Hotwire for two nights in a hotel in Providence, RI and a night in Waterbury, CT. We got great deals on the hotels (about 50% of the cost at each of the hotel sites), and we were very satisfied. The hotel in Waterbury was about what we expected, and the one in Providence was quite a lot nicer than we thought it would be. Just wanted to post a counterpoint.
Have also just had terrible experience with Hotwire. No help from Customer Service, when our flight was changed by the airline. Disconnects, extremely long holds, etc. Took 22 hours for a supervisor to return my call, and then he (like everybody else there) had no background info from previous calls. Even my letter to the President came back "not deliverable." Just a horrible operation. DO NOT USE.
We booked a reservation at at Westgate resort in Orlando through Hotwire. When we got there the room that was shown online was nothing like what we were taken to. The suite with a jacuzzi tub, pull out sofa, kitchenette was a oversize closet with two double beds, shower, microwave and dorm fridge facing I-4 and major road noise. When making a complaint Hotwire stated they didn't guarantee the room shown in the picture and would not do anything to change it. Westgate said we would could have the room shown for an extra $25 daily, there was also and extra $28 charge for using the amenities at the resort. To add insult to injury we were asked to attend a time share sales pitch the next day. The $62 room turned into a $100 a day room. I will never use Hotwire again or make a reservation at the Westagate Resorts again. A bigger scam I have never seen.
www.5thingshotwirewonttellyou.blog.com
These tips were learned through a first time purchase made through Hotwire on 07/20/2011 Confirmation # 5090426857. Customer service refused to consider that I was given less than what I paid for even though they saw the star rating was downgraded a few days ago in Orbitz for the hotel. I hope my experiences with Hotwire Hot Rates® will help someone else shop smart. Happy Traveling!
In response to HL Ontario on 6/7 2011.. GET A LIFE! Either you work for Hotwire or you have never actually booked anything through them or you are an idiot. HOTWIRE gives horrible customer service..if it were not so why do you think there woul;d be so many complaints..other than your smarmy ones..puleeze! They should be run out of the business...I wont veen begin to discuss my nightmare experience..the only reason I am spending my time to even vist this site is to warn other people away!
I booked two rooms through Hotwire, then found I could have booked the same rooms for cheaper through the hotel's own website.
The nightly rate, when broken down, comes to a few cents more (per night) on the hotel's site, but the total cost still works out cheaper than Hotwire if you book directly through the hotel chain. I have been booking through Hotwire for years, and this is the first time that I felt I had not found the best price available. I was surprised to find a cheaper rate on the hotel's own site, and contacted the customer service department to inquire about Hotwire's "best price guarantee." I did not realize that Hotwire adds greater hidden costs/higher taxes than other sites. I now see that the "best price guarantee" is misleading, as it does not guarantee the best price, but rather, the "lowest nightly rate pre-taxes and fees (which after such fees is no longer the best price)."
The $12.39 difference was not a huge deal, and when I called, had I been able to speak with a reasonable person who had been trained in appropriate customer service skills, I would have accepted that "the best price guarantee" is a fallacy and gone about my day. What I did not appreciate is how, when I was trying to get an explanation as to why I did not receive the "best price" through Hotwire, I was treated with condescending contempt.
The representative I spoke to should not be answering phones to the public, as his patronizing tone and sneering indifference to customers may result in the loss of additional patrons. I will likely be contacting Hotwire headquarters regarding this experience.
I just booked a room for 2 nights on Hotwire.com. After I got my hotel name I went on to their website to see what kind of deal I got (I always like to know what kind of money I saved). To my TOTAL dismay.. I could have gotten the room for $.21 CHEAPER if I had booked directly through the hotel. How can that be? That means not only was there no discount, it was higher. I will never, ever use Hotwire again. I had used them once before 3 years ago and was very pleased, but I guess these economic times mean they are sticking it to the consumer too. Very, very disappointing. I will spread the news to everyone I know.
The web is misleading and your account manager 1312 Carl (Friday jun 8. 3:04 pm) - didn't provide any information and was rude while didn't help. Your site states that a search is between 0.2 to 5.5 miles and when we booked the hotel was 40 miles away. He's talking without listening and the site misleading!
Lausy bad bad costumer service. All reviews will go on blogs. DO NOT0 BUY FROM HOTWIRE!
Like another comment, I found a better published price for a hotel room on the hotels web site within 5 minutes of booking with HW. They have been giving me the runaround and incorrect responses for the last 21 hours. I just want a price guarantee refund but they make it nearly impossible. It honestly appears that they don't even read my e-mail before responding. I'm very frustrated and will never use them again.
Hotwire is Terrible, Terrible, Terrible...WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!!!!
Terrible hotel Choice... Rated 4*... I would maybe give it a 3.
Customer service was terrible... Spent my 10 yr wedding anniversary on a single, broken bed... WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!!!
If you make a hotel booking that doesn't go through due to the hotel you are trying to book suddenly becoming "unavailable" you will still get charged the room rate. I have a profile/account with Hotwire and the failed booking didn't show up, but they billed my credit card for the "failed booking". Customer service was awful and not helpful at all. I was on hold for 25 minutes and then told by a cs agent that my money would be refunded.. so far, it has not.
BEWARE !!! This situation is not part of their fine print. I am having to go through my bank to deduct the bogus, fraudulent charge.
For those who has never use Hotwire, or thinking about using them...I just have one thing to say to you. STAY AWAY FROM HOTWIRE! By far the worst, and most unprofessional Customer Service department I've ever encountered. Their customer service dept is a joke. It's like talking to a cold, heartless brick wall. And for some crazy reason, their supervisors are never around or too busy to talk to you. It's not worth the frustration and aggravation to save a few bucks. In my case, I didnt save any, but just lost more money. In this economy, companies should care more about customer service and repeat sales. Obviously, Hotwire could care less about either one. I hope the CEO of Hotwire wakes up and realized the importance of customer service and what it means to his company.
I AM REPORTING HOTWIRE. I CALLED AND WAS WALEDT THROUGH MY RESERVATION AND WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO PICK UP MY RENTAL CAR I WAS DENIED EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PAID... THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP DID KNOW THE POLICIES FOR THE COMPANY HE WAS SELLING... A BIG MESS AND IM OUT OF MONEY
ALRIGHT PEOPLE. LISTEN UP.
If you are going to book ANYTHING with hotwire, or ANY company, read the friggen fine print. It's not that difficult and hotwire especially makes it clear that they offer NO REFUNDS, EXCHANGES, AND ALL TICKETS ARE NON TRANSFERRABLE. Do your research before spending your money. So don't sit there and complain that hotwire cheated you out of your money by luring you in with cheap prices then denied your request for a refund. They make money by offering low prices by making a contract deal with the retailer (airline/hotel/cruise/car rental) that the offer bought will be used on the EXACT time and date by THAT PERSON NOT SOMEONE ELSE. They do not lie to you and tell you that it is refundable, they state it clearly and repeatedly. If you are going to book a hotel, do your research outside of just hotwire's ratings. It's not rocket science people, use your head! So don't dispute with hotwire that they wouldn't let you change or cancel the hotel reservation because it was disgusting. That's your fault and the hotel's. Not theirs. They told you ahead of time, more than once, that you cannot change your package for any reason (unless purchased trip insurance which seems to be an obvious scame by Access America not hotwire) and since they are locked in with the contract with the hotel/airline etc they really cant do anything to cancel or refund you because guess what? IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR NOT READING THEIR TERMS. Their policy is strictly enforced, and for good reason. They wouldn't be able to offer their prices if they didn't have that kind of policy. So if you're really nervous about possibly having to make changes book with travelocity or orbitz who will charge you a higher price for peace of mind. It's the choice you made. Also, if you're going to try to cancel by calling the reps, get a cancellation number. It's just like booking, you get a confirmation number. Don't just go on their word, you need PROOF...get some sort of confirmation! Just think of hotwire as a FINAL SALE retail store. They told you everything is final sale, that is why it is so cheap. You agree to buy it, then realize it's not what you wanted. OOPS! Sorry, no exchanges or refunds. So simple, yet everything thinks this website is the devil or something. Don't be ignorant. Just do your research and cross your fingers you won't have to cancel or change anything for any reason...and if you have to...oh well, you get what you paid for and you lost alot of money. Now if your problem with hotwire was their mistake like changing the flight time or city after you booked it differently..thats a different story and I am not talking to you people. If only people in this day and age had common sense...
I booked a flight with hot wire that cause me problems getting home from Atlanta Ga. When I was booking my flight at night when I put my date in to return, my return date was switched to their special date and I book the flight with out knowing my expected return time was change, until returning and had to pay a extra $250 to return on time to get to work. After I canceled my return flight was told I had a credit of $150. But could use unless I paid a $150 to fly back from Atlanta to DC. after I called trying to use that credit.
ugh! Hotwire!!!! I am extremely upset it hurts in the pit of my stomach. I booked my reservation with hotwire for a car and hotel. I live in AZ and my plan was to drive from AZ to San Diego. When booking I noticed my dates were wrong and changed them, I also didn't have a choice to change the city of my rental car. The option kept giving me San Diego but I wanted Phoenix. I played around with it for a little bit to see if I could change the cites & couldn't find and option to change the city. I thought no big deal, call them and change the city of the car.
Boy was I wrong... not only could I not change the city the dates never refreshed correctly when I changed them to the correct date. So the trip was booked for the wrong dates and I had rental car with the wrong city.
I called Hotwire twice to try to work something out. They said that in the terms there is no refunds, transfers or exchanges!!! Really?? What business operates on that type of policy.
I called my credit card company (Chase) to dispute the charge. I got a letter in the mail 3 days later that they can not refund me the funds as it was an "authorized" Charge to Hotwire. I sent a letter back that it was not an authorized charge as the dates were not refreshed correctly and I could not use the trip. I never used the car or hotel. I am crossing my fingers that I can continue to dispute this and get my money back.
I purchased 3 tickets for myself, husband and my daughter to go to San Antonio tx. To my nephew's graduation. I personally typed each name for each passenger and for whatever reason it defaulted back to previous names of people I purchased tickets for in the past. My husband and my daughter's ticket had default back to my mom's name and a friend of mines name. This company refused to change the name to the correct passenger which forced me to have to purchase 2 new tickets at the cost of 700.00 for both. I have never purchase tickets for them before this particular incident. And u know what names I typed because their names were saved list on the same list the previous passenger that I purchased tickets for.....I will never purchase another ticket or make anymore arrangements thru this company. Not only because they keep my 700.00 they refused to change the names on the ticket. They wouldn't allow me to use those tickets at a later date because it wasn't in my name even though its my account with them and my credit card that I paid with....so I will take my business elsewhere and will be very careful.
I wish I would have read this before I booked with Hotwire. I booked a hotel for 2 nights for 4 adults in 1 room. Well the hotel I have been scheduled in is with 2 full size beds for 4 adults. I am very disappointed and I think that it is misleading and deceptive. I have disputed the transaction with my credit card company so hopefully I can recoup my charges. I must say when I called Hotwire customer service they were the worst, very non-caring and unwilling to help. I will NEVER use Hotwire again! Stay away!!
After successfully booking airfare with Hotwire twice, we decided to give it a try for a hotel. Booked it, got the confirmation email, not overly thrilled with the place "revealed" (didn't really match the star rating, but whatever), hit the hotel website to get a map and directions and there it is... a price that is WAY LOWER than the one that Hotwire just charged me not five minutes ago. Well, to make a long story, short we've been arguing with Hotwire all day long... They'll match the price, but not beat it and not give us a cancelation either. This doesn't match up with the sales pitch in their ads at all. What about "unpublished rates to sell unsold rooms"??? Their response was sorry, it's policy (and the lady on the phone had the nerve to sound bored with me while she delivered the bad news). So, my husband gave it a try and got the same “we could give a flying leap” attitude and lack of response. Now we’re both completely ticked off. So, I gave up my ability to make choices with regard to MY vacation (where I stay, what type of room it will be, etc) AND I didn't get a deal in return. Why does Hotwire even exist? What is their purpose? Where is the value-add??? I reviewed their ads on YouTube – this is not what I was promised. THIS IS FRAUD.
I booked a room with HOTWIRE.COM for my vacation in Monterey ca.THEY GOT ME A ROOM ALRIGHT,IT WAS IN THE WRONG CITY!!!!they would not fix there mistake or give me a refund.BAD COMPANY, BAD SERVICE, STAY AWAY FROM THESE GUY'S#####
Hotwire misleads through star rating of hotels. Booked 3 stars hotel turned out to be 2 star stated even by front desk staff of hotel called. Hotwire staff totally unhelpful by telephone.
I had a similar problem where Hotwire.com had no problem taking my money (for a trip to Atlanta with my bf), but then when there were problems with the hotel and they agreed I should receive a refund, they took Forever to process it.
I had to complain to the BBB and Consumer Affairs. The BBB doesn't publish complaints, but you can read more at on Consumer Affairs Hotwire.com page.
I had been booking with hotwire for a few months in 2008 everything was fine until I used a different credit card because the one I usually used was home. They flipped out accusing me of fraud. They gave me the number to try to resolve it but the people never called me back. So my husband started booking for me. I needed to see my mother in michigan so he booked the hotel for me in his name but he had to put my name as the guest. As soon as I got to the hotel in michigan they said hotwire had cancelled my reservations. They saw my name and freaked. This goes back to that irriational credit card problem they had with me months back. Anyway I was stranded at the hotel with nowhere to go. My husband had to book the hotel that I was at through expedia.com. Paypal never gave me a refund. This is illegal.
Ok people listen up. Ive read all the comments bashing Hotwire, and there are two questions you should ask yourselves. One: If you think there is any chance whatsoever that you would change your plans, why would you book an "non cancellable, non refundable reservation? Companies have policies and would be out of business if they bent the rules for every person that had something come up. READ THE TERMS OF USE BEFORE YOU CHECK THE BOX! And when issues such as medical come up, they provide you with an option, even though it may be sort of uncomfortable. I had to do it when my grandmother passed away, but they were still providing me with an option, not saying well too bad. I recieved a refund when I followed the directions. And secondly:Think of these CSR's like people at a resturant, if you dont want your food messed with then dont give attitude. If you want them to do everything possible to help you, dont be a jerk. This site is designed for flexable travelers, and your taking a risk. Dont sit and bellar just because you didnt get what you want(a refund or cancellation). Grow up.
I need the address to Hotwire's corporate office for I'm held responsible for the mistake of my travel arrangements due to a human error Hotwire staff made which will cost me...
Please help.....
I do not use this service, but DO YOU WORK FOR THEM???????
never used the site but plan to. of course, first i read the various reviews to see if there is something i need to know about that i missed looking through the site. the great majority of the complaints seem to be users who don't care/don't know that the policy stated is the policy they are expected to adhere by. after all, what's hard to understand when booking a no refund/no changes/no cancellation transaction? i am looking for legit complaints where they failed to deliver. there seems to be a huge gap between hotel expectation and what is delivered, so i'll steer clear of that. otherwise, i just want a flight and a car; something i think if if follow the rules it should all go smoothly. fingers crossed!
my mom went through hotwire and purchased three tickets to come to vegas in march 2011 and my greatgrandmother passed away a week before the flight. they will not let her reschudule her flight said she needed an obiturary faxed it to them now they claim to need a death certificate do anyone have any suggestion
I used to use hotwire all the time but now this website sucks really bad......what happened?
I went through a one hour ordeal with hot wire trying to book a rental car three times in a roll they let me go through the whole process and when it come time to seal the deal and click the final button it would state the deal had transpired and raise the prices every time finally I called them and they said that it was just another person beating me to that particular car (I do not think so!!!) so I told them I am going to make several complaints with the authorities for false advertisement for them wasting my time by trying to scam more money out of me by false price listings to draw me in. Sincerely beware!!! James M. Tucson AZ.
These people are so right. Hotwire is nothing like it use to be. We used them to book a one week stay in a nice boutique hotel in Atlanta and when we arrived at the hotel the young man informed me they were over booked and that the room we booked is taken and we'd have to wait in a suite they did have available, but only until tomorrow when they would have to move us across town to something available. I thought that was just a mishap but evidently it is becoming common practice with hotwire and the hotels they are contracting. You book your room at the amazing fare but if someone is willing to pay more they bump you. My husband has to attend meetings in DC and they called last night and cancelled his room. You can't cancel your reservation with them but they can cancel the reservation they made for you and blame the hotel who plays innocent. What a scam they have going.
I've used hotwire in the past for car rentals and things were fine. I recently had an issue where I needed to change the time of an international flight. I knew that it was my fault and that it was a non-refundable flight. I was ready to pay for additional fees or buy a departure flight as long as my return flight was still good. I was first told to call the airline who then told me to call back to see if hotwire could re-issue the return flight so that it wouldn't be cancel. Hotwire then stated that this was not possible and that both flights were be canceled if I did not show up for the first flight. The second rep put me on holding to see what options could be made and I got disconnected!!!! I called back and spoke to a 3rd rep, who was very nice and stated that they would refund my flight this one and only time because I had called them within 24 hours of the booking.
Despite this, I will never use them again. I don't want to take that chance of having this happen again. Their policies are too rigid. I see all these complaints but I'm wondering if anyone has reported their situation to BBB. I checked on BBB, and Hotwire is spotless...no complaints? How can this be when these are so many reviews here and just this one website. Please consider reporting them and hopefully their customer service will improved. Take care
I'm dealing with a third party that suppose to cover the extra fee for the insurance. The insurance that covers you if anything happens and you need to cancel the reservations. Well, they ask if we can provide a doctor's signature for the medical excuse for the cancellations. I ask why, I paid the extra fee to be able to cancel whenever! So, now I need a doctor"s note to cancel... wait to process a claim to see if it's ok to get my money back,Never going to deal with hotwire.com. thieves! Never!!!!!!!!!
I'm dealing with a third party that suppose to cover the extra fee for the insurance. The insurance that covers you if anything happens and you need to cancel the reservations. Well, they ask if we can provide excuse for the cancellations. I ask why, I paid the extra fee to be able to cancel whenever! So, now I need a doctor"s note to cancel... wait to process a claim to see if it's ok to get my money back,Never going to deal with hotwire.com. thieves! Never!!!!!!!!! I lost My $ 181.00
Had an issue renting a car with Hotwire in Hawaii. Looked at cars on website, received quote, booked car, and then on the confirmation received a different time for in and out.(I have been charged before for violating the time constraints) Called Hotwire with the error. They then re-quoted a higher price. Told them to cancel it, no such luck. Re-booked on my own and lost my $ 50.00. Even AMEX will not allow a dispute with them due to their policy. Buyer beware...
Have been using Hotwire for travel--recently booked a vehicle in Tampa AND a hotel room. Confirmed both--had confirmation numbers etc. Got to rental car agency--NO RESERVATION! What?? Hotwire's "risk management" team CANCELLED my reservation! No explanation, no notice, no reason,no "customer care"! (oxymoron in Hotwire's case)
Also CANCELLED my CONFIRMED hotel reservation! Again--no notice of any kind. I attempted to contact them--many layers of corporate pseudo bullshit. No one would give me a reason!! My credit is immaculate, my cards are immaculate!! One CSR I was able to speak to said it could have been from using them too much??!!
They put me in a desparate situation--stressed out of my mind!
This is war! They pushed the wrong guy!!
We also have a issues with Hotwire. On February 19th 2011, our dad passed away. We have to fly back to Toronto for our dad's funeral on the 26th. We book through Hotwire for fly to Buffalo on the 24th and a car to drive to Toronto. When we got to the airport, we have boarding pass all the way to Detroit but no boarding pass to Buffalo. Humm??? Delta's personnels told us to fly to Detroit and there get the boarding pass from Detroit to go to Buffalo. Our fly to Detroit got there late and we miss our fly to Buffalo. We couldn't get into any other fly to Buffalo because we are in "stand by" passenger group now. The funny thing, we couldn't get into the plane to Buffalo but our carry-on went to Buffalo. We stayed the night at Detroit and the same thing happened on Friday morning. The next fly possible for us is on Sunday and our dad's funeral is Saturday. We decided to rent a car and drove to Buffalo to get our carry-on (7 hours) and then drive to Toronto (3 hours). Needless to say, this is the last time we fly with Hotwire and Delta. But I still couldn't understand why we get to the airport and couldn't get the boarding pass all the way to our destination? Well... Sometimes, you get what you pay for...
I have just had a similiar problem regarding vehicle purchases through Hotwire and have read all the comments of people that have had trouble in this area. We (we are from Canada) booked a van as we have 12 people travelling - 6 of which are children two of the children are 5 and 2. My daughter did not know there were two airports at our destination and booked the vehicle at the wrong airport. The two airports are 45 minutes apart and someone would have to take a cab from the one airport for the cost of $113.00 to get the van and then come back - possibly 90 minutes if all went well traffic wise. In the meantime
the rest of us would be stranded at the airport during that time after spening 7 hours flying (with stopovers)to get there. We asked if they could have a van available at the right airport or get our van to the right airport. We did not ask for a refund we just asked not to have to make a 90 minute trip - they refused. I sent email after email they never budged and now we have cancelled the reservation because there was no way we could handle this situation with 6 children, two of them very young. So our vehicle for our vacation that was very reasonably priced and paid for in full will now end up costing us double as we had to order another vehicle and they have just made a nice tidy profit off my family. Hope it will be worth it and I am sure that $356.00 will just make such a difference in their overall profits (not) because I will never recommend Hotwire - I would not have expected them maybe to change their policy/rules/regulations for a bunch of inept adults but thought they might have made an exception when young children were involved.
I booked the car rental with Hotwire 4 months in advance to my tripi, thinking I could modify my plan if needed. 3 months before my trip, something happen and needed to alter my plan. But Hotwire would not let me change, give me my refunds back or credit part of my money back. WTF! Hotwire is such a rip off, so unaccomodated and inconsiderate to their buyers. Such a mess up company/website! This is my first time and LAST time using this website/company.
WHAT A RIP OFF! DO NOT USE HOTWIRE! WHAT A RIP OFF! DO NOT USE HOTWIRE! WHAT A RIP OFF! DO NOT USE HOTWIRE! WHAT A RIP OFF! DO NOT USE HOTWIRE!
I JUST GOT BURNED BY HOTWIRE WISH I HAD CHECKED THIS SITE BEFORE I BOOKED WITH THEM ;ALL INEEDED TO DO WAS CHANGE HOTEL DATE,LOST MY MONEY AND COULD NOT CHANGE THE DATE.PLEASE STAY AWAY,NEW SLOGAN HOTWIRE WILL BURN YOU.
Used Hotwire for the first time in January 2011 for plane ticket and cruise purchase. Hotwire offers deals but does not actually follow through on rebate sites. We never had this problem with Travelocity or with any other business we have dealt with through Mr Rebates. Only Hotwire pulls scams to get customers to go through them. Fair warning... ours was a direct purchase (no coupons etc) and they kept the cash back...
We found out how they pulled the scam and it was pretty clever. They did not send us a receipt for purchase so we had to call a week later to ask for a reciept and booking numbers. At that time they sent a receipt and cancelled promised rebate for going through Mr Rebates "because we contacted them directly after the sale". Pretty slick? Sure, but stealing a referral is obviously wrong. We will stick with Travelocity since they are honest.
i booked a car rental a month in advance. I then needed to change the dates and was unable to. After getting the run around from both hotwire and the car company. I am out this money because I won't use the rental. How can they do business like this? I didn't use the product or service. But they still take my money....RIPE OFF This cannot be legal......NEVER AGAIN....I work at the airport..I'm telling everyone who will listen....
I booked a round-trip to visit my husband, who was on military training in South Carolina. I had only one day to see him before his departure to the Middle East. It was very important for us and we saved all the money we could to make it possible. I paid $525 through Hotwire . I arrived at the airport 45 minutes prior my departure, but Delta would not check me in. According to the lady working at Delta, all passengers must arrive at least 1 hour in advance. I tried to explain that I had an emergency and how important the trip was for me, but she said she couldn't check me in. I ran over the airport in order to find another flight that would take me to SC same day, but could only find a US Airway flight that would arrive in SC in the morning. I called hotwire and was informed that I could book one-way and still use my return ticket, so I did. I paid another $457 for an one-way ticket to SC and waited at the airport for 7 hours. By the time I got to SC it was almost 9am and my husband had to leave at 8pm. It was short, but worth it. He will be deployed overseas for over 1 year.
I went back to the airport around 3pm on Monday to confirm that my 5:58pm return flight was still on and for my surprise, I heard from Delta that my return ticket had been canceled. According to them, the seats had been already taken and I would have to purchase a new ticket in order to get back home. I immediately called Hotwire and spent hours on the phone with them. The only thing the operator would say: "I don't know what happened, our system shows that you are still confirmed to fly back today...". I was back and fourth between Delta and Hotwire when Delta finally released a copy of a document, showing that my entire trip had been canceled by Hotwire system. When I called Hotwire customer service again, they were even more confused. I felt beyond frustrated and don't even know how to explain my pain. They refused to transfer me to speak to their supervisor and treated me like I was nothing. I found myself crying at the airport without money to make it back home. If they have told me that my return flight would be canceled while I was in San Diego, I could have purchased a round-trip ticket from US Airways for $600, but instead they preferred to lie. I had to call my parents, so they could pay for my one-way ticket so I could finally go home. In the end, I spent over $1500 instead of $650 if I had booked straight from US Airways. I'll never use their service again. I paid for my seats and never had the right to use them. My Valentine weekend became my Hotwire nightmare weekend! BE AWARE!