Online price matches unsuccessful

There is lots of advertising by both Priceline.com and Hotels.com about price matching. Here is what I encountered with both of them.

• On Oct. 16, 2012, I scouted prices for an Oct. 21-23 stay at the Hotel Algarve Casino in Portimão, Portugal. The price at Priceline.com was $107. I then found a British site, Hotels4U.com, offering it for $67 (it gives its quotes in US dollars as well). 

I had never used Hotels4U before, however, and any credit card charge I made with them would have incurred a 3% foreign-transaction fee. Also, I felt that with an American vendor I would have been better protected if something went wrong, so I returned to Priceline’s website.

After creating an account and signing in, I clicked the “Let’s Help You Shop — Chat Now” radio button in order to start a chat with a Priceline customer support representative. I was told that if I could find a better price than the one listed on Priceline, they would match it and also give me a 50-dollar voucher. I explained that I had already found one on Hotels4U.

The “Chat Now” feature does not assist with reservations, and I didn’t have time to continue, so it wasn’t until the following day that I called back regarding the room. 

I was advised that I first had to book with Priceline, then they would check the competitor’s website. They wouldn’t budge until a reservation was made. I went ahead and booked with Priceline and got a confirmation for a room at the Hotel Algarve Casino. Then the sales associate researched the Hotels4U site and agreed that the price being offered there was about $67. 

After that, I was transferred to a Priceline customer service team in Mexico, and the rep there said that, according to their sources, the rooms were not the same and I had two choices: live with the Priceline quote or cancel. I opted to cancel and did so.

• On Oct. 19, I saw that Hotels.com had the same property for the same dates for around $102 plus tax. I called them, an associate in Missouri answered and I walked her through the Hotels4U website. 

After putting me on hold to confer with her boss, the associate agreed to match the price. Her pitch to me was she would have to charge me the full amount of $214 and then process a refund of $81. 

However, my confirming email from her, which I received while still on the phone, reflected only the charge of $214 and no refund. I brought this to her attention, but she said she was sending me a personal email confirming the same. 

My reservation would become nonrefundable about four hours after making the reservation. I waited a few hours, but no confirming email arrived. 

I called back to Hotels.com and got a supervisor in Guadalajara, Mexico, who said the previous agent had no authority to match the lower price and I was stuck with the reservation because the cancellation deadline had passed. As a courtesy, he offered me a 15% discount. 

I had no choice, as I was traveling that night, so I accepted the offer. 

VARUN AGNIHOTRI

Walnut, CA 
 
ITN mailed and emailed copies of Mr. Agnihotri’s letter to Hotels.com (10440 North Central Expressway, Ste. 400, Dallas, TX 75231) in mid November 2012. No response was received. ITN also emailed a copy to Priceline.com and received the following reply.

Sorry, but I don’t understand why there’s an issue here. It’s totally reasonable that we would offer our best price guarantee to booked guests only and that the guarantee applies to an identical itinerary (room type, dates, etc.).

BRIAN EK
 
ITN wrote back to Mr. Ek of Priceline, “In attempting to match the hotel price listed on Hotels4U, Mr. Agnihotri was able to cancel his hotel booking with Priceline and he lost no money, but how come the Priceline representative who initially ‘agreed that the price being offered there was about $67’ did not know that the rooms being compared were not the same type? Shouldn’t that rep have noticed what the Mexico team subsequently noticed? 

“In the Terms & Conditions section on Priceline’s website, under the heading ‘The Priceline Negotiator’s Best Price Guarantee,’ it states, ‘The lower rate found must be found online… for the same number of rooms and room type at the same hotel as booked through Priceline for the same check-in and check-out dates.’ 

“But there are no guidelines on the website regarding comparing room types.

“What are the terms or category classifications that a customer should be sure to look for in order to know whether or not two rooms being compared are of the same type (so he does not waste Priceline’s time trying to get them to match a price)?”

No further reply was received from Priceline. 

Mr. Agnihotri told ITN that on Feb. 28, 2013, a representative of Hotels.com called him, apologized and offered a 50-dollar voucher toward a future stay booked with Hotels.com. Mr. Agnihotri received the voucher by e-mail two weeks later.