Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort

Started by	Comment
betsybug	Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	Lead	[-]
Posts: 236 (03/12/05 4:41 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None I got an unwanted upgrade from a 3* to a resort in San Antonio West. See this link for the bidding history. Riverwalk Sold Out This zone was a free re-bid for 3* and 4* - at least I thought so. PL unfairly fails to disclose that resorts can be awarded as upgrades. Their terms and conditions only warn of star level upgrades: Hotel Star Ratings Priceline will book your reservation in a property with an equal or higher star level than you requested. Also, the resort option was not checked by PL on my actual bidding screen for the 3* bid - it did not even show on teh screen as an unchecked option. But resort was checked on the 4* bid screen. Thankfully I have printed copies of the bidding screens. PL telephone customer services refused to refund, although a supervisor admits that resorts have no "star level" rating. Why is that resorts seem to generate pretty serious customer complaints about PL unfairness? This looks like a corollary to the undisclosed resort fee tactic and the missing beachfront in Grand Cayman I am pretty certain I can get the credit card company to reverse the charge. With my bid screens my evidence is compelling that I did not agree to a resort nor was I warned by PL of that outcome. But how does PL get by with this stunt? And if this is such a great resort why didn't PL award it as an upgrade when I bid for a 4* in this zone for an even higher price?
adamgould	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#1	[-]
Posts: 2579 (03/12/05 4:55 PM) Registered User Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Sorry this happened to you, but we have known this for quite some time now. It is Question #9 in our FAQ's. A resort is really a 4.5* hotel. I agree that Priceline's website does not clearly define this, but I think you are going to have a hard time getting a refund over this as others have complained in the past and have not been succesful.
KeenWink	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#2	[-]
Posts: 8973 (03/12/05 6:23 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	betsybug wrote: > And if this is such a great resort why didn't PL award it as an > upgrade when I bid for a 4* in this zone for an even higher price? That's an intriguing question. Was there much time between your 4* and 3* offers? It is qute possible that particular Resort inventory was added to PL just before your 3* offer. PL inventory changes from minute to minute as thousands of hotels dynamically update their offerings. As to your negotiations with Priceline, I'd recommend you refrain from using the term "bid" or "free-rebid", and not suggest any knowledge of particular resort-grade hotels from internet research, because the more you seem to know, the less sympathetic they will be. They don't like BFT. If they see your pattern of extensive rebidding, they'll know that you knew exactly what you were doing (even if you somehow failed to understand the explicit comments about rebid zones in the BFT FAQ.)
drmarna	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#3	[-]
Posts: 199 (03/12/05 7:14 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* And if this is such a great resort why didn't PL award it as an upgrade when I bid for a 4* in this zone for an even higher price? Did you say you knew and the PL screens disclosed the possibility of resort when you bid for a 4? If so and you knew you could get a resort upgrade from 4 and you bid this zone anyway, I think you will have trouble convincing Priceline your weren't willing to accept a resort in this zone when you bid less for a 3. You are lucky you didn't end up paying $100 for this resort which easily could have happened with your 4 bid. (Its still a mystery to me why that happened.) However, if the screen did not show the resort boxed checked on either your 3* or 4* bids, I think you have a better case with Priceline. Without disclosing your use of "free rebids", find out if there is a resort fee. If there is you could certainly argue that the reason you didn't want resort was because of the fees (as opposed to the location) and that the PL screen and terms never adequately informed you that you could get a resort.
sewshesew	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#4	[-]
Posts: 16 (03/13/05 1:49 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Priceline may let you off the hook, but I'm sorry to say, they shouldn't. You are the only one responsible and you should admit it. Take some personal responsibility. You are obviously not a novice with Priceline. Your experience with BFT should have prepared you to beware the resort symbol. You of all people should be fully aware of the advice given in the hotels FAQ section where it states on the home page: Hotels Very important to read this category before bidding on a hotel stay. The importance of familiarizing yourself with this FAQ cannot be stressed enough. Check regularly for updates. The reason resorts aren't given a star rating is because there would have to be various levels of star ratings between resorts, as all resorts are not created equal. Should Priceline remove the resorts? No. They are an option that many people desire. Don't want a resort? Don't bid in an area with a resort. Better yet, don't use Priceline. People who whine and moan about Priceline make the experience worse for everybody else. Everybody complains about the "Priceline attitude of hotels." Want to make a bet on how it really started? When I read some of the reviews it amazes me. People stating as they check-in, "Don't you dare give me one of those Priceline rooms." "I was treated like a second class citizen because they wouldn't give me a king bed. Or two beds. Or whatever." I'm sure there have been hotels that dropped out, tired of dealing with the petty complaints about being near the elevator, too far from the elevator, not given a view etc. The next time I check-in with with a Priceline reservation, I'm going to announce boldly that I'm not one of the whiners. I got a great deal and I thank you for the room.
betsybug	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#5	[-]
Posts: 236 (03/13/05 9:41 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The 4* and 3* bids were minutes apart. I did not see the resort box checked on my 4* bidding screen. I only reconstructed and printed the bidding history after the surprise resort upgrade. I didn't see the resort check when I bid the 4. But you are right, if the resort had been awarded on the 4 bid, I would have a weaker case for a refund and been stuck for more money. Has anyone actually reported on this board that a 3* bid has been upgraded to a resort? And has anyone actually reported that a complaint to PL about an undisclosed resort upgrade was rejected? Other questions - is it possible to get PL to allow another person to use those rooms instead of a refund? Or is that too sophisticated a customer service response to expect? Thanks for all the good tips. I will not mention free re-bidding. I will check the resort fee angle. My relatives are reconsidering their rejection of this resort, but only because they feel so badly about me being stuck with the $700 bill. And I firmly disagree about whether complaints like mine should be made. There's a difference between whining and an unfair business practice complaint. Priceline is a business governed by a contract with its customers - and by the state consumer protection laws. This was a "bait and switch" tactic in the legal world. You can't offer to sell a customer one grade of goods and substitute another without informed consent. It's illegal, people. It's not just customer disappointment or a genuine quality disagreement, e.g. "my PL 3* hotel should have been rated a 2". If PL wanted to allow for upgrades to resorts it should put that in the Terms and Conditions. And I didn't remember FAQ # 9 before I bid, but I did see if after I got burned. I love the informed wisdomw of the board administrators, but even they sometimes acknowledge that PL needs to be taken on when PL crosses the line with unfair business practices, e.g. not including resort fees in the accepted bid. This board's experience with PL bidding glitches is not equivalent to PL's fair disclosure to its customers. That is quite different than getting a hotel that does not belong in that star level or getting bad "Priceline rooms". Customers complain about that and should continue to do so in order to persuade Priceline to adjust its ratings and control its vendors. No one could ask for a refund, however, for those problems. It is only when the hotel awarded did not meet the contract that a refund is in order - or the rare case where someone made an honest bidding mistake. I am not claiming I made a mistake. I am claiming that there was no disclosure that this resort product could be substituted for a 3 hotel.
betsybug	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#6	[-]
Posts: 236 (03/13/05 10:22 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dr. Marna, your overbid warning came true even on my 3* bid. I got this hotel for $80. There are two posts on the Texas-San Antonio thread that got this resort for $54 and $63 the week before and week after my dates. Now I really feel burned. And does anyone get how expensive this will be for me? My accepted bid total was $763! I was bidding for two rooms for four nights for my relatives. OK, I am in a panic, and my husband has banned me from bidding for third parties again. And my relatives are feeling guilt tripped into paying for my mistake by staying 16 miles from the downtown Riverwalk zone on their first trip to San Antonio. I think it's the fact that I am an experienced bidder - and obviously attentive to legal warnings (I always read consent forms, etc.) - that makes me feel mucho wronged. OK - unless someone has answers to my immediately previous posted questions - that's all I have to say. I will take my dispute to the credit card company and be a big girl and pay the $763 myself. Going back to PL is probably a waste of time unless I find out the Radisson charges resort fees.
adamgould	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#7	[-]
Posts: 2579 (03/13/05 1:09 PM) Registered User Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Has anyone actually reported on this board that a 3* bid has been upgraded to a resort? I used to use the 3* in Key West as a quote unquote free rebid back in the day before 3's started showing up there. I used to bid 3 and get the Wyndham Reach (When it was a resort) and the Wyndham Casa Marina. *Quote:* And has anyone actually reported that a complaint to PL about an undisclosed resort upgrade was rejected? I have no link to the posts, but I have seen several on this board about the same incidents. Trust me, you are not the first person this has happened to.
drmarna	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#8	[-]
Posts: 199 (03/13/05 1:11 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	1. I think you could have other people use the rooms by calling the hotel and adding their names to the reservations. 2. For over $700 its at least worth a try to contact PL. 3. I don't know if others have been successful in getting a refund from PL under these circumstances.Adamgould says no. The resort fee argument would help, so check that out first. But even without that argument, you can at least try because your non-disclosure argument is also a good one. (the only problem is PL will see from your bidding that you were willing to stay in that area at that price, so why should you care if you were upgraded to a presumably "better" hotel). Keep in mind that your relatives could have made the same mistake or worse, since they don't have your bidding knowledge, so maybe they should have to pay. I made a $225 mistake bidding for relatives before, so I know how you feel. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
sewshesew	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#9	[-]
Posts: 16 (03/13/05 6:12 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	These are your words. "I think it's the fact that I am an experienced bidder - and obviously attentive to legal warnings (I always read consent forms, etc.) - that makes me feel mucho wronged." These are also your words. "Priceline is a business governed by a contract with its customers - and by the state consumer protection laws. This was a "bait and switch" tactic in the legal world. You can't offer to sell a customer one grade of goods and substitute another without informed consent. It's illegal, people." Does this mean you will no longer do business with Priceline? You accuse them of being unethical, accuse them of commiting fraud. Serious charges. So how could an obviously informed person as yourself do business with such a horrible company? If you continue to use Priceline, what does that say about you? That you are willing to stoop down to their level, to help make an obviously, in your mind, fraudulent company a success? Doing this just to save yourself a couple bucks on a hotel room? Talk about unethical. And hypocritical. If someone harmed me like you claim they did, they would ever see or hear from me again. Not one more dollar. My integrity is more important than a few bucks.
ppcox	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#10	[-]
Posts: 97 (03/14/05 10:30 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have some sympathy with the situation you find yourself in but my understanding of free bid zones is that they are zones with hotels with lower ratings only and that you can't add zones that contain higher rated possibilities. Priceline is correctly assuming that the zones you add are zones you are prepared to stay in and that tactics such as free bidding are merely that, tactics used by those of us using this site. I do hope you find a solution that keeps yourself and your relatives happy but I don't think you have a case for a refund from priceline.
johnp012001	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#11	[-]
Posts: 124 (03/15/05 7:55 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	After reading your post, I went back and read the T&C's. I think that Priceline is a bit deceptive in how they handle Resorts. They are not assigned a clear * level, and the Resort option is placed UNDER the 1* option. That being said, you are bidding on a room with a certain quality level and amenities. If you look at the amenity requirements for a Resort, it includes all of the 3* amenities and then some. So, unless the quality level of the Resort were lower than that of a 3* (and given some of the 3s I've seen, I can't imagine a "Resort" that couldn't qualify for a 3 rating) I think that a Resort would clearly be of a higher quality level than a 3. So, you're arguement would have to be that the property you got didn't meet the minimum requirements for a 3 property. While I don't think they'll budge on this one, one MIGHT have a legal case, that you could never be upgraded to a Resort or Boutique property. The T&C's do say "an equal or higher star level than you requested". Note they specifically say "Star" level, NOT "Quality" level 2 is clearly higher than 1. But they have not established a clear heirarchy for levels that don't have numbers in them. Is a word higher than a number? It's a strech, but if someone called them to task on it, maybe they'd clarify the T&C's and Heirarchy. I wonder if this isn't intentional on Priceline's part, to teach people using rebid strategies a lesson. Why are boutiques placed between 3* and 4, making it clear that it is a potential upgrade from 3, wheras Resort is listed at the bottom, not making it clear that it could be an upgrade from anything? Why not place the Resort about 4* and make it clear that anything but a 5* bid could be "upgraded" to a Resort? Good luck!
bnoble	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#12	[-]
Posts: 20 (03/16/05 4:27 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I haven't used priceline in a while (am preparing for a bid in either Branson or Arlington in the near future, and am doing my homework) but I could have sworn resorts used to be listed near the top, not at the bottom--I was surprised to see a listing there when I was generating my free rebids for Arlington.
KeenWink	PL may upgrade 3* bid to Boutique, as well	#13	[-]
Posts: 8973 (03/16/05 4:36 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just a tip for ya'all. There are at least as many Boutique* hotels as Resort, and it's worth noting that you can get upgraded to a B from a 3* or lower offer (despite the $50 minimum that PL imposes on Boutique bids). p070.ezboard.com/fpriceli...2996.topic
betsybug	Re: PL may upgrade 3* bid to Boutique, as well	#14	[-]
Posts: 236 (03/16/05 9:09 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for the comments - even the negative ones help. Here is how the bidding form looked when I bid the 4* in the San Antonio West zone with the ^ being a checked box. ^ 4-Star Deluxe ** 3-Star Upscale * 2 -1/2 Star Moderate ** 1/2 1 Star Economy * ^ Resorts (umbrella symbol) RESORTS I didn't notice the resort box checked on the 4* form and only discovered it after I placed the 3* bid. Here is how the bidding form looked when I bid the 3* and got the upgrade to resort. ^ 4-Star Deluxe ** ^ 3-Star Upscale * 2-1/2 Star Moderate ** 1/2 1 Star Economy * To you naysayers: Doesn't this bidding form prove that PL did not disclose the resort upgrade possibility on a 3* bid?
sewshesew	Re: PL may upgrade 3* bid to Boutique, as well	#15	[-]
Posts: 16 (03/16/05 11:36 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I guess you're referring to me. It doesn't prove anything. I just tried replicating your bid. The first screen, "select the areas where you want to stay," clearly shows resorts available in San Antonio West, and only San Antonio West. That alone should have been your wake-up call. I then checked off both downtown riverwalk and San Antonio West, pressed next, and the next page shows all star ratings listed plus resort. This was your second chance to see resorts. If I check 4 star, only 4 star has a checked box. If I check 3 star, only 3 star has a checked box. If I check resort, only resort has a checked box. The next page is a review your request box, which lists whichever level was checked on the prior page. I then submitted an offer which was rejected. It asked me if I could select additional areas, with both dt/saw shaded and checked, or could I select another star level, with both 4 star and resort boxes shaded and checked. This should have been your third opportunity to realize Priceline was also checking resort level for your bid. If they will upgrade a 4 star, they will upgrade a 3 star. Or 2 1/2 star. Or 2 star. Or 1 star. So to answer you, no I feel more strongly than ever you were made aware of an upgrade possibilty to resort level. My question to you, again, is if you feel so strongly Priceline illegally deceived you, practiced bait and switch as you alleged, are you going to continue to do business with such a horrible company, or will you have some integrity? Because anybody who makes these claims yet still does business with such a company, has less scruples than said company. Or will you admit the mistake was your responsibility and retract your allegations?
jluff	Resorts are labeled as 4.5* on PL	#16	[-]
Posts: 16 (03/28/05 5:28 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If you are worried about the Resort Fees then just bluntly refuse to pay them at check out. That is what I have done. If they bill you for them.. Dispute them! Resort fees are a scam and they know it. They will usually be waived if you make a stink. J.
rajtheking	Re: Resorts are labeled as 4.5* on PL	#17	[-]
Posts: 41 (03/28/05 8:08 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi, I have seen a lot of discussion about resorts. I think anything above 4* is classified as a resort according to priceline.But then again there is no specific star rating for a resort.You can be upgraded form a 1* or 2* or 3 * or 4* to a resort. So , I think the safest strategy to deal with a resort is to consider it as an all star option.That means , you should consider a resort as a 1/2/2.5/3/3.5/4/4.5 hotel. So if consider a resort as any of these stars then this problem in bidding can be eliminated.Hopefully this helps.Any comments will be appreciated.And thanks for all the members and moderators for this great web site.
Sheryl	Re: Resorts are labeled as 4.5* on PL	#18	[-]
Posts: 139449 (03/28/05 8:16 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As the Hotel FAQ indicates, zones with Resorts are only free re-bids when bidding for a 5*.
rajtheking	Re: Resorts are labeled as 4.5* on PL	#19	[-]
Posts: 41 (03/29/05 12:08 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HI Sheryl, So if you are bidding for anything less than a 5 star hotel,then you should not consider a resort as a free rebid.I hope I got it correct.Thanks.
lumpylips2004	Re: Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort	#20	[-]
Posts: 30 (04/02/05 4:45 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I am slightly confused by the resort category, and am looking to come up with a bidding strategy for Las Vegas in the next month or two. We recently stayed at the Hyatt Lake Las Vegas, and hope to score it again. Do I understand correctly that the resort category is greater than 4 star? In that case, my free re-bid zones will be all except for the Strip (5stars) and the Northwest LV (resorts) areas. Is that correct? I apologize for the question if it is silly, but the Hotel FAQs are not entirely clear, and I want to get the Hyatt for sure. I have plenty of time, so that is not an issue. Any help?

Yuku free message boards

Warning: PL will upgrade 3* Bid to Resort