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So I used Hotwire to book a 2 star hotel in Atlantic City for my fiance's birthday. Yeah, I

know, you can't expect a luxury resort when you're paying for a 2 star hotel, but Hotwire's

website leads you to believe you'll get perhaps a Days Inn or Comfort Inn. I'm easy to

please and a no-frills type of gal - not to mention the fact that if I'm bargain shopping for a

2 star hotel on Hotwire, I must not have a *** of a lot of money.

So, these options were fine by me.

I book the 2 star hotel and almost instantly get a

confirmation email from Hotwire confirming by stay in a 1 star motel - the Super 8

Motel, to be exact.

Horrifed, I pull up reviews from Trip Advisor and read about smelly

rooms, unlit parking lots and *** in the hallways.

I email Hotwire to let them know of their error and politely request to be changed to

a 2 star hotel - which I thought I booked.

The final result? Hours on the line with Hotwire's "customer service" - robots trained

to be rude and unhelpful, emails with responses from the same robots, and a

complaint to the Better Business Bureau that changed NOTHING.

Bottom line: if you want to use Hotwire, know that their "hotel star rating" is not

even close to what you might expect.

So, if you're looking for a 2 star hotel, at the very least book a 3.5 star hotel.

Hotwire SUCKS and has the WORST customer service possible.

I ended up paying for an room at a Comfort Inn and taking the money I'd spent

with Hotwire and more or less wiping my *** with it.

to be rude, condescending and unhelpful, emails that were basically ignored, a complaint th

 

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Guest

Hotwire blows donkey balls. i was on hold for 30 minutes and then gave up way to go hotwire you suck ***.

i have to say you think its smart to make people not want to use your service after they use it and get burned that's a *** business model.

I hope you end up going out of business in favor of a better more customer friendly service provider.

Guest

It's twice this weekend Hotwire has played their commercial portraying a male Irishman as a slob with food on his face. These commercials were spliced down and they do leave out most of the offensive remarks--these are not funny. Irish men were voted the sexiest men in the world this year...they need to do their marketing homework, especially if they want to drum up business!

Guest

I was really surprised with the rude TV commercial bashing the Irish. If Hotwire came out with the same type of stereotypical trash against Italians, Jewish, or gays...the footage would have been left on the floor. I will never use Hotwire based on their taste in commercials.

Guest

Hotwire rip offs continue...ordered a room for 2 people got a single room with a single double bed....20 minutes to call and complain...no good answer from person on phone, refused employee info and hung up when I asked to speak with supervisor......never ever going to use hotwire again, never a problem in over a hundred booking with priceline....yes Americans can get even by saying that a company is no good to do business with....I will be sure to get every travel nurse in the U.S.A. to never use Hotwire......

Guest

I wish I would have seen Hotwire reviewsbwforw booking! Seriously the worst company.

We are very seasoned travelers and we will never recommend Hotwire or use it again.

We experienced the same issues, lower star rating as advertised, even the price was the same at the hotel and not 50% off or whatever they advertised. The customer service reps are jerks and will argue until you get few up.

They will absolutely NOT refund a credit card and do not honour their Hotwire bucks. What a trap and scam!!

Guest

I use hotwire previously and it was okay about for five years ago.

I agree, I will never use Hotwire again.

Guest

These ***. Call to book a new reservation and they are on the line in five seconds.

Call to correct a mistake they made on an existing reservation and they torture with their chipper little song indefinitely. Hotwire suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-849945

Always select "new reservation" and then tell the live agent about your problem. They will fix it and no waiting!

Their call center has the same people doing both jobs, they just prioritize the reservation calls and put the complaints into a looooooong ***. But since the same call center drones do both jobs, you can pick "new reservation" and then say (as I do): "Sorry, I selected the wrong option. I actually have a complaint/problem!" and they will continue the call and fix it - no transferring or back on hold!

This is a great trick that you can try with all sorts of companies. Many have their call centers set up this way!

Source: Former call center / contact center drone.

Guest

I won't ever use them again. Just booked a room, the confirmation email showed dates one day past the date I'd entered.

Now 35 minutes on hold (whith "approximate wait time" of "3 minutes") and no sign of life. Just how I want to spend vacation time.

Fool me once...

I'll be sure to mention it whenever the opportunity comes up. Driving their business into the ground one customer (and all of their friends and family) at a time.

Guest

Hotwire - Unimpressed and underwhelmed. Several years ago I could count on a great deal on a name hotel.

And then I noticed I was getting stuck with more and more one-off "boutique" hotels that were absolute dives. It seems HW takes significant liberty with what constitutes a three-star hotel, and also seems to take similar liberties with the manner it defines the geographic boundaries in its hotel maps. And in this day and age in which there are fewer and fewer smokers, I cannot believe HW has not provided for something like a $10 add-on to limit the hotel selection to smoke-free hotels. Then again, what used to be "significant savings" is now only a savings of 10-15% from hotel rate many hotels offer online.

And by the time you add HW's "service fee" and seemingly exorbitant tax rate, the savings are very minimal. I would rather pick my own hotel (with a non-smoking room) and pay a few extra dollars than risk getting stuck in a lousy, smoky room in a dumpy boutique hotel.

Guest

I'll never use hotwire again. They weren't willing to honor a very simple request and had no interest in what I had to say. This is a horrible company.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-808803

Hotwire does suck.........somehow I got a double booked on a car rental.......and, they provide NO recourse.......had to talk to a bunch of non-English speaking people who simply towed the company line........and, then a supervisor thought it best to not offer a good customer a simple refund in exchange for being a continued customer, and not publicizing their very bad business policies. Not good business.

I will not use hotwire again, and I do not recommend to my business colleagues.

Guest

I booked a hotel with Hotwire specifically for 4 adults, 1 kid – once I arrived, the hotel said the booking was for 2 adults. They hotel didn't have any other rooms available.

Called Hotwire, took 1.5 hours to resolve, after driving 10 hours on the road I had no choice but to book another hotel 2x the original price. I'll never use Hotwire again.

Guest

I've used Hotwire in the past with success. They seem to have gone downhill recently.

I booked a 3.5 star in Newark close to the airport. In the past, the hotels always had a shuttle. I decided to check with the hotel and learned there was no shuttle. The cab fare was $120 plus return, more than the hotel price.

Contacting their customer service was a nightmare. They don't care.

I booked another hotel next to the airport for less than the cab fare. I hope Hotwire enjoys my money as I'll never book with them again.

Guest

Hotwire was totally rubbish when we complained about a hotel that they listed as a four star being a 2 star at best. London St.

Georges.

They told us that we should have complained to hotel, taken photos, etc., However, we believe Hotwire is to blame as it charged a four star rate and advertised this dump as 4 star.

I will never use them again! I will also tell everyone I know about them.

Guest

:( If i search every work known in any form of communication on the entire planet, I still could NOT FIND one that would describe how much HOTWIRE SUCKS! Especially Love Calling India and listening to every reason THEY CAN NEVER SOLVE your issue! Not worth what ever deal they

claim to offer, just walk away from them- I used a new site this time

"BOOKIT.com", was a little more money but no BS, hidden fee's and A

american lady in New Jersey actually answered the phone! Bookit.com

YES- HotWire.BLOWS!

Guest

i agree their customer service is horrible. Only thing is with the economy the way it is, word gets out and they have determined their own outcome. Was once a great company!

Guest

Hotwire does not commit to their own policies - beware!

Guest

I like quality hotels and i was very disappointed that they only displayed two star hotels. Why don't they even share the name of the hotel?

people need to read reviews and stuff to see if the hotel has bed bugs or something.

:? Next time, use travelocity.

Guest

I booked flights through Hotwire that were time sensitive as far as the departure time. When the flights were changed by the airline I could not use the flight as the departure time was before I could possibly pick up the people in my traveling party and make it to the airport in time for the flight.

Hotwire would not budge at all! I was out $1200 and a car rental to boot!

Hotwire is good only for comparing rates and finding flights, not booking flights, they only charge what the airlines would and then the airline comps them back a small percentage. Do Not Book with Hotwire!

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