INeedAttention.com

I recently returned from a vacation to Florida. Being the bargain hunter I am, I shopped around for cheap airline tickets using a couple of tricks. First, I was willing to fly out of whatever airport was cheapest, at whatever time was cheapest. My dates were also somewhat flexible. Flying in the middle of the week, as opposed to a weekend, is generally cheapest, so I preferred two Wednesday flights. Next, I checked prices about a week or two prior to my expected travel date, although savings are usually best given one to three weeks notice.

So considering those basic points, I started seeking price quotes from the well-known bargain travel sites: Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, Priceline.com, and Travelocity.com. I entered my information identically across all four sites, and compared their prices. Continental Airlines and American Airlines were consistently less expensive than other airlines across those four sites. All four sites gave approximately equal quotes for the same route, which was cheapest when flying from LaGuardia airport in New York to Palm Beach International airport in West Palm Beach, Florida. The total cost, as advertised by all four sites, was approximately $134 to $165 before taxes and fees for the roundtrip, non-stop airfare – not bad in the first place.

On another note, I was to receive an additional 6% rebate on the entire transaction. First, Discover Card’s “Get More” cash-back promotion was advertising 5% cash-back on travel charges such as airfare, train tickets, hotel stays, and rental cars. The other 1% was through my Upromise account. Upromise is a brand loyalty program that gives you a miniscule rebate, typically 2% or less, when you buy certain things. Upromise makes money because retailers pay to be Upromise branded, and those vendors make up the miniscule amount paid to you since you are more likely to buy more of their typically over-priced merchandise. I essentially abuse Upromise by not using it myself – for example, while I have my own grocery card and credit card registered with Upromise, my family shares my grocery card account and thereby generates rebates unknowingly as they buy things the way they normally would. In any event, Priceline.com is a Upromise vendor and so I logged into my Upromise account, which then led me to Priceline.com.

And such was the next trick up my sleeve: Priceline.com’s “Name your own price” system. Priceline.com advertises that you can save between 20 and 40% off regular price airfare if you name your own price. So I took the $134 quote, the lowest advertised elsewhere, subtracted an additional 20%, and entered in a price of $108. Note that I could have possibly saved more, but considering that other “bargain” sites were making the offers they were, I considered it fair to pay $54 per direction without trying to save more (although I don’t know if I could have saved more).

Within two minutes, Priceline.com accepted my offer and emailed me a confirmation. I would be flying on American Airlines, and after taxes and fees I paid approximately $135. My flights in both direction were on-time, relaxing, and comfortable. A rather good looking flight attendant at least ten years my senior gave me her phone number in New York, free drinks and M&Ms – so no complaints on that flight. Interestingly, she began conversing with me because she said it was “strange” that I would be seated where I was – at the tail of the plane, next to the engine, in a row by myself, in an otherwise fully packed aircraft, next to her flight attendant’s seat. Anyway, the return flight was less eventful but also comfortable. All-in-all, the flight portion of my experience with Priceline.com was positive. My flight attendant friend was shocked about the price I paid commenting, “We [American Airlines] are probably losing money on that.”

But in this joke, the positive airfare experience is only the setting of the stage for the punch line. After I received my email confirmation from Priceline.com that my offer was accepted, I was directed to return to Priceline.com to complete my transaction. After completing the steps, I was presented with other related offers: discount hotel reservations and car rentals. I didn’t need either since I was visiting friends, who had ample space to put me up for the week. However, since I had a separate experience renting a car only two weeks earlier, I decided to see how much Priceline.com would rent me a car for.

I was shocked when I was offered a price of $19 per day for a Premium vehicle – a “Crown Victoria or similar” according to Priceline.com. The terms clearly stated that an under 25 fee would apply. I decided that for the $19 a day, a rental car would be fun to tool around in, and considering the cheap airfare, it was within my budget for the trip. I decided to accept their offer, and I was given a receipt on which $65 in “fees” were added, however, there was no itemization of fees. The car rental agency was National Car Rental, and the total was $204. So given that the fee amounted to almost 50% of the cost of the vehicle, I figured the under 25 fee was assessed here. Without an itemized receipt, however, it was impossible for me to ascertain that there was yet another fee waiting for me. But this is also not the only surprise that was waiting.

After booking my “Premium” vehicle with National Car Rental, knowing that different companies use different fleets of vehicles, I called National Car Rental to determine if they indeed had Ford Crown Victorias in their fleet. As an aside, if you’ve never driven a “police car”, consider trying it sometime. I guarantee you’ll notice a significant increase in the patience and prudence of other drivers – a sad testimonial to the effect that the thought of surveillance has on human behavior. Anyway, the National Car Rental agent said that they used GM vehicles typically, but that a “Premium” vehicle meant either a Buick LeSabre, Buick Lucerne, Dodge Magnum, or Dodge Charger. Obviously, I wanted the Dodge Charger, even if it only had a 6-cylinder engine.

Upon arrival in West Palm Beach, I marched excitedly to the National Car Rental counter. The agent behind the counter was friendly, and as much as I would have loved to spew obscenities at him for the chaos that was about to ensue, he was only doing his job and was trying earnestly to keep me satisfied. So what happened, exactly?

First, the Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger were not available at all. Not just at that location, they were virtually not available at all. The agent said they come in “sometimes” which, based on his squinting and perseverate deep breath, I took to mean “almost never”. I asked what was available in the Premium class, and he advised me that only the Buick LeSabre and Buick Lucerne were available. Granted, they’re “full size” cars but calling either a premium vehicle in the first place is a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. I asked what other vehicles were available in other classes, and let him know I’d be willing to pay extra for the next class up. With a great sense of futility, he tapped the keys on his computer terminal to check, finding a Cadillac CTS and Hummer H3, both for an additional $20 or so per day, which would have doubled the price I was paying. In response, imagine me making a puckered face of dissatisfaction. I agreed to take the Buick Lucerne.

“Alright,” he said, “now if you can just sign here.” Drawing my eyes to the signature box, I then looked around, grabbed a pen nearby on the counter, and prepared to put my mark on the page. My eyes grew wide with shock as I noticed the paper was not the rental agreement – it was an invoice. “This says I owe you almost $300,” I pointed out. “Oh yes, that’s what it says you owe in the computer.” I returned, “What for? I pre-paid through Priceline.com.” The agent then explained, “Yes, but you’re under 25, and there is a $39 per day fee, plus tax, for underage renters.” He advised me to call Priceline.com with questions, citing that the reservation was made through them.

Priceline.com’s customer service was completely useless in resolving this issue. Not only did they insist that I had not paid an under 25 fee, they admitted that, “[I] did pay taxes and fees, but those fees couldn’t be broken down individually.” Priceline.com’s customer service agents repeatedly insisted that there was nothing they could do – no full refund, no prorated refund, no credit for another time. I asked if they were ever able to help people, and they said yes. I asked, for future reference, what situation would warrant a refund or credit – and the agent refused to give a square answer! Seems like it’s not much of a service to customers to have customer service agents that are only there to tell you, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do!”

I might be crazy, but when a fee is literally twice the advertised price, it’s not much of a fee anymore – it’s a big freaking difference. It’s false advertising, it’s deceptive, it’s price gouging, and it’s probably very profitable.

After all, if I really needed a rental car, there’s a good chance I’d accept the gouged price upon arrival. How would you leave the airport without your ground transportation? Fortunately I had my friends to call and ask for a ride. They were working at the time, but were willing to pick me up after their shift. So after waiting at the airport like Tom Hanks in a short version of “The Terminal“, I was out of the airport and started a fun week of relaxing and taking in the weirdness that is the state of Florida.

There was yet another surprise waiting for me, though. I attempted to use my Discover Card in a liquor store in Port Saint Lucie, and was declined on a $9 transaction! When I called Discover, their automated system advised me that my available credit was $0, thanks to guess who – National Car Rental who put the $295 charge to my credit card, maxing it out completely, despite that I refused to sign the invoice or take receipt of the car. This charge was reversed by National Car Rental when I advised them that I hadn’t signed the invoice and had declined the rental as a result of the fee in the first place. When National Car Rental was issuing this refund, they said they couldn’t refund the original $204 charge because I booked it through Priceline.com, and so I’d have to deal with them. “Well, isn’t Priceline.com going to pay you that $204,” I asked. “Only if you actually take the car,” the National agent said. He did say, however, that if I had booked the rental directly that they would have refunded me fully – a claim I can’t disprove but that my gut says is probably untrue based on the whole experience.

But since Priceline.com also refused to issue me a refund for the rental car service which was never rendered to me, so I’ve had no choice but to dispute the charge through Discover Card. I may get my money back, I may not.

Priceline.com, and National Car Rental: if you decide you want to give me a refund after all, I’ll gladly take it, and update this story accordingly to let readers know that you may not be as bad as you’ve been to me. But based on your inability to do anything for me, and your lack of willingness to show that you could do anything for me in the first place, especially when I was in a jam, I really doubt that will happen. One of the Priceline.com agents even went so far as to say it was “my fault” and that he’d bet that I’d “read the terms more carefully next time” – despite that I had read the terms and believed to be complying with them in good faith.

You can be sure I’ll never use your car rental services again. And if at least one reader here decides not to use your services, I’ll be satisfied. The $204 you defrauded from me may ultimately be yours to keep, but the sales you may lose are hopefully worth far more.

In summary: Priceline.com’s cheap airfare is enticing, but decline their tie-in offers unless you like being royally screwed and stuck at an airport for hours with $500 charged to your credit card for services never received. As for National Car Rental, I hope that if you use them that you like Buicks, but don’t believe the hype about getting something actually desirable like a Dodge Charger.

UPDATE - 04/03/2007: Discover Card finally resolved their investigation into this charge.  They ruled in my favor, and issued me a refund for the full $206.30 in dispute!  The text of my dispute letter surrounded the use of “taxes and fees” in the Priceline.com agreement, which implied that the total I was charged originally should have included “all taxes and fees”.  Since they tried to slap a $400 fee on top of the price they quoted me, Discover agreed that the total did not include all taxes and fees, and subsequently, that I was not liable for that charge!  Eat that, Priceline.  It pays to Discover! (R) (Note I am not affiliated with Discover).