Questions and Answers

Hey Lucky,

How would you approach the following situation?

I’m in the Dominican Republic at the moment (taking advantage of a $24/night mistake fare at an all inclusive resort!!!!)

I arrived at the airport today with my dad in tote (this is a “round” birthday gift for him). I had a rental car reservation with Europcar booked through Hotwire for a standard vehicle for 7 days, inclusive of taxes and fees, for $162. When I got to the counter and showed them my reservation they told me that they refused to honor my reservation and told me that they had no cars available and that my reservation was cancelled because I indicated that pick up would be at 12-noon (I arrive at around 2:45pm).

No problem, I hop on my phone and make the excact same reservation this time via Priceline with Payless Rent-a-Car. Even better, the rate was even less expensive at $152 for the week. Problem, I approach the Payless counter – which is right next door to Europcar – and am told that they don’t honor reservations made within 24 hours of pick up.

At this point I am running out of options and my dad is about to melt in the humidity, so I agree to the only deal that Payless would offer me, which was a “mini” car (one class lower than what I had reserved) for a rate of $366 for the week!!!

My question(s) for you and your readers…..
-What would you do in my situation?
– Do Hotwire and/or Priceline have any obligation to make sure my reservation made through them is honored? I assume it would be in their best interest since if I “no-show” they probably lose their commission on my reservation.
– Can I / should I seek compensation from any party (Expedia, Hotwire, Europcar, or Payless). The way I see it, my damages are the difference between the price I agreed to pay and the price I ended up paying…$202-$214.
– I paid with and Amex Business Rewards Gold card. Should I dispute the charge?

Hope I didn’t go over my allotted amount of questions 🙂 Looking forward to hearing everyones thoughts.

Hey Lucky,

How would you approach the following situation?

I’m in the Dominican Republic at the moment (taking advantage of a $24/night mistake fare at an all inclusive resort!!!!)

I arrived at the airport today with my dad in tote (this is a “round” birthday gift for him). I had a rental car reservation with Europcar booked through Hotwire for a standard vehicle for 7 days, inclusive of taxes and fees, for $162. When I got to the counter and showed them my reservation they told me that they refused to honor my reservation and told me that they had no cars available and that my reservation was cancelled because I indicated that pick up would be at 12-noon (I arrive at around 2:45pm).

No problem, I hop on my phone and make the excact same reservation this time via Priceline with Payless Rent-a-Car. Even better, the rate was even less expensive at $152 for the week. Problem, I approach the Payless counter – which is right next door to Europcar – and am told that they don’t honor reservations made within 24 hours of pick up.

At this point I am running out of options and my dad is about to melt in the humidity, so I agree to the only deal that Payless would offer me, which was a “mini” car (one class lower than what I had reserved) for a rate of $366 for the week!!!

My question(s) for you and your readers…..
-What would you do in my situation?
– Do Hotwire and/or Priceline have any obligation to make sure my reservation made through them is honored? I assume it would be in their best interest since if I “no-show” they probably lose their commission on my reservation.
– Can I / should I seek compensation from any party (Expedia, Hotwire, Europcar, or Payless). The way I see it, my damages are the difference between the price I agreed to pay and the price I ended up paying…$202-$214.
– I paid with and Amex Business Rewards Gold card. Should I dispute the charge?

Hope I didn’t go over my allotted amount of questions 🙂 Looking forward to hearing everyones thoughts.

hi Deej. Sounds like a frustrating experience all around. Have you tried contacting Priceline about the snafu? Sounds like Europcar and Hotwire can point to a legit reason for canceling your reservation. Was that prepaid? If so your only hope is to go through their T&C to make sure that they followed their policies. Re: the second booking obviously Priceline shouldn’t be selling cars that aren’t available. I would certainly complain and ask for the difference in your costs to awarded to you as a future travel allowance. I would also double check Payless T&C to make sure that their excuse was legit. If you find nothing in the T&C about the 24 hour rule then I’d consider disputing the cc charge otherwise I’m not sure what your grounds for dispute would be.