HotWire.com

*WARNING: DO NOT USE HOTWIRE* Hotwire left us stranded. Ruined Valentine’s Day weekend. Put myself and my girlfriend in physical danger. Emotionally drains both of us. Then says, «We apologize for overbooking you, may we offer you 50 „Hot“ dollars». What? Really? What would make you people think we would ever use your service again. My advice to anyone looking at this page, DON’T, HOTWIRE DOES NOT CARE YOU OR YOUR TRAVEL PLANS OR NEEDS! They will leave you stranded, emotionally drained, physically drained to fend for yourself for their mistake. Once they have your $$ you mean nothing to them. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE!
Hotwire booked a room at the Aloha Hotel in Arroyo Grande, CA. A confirmation email was sent. I personally called Hotwire to double confirm the reservation. When I arrived the hotel owner said that Hotwire over booked me and there was no room available. I called customer service several times. I was placed on hold 6 times for over an hour each time until the phone just disconnected. Each time I talked to a representative the answer was the same. We can offer you a refund that will take 1 to 2 business days to reflect. We were 5 hours from home and had been sitting in a car now for 11 hours. When I told the representative the immediate danger we were in because we were in a bad part of town, their response was I am sorry for your inconvenience, but did nothing to help get us out of the situation. 50′ to the right a girl on some kind of drug, to the left a drug deal happening. Two police cars with lights on searching a homeless man’s belongings. Several suspicious persons turning away anxiously as soon as they saw us in a car. We missed our nonrefundable event due to being on hold with customer service. We were told that we can book our own 2 star hotel and send them the bill. But they already had all the money I had on my card for lodging and would not return it for 1 or 2 business days. So after driving 5 hours then sitting 6 hours we decided for our physical safety we just needed to cancel the trip. So now completely emotionally and physically drained Hotwire tells me they are sorry but maybe that is best that we cancel the trip and drive exhausted in the middle of the night another 5 hours home.

NEVER USE THEM! OBSCENELY LONG WAIT TIMES! DON’T VALUE CUSTOMERS OR THEIR TIME IN ANY WAY! WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED! JUST PAY THE EXTRA $ 25 or so and GO WITH A DIFFERENT COMPANY! OR BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE HOTEL — THEY USUALLY MATCH THE RATE ANYWAY! I PROMISE IT’LL BE BETTER THAN THIS! EXPEDIA IS THEIR PARENT COMPANY FYI!
I booked a hotel with HOTWIRE online and when we arrived the hotel was fully booked. (It was 10pm at this time. My husband and I were driving/​moving cross country. Tired.) The hotel was helpful and tried to find us accommodations. We drove to a few of these options, but the hotels they offered were FAR below the caliber of their hotel — what we already booked and paid for. We just booked a new reservation through a different hotel altogether.
We were never contacted by Hotwire at the time of the error or the next day, although the hotel told us Hotwire would contact us to refund us (the hotel did notify Hotwire of the problem). In my opinion, it’s Hotwire’s mistake, so they should be making up for their error by offering us a better hotel, at the very least. Anyway, WE had to call them the next day for a refund and spoke to about 4 people and finally they gave a refund 2 hours later.
The bigger issue was this: I asked how they could compensate us for this, maybe a voucher? It took a lot of discussion, and then they offered a voucher, but they said I had to book on the phone to redeem it. Ok, that’s fine. How do I do that? Well they said the representative would just know when I called. Um, right. I don’t think so. I finally got a reference number for the voucher and hung up with them.
Then, comes time to book another hotel on our driving move. That reference number doesn’t exist!!! It took literally 3 hours of phone calls, transfers (they NEVER explain what happened to the person they transfer you to, so you waste your time, and it seems no one can even help with the problem because «it’s not their department» and they transfer you again and again, and it’s an infuriating cycle that goes nowhere!) I asked for a supervisor several times, after it became clear no one could help me and I kept being transferred UGH! Oh, I should mention they were extremely reluctant to transfer me to a supervisor, and once transferred me and then turns out that person wasn’t even a supervisor, another useless transfer. So now, I’m cursing and screaming (this is so NOT my personality btw, but they were infuriating and refused to let me talk to a supervisor!) I got a supervisor after being on hold for 40 minutes. So talked to the supervisor, and yeah, she said they «don’t do vouchers». Are you kidding me? This supervisor I actually was patient with, giving the company one last chance to redeem themselves. So, yup, they «don’t do vouchers» and could offer NOTHING for the hours of waits, disgraceful service, the error on the first booking, and the person who basically lied by saying we could get a voucher. So, no resolution. Yep. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR GET YOURSELF ANGRY/​RUIN YOUR DAY/​HOUR/​VACATION FOR THEM!

Every time I contacted customer service after my nightmare of a stay, that cost me so much money after missing a crucial meeting, I was met with not only indifference but only what I can describe as mentally disabled customer service workers. I sent 9 e-​mails and made 2 phone calls. At no point could anyone even understand what the problem was nor were they willing to do a thing about it. The hotel rooms were disgusting. I wanted 2.5 stars rooms and they were less than 1 star if that. I’ve stayed in shady prostitute ridden motels that were cleaner. I was looking for a place in Culver City and they put me in Burbank. It took me 3 hours to get to Culver City in LA traffic. I trusted Hotwire to put me at least within an hour of Culver City. They are the absolute worst travel company to deal with. Run. Run away as fast as you can. Get a lawyer, quickly, if you use them. They are slippery and full of themselves. They completely believe they are above the law and consumer affairs.

I wish there ½ stars. I have used Hotwire in the past and have been pleased with the hotel that I was given. However, I recently searched a hotel through Hotwire (which was a Hot Rate hotel) with a 2 star rating. I’m not picky, just expecting a clean, safe hotel. Unfortunately after entering payment information my hotel was shown to me. I was going back to the town I had lived in for almost 40 years and was given the tackiest, unsafe, druggie hotel in this small town. It had a reputation back in the ’70’s and nothing has changed. I phoned Hotwire and was treated so rudely by the reps. and even hung up on by a supervisor. Great employees Hotwire. I was polite to them and the clincher was that I was not expecting a refund as I had read their policies on that, so I just phoned to tell them that they needed to revisit their star ratings. I was told that they pull it from Expedia’s ratings and customer reviews. While doing a search I saw that Expedia had it rated as a 4 star in one place and a two star in another. My instructions were to check in and if it wasn’t comfortable and safe I was to give them a call and they would speak with the manager about it. I told them that short of them doing a complete remodel, there was nothing that could be changed about it. It took all I had to actually pull into the place and it was apparent that this is a hotel where people actually live. I felt like I was at the Bates Motel. There were two creepy guys who came out from behind the joint and hung out near their truck. I went to the office and there was a sign on the door that read «Back in 15 min.» Sorry, I’m not clairvoyant … nothing on the note said what time they put the note on the door. I sat and waited and no one came. I was so uncomfortable (people peeking out from curtains above the office) and those creepy guys … I took it as a sign and left. Thankfully I was able to stay at a friend’s house and lost my $ 212.00 that was paid for this place. I will NEVER trust Hotwire again and will book directly through a hotel next time. I also did not realize that there was another way of booking through Hotwire and selected the Hot Rate that was not refundable. BEWARE of the company!

I called Hot Wire​.Com concerning an advertised rate of $ 114 for a night at a San Jose hotel on Santana Row. I spoke with Rebecca. She required all my personal information in order to tell me which hotel had the $ 114 rate for tonight. I had to give here card#, address, email address, phone # and name. She then said the final cost of hotel room is $ 141.42. I said that is a lot of tax: $ 27.42?! She then read me the terms and conditions. I said I decline. I do not want this reservation. She tried to talk me into saying yes, and after my third «no» to her I hung up the phone. She actually called back three times to my phone. I told her the first time do NOT call my home again, but she did anyway. A few minutes later I received an email confirming (not a hotel reservation) but a car rental reservation in a city over a hundred miles from where I am. She actually created a fake reservation and not only put my name on it but my son’s name as well.
anyone who does fraud out of anger has to be insane. I have made a formal complaint to the company let’s see if Hotwire cares about how their company uses our personal information. I am very concerned about my personal information this lady has in her altered state of mind. Please be aware of this company.

I just had a horrible experience with
. They falsely advertise that a hotel is in a downtown area, when it is actually in an undesirable midtown area. I called the reservation department and was told that the could not guarantee location. I am fine with them not guaranteeing a specific property, but I am not okay with them misrepresenting location. Save yourself time and a headache by booking with Orbitz. I will not use them for future travel needs.

Horrible customer service! I found out I wasn’t going to be able to use the rental car, so I tried to cancel it 24 hours in advance. no Bueno. What a waste of money! I’ll never use them again!

Just had the WORST customer service EVER! I couldn’t believe it! I had to cancel a reservation since there was a death in the family and I would not be able to use the car rental. Even though I know it says no refunds, for customer service sake, you would think there would be some exceptions! The reprsentative told me that I had to give them a DEATH CERTIFICATE in order to get a refund. She was so rude and even asked me if I was sure that someone was dead! When I asked to be transferred to a supervisor she flat out refused and begged me not to ask again or she would be fired. Do yourself a favor, spend a little extra money and book elsewhere.

Used the HOT RATE HOTELS link and got a great deal. Accommodation is the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista and is 1.5 miles from Disney World Downtown.
Price Paid: $ 52 a night totaling $ 459 for 7 nights
Original Price: $ 94 a night totaling $ 733 for 7 nights

How to cancel with
Anyone who has tried to cancel a hotel room with
knows that its the biggest pain in the ass ever!!! I have discovered how to do it! If you need to cancel with
, CALL THE HOTEL FIRST!!! Don’t mention HotWire at all, just let the hotel know you booked a room with them online and you need to cancel it for whatever reason. They should cancel the reservation for you without any push back. Now canceling with the hotel does not initiate a refund, that will only happen with HotWire. After the cancellation is complete, call hotwire and just casually explain that you are not able to make your trip, you have already contacted the hotel and they have already cancelled your reservation, you are just calling HotWire to make sure you get a refund. They might call the hotel to confirm but they should then tell you that because the hotel authorized the cancellation you can get a full refund for your trip. You’re welcome!