Hotwire.com is in the business of MISLEADING guests – Hotwire: Last Minute Hotels Review

If you read a majority of the complaints filed with the bbb, most of them are about the "Hot Rate" deals... A majority of people complain of being misled, and when asking for help or guidance, are told "Our Hot Rate rentals are deeply discounted, and as such, are booked as final and non-refundable... We obtain deeply discounted rates in exchange for guaranteed reservations. If our partners can be absolutely confident reservations will be used as sold, they are willing to offer reduced rates." - this is a direct quote from a complaint written 2/14/20. The reply was written 2/24/20 by Bianca V. Customer Care Relations, Hotwire Corporate Office Now I will explain how they are misleading guests and hiding behind that fact that we as consumers are so excited for a deal, and that we are naive in trusting a "reputable" company... I travel often and usually use other sites to book. In fact, I had already booked a car rental on another site for $29/day. I am renting for a week and their price was $231.60 + tax of $65.66 for a total of $297.26. Upon finishing this booking, a pop-up from hotwire.com shows up claiming that they could rent me the same car at $19/day... WOW, I thought! this is amazing... given that the taxes I paid already were 28.35%, this should have put the car rental at roughly $196... Honestly, I was so excited, I didn't even look at the final price or read the terms and conditions... which I am sure they bank on... I clicked through everything, and paid for my reservation... final cost....$277.55($149.10 as base rate + $128.45 tax). $20 cheaper than my initial reservation through company B... Then I went to sleep and thought about this... How did my tax rate become 86.15%? if hotwire.com is getting these rates from the rental companies "in exchange for guaranteed reservations," shouldn't the paying customer benefit from the "rates?" Answer is.. we as paying customers do not... hotwire.com keeps it!!! THERE IS NO BENEFIT FOR THE PAYING CUSTOMER... BEWARE!!!! I tried to call and ask why I was paying more in taxes... the answer I got was that there different regulations... blah blah blah,... taxes are GOVERNED by the GOVERNMENT. They do not change by almost 60%. The service agent on the phone said there was nothing that can be done because sales are final... I wanted an answer, so I asked to speak to her supervisor... who also told me that there was nothing that can be done. I am in the business of customer service... there is always something that can be done to make your PAYING CUSTOMERS happy and want to return and do more business. Further... to prove this again... I looked up the same car, from the same rental agency for the same dates on their retail version.... ready for this... Car = $234.88 Tax = $66.22 for a total of $301.10... again the tax is 28%
Review by blip1026 on Hotwire: Last Minute Hotels.