We rented a car from Hotwire.com to be picked up at the Palm Springs airport recently. Upon renting a car, your credit card is debited immediately, and at that time, they notify you as to what car agency you will be renting from. When I rented it, I said the "desired time" for pickup at the airport was at 11 a.m. on Jan 24, 2008. Unfortunately, we couldn't pick up the car until Jan 25, 2008. We arrived at the car rental counter at approximately 11:45 a.m. on Jan 25th. At this time we were told by the car agency (Budget) that the contract was unaccessible by them, as it was more than 24 hours after the time of pickup. Apparently, Hotwire.com deactivates the discount code after 24 hours, and Budget can no longer access it. If the car agency can't access the contract, they don't get paid by Hotwire.com. When we called Hotwire.com on the telephone they said that the contract states no changes, cancellations, or refunds. I maintain that we were not trying to get a refund, or cancel, or make any changes. We simply wanted the car for the balance of the time we had paid for. I had no problem paying for the day that we did not use the car. The fact was that it was still sitting on Budget's rental lot, and they were willing to give it to us for the remainder of the contract period, but Hotwire.com would not release the freeze on the contract. This, in my mind, is downright theft, as Hotwire.com has our money, but refused to forward it to Budget. We had to rent another car at counter prices. Nowhere did I see on the contract that the contract is only good for 24 hours. The only place that I finally found that referenced was in a Q & A section. Even airlines give you a credit if you miss your flight, and certainly if you miss your cruise ship departure, time, you can still complete your holiday if you can get to the next port of call. Your rental is not voided. I strongly feel that Hotwire.com should have honoured the balance of the contract, and given that THEY broke contract, I would like either a refund, or a credit for the amount we paid.

All I wanted was a nice hotel in downtown St. Paul. There are only five hotels there - Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden and The Saint Paul Hotel. All of them are three or four stars.

Hotwire showed me two hotels - one a three star, the other a 3.5 star. Given the Embassy Suites might be the 3.5 I didn't take a chance on that and opted for the 3 star (it saved only a dollar so it wasn't the money).

What did I get? I got a lousy, dumpy, dirty, old Best Western that's not even in Downtown St. Paul. It's up the hill by the capitol, and is rated like this by others:

SideStep - 2
Travelpost - 2
Mobil - 2
Expedia - 2.5
Hotels.com - 2.5
Hotelocracy - 2.5

Now, being from the area I also know that this place is not anywhere near being a three star hotel. It's the place legislators stay for months on end. It's a bar hotel, not a nice place to bring your wife for an evening. It's in the giant, pothole filled parking lot of an old Sears. It's just not a "three star" hotel.

I called Hotwire and got some nasty, combative, defensive customer "service" person who was unwilling to listen. She then started telling me that she was finding all sorts of places listing it as "three stars" (and there are some). I told her I had these and was also local and knew the place (they used to be a customer of mine, I used to go into this place weekly, I know what the joint is like). She didn't care, they have my money and weren't giving it back.

I asked for a supervisor. Five minutes on hold and she said none were available, they'd call me back. Two hours later, no call.

I told her I'd accept ANY other (real) downtown St. Paul hotel - they weren't interested.

Hotwire.com inflates hotel ratings. Before you choose a hotel from them, make sure you're asking for a hotel that's rated at least one HIGHER than you want and then you'll get what you're expecting. To me this is extremely dishonest. It's dishonest to list a hotel as being "downtown" when it's not and it's dishonest to rate a dump like this as "three stars" when it's barely a two.

The call to the bank is next...

I booked a three star hotwire hotel, and of course they gave me a la quinta. La quinta is nice, but aaa and mobil rate it as a two star. If you look at what Hotwire says a three star should have, it had almost none of the items. Of course i ca;;ed hotwire within 10 minutes of my confirmation of a la quinta, a nd they gave me the standard story, we checke dit YESTERDAY. Several emails and phone calls and they claim its a three star, even though aaa and mobil rate it 2.

I will dispute the charge with my credit card company, but I am sur ethat will be a waste of time.

Lesson learned, Hoteire.com are 100% thieves.

I recently Bought Continental flight using Hotwire.com. I selected the exact departure times I needed and hit the 'purchase' button. I was shocked to find the return flight departure time was changed from an evening departure to 9:45 a.m. I immediately called Hotwire to get this corrected and was told there's nothing they can do about it. I then called Continental and found they cant do any thing. I then called my discovercard t. Svc to dispute the charge and, discover customer service advice me – If I dispute the charge – I will not be able to fly any more to Continental airline .WWW. Hotwire.com is not a good online travel company.

A Super 8 as a 2 star motel...PLEASE!!! They advertise Comfort Inn and Las Quinta as 2 Stars but book you in a Super 8. Called but as CRYSTAL the supervisor stated..no refunds..ever.
I think the BBB should shut down this bogus website. They are actually stealing from people