Tell the FTC, It’s Time for a Hotwire Check Out
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Hotwire claims to give you a great deal on hotels. But that claim comes with a lot of baggage.
With some hotel reservations, Hotwire claims you can cancel with no penalty if you do so in time. However canceling is not as easy as it sounds. When I called the hotel in plenty of time to cancel, the clerk told me to inform hotwire, whose webpage cancellation form just happened to be out of order. Emailing them was yet another waste of time.
After spending more time on the phone with hotwire, they tried to tell me I didn’t call the hotel. So apparently the hotel and hotwire have a very lucrative arrangement. It took me three more lengthy calls to Hotwire customer service and some pretty strong language to get the company to promise a refund, and then their confirmation noted it could take 60 days to refund money it took them two seconds to withdraw from my Paypal account.
In the end, I learned Hotwire not only didn’t give me a deal, I’d have gotten a better rate by booking with the hotel directly!
Based on the long list of complaints about Hotwire - on Consumer Affairs.com and Ripoff Report - about extra charges, overrated accommodations and bait & switch tactics, my experience isn’t an isolated one. Clearly it’s time for the FTC to check Hotwire out.
We, the undersigned, say Hotwire’s reputation with customers warrants an FTC investigation.
One particular complaint on ConsumerAffairs.com echoes another shady way of dealing I also found to be true. This comment noted that Hotwire had claimed one hotel rate it was “dealing” started at $225, but when the prospective customer went to the hotel’s own website, she was able to book a room directly for $149.
Another comment says hotwire misled about the hotel’s location; it was not in the “loop” it claimed to be. And several say they were charged additional fees they weren’t told about - after it was too late to do anything about it - and more than a few mention that Hotwire had overrated the quality of the accommodations. Although advertising fraud known as “bait and switch” is hard to prove, in several cases it appears that Hotwire has pushed this tactic to its legal limit.
While talking to his bank about getting a refund, yet another complainer said he was told the bank deals with a lot of Hotwire “scams.” The word “scam” was used often in the list of complaints online.
There are too many terrible reviews about this company, particularly concerning its misrepresentation of its products - or false advertising - for the FTC not to step in and insist on some changes - or else let Hotline know it’s time to check out.
In 2012, the FTC sent out a warning letter to 22 hotels about hidden fees and deceptive online reservation sites, but that doesn’t seem to have done much to change Hotwire’s deceptive practices and poor customer service.
We request an investigation of this company.
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