Sometimes a best-price guarantee just isn’t worth the trouble. That’s what Lynne Fukumoto thought after trying to make a claim on a Priceline “Name Your Own Price” hotel room recently.
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Phillip Barszczowski’s Hertz car, which he booked through Priceline, cost $122. Not bad for a four-day rental in Wyoming, considering what rates have been doing lately.
Bob Slattery booked a room at La Maltese Estate Villa, a hotel that exudes the ambience of a privileged “members only” private club in Santorini, Greece. The rate? An unbelievable $110 per night, snagged through the site Vacationist.com.
Mary is an in-house reservation agent for an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city. I’m not using her last name for reasons that will become obvious in a moment. Mary has a lot on her mind. People who call her hotel to reserve a room are getting ripped off, and she wants to [...]
Kathi McGaffigan and Bruce Nordqusit’s upcoming Italy cruise on the Celebrity Constellation came with an unpleasant surprise just a few days before they set sail. The company discovered a pricing error and reset their rate from $999 per person to $1,549, and although it apologized for the mistake, it insisted on charging the couple the difference.
When Jack Whalen found an unbelievable room rate of $58 a night at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago — and on a holiday weekend, no less — he was thrilled. “This was to have been an anniversary trip, and my wife would love to stay at a high end hotel at a great price,” he says.
Hilton offers Joy Valentine a $199 a night rate at its New York property, but it can’t find the price in its system, so it charges her $239 instead. The rate is nonrefundable, so when Valentine asks it to fix the mistake, Hilton refuses. Is there anything she can do to persuade the hotel to honor its original price?
Matthew Stephens is a humanitarian aid worker in Tbilisi, Georgia, but after renting a car from Advantage last Christmas, he found himself in need of assistance.
Everyone knows that hotel rates can fluctuate from day to day. But when Preston Moore tried to book a room at the JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek, he was surprised to find they wanted to raise his rate by $130 from one day to the next — a price he says he couldn’t afford.
Terry Capps finds a $28 a night room rate at a Westin hotel in Orlando. Turns out the hotel made a mistake, and that the real price is $289 a night. What now? Should the resort honor the original price or can it change the rate and force Capps to pay?
Carla Hill thought she’d found an unbelievable rate at the El Dorado Royale & Spa in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, through RCI: one week for $189.
When he calls the Residence Inn, Michael Tushan is offered a rate of $116 a night. Oops. Turns out the representative wasn’t “authorized” to negotiate — and now the price is $149 a night. Take it or leave it. What should Tushan do?
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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