Beware Of Hotwire.com's Bait And Switch Tactics

Hotwire.com

Montgomery Washington Tower

655 Montgomery Street #600

San Francisco, CA 94111

Phone: (415) 343-8400

Website: Hotwire.com

When we booked this hotel with Hotwire's very limited available information, there was no mention of a parking fee, but when I checked Tulsa Doubletree's website, I noticed that they PROMINENTLY listed the following: 

"Self parking: $10.00 ($10 overnight guests)"

on their website, adding an unplanned $30 to our stay. I immediately contacted Hotwire's Customer Service Department, telling them: 

"that's false advertising and I was tricked into choosing this hotel based on the inaccurate price. Please cancel our reservation and refund our payment. Thank you!"

Here is the inadequate response I received from Hotwire:

"Dear CombatCritic,  

Thank you for contacting Hotwire Customer Care regarding your hotel reservation with the DoubleTree by Hilton Tulsa Downtown in Oklahoma,scheduled for check in on November 26, 2015, Hotwire itinerary xxxxxx7731. I understand hotel will charged $10 parking fee. I would be willing to provide information regarding your concern.     

As I have checked your account, free parking is not listed on the amenity list. We can guarantee if free parking is available if it is listed on our Amenity list. If not it depends upon hotel available and fees may apply. For future reference, please free to checked the Amenity filter before booking. As I have checked your account, you have booked a Hot Rate® Hotel. In Hot Rate® Hotel, our agreement with our hotel partners is that reservations will be used as booked.  For this reason, reservations cannot be changed, transferred or refunded.   

You can find our full Terms of Use by visiting http://www.hotwire.com/travel-information/terms.jsp.  The terms of the booking are what allow us to offer the great rates you see on our site and for this reason, your reservation must remain confirmed with the original details provided at the time of booking. 

If you require further assistance please do not hesitate to can contact us, either by replying to this email or contacting our customer support line at 1-866-HOTWIRE(467-9473). 

https://www.hotwire.com/helpcenter/contact.jsp. 

Thank you for choosing Hotwire. Sincerely, Jel A.Hotwire Customer Care"

To which I replied:

"Great. I’ll keep Hotwire’s questionable policies and lack of concern for customers when I need to make reservations in the future. Kayak, Booking.com and Trivago are much more user friendly and I can see everything before I make reservations, including hidden parking fees.
Read my upcoming review of Hotwire on my blog: http://www.CombatCritic.com and on Yelp."

BOTTOM LINE: Hotwire's business practices are deceptive, providing little information about properties and services before actual purchase. They then hide behind "small print" in their lengthy "terms and conditions" like many unscrupulous companies on the internet these days. 

CombatCritic Gives Hotwire.com 1 Bombs Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME"

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "Elite '14/'15"

TripAdvisor - "Top Contributor" 

Tabelog - "Official Judge (Bronze)

Zomato - "Super Foodie"

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Title: Beware Of Hotwire.com's Bait And Switch Tactics

Key Words: Hotwire.com, hotwire, discount, website, reservation, Doubletree, Hilton, bait and switch, bait, switch, deceptive CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, TripAdvisor