I booked a hotel and rental car with Priceline in April for a trip to Columbia, SC for the baseball series. Flew into Charleston, arriving at 7 pm expecting to have a rental car waiting (it was with Ace). I discovered the agency was offsite, so I called the number given on the App, and spoke to someone who said "the shuttle just left there, but would return to pick me up." After 15 minutes, I called again with the same response. Finally, at 7:55 pm, no answer! After about a three hour wait, I was finally able to obtain an Uber (for $200 for a ride to Beaufort).

I made other arrangements for a car, and since it was Friday, and I was traveling, I didn't contact Priceline about the botched connection until the following week. Long story short, they have refused to reimburse me for the lack of a rental car. I've been unable to speak to anyone beyond first - level employees who are unable to give me any relief, and simply repeat the mantra that they are unable to reimburse me for my losses.

Any advice for how I might be able to get relief?

Btw, there was some kind of big race in the Charleston area that weekend, and ALL rental cars were sold out! There were NONE available, which is probably why they never came to pick me up!

does your credit card have trip interruption/protection service? might try that.

I've never heard of ace rental car but always book direct...priceline is not offering anything special. okay when it it works, terrible when it doesnt.

Paid for it with Debit card through Mastercard. I have just spoken with my bank and am filing a dispute through them.

Priceline screwed me over in Kona back in 2017. Had rented a 4 door jeep thru them but Avis only had two door jeeps. We had to have a taxi take our luggage to the hotel. No one gave a **** either. Not avis. Not priceline. Haven't used either since. **** them both.

The Chicken Ranch said:

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Always book direct with the carrier. I simply cannot imagine dealing with Priceline or Expedia these days over a cancelled or massively delayed flight, or a rental car.

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Yep. Lesson learned the hard way.

Yeah, I seldom travel and don't know why I elected to use them, as I don't think it would have saved any money. It turned into a literal nightmare, but rest assured, I'll never ever use it again, and recommend no one do so either! In retrospect, wish I'd gotten my Bank onto this case immediately via Mastercard. Live and learn!

Costco Travel does a good job with car rental. I used them last ironically in Charlestown, SC for a jeep. No issues and the times I called them, the have been very responsive.

htxag09 said:

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First, not defending them, I'd be expected to be made whole as well. Although, I'd be doubtful of it happening since it wasn't direct.

But, why didn't you just take the Uber to the offsite rental car facility?

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Because i did not realize my plight until they quit answering their phone. I had no reason to suspect the shuttle wasn't going to pick me up…until it didn't! It was then I realized I was f'ed! It wasn't easy to get an Uber to take me 60 miles one way to Beaufort. Had to agree to a $50 tip on a $130 fare. Multiple drivers canceled after first taking the trip.

Interestingly enough my Turo host screwed me out of car in Columbia, SC. Found out when I was connecting at the airport in Dallas. Luckily found a rental car. They wouldn't reimburse me anything either.

lazuras_dc said:

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Interestingly enough my Turo host screwed me out of car in Columbia, SC. Found out when I was connecting at the airport in Dallas. Luckily found a rental car. They wouldn't reimburse me anything either.

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Yep. This happened to me as well in Orlando. Well, not quite as bad, they at least notified me at 1 am the morning we left. "Whoops, sorry, car is in the shop and taking longer than we thought."

Between that, the insane fees, and the sometimes needle in a haystack job of finding the car, I'm probably done with Turo.

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Between that, the insane fees, and the sometimes needle in a haystack job of finding the car, I'm probably done with Turo.

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Same here. Tried to use them, but they have a mandatory "full-coverage" policy for first time users that was a deal breaker!