Priceline -- a life line to my friends
Written: Jan 12 '00 (Updated Jan 12 '00)
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I live in Portland, Oregon, but most of my friends and all of my family live on the east coast. A cross country flight can cost as much as $1900 full fare and a low fare is usually around $400. These costs would prohibit most of my friends and family from visiting me in Portland. But, because Priceline.com is out there, I've had more than 15 friends come out, and 12 family members come out (most at least 2 times). I've heard many good things about Priceline.com and I have to believe them, because I've enjoyed many fun nights out with otherwise unreachable friends.
A personal experience I had with Priceline will show the good and the bad. There was a death in my family that I needed to fly back to the east coast for and I decided to try Priceline first. They state that they will have a decision back to you within one hour, and you are tied to your bid if it is accepted. So, for that hour, even if you found a cheap fare elsewhere, you wouldn't be able to buy it, because you're still liable for the Priceline.com bid. Well, I made my bid, needing to travel the very next day, so I was very anxious to hear back. It took them 4 -- yes 4 -- hours to respond. In effect, I was held prisoner by them and was unable to book through other services. I was so angry that I needed to go through this frustration on top of the grieving, that I figured out the company's naming structure for email addresses and looked up the president's and vp of customer services' name. I typed out an email to them explaining the problem and asked that something be done for me. Meanwhile, I had to pay NW airlines a hefty fare to travel back east.
When I got home that night I got a call from a Priceline.com customer service agent who indicated the president of Priceline had asked her to do whatever she could to satisfy me. Wow! So, over the next 10 minutes, the rep found me a fare that was just $145 for a round trip between Oregon and New York. Amazing, no?! As tempting as that was, the times of the flights didn't mesh with the funeral events, so I had to pass, but I was super impressed by this level of attention and the price they were able to offer. If I had been at all flexible on times, I could have saved $500.
So, although Priceline.com is going through some growing pains, they proved to me that they are old-fashioned when it comes to customer service. How refreshing.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Beauregard
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Portland, Oregon
Reviews written: 129
Trusted by: 129 members
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