Free Advertising: PriceLine.com

When I contacted a website offering discounts for travelers who stay at a certain group of hotels, I figured why not? I probably could save a few bucks and make reservations on-line, which is certainly easy.

Today, my credit card bill arrived and it was somewhat higher than I anticipated from totaling the receipts from the trip: about $175 higher. I audited the bill and found the problem: the hotel stay in PA was charged to the account, but I had canceled it the day before I was to arrive because I was sick and had to take myself and g'son home.

No problem: I have the cancellation number! I called 877-477-7441 and spent several minutes providing information to PriceLine.com's mechanical customer courtesy number so they could answer my questions about my itinerary. Interestingly enough, although the dates for my travel have passed, the mechanical voice still assured me that my travel itinerary was in place, which should have been my first clue that they didn't have a clue.

Kim asked for my reservation dates, the hotel site, the hotel phone number, my itinerary number, all of which I had already provided, and then asked how she could help me. I explained that I had become sick during my road trip, canceled the pending hotel reservation, and returned home early. I again provided the cancelation number -- and then she began reading the script: she would have to verify the information I provided, which would take 5-7 days, at which time I would receive an email message with their "decision" about my request for a refund.

No, I responded, there is no decision to make: I called, canceled the reservation, again provided the cancelation number, and want the charges removed from my credit card account now. Back to the script, with the previous section repeated word for word, at which time I directed Kim to connect with me a manager.

Many minutes later, Joan from Customer Relations came on the line and began reading the same script Kim had read twice. I directed Joan to stop reading, then told her that I canceled the reservation, again provided the cancelation number, and directed her to remove the charges from my credit card account. Back to the script ... so I interrupted again, again directing her to remove the charges from my credit card account -- and then she could have any conversation she wanted with the hotel personnel. The failure of the hotel to follow PriceLine.com's procedures is of no interest to me: I did follow the procedures and simply want that acknowledged and the amount of $175 removed from my account ... now.

Joan told me she would put me on hold, call the hotel to verify the information I had provided, and I told her, No, that isn't going to happen. I directed her to use the telephone number in front of her to call me back after she had concluded her call to the hotel because I was not going to wait on line for her to conduct her business with the hotel personnel.

When she called me back, Joan thanked me for being patient and told me that the hotel had confirmed that I had canceled the reservation, the cancelation number was correct, and it was a communication error. Therefore, Joan will pass this information on to Customer Relations and the refund will be processed within the next 10-15 business days. I was given a new cancelation number to cover the new transaction.

Meanwhile, the amount remains on the bill I owe for my road trip expenses.

At that point, I thanked Joan for doing what should have been done from the outset of my call, and then suggested that the script from which both she and Kim read needs to be changed as it assigns blame/assumes dishonesty of the customer, while absolving PriceLine.com and its subscribers of responsibility for a screw-up. I reminded Joan that I would NOT have a cancelation number had I not canceled the reservation, so it probably would be a more pleasant experience for both of us if the person who answers the PriceLine.com phone assumes that I am an honest person, not a deadbeat trying to get out of paying a hotel bill.

Needless to say, I won't use PriceLine.com for any future transactions. I'll call the customer service rep at my credit card company and make sure that my account is up-to-date, with no unauthorized charges on it.

If they'll ding me for $175 and not cancel the reservation, who knows what else they may do with my account info.