Priceline Priceline Reservation Ignored: turned away from Hotel. Priceline refused refund. Internet

Made reservations for a non-smoking room outside Charleston through Priceline.  Showed up to the hotel, only to be turned away: no vacancy.  Although we were "guaranteed late check-in," the hotel didn't hesitate to give our room away, just in case we turned out to be a no-show.

The area was completely booked, and we had to drive almost an hour to find a hotel with vacancy on this holiday weekend.

When we called priceline for a refund, they immediately and unceremoniously refused, much in the style of a predatory bank.  It was clear from the tone and responses that refunds were not even considered.  The representative hastily sped through a few "terms and conditions," none of which related or applied to the current situation, calling us "no-shows," and ignoring our repeated protests that the hotel literally turned us away at the door, refusing to honor our reservation.

We eventually had to contest the charge throuzgh Amex - thank God we didn't use another payment method.  It is clear that Priceline is simply trying to squeeze every dime out of its transactions, and has no  business sense nor value for integrity/customer service.

They didn't have to pay the hotel, so they didn't have any costs to cover.  All they did was lose a repeat customer who travels for a living.  And, hopefully, this experience has saved some of you a hassle, as well.