HotwireReviews 770

Booked a car rental for the week of jan 10-17 in kauai. The islands reopened Oct 15 but kauai a couple weeks later pulled out of the travel agreement, went back to a 14 day quarantine and cancelled mainland flights. My hotel credited me my money because of this with no question, american airlines had unfortunately had their flights cancelled and they refunded me my money for my 3 tickets without question, Hotwire however kept telling me no refunds, changes, cancellations or credits and the best advice they could give me was to refer to company policy online. So hotwire is keeping my money although I had no part any way shape or form of this cancellation of visitors allowed to kauai. Nearly 500 dollars they are keeping for a reservation I cannot possibly use unless I sail to kauai from arizona or I flat out swim across thePacific. I get company policy. But this is so far out of my hands I cannot believe it is even legal for them to take my money and not give me the service I've paid for. No refund, no credit, no changes. And I cannot even get to the car rental agency now if I wanted. I didn't want or have any intention of not using this. I wish I was going on this trip. Now I wish I didn't just donate 450 dollars of my hard earned money I've saved for a very long time for this trip. If I could give less than 1 star I would

I recently booked a Hot Rate Car Rental which I cancelled given the Covid travel advisory from the CDC. I contacted Hot Wire and questioned if they were making exceptions to the no refund policy in light of the Pandemic. Since I'd prepaid for the rental I questioned if I could get a credit voucher for use at a later safe time. I was advised that they were not making any exceptions and I would not be issued a credit voucher for later use.
OMG... I truly wanted to travel but thought better of it after seeing repeated travel advisories and watching Dr. Fauci. I sincerely felt that my husband and I were doing the right thing given WE ARE ALL IN THIS COVID PREVENTION EFFORT TOGETHER!
It's SAD that Hot Wire was not a good corporate citizen and opted NOT to make an exception during these very EXCEPTIONAL TIMES!

One of the suppliers doesn't even exist! Arrived at the airport with no car, tried reaching Hotwire four times and was disconnected each time. No refund, no nothing!
Beware!

We prepaid for a car through Hotwire which was booked through Thrifty. Due to Covid and the California DMV being behind, my husband's license card was not valid but he had a receipt and proof from the DMV that his license was valid and in effect but had not received the new card yet. Thrifty refused to rent him the prepaid car. He was also travelling with my 18 year old son and they refused to rent to him either because the reservation was booked through Hotwire and "could not be changed." Thrifty refused to either refund him or provide him with a car because it was booked through Hotwire. He went next door to Avis who immediately understood the situation and rented him a car with his proof of drivers license from the California DMV. This all occurred late at night in a cold airport where my husband and two sons would have been stranded had other car companies not worked with him. Hotwire flat out refused any refund or assistance and did not honor the reservation. DO NOT USE HOTWIRE OR YOU RISK THE RESERVATION NOT BEING HONORED AND HAVING TO DOUBLE PAY. Hotwire will provide you with no assistance what so ever and the "customer services" is completely deaf to your concerns or what occurred. They kept repeating it was our fault and our loss because my husband didn't have a valid drivers license when I provided them proof that he did and that it was accepted by Avis that same night. STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE UNLESS YOU WANT TO THROW AWAY YOUR MONEY AND NOT HAVE WHAT YOU NEED WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION.

AVOID! They will take the money and then show rude and condescending attitude toward their customers. Welcome Hotel Essen is also not worth your money.

Booked a hotel 'Welcome Hotel Essen' via Hotwire. Global pandemic happened in the meantime. Spent five months trying to cancel my reservation, or at least get consumer credit when travelling gets back to normal. Both the hotel and Hotwire showed no desire to actually solve the problem. Hotwire avoided any real action until it was too late, so on the day after my check-in, they were glad to inform me that I was a no-show at the hotel and that a refund isn't possible. The worst part is that the last time I contacted them was just the day before my booking, and they convinced me they are dealing with it. Coincidentally, just the day after they couldn't find any notes on my cancellation requests or evidence that their agents actually contacted the hotel in an effort to resolve the matter.

I booked a car rental through Hotwire for a trip I had to take to Hawaii. My grandma had a stroke and it was urgent that I be there to care for her until she can get a care taker. Imagine my surprise when I get to the car rental place and am told I cannot pick up my car due to Covid quarantine restrictions. This was not mentioned anywhere in their booking policy. I needed to have documentation I was exempt but the problem was my exemption was at my grandma's waiting for me to have as a physical copy.

I came in on a Saturday at 11 pm and they told me to email the government for proof of exemption and wait... needless to say I didn't end up with a car rental and ubered to the house and ended up using a friend's car.

They refused my request for a refund and said all sales are final. I ended up disputing the charge with my bank because I wasn't going to be able to pick up the car. They shouldn't be able to charge you if they deny you service

Easily the worst booking site and customer service! This is a very dishonest company that never delivers on there promises. I cancelled a reservation on July 21,2020 and was told a refund was being processed. 2 weeks later I was to it had to go through a manual refund process. For the next couple of months I was told it was still processing. It's now September 26,2020 and I'm told not to worry it's still coming. What a scam! Don't ever use Hotwire regardless of the rates.

Unfortunatley I had a hotel room booked for a concert that was to take place in late March. The show was postponed... not cancelled. I attempted to receive a credit for the nights stay but was unable to get through. I contacted the hotel directly to let them know to not expect me.
Long story short, Hotwire was unwilling to budge, took my money and will not give me a credit. I will not use Hotwire again as they have low morals in a time when everyone needs to treat people as humans not numbers.

NEVER again will I use Hotwire for booking. This is coming from a loyal Hotwire user for YEARS. Get this, book a hotel for OC last week, call to confirm with the hotel today and they are like "lol we don't have any rooms for you, didn't Hotwire tell you"? Great. We call Hotwire who is like "Oh that's wild. Let me call and confirm, oh wow ok you are right let me help you find a hotel a day before you were supposed to show up to it". Cool. They do this. They have to book in an entirely different beach given the holiday, OC has been booked up everywhere. Literally... even the crap hole places. They said ok cool let's book you for VA beach. Tell me why they booked me in Norfolk like "oh its close enough right?". I specifically said BEACH and BOARDWALK multiple times, for her to book a hot rate (non-refundable of course) not at the beach. I call, they hang up. I call again speak to a rep who doesn't immediately send me to a supervisor like I ask, but tried to "handle this herself" (FAIL and I told her that upfront she wouldn't be able to help me. Any who)... Shes like I will transfer you to supervisor (bingo lady that's what you should have done), I am on the line for another 10 minutes and they hang up on me and never call back. Do not waste your time. It is not worth it sis. They are trash with horrible customer service and can't even do their job right... booking hotels. I'm embarrassed because I literally just gushed to my friend about how amazing Hotwire is for this situation to happen.

I booked hotel stays for the end of July before the pandemic In February to LA, San Francisco, and Las Vegas totaling almost $1300. Hotwire refuse to give me my money back or even a credit. In California establishments are closed and even if I was crazy enough to vacation with my family now in California restaurants, bars, the zoo, theme parks everything is closed. A lot of places are lock down but there's no stay at home order. So hotels are open and I was told that technically they are still available for my stays. I guess this is how Hotwire and these hotels want to do business. I will never give any of my money to Hotwire or the hotels that kept my money.