Hotwire

I booked a vehicle rental for specific dates I needed it. Gave me a decent rate, still not cheap but OK. I reviewed my itinerary prior to payment and all information was correct so I paid. I received my email confirmation and the computer had changed my dates. I called customer service, twice. Both reps were reading off of a script making it abundantly clear that hotwire does this OFTEN. They offered to cancel the booking but ONLY if I rescheduled for the correct dates. When they quoted me the correct dates the price went up by over $350! So they would either keep my unused $400, or charge me an additional $350 for me to actually receive the service I signed up for in the first place. Hotwire is a piece of $#! T! I am still in the process of filing a scam claim with Paypal… wish me luck.

Never use this company
They take your money
They don't give you the itinerary but charge you for reservation. The customer service reps are helpful but the supervisor are there to not help.
Stay away from this company
I'm a person who constantly fly and book hotels. So I understand how things work. What I don't understand is when is it ok to not give people there itinerary and charge them for the booking.
Be careful with this company. You might get screwed

If you want to rent a car, don't go through Hotwire.
I prepaid them in full for a vehicle, then i was double charged at pickup.
I received hotwire email 'Reminder' to go to a different car rental then the company i prepaid.
It wasn't until after I returned the vehicle,
That i noticed the double charge on my account.
Hotwire charge my card for the prepaid amount, Plus the actual rental.
With much difficulty,
I finally got to speak to hotwire Customer Care supervisor, Jenny.
I explained the situation to her and how I've been double charged.
She replied, there is nothing they can do, they do not give refunds or credits.
She also refused to transfer me to any hotwire management.
I will be reporting hotwire to the US government
Better Business Bureau for misrepresentation, lying &stealing.

Arrived at airport to pickup car rental only to be informed that a charge of 50 cents per mile would be charged when the contract clearly stated unlimited mileage. Since the planned trip was expected to be 800 miles, of course I refused the car for what in my mind was an unfair business practice. The rental company told me the mileage charge was Hotwire's policy. I contacted Hotwire in India and got absolutely nowhere with the English as a second language rep. I will NEVER use Hotwire again.

I went to make my booking and a message came up "good news ur rate has decreased". I was happy since it was gonna save me $60. Turns out it was not a decrease at all they were just charging me in USD when I wanted to pay in CAD. Since credit cards have a different exchange rates, I was actually charged more that what i would have been charged in CAD and more that was listed on the website. Not at all a decrease like was advertised. I am on the list to get a refund that will take 7-10 weeks. What a joke! Never use Hotwire!

I booked a hotel that clearly specified there was free cancellation! I called less than 24 hours later and they said it was non refundable. I told them I had a screenshot of the policy and that the same exact deal was still online (same price, refundable) and they refused giving the same response that had no logic even after speaking to the supervisor. The hotel even said it was fine with them but Hotwire has to accept. See screenshot below how clear this cancellation policy is

If you find a good rate for a car rental on Hotwire, I would be wary. I tried and they gave me ACE Car Rental in Las Vegas. If you read the reviews on this place, they are the worst, dirty rotten scoundrels you can think of. I called Hotwire to get a refund, but unfortunately, they refused, because it was a "Hot Buy". I was travelling out to the dessert and did not want to get stuck in an unreliable car. I also did not want to be late for my tour. I decided to book another company and eat the cost of using their cars. I will never use Hotwire again.

Terrible customer service, hidden fees that upped the cost of the hotel I booked by $70! Then they refused to help in anyway when I asked to cancel due to the hotel cost being out of my budget after the unexpected extra fees. Absolutely nothing was done to remedy the situation. I would never use them again. Terrible customer service and deceptive in the ways in which they display the breakdown of costs. Both people I spoke to were completely useless and reading from a script. Customer satisfaction means zero to this company.

I really don't post reviews unless the experience is stellar or exceptionally poor. The Hotwire customer service is outright terrible. I made a trip a month back and used their platform to book a trip. I don't know what had happened and apparently they had booked me at two different hotels. They had not even sent a booking confirmation for the other hotel that I had supposedly booked for. After talking to more than one representative they said they could not reimburse the same day booking as it had been marked as a no show. I think if they had sent a confirmation receipt of the booking it would have been very helpful. So frustrated with their customer service and makes me not want to use their services again.

Beware of hotwire's blind deals. They do not show you the genuine room rate. When they tell you that you get a 30% discount, it doesn't mean that you pay 30% off the original rate. Instead, they estimate some "fair rate" by comparing similar offers in the hotel neighborhood (similar star rating and other factors). They call it a "Crossed-Out Rate". Your discount is relative to this crossed out rate, not relative to the hotel genuine room rate. The idea might be nice, but sometimes they do make big mistakes. I thought I caught a bargain: 70% off a $650 room rate! Turned out that they computed a wrong estimator. The same room was offered at the same time in another booking site for $171 I found myself paying more. Refund? Don't even think about it. They have many excuses, including "breakdown of taxes and fees are not included". And what about the misleading crossed-out estimation? They tell you to read the terms of use

Don't ever rent a car from hot wire. They have you pay in advance and will not even talk to you if you find a better rate from the same or different company. I rented a car in Boston for 18 days in late June / mid-July. I gave Hotwire my credit card. The next day when my plane arrived in Boston I found the same car over $100 cheaper from the same company, Alamo. Unable to contact Hotwire about a price reduction. Also, if you need to cancel your trip early you will be stuck paying the entire rental amount and won't get a refund for the unused balance.

Hotel room I paid for was never even booked for me. Customer service was rude, demeaning, and barely coherent. Was scammed out of my money in a disaster. Hotel said they didn't even use hotwire. Avoid at all costs.