Reviews of Priceline Customer Service

Back on 4-1-2010, I made airline reservations for 5 people from BOI to MSP and back.

Yesterday, August 9, I came home from work and discovered a voicemail and an email from Priceline telling me that my return flight had been canceled by Frontier.

Since it was too late to call last night, I called the phone number in the email this morning and the Priceline rep told me that I was already booked on a flight a day earlier. What?! I had not approved that, and if anyone from Priceline had spoken with me prior to making that change I would have denied it because I am attending a family wedding and cannot leave a day earlier.

The Priceline rep told me that there's nothing he could do, that I would have to call Frontier.

So I called Frontier and they said that they WOULD HAVE BEEN able to simply book me on a different airline, but since Priceline had already confirmed that change I could not change it again. They referred me back to Priceline.

So, in short, Priceline approved the change and confirmed a new flight (out of several different options) without speaking with me.

I called Priceline back, and the rep (a different one this time) presented two alternative Frontier flight options for me. I asked if they could place me on another airline, and he said no. I asked why Priceline randomly picked one of several flight options and confirmed it for me without my consent. He had no answer for that.

So, is it Priceline policy to confirm flight changes without speaking to the customer? Their rep said it is not their policy, and yet Priceline did exactly that. I asked him to provide some proof of contact with me prior to making the flight change, and he could not....because Priceline did not get my approval to make the change.

Here's what makes me so upset: Priceline either violated their own policy of seeking customer approval prior to confirming a flight change, or it is the policy of Priceline to make such changes without customer consent. Either way, Priceline was negligent and it has caused extreme inconvenience for me.

Adding to the problem is the fact that Frontier would have been willing and able to book me on United, meeting my original schedule, if only Priceline had not confirmed the changes for me.

Since Priceline could not help me, or was unwilling to help me, I again called Frontier and spoke with a customer service agent. I explained my frustration with Priceline, and she immediately booked me on an alternate flight of my choosing. No hassles. No excuses. Please keep in mind that the flight Frontier changed me to is a flight that Priceline had said was not available.

But wait. This story gets even better. In speaking with Frontier, the service agent asked why I had waited so long to call them. So long? I was just notified YESTERDAY that my original flight had been canceled. I had called immediately as soon as their office opened. Well, apparently this flight had actually been canceled in JUNE and Priceline had not bothered to notify me until almost two months had passed!

Is it also the policy of Priceline to wait two months to notify customers of flight changes? Or, alternatively, did Priceline break their own policy of immediate notification when a flight is changed?

So now I am spending more than an hour on the phone, on my day off, trying to fix the schedule changes Priceline approved for me. I can assure you that 100% of my future business will be directed to Priceline's competition. I can also assure you that, when the opportunity arises, I will let others know exactly what I think of Priceline.

How Staples Coupons In Store REALLY Work

Many of you, like me, have used Staples coupons in store to save money. Well, I hate to say it but it appears that Staples coupons are not all they're cracked up to be.

In my local Staples store the other day I purchased a package of MEMOREX 100PK CD/D SLEEVES for $13.98. The item number on my receipt is 034707019614. I found the exact same item at Office Depot for $4.99 each. I have also purchased the exact same item at Wal-Mart for the same $4.99 price.

The reason why we have pretty much stopped shopping at Staples is because the prices are so high. On this one item Staples is priced more than double the competition, and actually almost 3x the competition! You can look this up yourselves at officedepot.com to price compare.

The only reason I went to Staples at all was the "$10 off $20" coupon Staples sent me in the mail. I do not plan to go back.....I simply cannot afford to pay double or triple the price for basic items.

The moral of the story is that Staples coupons and Staples coupon codes may offer some savings, but certainly not enough to balance out their insanely high prices.

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Today, for the first time in a very long time, I had to visit my local Staples store to buy some CD labels. I probably wouldn't have gone there, but they keep sending me those darn Staples coupons in the mail! Besides, I still have my Staples Rewards card that gives me back a percentage of what I spend there.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that every single person in this particular Staples store was friendly and efficient! I was approached by an eager young man, who walked me over to the products I wanted to buy. No pointing and grunting like the proverbial Wal-Mart employee!

My Staples cashier was quick and accurate. Okay, so she accidentally entered my Staples coupon code for $1 instead of $10, but it was no big deal. She apologized, made a joke about it, and corrected her error. Nicely done!

If you've been to a Staples lately, I hope you've experienced the same great level of customer service! (Now, for all you 'conspiracy freaks' out there, let me say that I have no affiliation with Staples at all. I just tell it like it is.)

Microsoft Vista Support Tools Are Too Little, Too Late

For anyone and everyone who has experienced the poor customer service when using Microsoft Vista support tools, I feel your pain.

Is it just me, or is Vista a joke?

I purchased Vista with my new computer, and I've regretted it every since. My CD drive keeps disappearing for no reason, and my computer freezes up multiple times each day. I'm not the only one, either. Literally everyone I know who has Vista shares the same belief that it's a horrible product that has far too many bugs to work properly. My nephew, after spending countless hours trying to get his DVD drive to reappear, finally took the entire computer back to Best Buy and paid for repairs. My in-laws are constantly fighting Vista, just trying to get it to perform basic daily tasks.

Of course, I've downloaded the Vista Service Pack 2 and all the other Vista gadgets that are recommended by Microsoft. Both Vista SP1 and Vista SP2 failed to fix the problems I've been experiencing.

I'm not sure if Microsoft downloads ever really fix anything for anyone, but I've turned on my automatic updates feature just in case.

Here's what really kills about Vista, though. The level of consumer support offered by Microsoft is laughable. They offer the Microsoft support tools on their site, but none of these tools worked for me. After reading through quite a few of the discussion threads on the site, it appears that many of the Microsoft Vista support options don't work for other people, either.

Do you think I can call someone at Microsoft to get some actual help from a real person? Sure, for $59 to start.

Really? You're going to charge me $59 to fix a faulty product that you sold me? How is that fair?

When you buy a car that's faulty, you return it and it gets fixed. It's called a warranty. Same with a stereo, a dress, or even a cake from the local bakery.

As a matter of fact, I'm finding it difficult to think of ANY other product category where there is no implied warranty at all. This is apparently the case with Microsoft Vista.

About three weeks ago I wrote Microsoft a letter expressing my frustrations. Keeping in line with their customer service philosophy, I received zero response.

So for any of you who haven't yet purchased Microsoft Vista, DON'T. It's a product with countless bugs and no effective product support.

WinCo Stores Strike Again

Although this experience is not unique to WinCo stores, it is one of my pet peeves. You know what I'm talking about.....you're standing in one of WinCo's famously long checkout lines when a new cashier finally comes up to the front. Instead of taking the next person in line, they just flip on their checkstand light and stand there.

Then it's a mad dash to see who can get there first. It's never the next person in line, because they're blocked in by all the customers in line behind them.

So it's finally our turn to pay for our groceries, and the cashier doesn't acknowledge our presence in any way. Instead, he turns around and complains to the cashier behind him that he hasn't had a break yet.

Now if that doesn't make you feel valued as a customer, what will?

Boy, I sure am sorry that I came into your store to buy things and generate a paycheck for you! Perhaps it would be more convenient for you if I went somewhere else. Then you could take a break. Hey, here's an idea: if enough of us went somewhere else then you could take a permanent break! Wouldn't that be great?

Like I said, this behavior isn't unique to WinCo stores. I see it all the time at Wal-Mart stores too. But that doesn't make it right.

Are Bank of America Locations Better?

Recently I needed to get some home equity loan information and I decided to get it in person rather than on the web.

My wife and I visited about a half-dozen local banks to compare home equity loan interest rates and make a decision.

Now, if you're looking for advice on who has the best home equity loan vs. line of credit interest rates then you should stop reading. This isn't a financial advice blog, and I'm not Warren Buffett.

What I will tell you without hesitation is that Bank of America locations had BY FAR the best customer service of all the banks we visited. One Bank of America branch even had a designated greeter standing in the lobby! She said hello to everyone who came in, offered assistance, and then directed them to the appropriate employee in the branch. When she sent someone to the teller counter, she even made sure they had the correct slip in their hand (deposit or withdrawal).

Does your bank do that? Mine doesn't. My bank seems to want me to do all my banking online, I suppose so they can hire fewer tellers and minimize labor costs.

The Bank of America locations I have visited are doing everything right when it comes to customer service. Other banks are not.

And isn't that what it's all about?

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Recent AIG News Is Not A Bonus For Customers

The recent AIG news is absolutely not a bonus for their customers. On March 14th it was reported that American International Group (AIG) is paying $165 million in bonuses to their executives. Please say it isn't so!

This AIG news update is particularly bad because it is SCREWING three distinct sets of customers: the United States taxpayer, AIG stock owners and AIG insurance policyholders.

The first group of customers that is losing here are the American taxpayers. Remember that AIG has already received $170 BILLION in taxpayer cash. That's your money, and that's my money. In my book, that makes each one of us a customer of AIG even if we don't own one of their insurance policies. When executives take our money as a bonus for bankrupting their company, it is the very definition of inferior customer service!

The second customer that is being taken advantage of by the AIG bailout is the AIG stock holder. When you purchase stock in a company, you are buying a piece of that company. You are an owner. So explain to me why the owners of AIG are being forced to reward the very people that destroyed the company? "The bonuses will be paid to executives at A.I.G.’s financial products division, the unit that wrote trillions of dollars’ worth of credit-default swaps that protected investors from defaults on bonds backed in many cases by subprime mortgages." (New York Times, 3-14-09)

Since when, as a nation, do we work so hard to reward failure? Why is it in our best interest to save bankrupt companies? Why are we paying millions to the executives that ran these businesses into the ground? To quote a line from the movie Wall Street (one of my favorites): "The whole world's off it's rocker!"

Finally, the third group of customers that are losing out in all this are the AIG insurance policy holders. It's obvious that their insuring company is being poorly managed. It's also obvious by the AIG management salaries that the company doesn't care about their customers. Is there a 'retention bonus' being paid to customers who have kept their policy with AIG? Yeah, right.

My recommendation is to write to your Congressman and tell them to stop bailing out companies. Tell them to stop wasting your money. Tell them to stop saving businesses that have failed, only to reward the very people that caused the failure with million-dollar bonuses.

Then I recommend that you vote with your wallet, and switch from AIG to a different insurance company. If you're a current AIG insurance policy holder, do you really think that they care about you? Do you really think that it's going to get better? of course not. Here are a few insurance companies you may want to consider as an alternative to AIG:

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Bailout Package Pork = One Angry Customer

This blog is about inferior customer service. Not really the place where you'd expect to read about the government bailout package, is it?

On the other hand, the government bailout grants are EXACTLY what I should be writing about!

Why? Because I am a CUSTOMER of the United States!

Yeah. I said it! I am a customer (and you are, too) of the United States government!

Just because we elect (choose) our boss doesn't mean we're not a customer!

Quite frankly, as a customer of my government, I'M ANGRY ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF BAILOUT PACKAGE PORK THAT IS BEING FORCED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!

As we all know, Congress and Barack Obama have been spending money almost as fast as they can print it. In late 2008 they spent $205 BILLION of our dollars! Check out the details.....

$30 billion Bear Stearns
JP Morgan Chase teamed up with the federal government to bail out Bear Stearns when the financial giant neared collapse. JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns for $236 million and the Federal Reserve provided a $30 billion credit line to ensure the sale could move forward.

$200 billion Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
The impending collapse of two of the nation's largest housing finance firms was yet another symptom of the subprime mortgage crisis. To prevent further turmoil within the financial market, the U.S. government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and guaranteed up to $100 billion for each company to ensure they would not fall into bankruptcy.

$150 billion American International Group (A.I.G.)
When AIG was unable to obtain a private-sector loan, the federal government intervened by taking control of the insurance giant. Less than one month after the initial bailout, the Fed stepped in with an additional $37.8 billion to bolster AIG's securities lending business. In November 2008, with the insurance giant reporting heavy losses, the Feds revised the terms of the bailout and purchased $40 billion in AIG preferred shares.

$25 billion Auto Industry
In September 2008, Congress approved a $630 billion+ spending bill, which included $25 billion in loans to the auto industry. These low-interest loans were intended to aid the industry in its push to build more fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles. The Detroit 3 (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) will be the primary beneficiaries.

Now, I'm no mathematics whiz but I am quite adept at simple problems.

According to http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html, we have 105,480,101 households in the United States as of 2007.

If our government were to give each United States household $5,000 today, that would cost our government roughly $527,400,505,000 total.

It's now late-February, 2009, and our government has spent FAR MORE than $5,000 per household!

So, yeah, I'm quite pissed off about this! This is the very definition of inferior customer service!

If our elected leaders would give that $5,000+ to each household instead of giving it to corporations, what do you think would be the end result?

Some people would blow the cash. They would spend it as fast as they got it. That would stimulate the economy.

Some people would pay down their credit card debt. That would help the credit card companies and the banks.

Some people would buy a new or used car. That would help the auto manufacturers.

Some people would either get caught up on their mortgage payments or even pre-pay their mortgage. That would help Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

In other words, paying the PEOPLE who actually own the tax revenue would immediately trigger the same benefits the government is trying to achieve!

Am I the only one who finds the logic in this?

Intead of TAKING money away from the public and giving it to corporations, why aren't we letting the public spend their own money to achieve the same objective?

Is this some kind of sick joke?

Is Arby's 5 For $5.95 Worth The Customer Service?

Here's my question for today: Is Arby's 5 for $5.95 worth the horrible customer service you're likely to encounter at any Arby's location in the United States?

Back in the day (when I was in college) all Arby's locations offered what was commonly known as the Arby's 5 for 5 deal. We would get 5 of their basic roast beef sandwiches for 5 bucks. It was cheaper than a pizza, and really quite good after a few beers!

Unfortunately, prices have gone up since then.

Now we either have to use Arby's coupons or other Arby's specials to get a good deal there. The Arby's 5 For $5.95 seems like a decent compromise, so I've been going there lately to load up on my favorite selection of Arby's calories.

What I've found is that most Arby's locations have, posted out in plain view, a flag system to show their current level of customer service success. They "fly" a color-coded flag to show how customer-friendly they are. I assume that they're measuring this with some type of Mystery Shopper program.

The local Arby's locations that I frequent have a yellow flag posted for the current quarter. They also have a red flag posted for the prior quarter. I assume that these flags indicate they have received poor customer service ratings for the current quarter, and horrible customer service ratings for the prior quarter.

I don't think the Arby's menu has much to do with these ratings. I do, however, think that their attitude with customers has everything to do with these ratings.

On a recent trip to Arby's I found that one of their two entrance doors was locked. After ordering, I mentioned to the clerk that their door was locked. He acted surprised, and turned to tell the manager on duty. The manager replied that it was snowing outside, the restaurant floors were wet, and that she didn't have enough "Wet Floor" signs to cover two entrances. So, she made a decision to leave one door locked. That way she wouldn't have to worry about customers entering the building without being warned with a "Wet Floor" sign.

Besides the obvious fact that her decision placed this Arby's location in violation of the local fire code, what this manager did not realize is that her decision also created a perfect example of inferior customer service.

I mean, really, when you're preventing customers from entering your business it's not necessarily the best business decision.

We're left to wonder if the "red flag" being flown at this Arby's location is due to the fact that their Mystery Shopper had difficulty entering the restaurant. I know that I did, and I'm a regular cash-paying customer.

So is Arby's 5 for $5.95 worth the inferior customer service you're likely to encounter at any Arby's location in the United States? Please help us decide this important question! If you've received extraordinarily good or bad customer service at an Arby's location lately, please leave a comment and tell us!

Citibank Credit Card Customer Care Is A Joke

After the events of this week, there can be no doubt that Citibank credit card customer care is floundering like a fish out of water.

Earlier this week it was announced that all Citibank locations will be eliminating a combined 52,000 jobs in early 2009. That's about 15% of the Citibank workforce.

The bottom line for customer service is that everyone who regularly receives a Citibank credit card statement is now experiencing really poor customer service, and it's only going to get worse.

Perhaps the best way to tell you about this issue is to quote an article that appeared in the 11-18-08 issue of USA Today:

You might think that Citi's economic distress would give it more appreciation for the suffering of its customers in tough times. But you'd be wrong. Citi also announced it is jacking up interest rates, by an average of two or three points, on millions of credit card customers because of the 'difficult market environment'.....

In Citi's case, there's an extra sting: The hike breaks a public promise. Just 20 months ago, Citi pledged to ditch one of the banking industry's most indefensible practices - raising interest rates 'any time, for any reason'. Vikram Atal, Citi Cards' CEO, told a Senate panel that 'we are giving up that practice. Once a card is issued, we will not voluntarily increase the rates or fees on the account until the card expires'. Citi touted the new policy to customers with a tag line 'A deal is a deal'.

Well, apparently not when the going gets tough. Then, the deal is off. But that wouldn't make much of a tag line.

The Citibank credit card payments aren't coming in as fast as they used to, which is due to the poor economic conditions today. The Citibank credit card applications aren't coming in as fast as they used to either, and we have to wonder if that isn't because of their terrible customer service.

At the end of the day, it's no wonder that Citibank credit card customer care is now seen as nothing more than a joke.

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When they see customers leaving for other credit card companies, it should come as no surprise to the Citibank credit card folks. But we have to wonder, if they're so out-of-tune with their customer base already, why would they notice any change now?