Hotwire Reviews

We had a rental car reservation through Hotwire with Hertz. Hawaii shut down due to Covid so travelers are unable to rent cars. Hertz did not charge Hotwire for our reservation because you CAN NOT rent a car. Hotwire refused to refund our money and even hung up on my husband. HOTWIRE CAN NOT provide the service that we payed them for but they are keeping our money. Hotwire is a SCAM. A company can not charge for a service that they are unable to provide.

Unprofessional company that robbed me of 300 dollars. They wouldn't do anything to help accommodate my situation seeing that san juan was on lock down due to covid. I wanted to cancel or ATLEAST get credit for another time but they basically told me i was sh*t out of luck. They as a company offer no alternatives for emergencies so unless you know you'll be there to use the car don't go with these thieves.

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.

Low customer services they put you on hold for a long time. they do not issue official reservations because it is from third party and when you ask the hotel you will hear the same answer. I really do not recomend the website.

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.

Got a hotel on a different city I requested on the search! I contacted immediately to request a cancelation, refund or a new hotel in the requested area, offering to pay a higher rate! But they didn't want to help, now I have to rent a car and drive over 20 miles!
These people have no sense of customer service nor common sense!

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.

Please anyone who is wise! Do not use hotwire at all. We utilized Hot Wire for a stay up in Lake Harmony Poconos. We were told that we would be staying at the Quality Inn or The Best Western. We arrived to the hotel to first of all not be the Quality Inn, it was another named Hotel. Not as advertised on hot wire on 8.23.2020. Not only that when we went in to inquire about a reservation they hotel said they had not received any reservation information for us. Its a 11:00 p.m. and hotwire had not sent any information over to the hotel. And it wasn't the hotel advertised. They used false advertising to get people to accept a hotel that they are not getting!........Totally different hotel the quality is not there at all.....so many rooms with no locks on the doors, abandoned rooms with blankets and towels on the floor, no updates made at this hotel since probably the 90s. Creepy atmosphere! People please do not use this company! You may not be getting what you signed up for....its said there is no help. The representative told me he was located in elsavador. My last time using a booking company!

Horrible customer service! I reserved an SUV to pick up from LAX. When I got tot the rental car company, they didn't have the car I had reserved. Instead they gave me an "luxury SUV" (Honda-not a luxury car in my vocabulary) and charged me an extra $584. Original booking was for $233. Still trying to get my money back. Stay away from Hotwire or ACE Rental car.

We booked a hotel in Toronto travelling from Ottawa to spend a nice anniversary weekend with my s/o

everything confirmed and good to go! A Couple of hours later I go to check the hotel address and see that my booking has been canceled without any reason and to make matters worse I’m on my way to said hotel unaware that my booking has been canceled by Hotwire with no confirmation of them canceling my hotel stay.
The only help they could give me was a voicemail number to leave my details to and wait patiently for them to get back to me explaining what has just happened. My money is gone and I have nowhere to stay. Only book with these guys if you want to be robbed. that’s all Hotwire is good for. But the best they could do was to tell me to create another account and book again so I can lose more money technically. Only with Hotwire.


Sincerely a couple on their anniversary with a two night charged hotel stay but no hotel to stay in.

We paid a week to rent a car via debit card and then when we tried to get the car they told us that is necessary a credit card so we are not getting the car
The store or even the app Hotwire both doesn’t want give our money back!!!!!
They stole my money!!!!!

Please Hotwire, do not use Sixt rental car as a vendor anymore! They just give HOTWIRE a very bad name. Do not associate with them. They do not allow you to reschedule OR give you a refund if you have to cancel.

They bring HOTWIRE'S reputation down, very low!

I’m in NZ and after searching for last minute hotel deals, came up with Hotwire. They were alongside others reputable companies and their prices were good but not infeasibly cheap. I booked and paid for my room for a two night stay, and only AFTER my confirmation came through was I made aware that the price was in USD, not NZD. An increase of $140 on the cost of the booking. This is really sneaky on their part, and now I’ve come here and seen they have form. I’ll never use them again. Huge mistake.

AVOID.

I booked a rental car after reading all the qualifications, but once they received my money I found out I actually didn't qualify because I wasn't traveling from out of town. So, I cancelled. Upon cancellation, I found out that it takes 30 days to get my money refunded to me. I waited the 30 days and nothing happened, so I call and the customer service I experienced was horrible. None of the agents were on the same page and couldn't give me a definitive answer. They asked me to wait an additional 30 days after I had waited the initial 30 days for my refund.

I recently had to fly into DC Because my daughter had to go into the hospital. I foolishly rush to get a hotel on Hotwire.com. When realizing she would be transferred to another hospital I tried to get a refund and was told I would have Get a doctors note written on a letterhead with dates etc. I ask you when you're in the middle of a medical crisis is that ever top of mine? No compassion whatsoever. I did send them documentation but it was not to their satisfaction.

Catastrophic experience! I had booked a room in a hotel by Hotwire and paid $257.28.Receiving no confirmation by email from them, I called hotwire and the guy could not find the reservation. She said you have not been charged since there is no reservation under your name. I booked another room in a different hotel by them. The result: My debit card has been charged twice by Hotwire and no one accepts responsibility. More than$ 500 for a single room!!! Beware of them they will charge you twice!

I booked a car rental via hotwire for a car through "Sixt" rental company for my trip to Philadelphia, PA. Neither company would budge on either a credit or refund for a prepaid car rental for memorial day weekend based on a no cancellation policy. However, when the trip was booked back in early march, it was prior to all the Covid state shut downs. My trip was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid as Philadelphia is still under a state of emergency/"stay at home" order through June 6, 2020 which overlaps my original trip date. Most other car services are allowing for either credits or allowing cancellations with refunds due to these extenuating circumstances. What did both Sixt and Hotwire tell me? Well, they basically said I'm out of luck and won't receive a refund or credit. Both Sixt and Hotwire have exhibited poor customer service in comparison to other companies who provide the same services. I would highly recommend using more morally sound companies for your booking needs. I know I will.

Booked a car rental back in January for a trip that was planned for May of this year. Covid19 forced cancellation of this trip. Hotwire would offer no consideration whatsoever. They adhered to their final sale, no refund or change policy, even in spite of a worldwide pandemic. Will never use their service nor their parent company Expedia ever again, and I would urge anyone considering using their service to look elsewhere. Their actions during this crisis are despicable.

As with many others on this site, Hotwire refuses to give refunds for those impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. It's amazing to me that a company can be so heartless in this crisis.

If you're looking for a car company that will take your money no matter what and leave you high and dry, then Hotwire is probably the car rental company for you.

I share the same fate I see many others have ... Hotwire is not giving us a refund either. So I ask all of us experiencing this robbery ... let's band together ... CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TIME !!!!

They could have made this right, but chose not to. Time for a good dose of karma!

DO NOT use Hotwire!!! I reserved a room through Hotwire. We checked in and realized the air did not work, there is mold in the shower curtain and there are no blankets! We could not get in touch with anyone at the front desk all night. I call Hotwire and they were extremely rude and would not reimburse any of the money for our stay, even though I had been in contact with them for most of the night!! They did say they would give me a $25 credit to use through Hotwire at a later date, after I was on the phone with them for an hour. The man I spoke with also proceeded yo tell me I should be happy with that and began to yell at me. A customer should never be treated this way!!

IT"S A SCAM!!!! After paying Hotwire for a room the hotel required us to pay for our room a second time as they had never received payment from Hotwire. The hotel said the issue would have to be resolved through Hotwire. Calling customer service, directed us to email where we got no response, emailed again, no response, chats directed us to email a third time, each time sending copies of all receipts/transactions that had transpired. They claim they will get back to us but never do. We are stuck in an endless loop and it seems they are just trying to wear us down so we'll give up. They have essentially stolen our money, and refuse to return it.

I have read so many bad reviews as it relates to getting a refund due to COVID-19. Honestly, I really felt from reading all the bad reviews that my money had taken a one way trip. First of all, I booked a Hot Rate deal which normally does not allow any cancellation or changes. However, due to COVID-19 exceptions were made. It is true that when you call, there is a long wait and you may even have your call disconnected after a long wait. However, if you check Hotwire's website, there is information on how to cancel your reservation for a car or hotel, and yes even if your reservation for was a Hot Rate Deal online. It will take some time to work through the process, but it does work just be patient. I followed the instructions and cancelled my reservation 48 hours before I was to pick up my car rental. I was advised I would receive an email in three days to confirm my cancellation. I did receive the email, however, it was about two weeks later. The good new is, Hotwire has assured me that I will get a refund in the form of a Hotwire credit towards a future rental. Per the email, this process could take up to 30 days. I have no problem with waiting. Just wanted to share my experiencing in trying to obtain a refund due to COVID-19. Just be patient. Hope this helps someone.

Bunch of crooks. I booked a hotel which turned out to be nowhere near as nice as photos and description suggested. Couldn't stay there, had to book a different hotel as a result - at last minute pricing of course. VERY hard to get in touch with Hotwire about complaints and they just put you in hopeless "you have to call us" (from Australia!!) loop of no progress. They have all my information and evidence by email. When I finally called them, had to hang up the hold was so long.

If I could give zero stars I would! We are from Michigan, we booked a car rental through Hotwire for our family spring break trip. Unfortunately we had no choice but to cancel our spring break trip due to the world wide crisis, COVID-19. I canceled 2 weeks in advance. I was SHOCKED when I came to the realization that Hotwire was not refunding us our money. Not only would they not refund us but they refused to even give us a voucher.. all of this just coming from a representative from Hotwire because they also refused to transfer me to a manager. I’m extremely disappointed in how selfish this company is. It’s disgusting to steal from hard working Americans. I will never, ever use Hotwire again and I beg you to not support a company that is as crooked as this one.