Hilton HHonors - Hilton Management: What's Wrong With This Picture?

A snapshot of today's topics on the Starwood and Hilton message forums yields the following:

Starwood:
-Starwood Platinum vs. Hyatt Diamond
-DC area hotels
-Internet Access
-Thinking of switching TO Starwood from HHonors
-Truly no blackout dates?
-Any good Starwood properties in Seattle?

Hilton:
-How long to post Hilton points from UA miles? (disclosure: thread started by me)
-Point Stretcher INFO Frustration
-Atten: HHONORS management bigwigs
-What's going on at Hilton
-New Reward Schedule ... AGAIN

Is it just me or do I detect a normal and expected exchange of info on the Starwood forum -- just what the forum is supposed to be fore -- whereas the Hilton forum is full of gripes?

Hilton Management: Wake Up! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

(I am NOT an employee, investor or elite member of either Starwood and Hilton. Just wanted to see customer service improvements all around. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Originally posted by bp888 in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/000610.html :
Finally had the points posted in my Hilton account after 23 days!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

It's too late now to use the points for my vacation. So take my experience as a lesson when using Hilton. Book your award stays 30 days ahead.

Fortunately, I have Starwood points so I'll be staying at Starwood properties this time.

Originally posted by bp888 above :
I am NOT an employee, investor or elite member of either Starwood and Hilton. Just wanted to see customer service improvements all around.

also

Is it just me or do I detect a normal and expected exchange of info on the Starwood forum -- just what the forum is supposed to be fore(sic) -- whereas the Hilton forum is full of gripes?

I'm honestly confused here. As I've posted in other threads there does seem to be an inordinate of unfair gripes posted in the Hilton board lately. While I think Hilton needs to be called out when there are problems, this IMHO is just gratuitous sniping.

If you're not an elite member of Starwood (or nearly elite) how did you have enough points to stay there for your vacation? Why does a mileage transfer from an airline to a hotel that takes 23 days seem odd to you? That seems well within the promised limit, and more a function of the airline than Hilton anyway.

I think there are serious issues of award availability, devaluation of points, access to upgrades, etc that HHonors VIPs need to have Hilton address. But IMHO this continuous barage of complaints is not helping anyone.

All of my Hilton stays this year (thankfully) have been more pleasant than in years past. The properties are always packed with seemingly satisfied customers. If droves of people are voting with their feet and wallets, I don't see it.

[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 07-20-2000).]

However, HHonors did not get the Freddy Award this year.
Starwood did !! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I personally like to see my companies (UA, hilton, hertz, etc) called on the carpet for specific shortcomings. It keeps me forewarned (and therefore forearmed) and it does at least in my mind apply some competitive pressure.

But unless you are talking about a specific instance or issue, there is nothing gained from general and vague complaints.

Some of the "general exchange" of info on the *wood board is due to the newness of the program and the newness of the participants. Hhonors is well-established and most Hiltonites know the ins and outs pretty well. So instead of education, we focus on potential improvements. Good for us!

Sure I was upset when I was on hold for 30 mins. But that situation seems to have been addressed. No, I am not happy about the new award level and point levels, but I am VERY pleased to have two low-cost alternative hotels in the Hilton family. Real problems, real solutions.

But "the tone of hilton threads"??? PUH-LEEZE!

I too want to be proud to be a loyal Hilton customer, and I will not be joining the starwood crowd anytime soon. So lets keep our complaints specific and detailed and help Hilton help us (btw, this goes for thread titles, too. "Whats wrong with hilton" I typically will not read, but "Point strecher problem" I typically will read...this particular thread being the exception that proves the rule http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif)!



[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 07-20-2000).]

David, it seems some forums on Flyertalk tend to be gripe fests and others love fests.

I'm not sure if this is the people or the airline/hotel.

My gut feeling is that forums with lots of gripe, and I agree many seem minor, are a cause for concern for the airline/hotel in question. They seem to indicate basically unhappy customers.

Personally I think HHonors is on the upswing recently. I especially like the fact that I can get points at Doubletree, Embassy, etc.

When people are generally happy, they tend to not post the slightly negative comments and tend to post the marginally positive stuff.

When they are generally unhappy, the opposite seems to hold true.

David,

I think that most consumers have become accustomed to .....ing and screaming to get their way. Unfortunatley, if one makes a scene, the manager of duty is generally under direction to give in and cater to their whims. Unfortunately, the endless harping and carping over trivial items detracts from the attention which should be devoted to true issues of quality service.

An example of the above. On a recent flight on Am West, the person in the seat next to me was very seriously upset over not receiving the 125% bonus for hitting platinum (vs. the 100% gold bonus) on one flight. -It takes a week or so for miles to post and to change the accrual status. Anyway, she was visibly upset over receiving only a 500 mile bonus vs. the 625 mile platinum bonus for that specific flight. So, out of 100,000 flight miles and 100,000 add on bonus miles, she was distraught over not receiving the 125 mile differential. That is **** sad.

I do not post much here on the Hilton venue. But, I did just receive my gold card (yea!) and it is nice to be earning a 25% (?) bonus for stays. The Hilton and Embassy folks have always been really decent with me, and I try and steer my stays with them as much as possible. -Marriott/Courtyard is a good backup, but, out of my 10-12 Hilton/Embassy weeks per year; virtually all were really nice.

-Special thanks to the fine staff at the Embassy in Covina, California. Very nice staff and always very pleasant. You guys just have to get a bottle of Jack Daniel's (for happy hour) sometime to surprise our supervisor! -Long story.

My god, Boomer and I agree on something!

This could be the start of a trend http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif