Choice Privileges - Out of Office: Choice Customer Support: Other - is that normal?

The background to this is I have an inflexible reservation at a Comfort Inn on Cape Cod and am scheduled to arrive with Hurricane Irene, so I was trying to find out if there's any flexibility given the exceptional circumstances.

I tried to send a question & comment via the email facility on the Choice web site and I got an "Out of office" response with no expected return date?

Is this normal? It seems somewhat amateurish to send "out of office" messages in response to customer service emails.

Your best bet is to deal with the property directly, especially if there is a desire to reschedule the trip.

Choice Privileges has not demonstrated any real strenght in dealing with properties, rules or not. I've had properties go weeks before posting points and CP would not do anything about it. I've had properties deny upgrades and CP would not do anything about it (yes, I know, what's an upgrade at CP properties?). The only time they've come through for me is when a property posted my stay on the wrong day and I was denied points for a stay on that day, but it was like pulling teeth to get them to see the error.

CP is a lot like Best Western... Each property is individually owned and your better off dealing with the owner. CP has no real power to get them to deliver. The owner/manager is the one to make the decisions.

Good luck.

Your best bet is to deal with the property directly, especially if there is a desire to reschedule the trip.

Choice Privileges has not demonstrated any real strenght in dealing with properties, rules or not. I've had properties go weeks before posting points and CP would not do anything about it. I've had properties deny upgrades and CP would not do anything about it (yes, I know, what's an upgrade at CP properties?). The only time they've come through for me is when a property posted my stay on the wrong day and I was denied points for a stay on that day, but it was like pulling teeth to get them to see the error.

CP is a lot like Best Western... Each property is individually owned and your better off dealing with the owner. CP has no real power to get them to deliver. The owner/manager is the one to make the decisions.

Good luck.
Roger is correct. Especially if you want to reschedule, call the property and deal with the them.

Ask for the GM, explain the situation, ask if they can rebook the reservation for a different weekend.

If they lose power during the weekend, they'll probably be happy they have one less guest. Likewise, if homes in the area sustain damage, or the hotel is one of the first locations to have power restored, they'll probably be thrilled to have an extra room that they can sell at the rack rate during that time.

Thanks for the feedback. I started out talking the property where the guy I assume was on the front desk was only too willing to help, only to have his boss take a hard line. They suggested calling Choice reservations who re-directed me to, you guessed it - the property.

Having been through a hurricane in a Hotel in Mauritius I'm in no hurry to be in a car driving towards one on Sunday morning in Cape Cod. I haven't used Choice a lot in the past and to be fair, all the time things are going well they seem cheap and cheerful, though it now looks like the wheels fall off the organization at the first sign of trouble.

Based on this experience I guess I'll probably write a coupla hundred bucks off to experience and only use them when I can't find a better alternative in the future.

Thanks again.

...Based on this experience I guess I'll probably write a coupla hundred bucks off to experience and only use them when I can't find a better alternative in the future.

Thanks again.

Did you try to reschedule or just cancel? Sometimes properties are more accommodating if you want to change dates. A very good reason to not book advance payment rates.

My catch phrase these days: Choice is my LAST choice for hotel stays.

Thanks for the feedback. I started out talking the property where the guy I assume was on the front desk was only too willing to help, only to have his boss take a hard line. They suggested calling Choice reservations who re-directed me to, you guessed it - the property.

Having been through a hurricane in a Hotel in Mauritius I'm in no hurry to be in a car driving towards one on Sunday morning in Cape Cod. I haven't used Choice a lot in the past and to be fair, all the time things are going well they seem cheap and cheerful, though it now looks like the wheels fall off the organization at the first sign of trouble.

Based on this experience I guess I'll probably write a coupla hundred bucks off to experience and only use them when I can't find a better alternative in the future.

Thanks again.
You could also try the old FT trick of, "If you don't like the response, call back and talk to someone else." Perhaps if you call the hotel again, someone else will be able to help. I'd insist on talking to the GM, and explain that you want to reschedule, not cancel completely. I'd also mention the benefits of allowing you to change the reservation, due to the impending hurricane--one less guest, one more open room for the aftermath, etc. I'd also point out that by allowing you to reschedule, you are a happy customer and will tell everyone how understanding they were.

Did you try to reschedule or just cancel? Sometimes properties are more accommodating if you want to change dates. A very good reason to not book advance payment rates.

My catch phrase these days: Choice is my LAST choice for hotel stays.

I only asked about rescheduling - not about cancelling and refunds - I'm looking at reversing the order of my trip to stay out of the worst of the weather.

I fully understand it's on my own head if I want to change my trip for my own convenience, but I was hoping for something like the airlines offer during weather problems, where they allow you to re-schedule within a defined time period. I even volunteered to pay more money but the Hotel took the hard line, then getting the vacation message from customer service blew me away - isn't this supposed to be a 365 day a year operation? Don't they have cover for vacations?

I only asked about rescheduling - not about cancelling and refunds - I'm looking at reversing the order of my trip to stay out of the worst of the weather.

I fully understand it's on my own head if I want to change my trip for my own convenience, but I was hoping for something like the airlines offer during weather problems, where they allow you to re-schedule within a defined time period. I even volunteered to pay more money but the Hotel took the hard line, then getting the vacation message from customer service blew me away - isn't this supposed to be a 365 day a year operation? Don't they have cover for vacations?

Unfortunately there are some out there to make every dime they can instead of building customer loyalty and make dollars. These short-timers will drop off quickly when they get tired of rolling coin.

Post your experience on Trip Advisor and you might get the attention of someone able to reverse the decision. Especially if many reading the posting agree with your viewpoint.

As for Choice Priviledges being "closed"... That is totally unacceptable. You might try escalating but I wouldn't expect to get anywhere as their actions in the past show customer satisfaction is not a metric they worry about.

A quick note to say that I've finally after almost 3 1/2 days received a response from customer service and the Hotel has finally seen the light - it's currently far from clear that I could make it to Cape Cod tomorrow so that's a sensible result which restores some faith in this strange alliance of Hotels.

A quick note to say that I've finally after almost 3 1/2 days received a response from customer service and the Hotel has finally seen the light - it's currently far from clear that I could make it to Cape Cod tomorrow so that's a sensible result which restores some faith in this strange alliance of Hotels.

So, they finally allowed you to reschedule? That's good!

The background to this is I have an inflexible reservation at a Comfort Inn on Cape Cod and am scheduled to arrive with Hurricane Irene, so I was trying to find out if there's any flexibility given the exceptional circumstances.

I tried to send a question & comment via the email facility on the Choice web site and I got an "Out of office" response with no expected return date?

Is this normal? It seems somewhat amateurish to send "out of office" messages in response to customer service emails.

I sent a request (about bonus miles I didn't have) to CP costumer service and received the "out of office" automatic answer.
BTW 2 days later I received a human answer and the problem was immediatly fixed. I didn't expect a so quick action so I have to thanks them for beeing so efficient ^

Any other Irene experiences that people can report? This certainly won't be the last hurricane.

It's interesting that throughout the life of Irene, their landing page had the statement in red that they were empathetic to those customers and properties affected by it. I inferred waivers. So this behavior was difficult to understand. Perhaps it took a while for a policy to mature, so to speak -- that is, for Choice to catch up with all of their hotels, given the independent nature of the properties' affinity with the Choice network and the huge area affected. ...The benefit of the doubt, and it certainly doesn't work for those in the throes.

To FTers who know both sides of the counter, so to speak, are the hotels insured against this? I don't mean property damage, but rather loss of business. After all these years, I should know, but I don't.