Hilton HHonors - Hilton tricked me

From the "..." department, I had the luxurious opportunity to visit Eugene, Oregon on business, arriving last night. Upon arrival at my intended hotel, the DT EUG, there was a "Clarion Hotel" banner draped over the entrance sign. Taking this as a bad sign, I went in and asked, you guessed it, wassup? Turns out the DT changeover was 7/11 (I booked the room a month ago) and no one at Hilton bothered to let me know. Here's the really "funny" part: I called the HH internet res / help desk the night before, as I couldn't view the rez or the property online and wanted to print out the good old "interactive map" to the hotel. Though it was the only one of about 20 current reservations that I have that was not "viewable", the clerk at the help desk told me that this was because they were doing "maintenance".

So! After arriving at the "new" Clarion, I get on the horn and call the DIA desk, who tell me that they're sorry this happened, but I can't get into the Hilton in town as it's full. I can stay at the Clarion on the same rate with no points or miles or at the Hampton Inn across town at a 35% higher rate and a yummy smoking room to boot. Well, the Clarion had a buncha punko's chillin' and blastin' rap in the parking lot, so I opted to take my chances at the Hampton. The guy at the Diamond desk (nice guy, Greg, did what he could under the circumstances) says call back and speak to guest services tomorrow about compensation for the room rate increase based on their goofup. My client, who was with me, was embarrassed for me.

Well, turns out the room at the Hampton's kind of a dump although this appears to be a relatively new hotel. To make things more fun, the phones wouldn't reach an outside line (I wanted to pick up my e-mail)and even the front desk clark couldn't dial out. So much for calling 911 if the hotel's on fire. No upgraded room (the hotel was half empty, told it was full), no non-smoking room, no Hampton touch, no bennies at all, just a crummier hotel at a higher rate, lucky me. Oh, and the sweetie pie next to me decided to get up at 5 AM and bang as much stuff around as possible getting ready to leave... but, I digress, that's not Hilton's fault.

Haven't called Hilton back yet (the customer service center is on limited hours due to storme in the MEM area), so I'm going to toss it to you pros and ask...what would you do in this case?

Call the Diamond Desk and politely recite the experience you posted in this thread. Ask to speak to a supervisor, if necessary. Remain calm yet firm.

I do not believe that Hilton tricked you intentionally (although I like the play on words in the reverse-twist topic title to the I Tricked Hilton (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/008290.html) thread) — I believe Hilton merely “dropped the ball” accidentally and needs to be held accountable for its inactions.

Be prepared to consider what compensation you feel is acceptable to you. Keep in mind that Hampton Inn has a 100% satisfaction guaranteed policy (http://www.hamptoninn.com/en/hp/promotions/guestoffers/guarantee.jhtml?adId=guarantee,hxmini) where your stay is free if you are not completely satisfied, so you are entitled to that at the very least.

[This message has been edited by Canarsie (edited 07-23-2003).]

Just make sure your HHonors points post BEFORE you ask for your money back!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Oh, and the sweetie pie next to me decided to get up at 5 AM and bang as much stuff around as possible getting ready to leave... but, I digress, that's not Hilton's fault. [/B]</font>

Well, I would call this one the fault of whoever built the hotel and didn't build sufficiently soundproof walls. Presumably Hilton has some standards for how their brands' hotels are built, so put this one on their plate as well, and have it be one more thing to cite regarding their 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Is the 100% across all brands or just at the Hampton Inns? I know you may be comped your stay at any hotel but I thought the 100% refund was only really advertised for the Hampton Inn properties.

My guess is that you are a good negociator, maybe even a proffesional. It comes down to what you want out of this situation. You have a good case and could take this in one of two directions, points or money. I would be inclined to try and get a few thousand extra points out of it. This would be easier than getting money.
Let us know how you fare?

I had a problem with a Hampton Inn and asked for points and was told 'No, we can only give you the night for free under the guarantee, we are not linked into the HHonors program.' Needless to say I checked out the next day and never came back to the hotel (Hampton Inn Norfolk Naval Base)

Stupid hotel would rather lose _real_ money then give me points which I'm sure was cheaper than the $100 in night revenue they wanted to give up... However I think technically they are right and that's all they are supposed to do.

Coupla years ago....Booked Baltimore Hilton. Got there and it was a Rennesance(I think....something, not Hilton)

Diamond desk said sorry... nothing they could do!

Fred,

Are you stalking me? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Not only was I in the Board Room in SEA on the evening of 23JUL, but I was also in Eugene, OR on the night of 22JUL. I was staying at the Eugene Hilton. This hotel was sold out when I checked for availability, but I was able to secure a reservation by asking a front desk clerk to squeeze me in.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by korea71:
Is the 100% across all brands or just at the Hampton Inns? I know you may be comped your stay at any hotel but I thought the 100% refund was only really advertised for the Hampton Inn properties.</font>

Homewood Suites, too. I know from experience.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TransWorldOne:
Fred,

Are you stalking me? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Not only was I in the Board Room in SEA on the evening of 23JUL, but I was also in Eugene, OR on the night of 22JUL. I was staying at the Eugene Hilton. This hotel was sold out when I checked for availability, but I was able to secure a reservation by asking a front desk clerk to squeeze me in.</font>

Wow, a close encounter with TW1 and finding out MissyDarlin lives four blocks away from me in the same week. Who'd a thunk it.
No, I was actually in EUG to visit a couple of accounts and tour the Monaco Coach plant.

Did you come back from EUG on the 4:00 pm Horizon flight Wednesday? I did have dinner at McMeniman's (spelling DOH!) North Bank...t'would be tres bizarre if you dined there as well Tues. eve. Pretty good gumbo. BTW, are you going down to the Sidewinders game in TUS next Saturday for the "mini-Do" there?

From the all's well that ends well dept.: I received 3,000 HH points as well as a refund today for the Hampton Inn room Tuesday evening.

[This message has been edited by fredmartens (edited 07-25-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fredmartens:
Did you come back from EUG on the 4:00 pm Horizon flight Wednesday? I did have dinner at McMeniman's (spelling DOH!) North Bank...t'would be tres bizarre if you dined there as well Tues. eve. Pretty good gumbo. BTW, are you going down to the Sidewinders game in TUS next Saturday for the "mini-Do" there? </font>

No, I flew EUG-MFR-PDX-SEA and then on to Phoenix on Wednesday. As for Tuesday night, I dined on hors d'oeuvres in the concierge lounge at the Hilton and then went to the Keb Mo/Steve Earle/Jackson Browne concert at the Cuthbert.

Wow...the Cuthbert is really close to McMenamins. There were a lot of people dining there B4 going to the concert.

fredmartens:
That is really a bad story. I don't think Hilton (.. and the others) handled it well.
I think you should write Adam Burk (or so...?) an e-mail.

I had the same experience at this hotel 2 weeks ago. I booked at this property because I was traveling with 2 other people and the Diamond desk could only secure 1 room. My office is actually 2 blocks from the Eugene Hilton, but I was forced to stay at the Doubletree. We rode around gateway st for a half hour looking for the hotel. I finally called the hotel and they told me they switched to a clarion the day before. I called the diamond desk and they could not provide rooms for us at any other hotel nearby. There was a teacher conference at the EUG hilton. They could confirm 1 room for me as a diamond, but I could not leave my staff without a car in Springfield. The diamond desk told me that I could receive points. I requested that a supervisor call me (since it was 9pm at night), but never received a call. I will call back the diamond desk on Monday to inquire about points/stay credit. BTW, the clarion was a nasty hotel. They had to change my room since the first smelled like someone died in there. A beat up property. My worst stay of the year.