Hilton HHonors - Website promise unfulfilled: Any recourse?

Booked Hilton Garden Inn in Panama City, Panama on Honors website. Info for hotel shows complimentary shuttle from/to Tocuman airport. When I arrived there was no shuttle. A nice bilingual local called the hotel for me. The night manager told me there was no shuttle at any time. I paid for a taxi to the hotel. I have asked to speak to the manager and was told he would contact me. He did not.
This situation has left me with a complete lack of confidence in the HHonors program.

This situation has left me with a complete lack of confidence in the HHonors program.

You're kidding, right? You have a relatively minor disappointment at one Hilton property and on that basis you're going to write off the entire program and the 1000s of other properties?

You've clearly led a charmed travel life.

Problems like this should be handled directly with the property if you can. Get to the Front Desk Manager or GM if you can. If they fail to make contact then escalate to Hilton corporate (it's not an HH issue, although they may be able to help find the right person).

If one property in a small country is going to set your image for the entire chain, you will run out of chains pretty fast. Especially if you won't give them a chance to fix it. It is the weekend so I wouldn't expect the GM to be on-site, but there should be someone with authority to speak on his/her behalf.

Good luck.

I have had good success with the following:

Dear Diamond Desk:

I recently stayed at the [insert hotel]. The web site for this hotel, [insert link], states that the hotel offers [state missing service] but the service is not available. Obviously the web site is incorrect and needs to be corrected to state the correct information. Hopefully other inconvenienced guests will not be inconvenienced as was I.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

[Member name]
[HH number]
[Reservation confirmation]

This technique has worked for me on multiple occasions. I do not ask for compensation, but I usually get it. It is a straight-forward, factual communication that attempts to correct an obvious error. It gets results. I have gotten apologies from the GM and replies from the DD even though I requested neither. Sometimes, rarely, there is no action.

You're kidding, right? You have a relatively minor disappointment at one Hilton property and on that basis you're going to write off the entire program and the 1000s of other properties?

You've clearly led a charmed travel life.

Nope, not kidding. I did not say I would not stay at other Hilton properties. I said that I no longer had confidence in the program. If you cannot trust the promises made on the website, what is next? Maybe the wifi is not really free. Maybe the parking is not really free. I am new to the program and am accustomed to finding accurate information on company websites.

Nope, not kidding. I did not say I would not stay at other Hilton properties. I said that I no longer had confidence in the program. If you cannot trust the promises made on the website, what is next? Maybe the wifi is not really free. Maybe the parking is not really free. I am new to the program and am accustomed to finding accurate information on company websites.


Seriously?? It was one mistake on the website, its not the end of the world or a sign that anything is truly wrong with HHonors or Hilton. Also how can one make a determination about HHonors or Hilton based on information provided to it by a franchisee not even Hilton itself. Hilton relies on being provided correct information from the properties itself which in most cases arent owned or operated by Hilton. So one property providing incorrect information or not correcting information that may have been previously correct is in no way a reflection of HHonors or Hilton.

Have you ever made a mistake in life? If so, would you expect people to lose total faith in you over one mistake?

Have you ever made a mistake in life? If so, would you expect people to lose total faith in you over one mistake?

I know right?!? This must be the ONLY mistake Hilton has ever made and is most certainly the ONLY thing that anyone can complain about regarding Hilton or Blackstone Corporation!!!

A property search shows five Hilton properties in the area:

Hilton
WA Residences
WA
Doubletree
HGI

On the typical maps & directions web page for each property, not one references a complimentary airport shuttle among various airport transportation options listed. (I would be surprised one is offered, given the 12-15 mile distance to PTY.)

Maybe the offending web page has been fixed.

Craz corrects me: reference to a 3rd party shuttle service in the text block.

Out of curiosity....Is the OP sure they looked at the correct hotel web site for the correct hotel in the correct country?

HGI Panama City in the country of Panama makes no reference to a shuttle: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/panama/hilton-garden-inn-panama-PTYPPGI/index.html

HGI Panama City in Florida does have a shuttle referenced: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hilton-garden-inn-panama-city-PFNPCGI/index.html

I'm guessing the OP was looking at the wrong HGI Panama City.

Deleted by author.

Out of curiosity....Is the OP sure they looked at the correct hotel web site for the correct hotel in the correct country?

HGI Panama City in the country of Panama makes no reference to a shuttle: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/panama/hilton-garden-inn-panama-PTYPPGI/index.html

HGI Panama City in Florida does have a shuttle referenced: http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hilton-garden-inn-panama-city-PFNPCGI/index.html


I'm guessing the OP was looking at the wrong HGI Panama City.

Actually that hotel does have a free shuttle service:


http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/panama/hilton-garden-inn-panama-PTYPPGI/maps-directions/index.html

you need to click onto Maps & Transportation to see if it does or doesnt

But it appears the OP didnt do what it says to do and instead called the Hotel and very likely the person who answered was asked about the Hotels shuttle which it doesnt have as its farmed out. Could be by having that 3rd party called things got messed up

Nope, not kidding. I did not say I would not stay at other Hilton properties. I said that I no longer had confidence in the program. If you cannot trust the promises made on the website, what is next? Maybe the wifi is not really free. Maybe the parking is not really free. I am new to the program and am accustomed to finding accurate information on company websites.
Any program where I've stayed at enough properties I've eventually found at least one with one inaccuracy on their website. Now, sometimes it was an inaccuracy that mattered to me, and sometimes it wasn't. I suepect if you asked around at the other programs where you think this "never" happens you'd quickly find people who could show you examples.

It's not a perfect world, and I see no reason to excpet Hilton hotel websites to all be perfect, but neither do I see a reason to expect websites of other hotels to be perfect. So while I think it's logical to take website infomation with a grain of salt, I don't think it's logical to pick on Hilton specficially for this issue, just because you found it on a Hilton hotel page.

I personally don't recall runing into any Hilton hotel website error that made a difference to me in years, but OTOH I ran into two such errors in two other different hotel programs in the last half year (one involved a room amenity which doesn't exit for that type of room at that hotel, the other involed a claim of free benefits when it turned out the hotel charges a fee to cover those benefits).

Sorry, guys. Being duly chastised, I will slink back under my rock.

Sorry, guys. Being duly chastised, I will slink back under my rock.

Please don't do that. People need to speak up when errors are made and continue to as they are found. If the local management won't respond to your request then escalate to Hilton corporate. And if that doesn't get you anywhere, post a review on TripAdvisor letting others know about the error and lack of response when trying to get it fixed.

What you shouldn't do is expect that someone at Hilton is overseeing every move a property makes, even if it's Hilton owned and managed! Mistakes are made and deliberate efforts to deceive happen. We, the customers, have to make a choice to speak up or let it go.

Sorry, guys. Being duly chastised, I will slink back under my rock.

Does your rock have a shuttle? :D

So, since you had verified on the website that the hotel provided shuttle service, did you also do as the website said and go to the appropriate counter?

"Complimentary shuttle service from the Tocumen international Airport (in and out) is provided by Trans VIP, providing comfort to the guest arriving or departing. Just look for the hotel representative on the arrivals area, or go to the Trans VIP counter."

So, since you had verified on the website that the hotel provided shuttle service, did you also do as the website said and go to the appropriate counter?

"Complimentary shuttle service from the Tocumen international Airport (in and out) is provided by Trans VIP, providing comfort to the guest arriving or departing. Just look for the hotel representative on the arrivals area, or go to the Trans VIP counter."

There was no Trans Vip counter. No one at the airport knew of such a counter. This is a brand new Hilton property. There were numerous problems at the hotel. I will not elaborate for fear of attracting more lightening strikes.
I think that the complimentary shuttle may be something that is in the planning stages.

File a request through their Satisfaction Promise and move on.