Starwood Preferred Guest - Starwood hotel wouldn't honor cheap rate

The other day, I strolled up to the check-in podium at a Starwood hotel and tried to check in.

I gave them my last name but the check-in person couldn't find my reservation. I gave them my confirmation number and they still couldn't find my reservation. (I think this was all a ploy to "lose" my reservation by the hotel, but I'll get back to that conspiracy theory later).

Finally, the front desk manager came over to assist and made comments to the effect of "don't worry sir, even if we can't find your reservation and even though we are completely full, we will have a room for you tonight so don't worry" as if he were doing me a favor. He then instructed the check-in girl to just create a whole new reservation.

He asked me what my rate was and I replied $XX. A look of "surprise" appeared and he stated that the rate was much too low and there was no way that it could be a valid rate. I stated that if he looked at all my past stays, the price was the same and that my reservation was made as a SPG global account using rate code SPGXX. He commented that regardless, the rate was too low, especially since they were totally full and that they couldn't "give" me a room for that rate, but how about a rate of $XXX.xx (notice the increase in digits. The price he offered was almost twice my reserved rate)?

I replied that my rate was $XX, not XXX.xx and I hadn't driven all the way out to stay at the hotel for more than $XX and I was only going to pay $XX which is what my confirmed reservation was for.

After going back and forth, I finally had to call the Starwood Platinum Concierge on my cell phone where I explained what was going on and I asked if she could help the hotel "straighten things out". The concierge was able to easily and plainly see my reservation and at $XX price and was very surprised at what was happening. I passed my cell phone to the front desk manager at which point the concierge confirmed to the hotel that yes the reservation and yes the $XX rate were valid. The front desk manager still professed that the rate was too low, but if the concierge could fax a copy of the confirmation he would show it to the hotel general manager for approval.

Has this ever happened to anyone else where a Starwood hotel "loses" your reservation (which of course has a fantastic rate) and then offers to "give" you a room at a higher rate, even after you had provided a confirmation number and had to get the Platinum Concierge involved.

Now back to my conspiracy theory)....I think that the hotel had intentionally "lost" my reservation and was hoping to upsell me on a higher room rate. Perhaps this is another Starwood method of increasing revenue. I thought that the benefit of having a confirmed reservation was that your rate was set? Imagine strolling up to the airline counter and the agent saying that you had booked a too low fare and they were going to have to charge you the full walk up rate?

Needless to say, when I finally got my room, I was assigned what appeared to be one of the crappiest rooms in the place, on the lowest floor, first room across the elevator with all the noise and chatter, with a view of the lobby roof and a construction site across the street. If this is how Platinum guest rooms are pre-reserved, I wonder what an individual must do to get a better room? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Mistakes happen, so, no, I don't believe in the conspiracy theory unless we can show that a particular property or chain has a propensity for this behavior.

Printed confirmations are important for these rare occaisions.

-David

delete

Onedog-

This stinks. I have only had one problem one time at the Westin Fairfax, but after 5 minutes arguing, I got the rate.

Pre-printed confirmations are worth their weight in points. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Please tell us the name of the hotel so that we can avoid it.

My opinion is that this is the responsibility of the hotel. Doesn't pass my stink test.

Printed confirmations - never leave home without them. Obviuosly, a very poor attempt at an upsell - I have seen this a few times - it's a miracle that ONLY very low rates seem to "get lost". kazman

I recently had a similar situation at the FourPoints, Toronto Airport. Reception could not locate my reservation in their system but unlike your situation, she immediately called Starwood reservations and confirmed the reservation and the rate. Neither she nor her manager was able to explain the disconnect between Starwood's central reservation and their local system at the hotel.

Unlike your unfortunate incident, I got a suite, a platinum welcome gift, a lower rate than my reservation and an apology for any inconvenience.

Last week I stayed at the Westin FLL. I had a similar issue where my rate at check-in was higher than the res. The manager had me get my printed email confirmation before he gave me the lower rate.

It seems that Starwood Central Reservations and the Hotels Res system are NOT on the same page (litteraly and figuratively). This is annoying to argue with the front desk after a long flight and other guests behing you. I am a gold and stay my 15-20 nights annually with Starwood. They also disputed that we had free breakfast for 2 with the promo and had to show that to them in writing.

Why are we presumed guilty and have to prove our innocence?

Although I haven't had reservations "lost" too frequently, I've had room rates disappear, most commonly at the Sheraton Concord (CA). I have been told things like we never charge that rate, and so on. I have been made to feel like I'm lying but have the rate "honored" anyway. The most recent time this happened, I wasn't armed with my confirmation printout, I invited him to call SPG, he didn't (but honored my "fictitious" rate) and faxed him the evidence after my return back to the office.

Cardinal rule is always carry a print out of the reservation, either faxed from Starwood or printed off the net page if booked that way. I have only experienced a variant of this once, at the Sheraton Brussels, where the check-in clerk would not acknowledged my rate included breakfast, even though it was clearly stated on the print out. After 5-minutes, he relented.

I am surprised that such a thing would have happened to a Platinum member. Alienating your best customers is not something to do, considering the huge cost entailed in replacing a regular customer. As for National, I was checking a possible booking there, and I am sure I saw Club Floor rooms being clearly offered as an option.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LIH Prem:
Mistakes happen, so, no, I don't believe in the conspiracy theory unless we can show that a particular property or chain has a propensity for this behavior.
</font>

Ok, I admit that I was watching the latest rerun of X Files while I was typing up my original post http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Mr. Honu had this happen to him twice at the Four Points EWR. The second time it happened, the rate had mysteriously doubled (later it turned out that someone at the hotel had gone and manually changed a bunch of reservations after 8pm that night). The burden of proof was on the customer, so, after a long discussion, Mr. Honu had to fire up his laptop and produce the confirmation email from Starwood. All this happened after midnight and 10 hours of flying.

This happened to us once in Ontario Sheraton, Clerk could not locate our cheap reservations, a manager passed by and saw the platinum card, and said don't worry we will take care of you, especially since you are a platinum.

Was upgraded to club level and taken care of. Everything worked out.

I had a similar experience at the Manele Bay Hotel -- had to really fight to get what I was promised (in the end I didn't really get what I was promised, despite intervention from Starwood) -- not how you want to spend your vacation. Search under "Disappointing Manele Bay Stay."

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by onedog:
Ok, I admit that I was watching the latest rerun of X Files while I was typing up my original post http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
</font>

And at one point while composing my reply I had typed:

Onedog .. the truth is out there.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

-David

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TransCon1:
I had a similar experience at the Manele Bay Hotel -- had to really fight to get what I was promised (in the end I didn't really get what I was promised, despite intervention from Starwood) -- not how you want to spend your vacation. Search under "Disappointing Manele Bay Stay."</font>

This royally sucks. Note even intervention from Starwood could get you what you had been promised?!!! And to think that this was your honeymoon, no less (I read the cited thread)...

The careless attitude exhibited by the staff of that property (as described in your post) is inexcusable--PARTICULARLY given that they are in what could be considered one of the resort "capitals" of the U.S., not to mention the fact that the vast majority of travel to Hawaii is leisure, & often involves once-in-a-lifetime kind of special occasions or otherwise relatively costly vacation travel. By spoiling such special stays, they (in addition to many other things) effectively create negative memories for their guests not only to "take back w/ them", but to re-experience in some way @ various times when the could-have-been-more-special stay is "revisited" (e.g. going over vacation video &/or pictures, answering the "how did your trip go?" inquiries of family, friends, & colleagues, etc.).

If a property doesn't comply with some sort of "Starwood Preferred Guest" "code of ethics" (or some such commitment to not engaging in bait-&-switch tactics), then they shouldn't be allowed to be considered "participants" in the program.

Yes, we realize that many of the properties are operated by other companies, but being a participant in the Starwood Preferred Guest program should equate to much more than being a purveyor of Starpoints.


Note to self: scratch Manele Bay off the list...

I'm certainly not going to book or recommend a stay @ a property which cannot be "trusted" & exhibited such utter disdain for its guests/customers.

Until folks here can attest to this property getting "A New Attitude", I'll just say, "nay", to Manele Bay.

IT HAPPENED TO ME AGAIN!

This past monday I stayed at the W-Suites Newark and once again the hotel would not honor a reservation I had with a very good rate.

Now, it wasn't a $0 rate that the hotel would be able to argue was an obvious error, but still a pretty decent rate (I booked the rate through the Platinum Concierge and they even documented in my confirmation record what the rate code was).

This time, as I walked up to the podium, the check-in person just smiled at me (she was the same woman last time and recognized me) and said that she hoped we wouldn't have the same problem. Well, the reservation wasn't there, she wouldn't believe me even after I gave her my confirmation number, and even when we spoke to the Platinum Concierge she still insisted on being faxed a copy of the confirmation to show her manager (as if to suggest that we were making up this great rate?).

After waiting at the check-in podium for over 1/2 hour for this mess to be sorted out, I was finally given a room. Again, as happended last time, I was given a room right off the elevator so that I could hear all the elevator/hallway noise really nice and clear. Even though I could tell the Concierge was asking for me to be upgraded because of all the recurring "problems" I was having, I still got a crappy room. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

My recommendation to anyone, stay away from the W-Suites Newark unless you find a really good rate that you just can't pass up. Even then, be ready to fight with the hotel to have your confirmed room rate honored.

[This message has been edited by onedog (edited 08-25-2001).]

As per my comments in the London Hotel thread, I also had printed confirmation of room types reserved and the rate at which I had booked. The clerk honored the rate, but insisted that the room type (executive) was not available at that rate. He " upgraded" me to the executive floor after about 25 min, but would not provide anything else. I really don't know what to do about this theme that has individual propeties not honoring Starwood's programming.

I stayed at the W - Newark on 8/23 for one night at a rate of $59. I booked this rate on-line at the W web site using no special code or specific discount. I was a little concerned I might have a problem as that is a very low rate for a Thursday evening, but they gave me a room with no questions asked (it was probably their smallest room type though, so no Plat upgrade... I did ask to be moved, as my window looked into the window of the room next door - also no problem).

BTW - what a strange location for a W. They also do not have feather beds.

onedog:

This is like an X-files episode .. all this mystery ... so what were the rates at each stay? I'm just curious.

Maybe it's time for William's help?

schriste:

The W-Suites Newark doesn't have the W signature bed? The web site says it does.

-David


[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 08-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 08-27-2001).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by schriste:
I stayed at the W - Newark on 8/23 for one night at a rate of $59. I booked this rate on-line at the W web site using no special code or specific discount. I was a little concerned I might have a problem as that is a very low rate for a Thursday evening, but they gave me a room with no questions asked (it was probably their smallest room type though, so no Plat upgrade... I did ask to be moved, as my window looked into the window of the room next door - also no problem).

BTW - what a strange location for a W. They also do not have feather beds.</font>

Same experience two weeks ago... thankfully the $59 rate I booked for a Thurs night was also honored. While I was placed on the third floor, I was positive I was placed in the smallest type of room in the property. Heck-- I wouldn't even call it a "junior suite," as some on this board have mentioned, merely an "oversized" room with a wet bar.

I also thought that there was no featherbed until I looked under the sheets and checked. It was definitely there-- but in desperate need of some fluffing. I've noticed this at some other W properties as well. The featherbeds are wonderful, but they really need to put some more time into them.

Happened to me this weekend for the first time! Booked at Sheraton Reston (VA) for Saturday night. $59 rate booked on-line at Starwood.com. I even re-checked this rate on Friday. Got to hotel and was told $89. Of course, this was the first time I didn't have my confirmation print-out with me! I was grateful that the manager on duty extended me the $59 rate without the confirmation and without any hassle. Today, I checked my reservation again on-line and it still shows $59. Go figure!

This is one thing that BUGGGSSSS Me b eyond belief, and it's not just Starwood.

The groceyr store has become beyond belief. Each week I find at least 2 or 3 mismarked items on my weekly grocery list, and guess what- They are always higher than the real price marked at the item location.

Grocery stores have been able to get away with it because they no longer tag items, and few people can remember how much each item cost. One store has a policy that if an item is mis-programmed, then you get it for free. They recently changed this policy for only the first item you find mis-marked. This after I found about a dozen items miosmarked one week, saving about $40. Pised off the people behind me, but this has to stop. Just because consumers are in a weaker position deosn't mean we have to get screwed.

William- Is it possible to penalize hotels who do this? If it turns out that the customer has a reservation at a rate lower than quoted at the front desk, and can prove it, the customer gets a night free or somethign like that. I find it hard to believe that these things are always a mistake. One thing is for sure, though- It always is a royal pain for the customer.

How about if we take the hotel staff out back and shoot them? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Seriously, folks, I know that a situation like this can be frustrating, but anyone that is told they must pay a rate higher than that at which they were originally confirmed should contact Corporate Services as soon as possible. I agree that it always helps to have a confirmation letter in hand to settle the issue immediately, but it should still be reported so we have a record of what happened and why.

You can contact them by calling 1-800-328-6242 if you are in the U.S. or Canada. Outside this area, call the Account Services Center closest to you (the number is on the reverse of your card) and ask to be transferred to Corporate Services. You may also send an e-mail to Corporate Services by accessing whichever branded web site is appropriate and clicking on 'Contact Us'. Your information will be forwarded to them. Please give as many details as possible as well as a way for them to contact you. Letters may be either mailed or faxed to the following address or fax numbers:

Starwood Corporate Services
Post Office Box 141609
Austin, Texas 78714-1609

Fax numbers: 512-835-9374 or 512-835-4417

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

William-

I'm unsure if you're glossing over this or not. Your comment about taking the clerk out in back and shooting them leads me to think that you think that the "bait and switch" rate issue isn't a big deal. But then you advise people to contact CS ASAP when this happens.

I personally haven't experienced it, so I don't think it's a pervasive problem. But you know that it takes up travellers' time and frustrates them, not to mention makes them think that they are being taken advantage of.

Seriously- Imagine an unsophisticated traveller showing up at a hotel, and being told that the rate is really $59 more a night than they thought. Suppose that they have also flown all day, and that it is 10 at night, and their company has authorized them to spend no more than the amount the room for which the room was originally reserved. Starts their trip off terribly. They may or may not have brought a written confirmation. It would be most stressful and puts the traveller in an awful position. When it does happen, it's a big deal, and while desk clerks should not be shot, the hotel should hace some sort of penalty for failing to immmediately honor a confirmed reservation. Just my opinion.

BoSoxFan45, the joke about shooting the hotel staff was just that - a joke, albeit probably a bad one. It was meant to interject a little humor into the situation, and followed by a http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif. I am sorry if you found it inappropriate, but if you call Corporate Services and report a situation like this to them, I guarantee it is not something that the hotel will want to have happen.

That being said, I'm not going to get into a discussion about our internal customer service initiatives. It is punishment enough for a hotel to get a Corporate Services complaint. You will just have to trust me on that one. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Personally, I do not think there has been a "bait and switch" in any of these instances. That would mean that someone intentionally attempted to defraud someone else. We would not be in business very long if that were the case, and I assure you that it is not the way this company operates. Instead, I think there has been a mechanical failure (and perhaps a training one as well) that accounts for the discrepancies brought up here. This is why it is imperative for us to work together to find out why. Contacting Corporate Services is the best way of not only reporting the problem, but it also provides for a resolution and a system of accountability.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

I don't think William was making light of the problem, just wondering what the penalty should be for having the problem, aside from fixing it.

But I completely agree that there should be a penalty. In this day and age of CRS's, there's no good reason for a guest to be quoted a different rate than what was reserved. After all, I've never had the experience of putting 59 into a spreadsheet cell and finding 89 there the next time I turn the computer on. It's one thing to be told there is no reservation: that I can understand from time to time. But when a reservation is found and a different rate quoted, people will naturally believe they are being scammed, and I truly believe they usually are. Of course, the scamming isn't necessarily done by the desk clerk you're talking to.

So here's my suggestion: If the hotel initially quotes a higher rate than what is on a confirmed reservation, the customer gets an immediate additional 25% discount. If it's Starwood that screwed up, then Starwood eats the discount. Any hotel that objects seriously to this arrangement needs to be questioned intensely as to why. Numbers do not often change mysteriously within computer systems... reservations either get transmitted or not.

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

&lt;snip&gt;

After all, I've never had the experience of putting 59 into a spreadsheet cell and finding 89 there the next time I turn the computer on. It's one thing to be told there is no reservation: that I can understand from time to time. But when a reservation is found and a different rate quoted, people will naturally believe they are being scammed, and I truly believe they usually are.

&lt;snip&gt;
</font>

Actually, in 1994 a FPU (floating point unit) bug was discovered in early Pentium CPUs:

http://www.computerhope.com/help/cpu.htm

So, perhaps those situations in which properties are listing incorrect rates are just caused by very old computers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

On the other hand, I recently discovered that most Starwoods in NYC have begun to routinely charge at least $5.81 in excess of the agreed upon rate. In fact, during a recent stay at the Essex House, my rate was off by a full $11.62! From what I have been told, this system-wide problem may not be fully resolved until November 15 at the earliest. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LarryU:
On the other hand, I recently discovered that most Starwoods in NYC have begun to routinely charge at least $5.81 in excess of the agreed upon rate. In fact, during a recent stay at the Essex House, my rate was off by a full $11.62! From what I have been told, this system-wide problem may not be fully resolved until November 15 at the earliest. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif</font>

Actually when you check in the hotel, the room key envelope clearly stated that they would charge $5.00 plus tax per day for the energy charge but apologies for the action. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif I too was shock for the steep price that was not included in my original quote. But not all NYC SW charge $5.81, W the Court only charges $2.33 per day.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starwood Lurker:
BoSoxFan45, the joke about shooting the hotel staff was just that - a joke, albeit probably a bad one. It was meant to interject a little humor into the situation, and followed by a http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.

Personally, I do not think there has been a "bait and switch" in any of these instances. That would mean that someone intentionally attempted to defraud someone else. We would not be in business very long if that were the case, and I assure you that it is not the way this company operates. guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com </font>

William- It must just be that the new winking smilie looks like it just ate a lemon. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'm sure that is not the way Starwood operates - we all know that you and everyone in SPG works hard to ensure customer satsifaction. That doesn't mean that certain individuals in a property have an incentive to increase the rate. There could be one rougue individual who feels the need to increase revenue for some reason. It could also be some issue with computers. Lord knows I don't know.

But it is odd that it happens at the same hotel, and that they are reluctant to correct the error. It smells bad, if you know what I mean.

I'm sure that noone in SPG or Starwood corporate wants this to go on.

LIH Prem:

Well, LW found a feather bed, but I'd swear it was just a firm pillow top mattress on mine. I did not peel the sheets off to check however. The bed was still nice, but not up to what I have experienced at other W's.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by OnePassLover:
Actually when you check in the hotel, the room key envelope clearly stated that they would charge $5.00 plus tax per day for the energy charge but apologies for the action. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif I too was shock for the steep price that was not included in my original quote. But not all NYC SW charge $5.81, W the Court only charges $2.33 per day.</font>

I spent nine nights in NYC starting two weeks ago and the W Tuscany and Union Square properties appeared to be the only hotels not imposing the surcharge. The irony of this situation is that it was Hilton's decision to impose a clearly defined energy surcharge at the time I book a room that was the main reason I shifted my loyalties to Starwood in the first place several months ago.

An article in the business section of the Sunday NY Times from August 19 concluded by pointing out that these ludicrous charges bear little relationship with any increased incremental cost of providing energy and have clearly evolved into a profit center. It also stated that all costs should be built into the room rate and advised customers to complain vociferously about the fees and then take their business elsewhere. I have always refused to pay the energy fee and feel obliged to express my displeasure by giving my business only to properties with sufficient integrity to honor the precise terms of a quoted rate.

Very sadly for me, this means that I will not be staying in NYC Starwood properties over the next few months. Sadly for Starwood, they will be losing a minimum of 30 nights of business from me this fall. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif I am planning another trip in a few weeks and I am somewhat unrealistically hoping Starwood will reconsider. In particular, I have always enjoyed staying at the Sheraton Russell and would like to be able to do so before December.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LarryU:
W Tuscany and Union Square properties appeared to be the only hotels not imposing the surcharge.</font>

Hmm...I thought I saw the energy surcharge from W Tuscany last week before they remove it from the bill, may be its just occupancy tax. But I wouldn't skip SW just because of the surcharge. After all, they have some nice propertis in NYC plus I got really cheap rates that's more than make up the misc charges plus upgrade to suite (except W Tuscany no upgrade and put me in a room next to elevator, will never go back given so many options in NYC).

A similar ongoing problem is unauthorized charges that show up after check out.

Two recent problems:
- Late mini-bar charge when I didn't have anything from the MB. (Westin Tabor)
- Coffee shop that tipped itself a buck over what I signed on the slip. (W Tuscany)

Likewise, the point shaving on many of these incidentals. Apparently the system is programmed to exclude coffee shop charges at the Tuscany, despite the explicit policy on restaurant charges.

These things aren't worth the time to argue about individually, but over a year they do add up.

My guess is that reservations entered on-line at the Starwood website are not the same thing that the desk clerks see at the hotel. I believe that each of the hotels has their own reservation system which is separate from the corporate-wide system. That is the only way to explain the different confirmation numbers (i.e., a different number of digits) that are received when one calls a hotel directly for a reservation as opposed to calling the Starwood 800# or booking on-line. Perhaps someone at each individual hotel manually re-enters the reservations the hotel receives from Starwood into its own system and occasional errors creep in. Maybe Starwood Lurker can shed some light on this.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MileKing:
My guess is that reservations entered on-line at the Starwood website are not the same thing that the desk clerks see at the hotel. I believe that each of the hotels has their own reservation system which is separate from the corporate-wide system. That is the only way to explain the different confirmation numbers (i.e., a different number of digits) that are received when one calls a hotel directly for a reservation as opposed to calling the Starwood 800# or booking on-line. Perhaps someone at each individual hotel manually re-enters the reservations the hotel receives from Starwood into its own system and occasional errors creep in. Maybe Starwood Lurker can shed some light on this.</font>

I cannot comment on whether the Starwood and individual property reservations are unique and independent but something like you describe above happened during a stay at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver. In this case, I had booked the reservation via a Vancouver tourism web site and had followed up with a call directly to the hotel. It turns out that reservation information was faxed to the hotel and then transcribed by hand. It was certainly a good thing I called because the data entry person had entered the current date rather than the actual date of the reservation.

While at the W Tuscany, I had a friendly chat with one of the Tuscany "cast members", in which I expressed my appreciation of the fact that the hotel didn't charge an energy fee. We also just happened to talk about the nuances of their reservation system and he told me that their individual reservation system can only pull up rack rates, i.e. in this case, a prospective guest is always better off contacting Starwood rather than the specific hotel property directly.

MileKing, your assessment come very close to identifying the situation, but I would prefer to avoid having to explain it in detail.

BoSoxFan45, I agree. I hate the new smilies, but having expressed my opinion, all I can do is suffer along with the rest of the community. As far as your alleged isolated case of fraud is concerned, what better reason would you need to report it to Corporate Services where a permanent record is made and trends in customer service issues are reported to the Area Managing Directors? There simply is no quicker or better solution for correcting these or any other hotel issues. You are right when you say that no one at Starwood wants this type of situation to proliferate. Without our members providing Starwood's Corporate Services with reports of these types of abuses, we would be crippled in our efforts to prevent them.

LarryU, in case you haven't heard, the energy surcharges are disappearing after November 15th. The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are saved. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

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


BoSoxFan45, I agree. I hate the new smilies, but having expressed my opinion, all I can do is suffer along with the rest of the community. As far as your alleged isolated case of fraud is concerned, what better reason would you need to report it to Corporate Services where a permanent record is made and trends in customer service issues are reported to the Area Managing Directors? </font>

William- I have not experienced this at any Starwood hotel... I was referring to a hypothetical situation that might possibly occur in the scope of reality- and to the experiences of others reflected in thsi thread. I will review my other posts to see if anything in there can possible be misunderstood, and edit accordingly.

In the last two years I've booked over 70 stays, between the website and Travelocity (Sabre), but never had a problem until a month ago. I called the Westin Milan from a different city to check to see if a FedEx had already been delivered, and they didn't show a reservation for me. They handled the situation admirably--they called central res and reinstated it, but was still shocked that a company with over $4bn revenue could not develop a technology such that all reservations in the central system would ALWAYS be available at their property. After all, Starwood is almost the size of Southwest Airlines, and have you ever had to show printed receipt of your e-ticket at check-in because they had no record of you? (I am not talking here of erroneously cancelled reservations or reservations erroneously made on a different flight/date -- we're dealing with CORRECT and VALID reservations that never got there in the first place!)

hillrider, the problem is a little more difficult than it may seem on the surface, but I'll try to explain without going into a lot of detail.

There are many different systems which can be used to reserve rooms at hotels. Many of these are third-party systems such as Sabre, Apollo, Gallileo, Worldspan, Amadeus, SITA, ad nauseum. Starwood utilizes its own mainframe database at which reservations are made/stored using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) called Starlink. While most of our hotels are set up to use either GEAC or Fidelio, the trick is to have each of these systems communicating with one another at all times, so your reservation made online through Travelocity (Sabre) or your reservation made through your personal travel agent through Amadeus or your reservation booked directly with The Westin Milan is as sure as if you had called the Customer Contact Center which uses Starlink.

As diligent as we may be, these lines of communication are sometimes severed due to mechanical difficulties beyond anyone's control. Every attempt is made to recover every reservation whenever this happens, but it is possible for this information to be irretrievable. This is why you can arrive at a hotel with a letter of confirmation in hand and the hotel has no record of it.

I have to admit to limited knowledge in this area, but I do know that these situations are extremely rare. For the moment, we are simply at the mercy of the technology that is available, although what we have now is state of the art. While we may be the size of Southwest Airlines, they are not trying to communicate between airline systems, hotel systems, and the company's own database, so this comparison is a little like comparing apples to oranges.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 09-06-2001).]

I had the same problem at the Sheraton Palace in San Francisco and it took a long time to resolve. I never had such a problem at a non-Starwood hotel. I booked a room at an Entertainment rate through Central reservations and when I got to the hotel the rate doubled. Boy was it a hassle to get it settled and if I weren't a Platinum member I would have probably lost the battle.

onedog & schriste,

how do you get this nice low rates?

onedog,
you did the right thing to call Starwood from your cell phone. I belive they erased your reservation: "rate toooo low"!
You told them the confirmation number, they could have called the reservation center.
BTW, in what country happened this? Nigeria?

Regarding worst rooms for low rates. I find this true for all hotels. With a low rate I always have a room next to the elevator; it happend to me a few weeks ago at Mark Hopkin's SFO.

Starwood Lurker wrote:

... I have to admit to limited knowledge in this area, but I do know that these situations are extremely rare. For the moment, we are simply at the mercy of the technology that is available, although what we have now is state of the art. ...
============================================
First, onedogs reservation was still in the system. The hotel could have "refreshed" the reservation or at least called the reservation center.
Next, "state-of-the-art"? I am not able to book a hotel in Europe on Starwood's website. I get lots of error messages (new database etc. ...)

Can't make use of this offer: "Earn 500 Bonus Starpoints When You Book
Online"

That's what I get:

"Starwood Hotels & Resorts recently redesigned their sites. Therefore, the URL you've attempted to access is no longer valid. Please click here to locate the page you were looking for via the Sheraton homepage.

For worldwide reservation numbers, click here."


[This message has been edited by USAFAN (edited 09-08-2001).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Starwood Lurker:
There are many different systems which can be used to reserve rooms at hotels. Many of these are third-party systems such as Sabre, Apollo, Gallileo, Worldspan, Amadeus, SITA, ad nauseum. Starwood utilizes its own mainframe database at which reservations are made/stored using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) called Starlink. While most of our hotels are set up to use either GEAC or Fidelio, the trick is to have each of these systems communicating with one another at all times, so your reservation made online through Travelocity (Sabre) or your reservation made through your personal travel agent through Amadeus or your reservation booked directly with The Westin Milan is as sure as if you had called the Customer Contact Center which uses Starlink.</font>

In other words....

"lkshfd ksjhr skjdiwe sknhwn skjdakai3ebne (nskhs ksdiwnfrh skh nejkndke aijwn kejskeinti wks ewk33ujnr keinejr sakjne, but uuuber shnuibber NAY djfsien."

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

That you undstand any of that is amazing. My head is spinning.

O.K. It's very complicated. Touche... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif