UpgradeMe
Jun 19, 01, 6:04 pm
I am a ByRequest member. Despite this fact, I had a terrible stay in Raleigh Durham in late April. I mailed a comment card following my stay, and walked into my office this morning to find a voicemail and e-mail from the hotel's ByRequest Manager, offering to make everything right with this and future stays. The exchange that followed went something like this:
Mr XXXXX:
I thank you for your e-mail and phone message of last evening. Yours is the first response I have received from anyone at Wyndham, which means, of course, that I have never heard from Wyndham's corporate offices.
The reason for my ByRequest number not being in my reservation is quite simple: I stayed at your hotel courtesy of Priceline. Whenever I end up at Wyndham through Priceline or Hotwire, I call the ByRequest desk in an attempt to add my ByRequest number to my reservation. Some ByRequest representatives have no problem doing this. Other representatives insist it cannot be done. I usually choose not to argue the matter.
The problem with my stay your property went far beyond that. All Priceline reservations are made with a "request" for a non-smoking room. When I checked in, I presented my ByRequest credentials, and reiterated the request for a non-smoking room. Despite this, your front desk clerk made clear to me I would be receiving the standard "Priceline" room. Only when I entered that room did I discover that it was a smoking room.
I then returned to the front desk, and made clear that unless all of the non-smoking were occupied, I expected to be assigned to a non-smoking room. Your staff finally gave me a new room, but acted as if they were doing me a favor. (Based on the number of cars in the parking lot, I would be very surprised if occupancy exceeded 50% that night.)
When I book a room through Priceline I am aware of all the rules involved, and I do not expect to be assigned to a penthouse suite. However, I do expect to be treated with the same level of courtesy and respect that I would receive if I were paying rack rate, even more so because I am a ByRequest member. My stay at your property fell far short of this standard.
As for frequent flyer miles, the ByRequest literature states that these are available to ByRequest members regardless of the rate paid. Your front desk staff refused my request for mileage credit, and I chose not to fight it. If your offer stands, I would be happy to have you credit my Continental Airlines OnePass Account #XXXXXX.
I do have an upcoming stay (booked through Priceline) for my girlfriend's 35th birthday at the Wyndham Resort in XXXXXXXX on August XXXX. (Wyndham Confirm. # XXXXXXXX.) I have so far been unsuccessful in my attempts to add my ByRequest number to this reservation. Any assistance you could offer in making this stay memorable for her (and for me) would be appreciated.
I thank you again for taking the time to respond.
Sincerely,
UpgradeMe
Within hours I had the following response:
UpgradeMe,
Thank you for your response. I will certainly be addressing the varied issues to my Guest Service Personel & General Manager. I will also forward this to our head of Wyndham ByRequest. You should not be having such difficulties attaching your member number to reservations made with Wyndham
Hotels & Resorts. I have left a message with the ByRequest Manager of the XXXXXXXX property to contact me & make sure reservation is set up for ByRequest. Again, I apologize for the unacceptable way your stay was handled with us. Additionally, you will be credited 500 miles on Continental. I hope to see you again if you are ever in RTP. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Your ByRequest Manager @
Wyndham Garden Hotel of Durham (RTP)
If only all customer service worked like this.
Mr XXXXX:
I thank you for your e-mail and phone message of last evening. Yours is the first response I have received from anyone at Wyndham, which means, of course, that I have never heard from Wyndham's corporate offices.
The reason for my ByRequest number not being in my reservation is quite simple: I stayed at your hotel courtesy of Priceline. Whenever I end up at Wyndham through Priceline or Hotwire, I call the ByRequest desk in an attempt to add my ByRequest number to my reservation. Some ByRequest representatives have no problem doing this. Other representatives insist it cannot be done. I usually choose not to argue the matter.
The problem with my stay your property went far beyond that. All Priceline reservations are made with a "request" for a non-smoking room. When I checked in, I presented my ByRequest credentials, and reiterated the request for a non-smoking room. Despite this, your front desk clerk made clear to me I would be receiving the standard "Priceline" room. Only when I entered that room did I discover that it was a smoking room.
I then returned to the front desk, and made clear that unless all of the non-smoking were occupied, I expected to be assigned to a non-smoking room. Your staff finally gave me a new room, but acted as if they were doing me a favor. (Based on the number of cars in the parking lot, I would be very surprised if occupancy exceeded 50% that night.)
When I book a room through Priceline I am aware of all the rules involved, and I do not expect to be assigned to a penthouse suite. However, I do expect to be treated with the same level of courtesy and respect that I would receive if I were paying rack rate, even more so because I am a ByRequest member. My stay at your property fell far short of this standard.
As for frequent flyer miles, the ByRequest literature states that these are available to ByRequest members regardless of the rate paid. Your front desk staff refused my request for mileage credit, and I chose not to fight it. If your offer stands, I would be happy to have you credit my Continental Airlines OnePass Account #XXXXXX.
I do have an upcoming stay (booked through Priceline) for my girlfriend's 35th birthday at the Wyndham Resort in XXXXXXXX on August XXXX. (Wyndham Confirm. # XXXXXXXX.) I have so far been unsuccessful in my attempts to add my ByRequest number to this reservation. Any assistance you could offer in making this stay memorable for her (and for me) would be appreciated.
I thank you again for taking the time to respond.
Sincerely,
UpgradeMe
Within hours I had the following response:
UpgradeMe,
Thank you for your response. I will certainly be addressing the varied issues to my Guest Service Personel & General Manager. I will also forward this to our head of Wyndham ByRequest. You should not be having such difficulties attaching your member number to reservations made with Wyndham
Hotels & Resorts. I have left a message with the ByRequest Manager of the XXXXXXXX property to contact me & make sure reservation is set up for ByRequest. Again, I apologize for the unacceptable way your stay was handled with us. Additionally, you will be credited 500 miles on Continental. I hope to see you again if you are ever in RTP. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Your ByRequest Manager @
Wyndham Garden Hotel of Durham (RTP)
If only all customer service worked like this.