Hilton HHonors - Getting Charged for award stays - recurring problem

What is the deal? My last 2 award stays with a Hilton-brand hotel have culminated in discovering charges on my credit card bill a few days later for amounts that are obviously what the hotel is supposed to be Hilton for in the case of an award stay. In each case, I get it reversed, but why is this so difficult for hotels to handle correctly?

I suspect a lot of people who don't review their cc statements as carefully as I do just blow it off; they see a charge for $20 or $30 and just figure I must have charged something there..... or they don't even look.

IS there somebody at Hilton I can Email about this?

I've never had this happen to me - my only charges have been those I made to the room when I was there. But to contest them, I'd think the initial inquiry would be of the properties that posted the charges.

Me Too- last winter at a FLL propert called the hotel- they apologized and reversed the charges.

IS there somebody at Hilton I can Email about this?

Yep. Accounts Receivable at the culprit property.

FWIW, hotel does not benefit from billing you instead of HHonors (which is a separate business entity, of course). It's simply an issue of sloppy billing practices.

If this has happened to you more than once, then I'm skeptical that it is an honest mistake. If the bogus charges are only in the $20-$30 range and you're HHonors points had been deducted, then is it certainly isn't the case that they're billing you the room's rate for the night ($20?).

I'm guessing that they're cashing in guests' HHonors points with Hilton and then hitting their credit cards for low amounts in the hopes that some won't notice. More places do that type of thing than you would expect. In Philly, there's a pretty good Thai place I like that will add $1 over the price listed on the menu for every item on your bill. When you point it out they apologize for the "mistake" and correct it every time. My guess is most people don't notice at all and they rake in a ton of ill-gotten cash.

peace,
~Ben~

If the bogus charges are only in the $20-$30 range and you're HHonors points had been deducted, then is it certainly isn't the case that they're billing you the room's rate for the night ($20?).

Actually, $20-$30 is very typical for the amount HHonors reimburses individual hotels for award nights. And since deduction of points is made by HHonors (completely separate business entity from the hotel), there is no practical relevance of the fact that points were deducted from your account to who is being billed for the room.

If this has happened to you more than once, then I'm skeptical that it is an honest mistake. If the bogus charges are only in the $20-$30 range and you're HHonors points had been deducted, then is it certainly isn't the case that they're billing you the room's rate for the night ($20?).

I'm guessing that they're cashing in guests' HHonors points with Hilton and then hitting their credit cards for low amounts in the hopes that some won't notice. More places do that type of thing than you would expect. In Philly, there's a pretty good Thai place I like that will add $1 over the price listed on the menu for every item on your bill. When you point it out they apologize for the "mistake" and correct it every time. My guess is most people don't notice at all and they rake in a ton of ill-gotten cash.

peace,
~Ben~

However one correct conclusion that can be drawn here is that you are not very familiar with the procedures involving award stays and hotel rembembursment from HH.:rolleyes:

mike

I have this happened a few times, including both award stays and netdirect stays. No big deal! A phone call to the hotel usually solves the problem.

Yes, we can tell how much HH is reimbursing the individual properties...

This happened to me, once...I promptly contacted them and it was reversed. It's ridiculous, and you just have to stick it to them. :p

If this has happened to you more than once, then I'm skeptical that it is an honest mistake. If the bogus charges are only in the $20-$30 range and you're HHonors points had been deducted, then is it certainly isn't the case that they're billing you the room's rate for the night ($20?).

~Ben~

The OP didn't indicate it had happened at the same property. If it had, I might agree with you. I've seen "honest" mistakes before. Sometimes they result from dishonest guests. I recall a BW stay a year ago that included free breakfast. Not all guests had the same rate, and some would have to pay €10 each for breakfast. Every morning, I was asked to sign my name and room number to indicate I had eaten. More mornings than not, some one else had scribbled a line and used my room number. This resulted in shrugs all around (my french in minimal, their english too). If I had a no-breakfast rate and skipped a day, I might have been charged.

If this has happened to you more than once, then I'm skeptical that it is an honest mistake. If the bogus charges are only in the $20-$30 range and you're HHonors points had been deducted, then is it certainly isn't the case that they're billing you the room's rate for the night ($20?).



I doubt that this is the case. I've had this happen to me on two of my last three award stays :(. These stays were at different properties. I think it's just sloppy billing, including sloppy training of front desk staff.

An individual property isn't charging my points and my credit card, since I've already made my award res online and had the points deducted at that time. I then take my award cert to the front desk at check-in. I've learned to check my bill at check-out, especially since I always try to make a few incidentals purchases on award stays just in case the Points Gods wants to inadvertently grant me some stay credits or points... ha!

I only had this be an issue one time when the front desk clerk said she couldn't reverse the charge... only the night auditor could do it. She promised to have it removed that evening when that person came on duty. Of course that didn't happen, and when I got my credit card statement I had to call back, explain the whole situation, and get the manager to credit it back. Basically, a PITA.

There's no reason for this to happen... but it does. And IIRC, it does happen at Priority Club hotels, too (I seem to recall a thread about this over there, too.).

It's all just very disheartening... incompetence abounds, it seems.

To clarify, this was at two different properties that this happened to me. In each case, I checked out officially (usually on the TV) and there was a zero balance before and after I checked out. The errant billing was apparently done later, after I checked out, one or two days later. If it had been on the bill, I could have straightened it out before I left the property... the fact that they do it one or two days later heightens my inherently suspicious nature.

Never had it happen, but that's also why I read bank statements:)

the fact that they do it one or two days later heightens my inherently suspicious nature.

Nothing terribly unusual. Billing to HHonors takes place after you've checked out, and sloppy, poorly trained staff makes mistake on who to bill. Incompetent? Yes. Annoying? You bet. Conspiracy? Unlikely.

While everybody here is grumbling and moaning, have any of you who have gotten points on award stays (and I know lots it not all of you have :) ) and I am not talking about points for incidentals, ever thought that the very same " sloppy billing procedures" were what contributed to you acquiring those ill gotten gains?:D

I personally know of one individual who has gotten, I wager, over 100k points in say the last 5 years alone.

Personally as HH member for nearly 20 years I must be very lucky not have been billed incorrectly on award or any other stay>

mike

While everybody here is grumbling and moaning, have any of you who have gotten points on award stays (and I know lots it not all of you have :) ) and I am not talking about points for incidentals, ever thought that the very same " sloppy billing procedures" were what contributed to you acquiring those ill gotten gains?:D

I'll take the 5th Amendment on that question, but let me say this much -- I love the Waldorf Hilton in London. :D