Hilton HHonors - Another Hilton clock experience

I plugged in my mp3 player, turned it on, turned to the clockradio to AUX ... and could hear only the faintest whisper of my audiobook. Adjusting the radio volume didn't work; cranking the player up to max voilume produced a somewhat louder whisper.

I called downstairs to mention that my clock volume control didn't work. The clerk informed me that it "wasn't supposed to [had been deliberately "disabled] to prevent guests from 'playing it too loud'." Repressing (barely) a remark that this reflects upon the guests they attract, I expressed my intense dis-satisfaction; the young woman immediately switched me over to her supervisor, who repeated that, yes, the volume had been intentionally "locked"; however, he elaborated that the AUX feature shouldn't have been affected, and promised to "send up someone from engineering" to look into it. Roughly 10 minutes later, a housekeeper arrived bearing a replacement unit, whose volume control was unlocked (for both radio and AUX).

I've noticed a very low max volume before at a couple of places, but thought those were just a few "defective" units. For those who've used screwdrivers to get at the time re-set, did you notice a volume lock in there? I'll start carrying a small phillips if that's the case.

My point of posting is that I found that action incredibly "nanny-ish" of the management. You, too?

I've stayed in the same HGI a number of times. On the first visit the volume controls didn't work, and the radio was quite soft. I chalked it up to being tired, and went to sleep. On subsequent visits the volume controls all worked. Up until now, I'd assumed it was either a defective clock or defective fingers (mine).

Has any one figured out how to change the time. I had some last month that were an hour off for day light savings and was never able to change it.

Has any one figured out how to change the time. I had some last month that were an hour off for day light savings and was never able to change it.
I typically notice the clocks at HGIs to be off about 10-15 minutes.

I'm sure you could have just notified the front desk about daylight saving adjustments. I'm sure they would have done something if they knew.

Has any one figured out how to change the time. I had some last month that were an hour off for day light savings and was never able to change it.

More than half the time, the Hilton clocks are not set for the correct time. Most of the time they seem to be off by 7 or 8 minutes. I had one clock off by about an hour. I called the front desk and they said they would send up a maintenance guy. He arrived within a few minutes of the call. He then took out a small screwdriver and opened up the back of the clock radio. He then depressed a small button behind the cover and started to adjust the time. He said this is the only way to fix the time.

These clocks are a good idea gone bad.

More than half the time, the Hilton clocks are not set for the correct time. Most of the time they seem to be off by 7 or 8 minutes. I had one clock off by about an hour. I called the front desk and they said they would send up a maintenance guy. He arrived within a few minutes of the call. He then took out a small screwdriver and opened up the back of the clock radio. He then depressed a small button behind the cover and started to adjust the time. He said this is the only way to fix the time.

These clocks are a good idea gone bad.

Not just a Hilton thing though. A little bit of difficulty in changing clock times can be a good move though since many hotel guests deliberately put the clocks a few minutes fast so they won't run late, then don't bother to readjust them before they check out. These are the kinds of unconscionable people who do the same to your car dashboard clock when you're not looking, and have their clocks at home fast.
Anyway everyone should always travel with a small screwdriver (even if you can no longer carry it onto an aircraft in your handbag).

The inability to easily change the time is a good thing IMO. I've rarely seen a Hilton clock off by more than five minutes, and I stay in a Hilton property almost every week and have for several years now. When I've been in some other hotels, I've had clocks that were so easy to change that just barely touching the hour or minute button on top of the clock when shutting off the alarm in the morning advanced the time and hour or several minutes. I've generally seen the time more off in hotels where guests could change it than I have in Hilton properties. Only once has the time been so far off (more than 10 minutes) at a Hilton property that I called to have them send someone up to fix it.

However, I love the consistency of the alarm. Too often at other chains, radios are a crap shoot, and usually look like a product of the 70s.

I know how to operate the Hilton clock and actually USE the clock instead of my BBery which I'm forced to do at all other chains. Whether it's an HGI, an ES or a Hilton, I know my clock will be the same.

I like that.

Well I feel better now. I was at HGVG on the strip & the clock hadn't been adjusted for daylight savings time. I looked all over & could not figure out how to get the time changed. I even had a tech friend look at it - with no joy either. Didn't realize I needed an engineer to make the switch; something learned. Kind of stoo-pid though. I just ended up relying on my wristwatch & cell phone. Cheers.

Well I feel better now. I was at HGVG on the strip & the clock hadn't been adjusted for daylight savings time. I looked all over & could not figure out how to get the time changed. I even had a tech friend look at it - with no joy either. Didn't realize I needed an engineer to make the switch; something learned. Kind of stoo-pid though. I just ended up relying on my wristwatch & cell phone. Cheers.

Maybe we should make this thread a sticky http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=491764&highlight=clock ;) but saying the policy is stoo-pid is too kind. :)

as for the volume, I find that it is just fine as long is there is no one in the room talking or moving around. When it is dead quiet, the radio is ok, otherwise plugging an mp3 player into the clock is a waste of time.

Preventing people from changing time is a very good policy. 99% of the time, my clock has been right. The fact that people CAN'T change them, helps keep them right.


Well I feel better now. I was at HGVG on the strip & the clock hadn't been adjusted for daylight savings time. I looked all over & could not figure out how to get the time changed. I even had a tech friend look at it - with no joy either. Didn't realize I needed an engineer to make the switch; something learned. Kind of stoo-pid though. I just ended up relying on my wristwatch & cell phone. Cheers.

Well perhaps if they're adjusted for DST when it changes I would agree w/ you ;) But given I stayed at the hotel 4 weeks AFTER DST went into effect, I would have expected the clock to have been changed by that point. Also I would have no problem w/ the time not being able to be changed if they had a note on the side of the clock saying if there's a problem w/ the clock/time call engineering. I do think it's ridiculous (is that better than stoo-pid ;) ) that any clock has to have the top or back or whatever screwed off to make the time change! Cheers.

Well perhaps if they're adjusted for DST when it changes I would agree w/ you ;) But given I stayed at the hotel 4 weeks AFTER DST went into effect, I would have expected the clock to have been changed by that point. Also I would have no problem w/ the time not being able to be changed if they had a note on the side of the clock saying if there's a problem w/ the clock/time call engineering. I do think it's ridiculous (is that better than stoo-pid ;) ) that any clock has to have the top or back or whatever screwed off to make the time change! Cheers.
I will admit I had problems with the DST change over as well. Overall, I like the idea of not having to mess around with the clock, and knowing it's not been messed aroud with. I've been at Hyatt's where the time is AM when it's supposed to be PM, off by an hour, off by 30 minutes, blinking 12:00... Really, aside from maybe 1 or 2 DST related problems, and most clocks being about 4-7 min fast, not too much to complain about. (which, there's nothing wrong with if it gets the hibitually late to work on time ;)).

However, I love the consistency of the alarm. Too often at other chains, radios are a crap shoot, and usually look like a product of the 70s.

I know how to operate the Hilton clock and actually USE the clock instead of my BBery which I'm forced to do at all other chains. Whether it's an HGI, an ES or a Hilton, I know my clock will be the same.

I like that. I agree and am happy they are all the same. I just wish it was easier to change the time. Calling the front desk late at night is a pain, since I do not notice until I am ready to go to bed.

For the most part, I like the clocks. I rarely use the alarm and rely solely on my cell phone and a wake up call. Works beautifully! ^

On a side note, I've stayed at a couple of Marriott properties lately around the country and all of them (including full service Marriotts) had clock radios that looked like they were straight out of the 70's. Sure, I could change the time on them if I needed to; but I also had to play "spin the dial" to get a radio station to come in clearly. I'm glad Hilton has joined the 21st century and has digital tuners in their radios, at least!

Well perhaps if they're adjusted for DST when it changes I would agree w/ you ;) But given I stayed at the hotel 4 weeks AFTER DST went into effect, I would have expected the clock to have been changed by that point. Also I would have no problem w/ the time not being able to be changed if they had a note on the side of the clock saying if there's a problem w/ the clock/time call engineering. I do think it's ridiculous (is that better than stoo-pid ;) ) that any clock has to have the top or back or whatever screwed off to make the time change! Cheers.

I think stoo-pid is the right word as my mother taught me never to use the word stupid when talking about other people, in fact, she didn't like the word stupid at all, and ultimately these policies are made by people. :)

I'm with you, if the clock had the right time, it wouldn't be a big deal, but making us feel stupid because we can't figure out a clock is a royal p-i-t-a. And I have tried to turn up the volume too many times without success. imho, those radios look like a good idea, but don't quite deliver.

I had the same experience at an airport hotel - in another time zone than my home zone, and departing the next morning on a transocean flight, a week after the daylight time change. I was a technician in another life ;) on global immediate response / troubleshooting alert - no way to change the time without going to the internals. IMO they either have to make the time user-adjustable or be very strict about setting these to +/- the correct time.

(You have to wonder how much more expensive it would have been to volume purchase these clocks with a requirement for "Atomic Clock" once-a-day setting, in this day and age, and how much housekeeping staff time that move might have eliminated.)

Well I feel better now. I was at HGVG on the strip & the clock hadn't been adjusted for daylight savings time. I looked all over & could not figure out how to get the time changed. I even had a tech friend look at it - with no joy either. Didn't realize I needed an engineer to make the switch; something learned. Kind of stoo-pid though. I just ended up relying on my wristwatch & cell phone. Cheers.

The DST problems were because USA DST rules changed this year to start earlier and end later. The Hilton clocks have a built-in DST change based on the old rules.

I have one of these at home, and for about a month it was wrong until the "old" DST weekend, when the clock automatically adjusted. Same thing is going to happen this fall when it falls back to Standard Time on the "old" weekend while the US is still on DST another few weeks. Unfortunately there's no way to download a patch to the clock.

I have run into a lot of hotels where the Hilton clock radio's volume wouldn't adjust. That's plain broken. I'm pretty sure the guy at the desk was just making up a story to avoid having to send up a new clock.

I have run into a lot of hotels where the Hilton clock radio's volume wouldn't adjust. That's plain broken. I'm pretty sure the guy at the desk was just making up a story to avoid having to send up a new clock.

Thanks.

The young woman who answered the phone first seemed quite certain that the volume was locked-on-low on purpose as per management policy, which immediately made me think "Oh? You cater to inconsiderate people as regular guests at this Hilton? Do you 'lock' the TV volume, too?" Not the impression I'm sure they'd like to give. For what it's worth, the volume could not be lowered on that original clock either - neither UP nor DOWN worked.

I would like to know, from someone who has actually unscrewed the control panel, whether it is possible to "lock" the volume?

Just an FYI - the manual for the retail version of the Hilton clocks can be found here:
http://www.timexaudio.com/pdf/T622_IB58972_84.pdf

The "lock" button seems to be intended to disable the changing of the presets. There's no mention of it locking a maximum volume level, but that could be an undocumented feature.

Note that on the retail version there's a nice thumbscrew which holds the top cover in place. On most Hilton clocks I've seen, there's a Philllips screw.

Thanks for the link!

I'm going to assume the volume thing is a defect in this model (as I have encountered this issue a couple of times elsewhere); tough to believe the hotel staff would outright lie to guests with such a story, but I became quite suspicious when the "supervisor" told me that only the radio volume was "locked" and that the AUX was supposed to go to maximum. That made no sense to me whatsoever. I would now put my bet on the housekeeper having been instructed to bring me a radio from an un-occupied room.

very infomative post. I alawsy noticed that my alarm wouldnt play load enough (i am a heavy sleeper) never once thought it was intentional.

No if only the guy in the room next to mines cell phone wouldnt keep ringing all night and morning I had no trouble hearing it

Yeow! Great info; thanks for that! ^

(Prefers 777-223ERs) ;)

Just an FYI - the manual for the retail version of the Hilton clocks can be found here:
http://www.timexaudio.com/pdf/T622_IB58972_84.pdf

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I stay at a Hilton property about once/week and like the fact that all properties use the same clock. They are easy to set and reliable. I have never had one fail on me in the past 2 years. I have noticed that they tend to run a little on the fast side. I don't see what the big deal is...these clock are 10 times better that the crap they used to have when all the hotels used a different clock and you had to figure out how to set it after flying and dealing with the airlines all day. :p

Yeow! Great info; thanks for that! ^

(Prefers 777-223ERs) ;)

Triple 7's - they're all good! ^ My personal favorites are the ones that take me to The Hilton hotels in Hawaii. :)