nsr

Not all pre-paid rates generate a voucher. Expedia and hotels.com don't send you a voucher (they usually book directly with Hilton). Other websites like gtahotels.com are consolidators who buy rooms at specific hotels and send you a voucher to redeem at the hotel.
Anyhow, buying a prepaid non-refundable rate from Hilton is highly not recommended, as there is a 100% chance they will deny your BRG for reasons that are not documented in their BRG (See the many excuses in this thread) and you'll get stuck with their high rate.

lfc84

I got my BRG fulfilled, but only after complaining to the regional head office and also emailing a number of high up people.

Hopefully things will improve for other claimants.

edthomas

The Guanratee is bogus. Hilton will not honor the Best Rate Guarantee when their own site lowers the cost. I paid the advance price, saw that the hotel lowered the rate and filed a claim which they would not honor. Never pay a non-refundable rate to Hilton assuming they will "cover" your if they lower their own prices let alone a third-party. It's a game you can't win (Call me Bogus Claim Case 7588325)

amanuensis

I agree that it would be good customer relations for Hilton to work with you on your complaint. But I don't think that the Best Rate guarantee was the best route to use to make that complaint. The terms of the guarantee don't promise anything about Hilton making price adjustments in situations such as yours. When I buy something that is labeled "nonrefundable" I assume that any refunds subsequently made (and a price adjustment is a partial refund) would be discrestionary on the part of the seller, not obligatory, assuming that the good or service is provided as described.

serfty

Welcome to FT edthomas

I [just about] agree with you that it's "A game you can't win". They make it hard.

Anyway, your situation is excluded from the "best rate guarantee" since you are comparing a Hilton Family booking channel rate with a [later] Hilton Family booking channel rate.

This "Guarantee" only relates to publicly available rates on non-Hilton Family booking channels (except for "opaque" websites) when compared with the rate of an existing Hilton Family channel booking.

The T&C were most recently listed by DaddyRabbit in post #802 of this thread.

NB. Even without this non Hilton family booking channel exclusion you may have also been ineligible if the reduced rate became apparent more than a day after the initial booking due to the "within twenty-four (24) hours of booking your reservation" clause.

Zurich Flyer

May I kindly ask you to provide me with the contact details of those people? I may also need to escalate a case.

Any recent experience with Hilton's BRG?

BKKLEE

^
Hotel: Conrad Centennial Singapore
Arrival Date: June 10, 2011
Departure Date: June 12, 2011
Hilton.com rate: 411.12 (equivalent of SGD)
Currency: USD

COMPARISON RATE INFORMATION
Lower rate found or reserved: 388.56 (Expedia)
Currency: USD

We have reviewed your claim and will make refund to you of USD 77.56 (difference plus $50 as this is international property)

Note: this is ONLY my 2nd successful BRG over a 10-year period!

kempis

Have anyone managed to a BRG claim confirmed when refering to a webpage in a different language(in this case Swedish)? I have found this swedish webpage that always seems to be a few crowns cheaper then hilton.com, same kind of rate(ANY WEEKEND ANYWHERE including breakfast).

If they refund 50$ I can get Hilton Stockholm Slussen for just 77$, very tempting..

kempis

I just sent in a BRG for Hilton Stockholm Slussen, will report if I manage. Price is about 3SEk cheaper on the other page, both pages quotes prices in SEK so no currency exchange issue as far as I can tell.

Update from my best rate claim. They did deny it but I am not giving up yet.

GJS - yow

It looks like the successes are few and far between. I tried a few years ago, and although meeting ALL the terms and conditions, was denied the lower rate. I tried moving my request to a higher level, but was repeatedly denied.

Anyway, I submitted another request this morning. I should know shortly whether things have improved, but I'm not expecting anything.

chokdee

I sent a Hilton BRG form off last night about 20 mins after making a confirmed reservation for March 2011.

I got this reply about 7 hours later from one of Hilton's 'Guest Assistance Specialist's' in the US.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a claim form regarding Our Best Rates. Guaranteed. We have reviewed your reservation.

Claim forms or phone request must be received within 24 hours of the time the original reservation was confirmed and at least 72 hours prior to arrival at the hotel; therefore your claim is not valid.

We realize that every guest has a choice when traveling and we thank you for making Hilton your choice. We look forward to the opportunity to serve your future travel needs.



Regards,



There was not even so much as a 'Dear Mr Chokdee' on the reply and one can only guess that a BRG ' Specialists' job is so boring that their minds are anywhere but on the job in hand.....

chokdee

I would like to make a record here of by dealings with the Hilton BRG program which hopefully will give due warning to others that this will be a fruitless and frustrating experience.If you are looking for someone to be honourable with their BRG promise then I would sincerely advise you to book with a competitor such as SPG.With these people you at least have a chance of genuine success.With Hilton you are left with the impression that you have been dealing with a bunch of cheats.

Here are my dealings...make of them what you will...

This goes on a bit mind!

1) Hotel booked for March 2011(refundable rate) and BRG form submitted within 20 minutes to Hilton.
7 hours later this reply:-

Thank you for taking the time to submit a claim form regarding Our Best Rates. Guaranteed. We have reviewed your reservation.
Claim forms or phone request must be received within 24 hours of the time the original reservation was confirmed and at least 72 hours prior to arrival at the hotel; therefore your claim is not valid.
We realize that every guest has a choice when traveling and we thank you for making Hilton your choice. We look forward to the opportunity to serve your future travel needs.

How they came up with this I can only imagine..but it proves they are not really interested in looking at your claim. It is just a rush job to palm you off in any way possible as per what is presumeably Hilton company policy.

2)Anyway I point out to the customer service person that if she cares to take another look at my BRG form she will see(well hopefully)that the claim is well within 24 hours and my hotel stay is not until March.

And then I get this reply:-

Thank you for taking the time to submit a claim form regarding Our Best Rates. Guaranteed. We have reviewed your reservation.
The reservation booked could not be verified as your reservation for the 78 rate is for a classic room. With Hilton you have a king room booked. therefore your claim is not valid.
We realize that every guest has a choice when traveling and we thank you for making Hilton your choice. We look forward to the opportunity to serve your future travel needs.
Regards,

3) So I reply again pointing out that the King room booked is indeed a Classic room as per the Conrads own description on their website

Part of my reply:-

KING GUEST ROOM The Conrad Bangkok's CLASSIC king-size hotel guestrooms offer 41 square metres (436 square feet) of contemporary Thai-style luxury with beautiful silks and natural wood. Enhanced features include 30 MB in-room Broadband and Wireless Internet access (chargeable), a unique glass wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom with a free-standing bathtub and separate shower stall with both handheld and deluge showers.

The description Classic King size guestroom is how the Conrad describe this particular room.
Let me help you further with a link to the general room descriptions on the Conrad web site:-

http://conradhotels1.hilton.com/en/c...tyhocn=BKKCICI

Here is what you will see:- Classic room King-size bed (The clue is in the heading) The Conrad Bangkok's Classic king-size hotel guestrooms offer 41 square metres

4) And the only reply I get from Miss Cut and Paste as I have nicknamed her now is:-

The reservation booked could not be verified as your reservation for the 78 rate is for a classic room. With Hilton you have a king room booked. therefore your claim is not valid.

Although the 78 rate should read 75 but attention to detail is hardly one of Miss C&P's strong points.

5) So as others have advised to persist that is what I do and write...

As a further piece of evidence that the room I booked on Hilton.com was indeed a Classic room I have inserted this link:- http://<br /> <br /> https://secur...equestid=95979

FT'ers-please note that this link will not work. You have to re-enter as a new booking on Hilton.com with Classic room selected as your preferences.

If you take the time to look to the right of the screen you will see my preferences as Classic room. If you look above the room choices you will see the following:- Your Preferred Room is indicated below..(.shows a small orange arrow against all King rooms)...proof beyond any doubt that the King room booked is indeed a Classic room as per my preferences

And the reply..yep you guessed it:-

The reservation booked could not be verified as your reservation for the 78 rate is for a classic room. With Hilton you have a king room booked. therefore your claim is not valid.

6) By now(if not long ago) it is obvious that Hilton are not going to look into my case at all or even reply to my points but I none the less decide to go straight to the horses mouth and contact the Conrad direct as to what the Classic room really is and here is the Conrads Bangkoks reply:-

Dear Mr Chokdee, ( This is the first time that I had been politely addressed in my entire dealings with the Hilton)

Thank you very much for your e-mail to Mr. Pieper, please allow me to
reply on his behalf regarding your below inquiry.

Please be informed that Classic Room is the same room type as "King
Guest Room" and "2 Twin Beds Guest Room". We have changed the name of
this room type since September last year. But in some third party
websites they haven't updated the name yet so it still shows "Classic
Room" in their websites.

Should you require any further assistance or information please do not
hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

Arunwan Klai-in, Ms.
Reservation Manager

So I send my final email with the above acknowledgement from the Conrad BKK to Hilton BRG ...not in the hope of getting anything since I have now cancelled my Hilton reservation and will be booking elsewhere, but just to get some personal satisfaction that I have proven my case and also proven beyond all doubt that the Hilton BRG is no more than an elaborate publicity SCAM.

I have received no reply to date.

As I have said,make of this what you will, it is your decision whether you choose the Hilton for your stay but my advice in the the Hiltons own words would be 'I realise that every guest has a choice when travelling but think very carefully before making the Hilton your choice particularly where the BRG is apllicable!'

Happy BRG claims all!

chokdee

BKKLEE

Seems I was premature in giving this a thumbs up as since I received the approval of my BRG I cannot get anyone at Hilton to respond to the actual receipt of obtaining the differential cost + $50.

Hilton can now expect a (legal) claim for fraud and false advertising as well as breach if contract as that's what attorneys do when they are screwed over!

BKKLEE

Had to go up to the Director of Guest Assistance/ Customer Services to get this situation resolved but finally got reimbursed pursuant to the terms of international BRG.........

GJS - yow

Rejected (of course) - because I booked a King room, and the competition offered a King or twin at a lower price. A quick phone call to the competition confirmed that either a king or a twin room could be requested - no guarantees as to the room type, same as with Hilton direct bookings.

I called the Diamond Desk, and they supported the BRG position, until I told them that the other site allowed selection of the room type. I also emailed them links to a number of sites offering lower rates, though not as substantial as the one I was claiming. The DD agent called the hotel in question, and gave me a compromise offer. I got the lowest rate, but not the $50 compensation. I'm satisfied with this, as it is better than I have fared before.

Overall, the BRG program is a travesty. One would think that it would be less expensive for Hilton to just honour the claims, rather than paying salary and benefits to people at BRG who just deny every claim that comes their way. This must antagonize and alienate at least some of Hilton's customers.