Hilton Rant
First, here's the note from from "Jon" that appeared in the Frequent Flyer Crier. Then comes my response.
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What's the deal with the Hilton Honors phone system? It seems like everytime you call their 1800-hhonors number, you get put on hold for eternity. It's comical. You hear a woman's computerized voice slowly tell you that all customer service representatives are assisting other customers and then you get "your estimated wait is..... TWENTY..... FIVE..... MINUTES." You get so frustrated with the 800 number that you hang up 12 minutes into it and decide to call the 1-972-788-0878 number thinking that surely since you're paying for this call, that they will pick up. Wrong. And the fax number they give you is ALWAYS busy.
I travel almost 100% of the time for my work. One of the benefits my company gives me is keeping the flight miles and hotel points I accumulate from business related trips. After spending the past 7 months in a Hilton, I noticed that about 5 weeks were missing from my online Hilton profile. I have tried at least 5 times now over three months to have them post my points to no avail. What annoys me the most is that I should have hit Platinum in March but because I stay for weeks a time, and Hilton posts points after you checkout, I will not actually hit Platinum mid June - two weeks after my last checkout. This means I have effectively lost the Platinum level bonus for over 80 days that constituted a single stay.
It's just a big mess.
· Jon
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My response:

Jon, perhaps you should consider changing hotel-program alliances. I am a long-time Hilton HHonors member. Although my experience during my Hilton stays have been pleasant, I find that the HHonors number and the Customer Service Center can offer pitiful customer service.

More often than not, I have faced excruciating waits on the phone, as well as other difficulties. This spring, while trying to place a reservation at the Pittsburgh Hilton I had to make four separate phone calls to set things straight. Each time I called, the operator determined that the reservation was not made, or not made correctly, or the computer system broke down. I spoke to a supervisor who was apologetic and said he would send me a confirmable upgrade to compensate me for all the problems I faced. I never received it. I finally called their corporate office and spoke with Trina Owens and later with Christy Hall. On both of these calls they apologized for the inaction of the agents before and said they would send me the promised upgrade certificate. No certificate arrived.

Cut to Starwood Preferred Guest. What a delightful contrast in customer service philosophy! Your call is instantly answered (only once did an answering system pick up my call and the wait was less than 30 seconds) and rarely are you put on hold. There seems to be a qualitative difference in their commitment to serving their customers. For platinum-level customers, Starwood also has a new program offering Concierge services, an even more personalized approach to customer service. (By the way, Starwood has no blackout dates or capacity controls on awards. I know I have had a difficult time actually redeeming Hilton points). So, call Starwood and ask them if they will place you in their platinum program.