Originally Posted by
MikeFromTokyo
Excuse me? I don't think it was bad advice at all.
Obviously, a dispute is only an option if the OP has acted appropriately and is wrongly being charged.
If the OP cancelled through customer service, and was told at that point that their would be no charge and the certificate would be refunded, then it should be easy to get this reversed by dealing with Hyatt Customer Service.
Hyatt central reservations / CS essentially acts as an agent between the property and guest. Therefore, if the OP was told the reservation was cancelled and there would be no charge, the property has no right to retroactively charge him, regardless of what they say their "policy" is. The blame would rest with Hyatt CS in that case, and not be the OPs problem. It's unclear to me why OP contacted the property directly.
Thanks for all the tips all.
The HGP Concierge ended up helping me reach an agreeable solution and I've kept the reinstated award booking.
The reason I contacted the property is because I also booked a non refundable prepaid reservation at the PH for the night before (which is still in tact and I plan on keeping). When I saw the charge for $160, I assumed I was overcharged for the prepaid rate, so I reached out to Gold Passport here to confirm, who put me in touch with the property, who then informed me the charge was actually for the cancelled award night.
I cancelled the award booking 20 days before the stay, and the reservation stated 21 days. I was aware of this and wasn't playing stupid, but since it was an award night and only 1 day, I decided to call GP and check if the cancellation fee would still apply as I don't frequently cancel award nights. I think that many properties would have exercised some leniance on this, but clearly the PH Goa is not one of them. As mentioned though, I wouldn't have cancelled if the agent told me this.
I did learn a few things though, and I'll only be contacting Gold Passport on Flyertalk going forward. While this was a frustrating situation, Hyatt GP did come through in the end despite the miscommunications.
As for how I'll be treated during my stay , well that remains to be seen
