Originally Posted by
khabah
Speaking of the email chain above... I received one of those emails a few weeks ago for my upcoming stay next month. I'm on a rate with a seven day cancellation window and zero prepayment, so I ignored that email thinking it was fishy. I received a second one some time ago, and a third one today along with a written message from a property reservation agent with a Hyatt.com domain that was, frankly, aggressive in that they notified me that I received three messages about the prepayment and if I don't prepay 50 percent upfront, they'll release my reservation as it's during a high-demand season. I responded with a screenshot of my booking informing them that there's no prepayment necessary, and received a copy-paste response of the initial email. Ummm...?
I contacted the Globalist line and brought this to their attention, and after it was escalated to their management circle, I was told to ignore any communications of this nature and they would review it from an IT and internal perspective.
Gross - this almost makes me want to shift my booking to another place.
khabah
Booked this hotel about a month and a half out from our stay, and as noted, I received an email prompt to pay in advance. Going off this thread, I made the payment to ensure our reservation was booked.
About two weeks before the stay, my spouse and I decided to stay at The Marine in Hermanus instead, so we cancelled our HR booking (well in advance of the 7 day cancellation period). All the usual cancellation emails came through from Hyatt, but a week later, I realized from my credit card statement that the prepayment was not refunded. I emailed the hotel notifying them that I wanted the advance deposit refunded, and they emailed back asking whether I would like to have the amount retained as a property credit for the next time we come to stay there or refunded to my credit card. Is this hustle culture, or did the guest services agent not read what my first email said?
Nevertheless, I replied that I wanted the refund, and it posted back to my card the next day. Annoying to have to chase it down. I wonder how many people book this hotel well in advance, change their plans, and forget that they made the sizable deposit.