Another silly excuse from BW :td:

I have found them to be difficult and unreasonable. One time, I found king which was cheaper than BW king. They denied me saying that their "internet rate" was cheaper, which it was. But I was comparing same for same. The king rate that I found was fully refundable. When compared to BW king rate that was fully refundable, my find was cheaper. Denied. This is how they treat their diamond members.

International BRG Claims Work!
 

Hi All,
Longtime FT lurker, just thought I'd share my experience. I couldn't find anywhere if BRG's worked for international properties, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I found the Best Western


Thank you for contacting Best Western International.
We have processed your Low Rate Guarantee Claim and the claim has been approved, your new rate is 7001 JPY per room per night inclusive tax.
The price of 4847 JPY you gave us corresponds to an Economy room, smoking room with advance purchase, which is not similar to the room booked on Best Western. However expedia.com offers a standard double room, non smoking that matched your best western reservation. Your new price has been adjust to the price offered for this room inclusive of taxes.
Additionally, this would qualify you to receive the Virtual Travel Card loaded for an amount of $ 100.00 once the stay has been completed. Please be advised that it will take about 2 to 3 days after completion of the stay to receive the travel card.
To complete our records we kindly ask you to provide us with your complete home address.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please let us know and we appreciate the opportunity to be of service.

I was certain the conditions were the same (Free Cancellation of cource) but they fought me on it. The difference is about $20USD but after everything, they'd be paying me $30USD to stay there a night so I wasn't going to complain. Just to be safe, I used Expedia Japan so the currency would be the same.

I wanted to go for more (greed), but reading the TC's they limit the BRG claims to 1 per month. Anyone have any experience on how strict they follow this?

Cancellation policies are NOT part of the BW BRG. It's lowest price available for the type of room booked. This will usually work out in your favor compared to other BRG programs, since essentially any rate you find for comparison will work.

It's probably "Economy room, smoking" vs. "standard double room, non smoking" that's the difference. Especially smoking vs. non-smoking. Probably nothing to do with the rate rules themselves.

Anyone can helps for explain why they denied my BRG.
As I check with T&C, it is should be ok.

"We have processed your Low Rate Guarantee Claim and the claim has been
denied for the following reason:

Getaroom.com lists the following regarding the rate, "stay 1 nights and
save 10%". Because the 10% is a sale from the 3rd party website, the
claim would be denied."

Weird. Last night, I'm using the meta search engines looking for hotel deals in Germany and I find a Best Western that I'd like to stay in on HRS.com for about 30 euros cheaper than the bestwestern.com rate (or anyone else's rate). I don't stay in BW's very frequently (crummy loyalty program, I guess) but I recall they have a BRG. I pull it up: it says "North America" only.

http://www.bestwestern.com/deals-off...ates-terms.pdf

I give up, and just book the room on HRS. And now I see your comment. :)

The problem though would have been that the rate in non-refundable. Not sure how you deal with that in a BRG scenario. It's too risky.

Another claim denied by the BW bull**#&! BRG policy. :mad:

I booked a best available rate.
I found another "best available" rate on a competing website that was much lower.

They denied me stating that the "advance purchase" rate on their website was lower that the advance purchase rate on the other website (which is not what I booked).

This is a valid answer? Where does it state in T&C that they can compare my BRG using a different rate? It says "RATE." I'm comparing the rate that I booked to that of another webiste. Someone please explain...if there is any explanation...

They seem to compare apples to oranges, then they deny you. This has been a recurring theme.

From digging around the internet, here are examples of BRG terms from Best Western websites - that seem to say that they CANNOT assume a different payment type:

"same room type, dates and length of stay, number of guests and rate payment requirements (e.g. full prepayment requirement) and restrictions"
http://www.shorecliff.com/best-rate-guarantee-en.html

"same room type, dates and length of stay, number of guests and rate payment requirements (e.g. full prepayment requirement) and restrictions"
http://www.bwsheltercove.com/best-rate-guarantee-1.html

"The competing rate on another web site must be for the same hotel, dates, room type, number of guests, currency, payment requirements and must be publicly viewable and bookable via the Internet at the time the claim is reviewed by a Customer Service Specialist"
http://www.adirondack-inn.com/best-r...rantee-en.html

"The competing rate must be for the same room type, dates, deposit and cancellation polices as well as restrictions. For letting us know, we will not only match the lower rate; we will give you an additional 10% off."
http://www.bestwesterncharlottetown.ca/best-rate-guarantee

"Comparison Shop - Find a better rate on another website with the same criteria: hotel, room type, date, payment type and number of people."
http://www.bestwesternsiliconvalley....rantee-en.html

"according to these conditions:
The lower room rate is still available, when we check it and online booking is still possible.
The lower room rate applies for the same room type, you’ve booked online at the:
Same Hotel
Same dates
Same Board
Same booking conditions (non-refundable, breakfast included etc.)"
http://www.spreewaldhotelbestwestern.com/best-rate-guarantee


So what gives? These are just a few examples that I pulled up in 10 minutes. Either the hotels are each individually allowed to determine exactly what the BRG terms are (highly unlikely) or corporate doesn't play fair when a BRG is submitted.

If anyone knows the attorney or firm that represents Best Western, please post that information here. I'm going to file a complaint to their legal dept.

same scam from BW reps here..my claim denied on the basis of their internet prepaid rate being lower than the best available.Meantime they adjusted the rate to be same as the lower one I found on priceline.

After writing this I realized that I should now claim a BRG against their adjusted lower rate .Will see if they found something else to deny.

One can always respond to those denial emails. I've kept submissions alive that way. Maybe copy and paste my examples (above) and see if that will work? It doesn't seem right that they can compare apples to oranges (although they try) - the RATE you selected is the rate you selected, and that is the rate in question.

Maybe that will work for people here. I hope so.

thank you BillyBaloney. Now they replied to my second BRG saying that they adjusted my rate to match the lower rate on their own site,however no word if this is actually an approved BRG or just a rate adjustment.

They did exactly that to me as well. I replied to that email, and said, "I see you have adjusted my rate...I was wondering when I can expect to receive the $100 travel card..."

(We know it takes weeks, I just wanted to get a confirmation from them that it was an approved BRG)

They responded in an hour or so stating "4 to 6 weeks after the stay is completed." Bingo. Now I got it in writing. So use your adjusted email and reply again and ask the same question. I predict you will get the same type confirmation-reply. That is my best advice.

:D

I tried this and shortly after they replied that travel card arrives few weeks after stay is completed.I asked very clear if my BRG is approved but no words about that.well I'll take it as yes will keep the email as proof.

I just attempted one in Brookings, Or. I paid $199 which was the lowest price on bestwestern's site. Travelocity, Priceline, and Expedia had the exact same room priced at $144. I was denied because they said that their price is also $144. Well, yeah your price is $144 now that you saw my claim and have changed it!!! Anyone have a similar experience or a suggestion on further action? This is kinda ridiculous. If they always do this they would never have to pay out the gift card... UGH