Melimelo88

I got a successful BRG months ago for a stay in Paris next week (12/29)
Today, a cancellation email arrived out of the blue, since I didn't touch the reservation.
I'm travelling with my family, we need this room.

The hotel is now sold out, I'm sure they kicked us off to install a paying guest in our room.
Unacceptable rude manners.

Any Choicehotels representative/lurker out here ?

ChoiceHotels

Greetings Melimelo88,Please accept my apologies for this inconvenience. I understand this is important and I would be happy to assist. If you would be so kind as to private message us with your reservation or stay details, we would be happy to check into this for you. Please also include your phone number, email address and mailing address in your private message for verification purposes. It would be greatly appreciated.

Paula M.Executive Guest Services

Melimelo88

Thanks Paula for your help offer.

I wrote an email to the hotel.
Front desk representative explained he cancelled my reservation because my credit card was invalid.
He is right, the number was modified a few months ago because of fraudulous use by someone unknown. I tried then to amend my reservation on line with the new number, it was not possible.
Really, they should ask before cancelling...

I provided my new card number, finally they told me my reservation was accepted.
Yet it isn't updated as valid in my choicehotels account as I write. I'll bring print-outs of the original reservation and all emails and hope for the best.
Fingers crossed for my BRG free night to be honored.

kaffir76

Would love to hear an update on how things worked out for you.
I saw a lower rate for a SEA airport hotel at @GODa.com & I'll try to get a BRG as well.
Looking forward to my free night if successful

Melimelo88

Finally we got our room as booked.
At check-out, front desk agent tried to charge us full price, disputing the validity of the BRG "because the room on the comparizon website is not the same". My claim has been validated by the BRG team, at their sole discretion, months ago, I don't think hotel has the power to void it like this.
I told him to discuss this with the BRG team, paid the city tax and off we went.

In my experience, the BRG team may be extremly picky with the rules, but they are fair.
This particular hotel, Comfort Inn Nation Père Lachaise Paris France, is a real pain to deal with, even for a free night. Please avoid.

PilgrimsProgress

Apparently the individual properties are not fully onboard with the BRG strategy. I had a reservation where the BRG claim was approved. The property cancelled my reservation and rebooked me with a different reservation number with no reasonable explanation. When i showed up at the property the FD could not find the reservation and offered to sell me a room at the walk up price. Very unprofessional and borderline scam. As I said earlier though it seems like a disagreement between corporate and the property. As a customer I don't want to get caught in the crossfire. All in all not a pleasant experience.

kaffir76

So here we go - the reply from BRG team :

Hello Kaffir76,
I am glad you are interested in the Lowest Price Guarantee program! After reviewing your claim, I see that the competing website is offering a higher rate than the reservation made with Choice Hotels. As a result, the claim is not eligible for the Lowest Price Guarantee program.
If you find a rate lower than your reserved Choice Hotel on a competing website, you are welcome to resubmit your claim form and we’ll be happy to process your request at that time! Please visit our terms & conditions page for a full list of qualifications, or if you have any additional questions about the Lowest Price Guarantee program.
We hope to welcome you at a Choice hotel soon!
Mike
Lowest Price Guarantee

From:
Sent: Sun Dec 30 2018 11:27:00 GMT-0700 (Mountain Standard Time)
To:
Subject: Best Internet Rate Guarantee Report

Thank you for contacting Choice Hotels International

Your request will be researched, and you will receive a response from us within 48 hours.

Rate Information

Confirmation Number:

Check-in Date:Nov xx, 2019
Choice Booked Rate 87.00 USD
Lower Rate: 80.00 USD
Found at:
https://www.agoda.com


I had to read the email twice more & still cannot figure out how $87 < $80?
I've replied & sent another print screen of the website & the rate is now $74
I'm certain the BRG team will try every means to deny as many claims as possible, it just seems like a futile exercise if they can't be certain that they are offering the lowest rates online.
This just discourages customer from booking direct on the Choice website, instead choosing to book via 3rd party sites.
It's a loss of 20% revenue for them.

ChoiceHotels

Hello kaffir76,



Thank you for sharing these details regarding your recent Lowest Price Guarantee claim. I’m sorry to hear that your claim was not approved for the program. When submitting a claim for a lower rate on a competing website, the room you’ve confirmed must match exactly with the room you have found online for a lower rate. This includes the room itself and all included amenities, guarantee policy, and cancelation policy. The rate must also be lower at the time of our Lowest Price Guarantee teams investigation. If they find that any of these details does not match accordingly, the submitted claim will be denied.



If you would like to send us a private message with your booking details and your name, we would be happy to work with our Lowest Price Guarantee team to review your claim once more.



Thank you again for sharing this information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.



Thank you,



Jose A.

Executive Guest Services

CC: 9307571

Jerrremy

The reply from the BRG team is completely ridiculous. I submitted a BRG request 72 hours before my actual stay, and receive a response that they are not able to see the rate on the third party website. However when i was on the site, i was able to see the lower competing rate still. It is now 48 hours to my stay, how can i escalate this to have it approved?Hello XXX,

I am glad you are interested in the Lowest Price Guarantee program! After reviewing your claim, I have not been able to locate the rate of 218.58 EUR on the competing website submitted on your form. I must be able to verify the rate to ensure eligibility for the Lowest Price Guarantee program. Please know that the Lowest Price Guaranteed program only compares rates that are publicly viewable and do not require a login to be seen.When researching the third party website, the room that matches the one that you have booked through Choice Hotels, became sold out and no longer available.If in the future you find a lower rate, please submit a claim and we will be happy to process them at that time! Please visit our terms and conditions page for a full list of qualifications, or if you have any additional questions about the Lowest Price Guarantee program. We hope to welcome you at a Choice hotel soon! Taylor S.
Specialist, Guest Services
Tel 866.633.4100
Email [email protected]

ChoiceHotels

Hello! Thanks for reaching us here about our Lowest Price Guarantee program. As it turns out, only one claim may be submitted for each stay. I understand we weren't able to meet you with the anticipated resolution, but I hope you can consider us for your future travel accommodations. If there's anything else we may assist with, please let us know. Have a fantastic week! *Julio

JapanFlyerT

I found a rate on a major Japanese booking site for one adult (around $40) that was about $10 lower than the Choice site. I filed a claim and they said they couldn't find my rate, even though every time I went back it was there. I had screenshots but if they can't read Japanese they probably won't understand them. I suspect the BRG team couldn't be bothered to find someone fluent in Japanese. I called twice but was transferred to a recording. I left messages and never heard back. I filed the claim again and they ignored it so I just gave up.

ChoiceHotels

Thanks for shedding some light on your own experience with our Lowest Price Guarantee. While this is an option many guests do consider, it is unfortunate you could not be met with a satisfactory outcome. Your feedback on this process will be relayed to the appropriate parties within Choice Hotels to inspire improvements where necessary. We welcome you to follow up for any other questions or comments or to chat. Much appreciated! *Julio

jason1991

I agree that the experience has been horrible. No explanation, maybe just a robot named Taylor who pretend that he checked the price

ChoiceHotels

Thanks for giving us some insight into this as well, Jason. It's not our intention to cause any strife with this promotion, as this offer is meant to demonstrate our commitment to providing guests with competitive rates. We hope you will give us another chance to take advantage of this guarantee. Send us a message if you have any other questions. Safe travels! *Julio

APPL

Got the same copy and paste reply from Taylor just now.
Apparently he was not able to locate the rate, despite me sending screenshots. He didn't share with me what rate he was able to find, but has assured me it was more than I paid booking with Choice Hotels.
The cheaper rate was on booking.com, I just checked it again, and it's still there.
As others have reported earlier Choice BRG is a joke. I have had some good experiences before with BRG with Hilton, SPG and Shangri-La, obviously few were declined, but they were from really obscure websites, and I was always given an explanation of exactly why it was declined. Here I have ~10% cheaper rate through booking.com, and all I got is copy and paste reply from Taylor.