Don't Ever Give Up - Account Hacked - Happy Ending
 

I only came here because as I was on the phone with my heart racing and ready to do something really bad, this site helped save my situation. I saw another thread here with yet another Choice Hotel account hacked. Maybe the person that hacked me will see me and laugh. Well I'd rather help those and take that chance. Anyways, here is what happened and why Choice Hotels has both the worst and best employees.

Came home and saw I had an email with a notice from Choice saying my account was updated and if I didn't, to call their number. Well I called because I didn't update crap and having traveled in over a year for obvious reasons. So this is where my evening goes to hell. First person kept going in circles. For those unaware, when you are hacked by Choice, you are SOL outside of being able to say your name and your account number. They either have no history of your address or phone number changes, or their system is so outdated I don't even want to imagine it. Anyways, I say my info and I'm told it doesn't match. This goes on for 20 minutes. I want to talk to someone else and I keep getting told there is no one else. I almost start thinking I'm talking to the hacker himself. I eventually calm down (not really) and say I will be calling HQ.

Second person I talk to is from another line on the website. I make some progress, but still don't really get through. I am told to try to recall the last place I stayed at. I finally remember that my receipts are located some place else so I call back again. But voila! Before I call back, I'm redirected to a sales person giving me an offer to a new vacation. Are you serious??? I tell the dude I got to call someone else back.

Third person I talk to is the winner. I guess persistence pays off or something. However, it might have been luck too. Who knows what happened. After solving my issue and allowing me to reset the password, I am finally able to login. I am not able to see the history of the address changes so not sure what kind of system is running on Choice's end. Anyways, that line gets cut off toward the end and I try calling back and it's more of the same.

Moral of the Story: don't give up, don't have heart problems, and keep CALLING!