karthik

Aug 28 2006:

I'm editing this, being the top post in a reasonably active thread.

My very first concierge experience was mediocre, as described below. But 95% of them since them have been amazing. The Personal Assistants have gone out of their way to do all sorts of useful information-gathering; the tasks I generally have them do are things that involve doing web research then making 20 - 50 international calls to find the information I need.

A few examples: needed to find a doctor to do a scuba diving medical in a landlocked portion of Australia (thus hard to find one who'd do a scuba medical) so I could start diving when I got back to Sydney after the weekend. They called around to quite a few places and found me a couple who could.

Another example, I needed a scratched pair of sunglasses replaced. I gave them the basic info and where I was, and they got back to me with several locations. Additionally, they'd contacted these locations personally (without me asking them to) to find out what the repair would entail, approximate costs, etc.

They have confirmed various airline policies (baggage, changes, etc) for me more than once when I was unable to do so easily via the web or a call to the general reservations numbers.

Transportation: Always very good at finding me general information. I have NOT used them to book flights (I prefer to do that myself), so I can't comment on that. But as far as knowing ahead of time to find the nearest tube stop when I'm in London, or to find transportation and costs for rail trips, they've been excellent.

Another diving request: They were quite efficient at contacting local dive centers in London to find out locations, timing, transporation, and cost. The friend who I'll be going with hasn't been diving for 7 years, so they made sure to mention that and find out about refresher courses and such for her.

Restaurant reservations: Only used them once so far. I usually do it myself, unless it's a weekend night and I'm planning on possibly getting into several different places, in which case it's more efficient to have them call around. Did that just fine. No better than Amex, and I will say Amex has an edge here just from their name carrying a bit of weight as far as getting one into a supposedly-fulled booked location.

Anyways... In general, they are amazingly pleasant on the phone, great at their jobs, quick and efficient, and in my opinion far superior to the Amex Platinum concierge. From friends with Centurion cards, I've concluded they are at least equal, and most likely superior, to the Centurion concierge. They of course have their occasional quirks; you will want to read the rest of this thread for more information.

Oh yeah: if they don't recognize you by voice, they recognize you by registered phone number. Failing that you just need to give them your name (almost all my calls lately have been to someone who's just recognized me!) They are also very good at keeping a profile with all your info: phone numbers, frequent flier numbers, addresses, random personal preferences, etc. (E.g., them automatically knowing that when I'm in London and need information on destinations to just send me the nearest tube stops without even having to ask.)

---

My original post follows:

I recently picked up the Chairman Card to replace my Amex Platinum, mainly since I'll be travelling internationally more so the Priority Pass will be more useful than the DL/CO/NW lounge access.

Just made my first call to the "personal assistant." Currently in Sydney, was looking for a sushi restaurant. The woman I talked to was friendly, but didn't seem nearly on the level as the Amex Plat concierge folks. (Not to mention she couldn't even come close to pronouncing anything Japanese. Come on, sashimi turning into "samishee?" Okay, maybe she was dyslexic, but then being a concierge wouldn't quite be the right career choice.)

I did like that I got to a human right away (well, one button press); Amex's Concierge has turned into an even worse tree of menus than it used to be. But then she asked me for my name, which I spelled out, and she read back a phone # that wasn't mine (not even the same area code.) And I have an unusual name; I would be surprised if there was another Chairman Card holder with the same name. I didn't get asked for my card number or any other details. I told her that wasn't my phone number, that it was my first call, and then gave her my correct number. She seemed to ignore that. I then asked if maybe she'd pulled up someone else's profile, but she just asked how she could help me (again.)

So I gave up on identifying myself. Got a decent list of restaurants and descriptions matching my criteria. No offer to make a reservation (though I'm sure I could've asked; I'm just used to being offered.) Anyways, the "personal assistant" was polite and friendly, but completely off the ball as far as being a concierge. And what's up with the lack of identifying me? Do they not do things like keep my contact info on file?

I'd appreciate any input from anyone's who's used this service frequently. Did I just happen to get a REALLY bad concierge, or is this about par? If it is, I'm sadly disappointed.

STAM4NICK

The person you reached on your call sounds suspiciously like it was outsourced to a firm in India or elsewhere. I know AMEX uses this route pretty heavily.

karthik

The person seemed to be American, from the use of language, the occasional joke, and such (and I know they try to train them to do that, but I've toured a couple of Indian call centers which makes the differences even more obvious.) It was something like 3AM ET when I called though, so maybe the night shift is just plain bad... I'll see how my experiences go calling during the US day cycle.

I'm pretty sure Amex doesn't outsource any concierge service past North America. As far as I know they use Circles, previously out of Boston, now out of eastern Canada somewhere. (At least for Platinum. I've heard Centurion had the same move to Canada though.) It was rather nice when it was Boston-based since I live there.

anaggie

I use the Personal Assistants heavily and I find them MUCH better than AMEX Platinum...

Maybe you just got unlucky...try asking for Brandy B., she is very good...

Also, once they get to know as you use their service more frequently, they can anticipate what you are looking for as they keep everything in a file...

Now they know how I like to fly, where I Like to sit on an airplane, all my FF numbers, and which area of a hotel I like to stay at...

makes life so much easier...

maulah

WoW! awesome. Is this service also availible for PremeirPass Elite Card?

anaggie

I know that Premier Pass Elite has a concierge service, but I do not think it is the same as these guys...I think that Chairman shares the same conceirge with Diners Club...

Upgrade to a Chairman card...I did it from a Preimer Pass Elite...

awake_at_midnight

I used Citigroup's Concierge last week. I got into an argument with my girlfiriend last week and asked them to help.

1. They helped me find a suitable restaurant, reviewed the menu with me and ordered her dinner for delivery (I was out of town).
2. They helped me find a day spa, got the list of available appointments, and called my girlfriend to schedule it.
3. The day spa didn't take credit cards over the phone. Citigroup convinced them to do it anyway.

They took a little bit longer than I liked to complete the request. Overall, the experience was A-.

awake_at_midnight

When they called me back, I saw a 703 area code.

anaggie

They are based in the US....and they are good at what they do....usually I would rate them an A+...

they usually get whatever I need to get done....

Also, you can give them different credit cards -- such as business and personal -- and then tell them which one to charge depending how it needs to be charged...

Also, you can give them your email address and they will send you an email instead of calling...I find this to be much easier for me...I just reply to their email....

karthik

Okay, after a couple more calls I have to say I am much more satisfied than with my first experience.

Went to the Dubbo, Australia (pop 40k) area last weekend, as well as the little village of Tooraweenah (pop 76). Called and asked for information on the area (Dubbo's small, but the largest population center in a radius of something like 200km.) Got an email back a few hours later with a TON of useful information, both on Dubbo and on stuff around Tooraweenah. There were quite a few bits I hadn't found in my own research online. I was visiting friends in Tooraweenah as it was, but I figured I'd see how the Chairman Concierge fared on this request.

But what really impressed me was my next call...I'd just decided I was going to start scuba lessons in Sydney on Monday, and since I was out of town until Sunday night I wouldn't have been able to both have the required medical exam and get the initial materials on Monday. Called the Chairman Concierge, told them I'd be in Tooraweenah, but reasonably close to the larger town of Gilgandra (pop 2900), and the situation with my scuba medical. Preferably wanted it done in Gilgandra, but down in Dubbo (120km from Toorawenah, but where I was traveling in/out of) if necessary. They called around to a whole bunch of doctors for me and found one in Gilgandra that could do the scuba medical. (Quite a landlocked area, on top of being very sparsely populated, so I'm guessing it wasn't the easiest place to find a qualified doctor for that.)

The one really annoying part... they sent me 4 or 5 copies of each of the last two emails. Most of them were also cced to my cellphone email address (so my phone kept getting nice international roaming MMSes) that I'd told them NOT to use for these requests (but to keep on file.) So it wasn't just a software glitch somewhere; the sent times were different, and the messages were differently addressed since some were just to regular email and others were to regular email+phone email. Anyone else ever run into them sending you tons of copies of emails? I haven't called them back yet so I haven't had a chance to mention it...

So yeah, I'm now suitably impressed with the Chairman Concierge compared to Amex. I don't think Amex would've been able to handle the last two requests, past probably just sending me information on the well-known Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

I think that's the final goodbye for the Amex Platinum. Only thing I'll miss is the SPG Gold status, which I have until 2007 anyways since SPG apparently comped me for the year based on my Delta status. Besides, my $30/yr Starwood Amex gets me SPG Preferred Plus which is basically SPG Gold minus the 50% bonus; Gold-level upgrades and 4PM checkout are still there.

Jennings_JL

I have used the Chairman Card Personal Assistants a few times with mixed results. The worst example was when I was showing some colleagues from the UK, Poland, and Germany around in the U.S. and needed help with a local restaurant. The town we were in was very small, but very popular with summer tourists. I called in hopes that the Personal Assistant service could get us reservations at a local popular restaurant that only has two lunch sittings per day. They could not. However, after asking the lady to find another local restaurant for our group of eight she did find a suggestion, made the reservation, and called me back within fifteen minutes. We ate and then I presented my upscale-black-MasterCard logo on the back credit card to the waitress and she replied, "I am so sorry honey, but we do not accept credit cards." Luckily I was with business colleagues and not clients. They just laughed at me and paid with cash instead. Yes, I was the only American in the group of eight and I was the only one that did not have any U.S. dollars.

Ed Rooney

Some restauranteurs cannot get past the 2-4% they would have to pay to take CC's - very short-sighted of them. I generally carry only enough cash to tip or buy some snacks from the cart girl, so a trip to one of these places requires an extra stop (where I pay $4 to get cash because I haven't opened a new bank account in my new state yet) or else it will clean me out.

ftweb

So you use them to make your travel reservations? What travel agency do they use, and is there a fee for this? I usually book all my travel on-line, because I like to control exactly what flights and booking class I get, plus enjoy the 1,000-mine on-line booking bonus at united.com. Lately, however, I've gotten frustrated enough with bugs in united.com that I would consider using a travel agent...

anaggie

Sorry for the late reply....

there is no fee for this...all included with the card...just tell them what booking class you want...once they have you on record, it gets easier than the first time...first time takes some time since they have to build your record...

they also have all your FF#'s so they just punch the appropriate ff# in the reservation...

cali99boy

Did they pull a hard inquiry when you upgraded? I also have the Premiere Pass Elite card from Citi and wanted to see how the transition was? Pretty smooth? Any questions?
Thanks