Roger Lococco

Epilogue. Hilton is covering the additional 1 million points required for our stay.

Note--I will advise the board of the final outcome on this issue if it's of interest. I am looking for advice, not for second guessing on decisions made to date or a reminder of the fact that I'm not a savvy traveller. Here goes ...

It has been a very difficult year (family illnesses, work schedule) and my wife and I have decided to take a long overdue vacation. We decide to make this a 'once-in-a-lifetime' type of trip and start investigating potential locations.

1. Maui makes the short list. I go on to Hilton dot com to investigate alternatives. The point chart for the properties turns out to be hard to find, so I try to book reservations, but the reservation screen says I have to call Hilton Reservations for the Grand Wailea (GW) and the Ho'olio. So I call reservations to ask about an 11-night stay for specific dates when I know we can take the vacation.

2. The Hilton Representative is very nice. She goes into the options in detail. In short, a non-descript room at the GW for 577,500 points or a 3-bedroom suite at the Ho'olio for 660,000 points. I am sold on the Ho'olio based on the description, but I don't have airplane tickets yet and the Representative advises me there is a 30-day cancellation period for which we are already in the window. I confirm my understanding of the rooms and options.

3. Based on the first call, I immediately look to book airplane tickets. Unfortunately, reward tickets are not available, but given the opportunity to stay at a suite on Maui on points, I decide to purchase the tickets, which are non-refundable. I'm ready to go to Maui and surprise my wife with what will be a lifetime memory.

4. I call Hilton Reservations back, ready to book the Ho'olio suite--which I now understand is actually a condo. Unfortunately, the Hilton Representative on the second call informs me that the cost of an 11-night reward stay at the Ho'olio is not 660,000 points, but actually 1,650,000 points. I inform him that I literally just got off the phone with a Representative and that I was quoted 660,000 points. He says maybe it is something Diamond Desk worked out that he is unaware of and transfers me. Diamond Desk sympathetically confirms the Representative should have quoted 1.65 million points--she evidently read off the High Season chart for the GW when quoting points for the Ho'olio stay. An honest mistake, but for me at this point a very costly one.

5. At this point I'm in shock. I send an e-mail to Hilton, explaining what happened in detail, hoping they can resolve the situation.

6. The following day, I get an e-mail from the Hilton Customer Service (CS) rep. The CS rep informs me that they listened to the recording of the call and that the points quoted (1,650,000 points for the 11-night stay at the Ho'olio). At this point, I'm now quite frustrated. They apparently listened to the second call, which is not the issue. They apparently did not listen to the first call and the e-mail response implicitly comes across (to me at least) as if I simply invented the story and/or did not understand the difference between the properties.

7. I send a follow-up note to Hilton and copy Diamond Desk.

Question. How can I best get this resolved--what is a reasonable outcome? I would not have settled on the GW in a non-descript room for 577,500 points and might not have chosen Maui for the vacation were that the option. Now I have 2 non-refundable airplane tickets and no hotel reservations.

notquiteaff

What airline? Some airlines have a 24 hr no-penalty cancelation option (eg UA).

Edit: link for more info http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/1/...ithin+24+Hours

Andriyko

I am not sure what's the best course of action here. HHonors should obviously honour the information you were given the firts time regarding the cost of staying at the Ho'olio.
However, if they don't do the right thing do book Grand Wailea. You will love the property. All standard rooms are the same - the location and views differ. Rooms are very nice, and the property is so good (and the island in general) that you won't spend much time in your room.
I know you are disappointed but you will absolutely love GW.

justinc848

This is a tough situation since the original quote was obviously a mistake and I think that forcing Hilton to honor the low rate would be tantamount to forcing a Mercedes dealer to honor a $10k quote on a new model.

I'm not sure of the OP's point balance, however I think 1-2 free night certs good at the Hanoi would be just compensation. 150k pts a night

tinkybelle

If you had BOOKED the suite at that price and had it in writing then hilton should honor

if u did not book but called back and got the other quote then you are toast.

if we thought about all the mistake rates we see on FT and then call back and they are gone then we loose.. this is the same situation.

Keyser

sorry about your situation roger lococco....if you remember the date & time of the first call then you should write an email to the diamond desk & corporate services with those details....

also, you can send a pm to hhonorsrepresentative here on ft....she is extremely helpful & can get your request to the right people....

Flying Lawyer

I agree. As long as there is no signature on a contract, don't make any investment based on it (no different to this situation),

Winecaptain

This one is tough... I agree with the original post in that HH should offer up something. This is about keeping a loyal customer happy, not really about the points. If you are looking to spend that many points in one stay, then I would think that your stay count is fairly high at HH. I would use that as my leverage point with HH Diamond Desk. The last thing that HH wants is a loyal guest going away to Starwood, Marriott, or Priority Club.

I might call one of the others and get them to status match you. Then send the copies of the status match to HHDiamond Desk, to let them know that you are serious about moving your business. At that point, a supervisor will be involved and you can most likely get your stay at the initial quoted rate. It is a lot of background work, but I think that you increase your leverage point significantly when you email a copy of the status match and let them know that you are leaving HH for good.

soonerfanatic

Hmmm. The HHonors reps are a bit clumsy. Kinda like the time I distinctly said and heard the southern rep book me for Whistler and then I receive my booking via email for Windsor......

Good luck with this one. Sounds like you are willing to put the effort and time in on this. Hopefully the Diamond desk may be able to help but I wouldn't count on much here.

JDiver

Oof, hard luck indeed! I have to agree with others - Hilton SHOULD do the right thing, but given the discrepancy of nearly one million points and you had merely initiated an inquiry and not actually booked, it is highly unlikely they will do so, regardless of whether you secure status matches or not - remember, we're talking a million points here... (See Flying Lawyer, tinkybelle and justinc848 above.)

Given the nonrefundability of the airline arrangements, I'd go with Andriyko's advice and enjoy the special time anyway. I'd press HH a little - you may get a free night's stay or two or some points out of them for the mistake, but I'd not realistically expect much more. Life is too short to spend much of it on adversity (unless you earn your living by it - see Flying Lawyer, above ). Sometimes, we have to be flexible and choose our battles.

deant

If you look at the rates for the Ho'olio, it is a minimum of about $1,200 per night and located in the Grand Wailea area. The Grand Wailea goes for less than about $400 per night. If someone was quoted $400 per night for the Ho'olio, it would be an obvious mistake rate and very questionable if the chain would honor it. Just because the rate quoted was in points, rather than dollars, makes no real difference.

Roger Lococco

Epilogue. Hilton is covering the additional 1 million points required for the Ho'olei. ^

I received a call from a Manager at the Diamond Desk. He was clearly in full problem solving mode. Said he would fix this and let me know that when mistakes like this are made it is Hilton's ethic to remedy them.

He called back a few hours later and let me know I would be receiving certificates for the Ho'olei for 11 nights and that I would only be charged the 660k points referenced in the original call I had made.

Within 2 minutes, I received the requisite e-mails.

My wife and I are now set for Maui with 11 nights at the Ho'olei. I am beyond pleased and, as you would expect, another reason to remain loyal to the Hilton program.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this ... I greatly appreciate it.

dave1013

A great Thanksgiving story! Thanks for sharing, enjoy your trip!

bajong

Glad to hear it worked out for you! Hope you and your wife have a fantastic trip to Maui. ^ to Hilton Hhonors for doing the right thing.

cjares

I nominate this for mattress run of the year!