Hilton IT new & improved cluster bonanza yet again. Points taken from my account.
 

I thought I had seen it all with Hilton Honors IT by now. But boy, did they just create yet another cluster bonanza. Yes, it's endless email time again with the Diamond Desk.

Early June I made a reward booking for a two night stay at The Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A few days later, a special promotional rate comes along. So I change the reservation to a paid booking. The 108.000 points used for the reward reservation of a premium room, are posted back in my account.

I have a wonderful stay at the hotel, use the restaurant and the spa. After the stay, all points post for room charges and incidentals. So all is right. It seems...

Now, six weeks later, I receive a standard email to notify me that Hilton Honors has taken points from my account for a pro-active points correction. No further explanation about the where, what & why. I check my account and notice that I am almost at minus 100.000, because they took 108.000 points out for a redemption stay at Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

I start to doubt myself, so I call the hotel for an email folio copy and check the number of base points credited to my account for this stay. All this shows that it was a fully paid booking. Reluctantly, because I fear what is going to happen, I send an email to the Diamond Desk. My reluctance proves to be justified...

Only 10 days after the last one, I am in a brand new and fresh endless email chain again, in which I am now told that the records show that this was a reward stay, even though I send over the folio and asked if they could check the number of Base Points, all awarded correctly for this booking.

I fear that by now, my wife thinks I am having affairs with Maria, Denise and Shereyne at the Diamond Desk, since I received more emails from them the last few months then anyone else...

Call them. This is too complex for the email people. Their service with email is so poor that I think most initial responses are from a word-scanning computer and not an actual human. When you have them on the line, explain that whatever scam / error is going on with the points is only half the frustration, and ask to speak to a supervisor about the amount of your time that Hilton's customer service has wasted. It's truly inexcusable that their staff is unable to actually comprehend and address many issues on the first try and / or follow previous responses in a subsequent email chain. When they are putting your 108,000 points back in your account, the supervisor should put in some extra for screwing up in the first place and then prolonging the fix with ineptitude.

This is not a new issue with the email staff. Perhaps if Hilton wants to make subtle improvements to Honors, they should look into this.

Since Hilton is certain this was an award stay and you have that in writing from Hilton, dispute the charge with your credit card bank!

That is a brilliant plan!!!:p!!!

Sounds like credit card fraud to me. The actual credit card transaction was correct.

It seems as though the problem is at Hilton (corporate/chain), not the hotel. Why punish the hotel for a problem they (probably) didn't create? Pick up the phone and call Hilton. Talking to someone directly means they can't misread or ignore your email.

Full Disclosure: One of my former hotel jobs involved responding to credit card chargebacks. It's a time-consuming process. Making a hotel spend money on labor costs to defend a charge that you know is 100% correct is not brilliant, in my book.

We were obviously joking. I would never do that for real! The Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is one of my favourite properties and a fantastic hotel.

I think the OP meant to say retroactive points correction rather than proactive. http://cdn.flyertalk.com/forum/image...es/biggrin.gif Always a good idea to confirm the rate and confirmation number when you check-in, and to request both a hard-copy and e-mail folio upon check-out. Sounds like they checked the OP in under the "cancelled" reservation ID? Glad the OP is joking about the chargeback -- there are several FT posts on people burned by this, as HH will gladly suspend your account and embargo all your points. I wholeheartedly agree that talking to the Diamond Desk, even over the phone, can be rather futile, as you have to explain all the details of your case from scratch every time they hand you off to a different representative.

I would send the relevant details to Lauren, our local Hilton rep that posts here. Hilton's email customer service is atrocious, even as a diamond member, so I'm not surprised you are getting the run around.

That's good to hear. Tone is hard to convey out online.

I had a smaller, but similar problem at this hotel over a decade ago (At least it was fairly near the airport). A random $40 charge showed up more than a month after my points stay.

They kept coming up with different excuses, tax on award stay, etc. Finally they said it was a breakfast charge. However, since I was a Diamond, breakfast was free. Took me a lot of emails to clear up.

Hilton Rep?
 

Could I get her email please?

Points stay refundable?
 

I just booked a 3 night standard reward stay at the Conrad Dubai for 210.000 points. My confirmation states that the points are non-refundable. Does the points refund depend on the property or award type (standard vs premium)? I'm also a diamond member: are you entitled to all diamond benefits when booking on points?

points are ALWAYS refundable rates.

you can't even pay with points on a non refundable

and yes you are entitled to all diamond benefits

Maybe I missed something but this is an excerpt of my reservation details:

Rate Details STANDARD ROOM REWARD
Standard Room Rewards allow Hilton Honors members to use points to book free standard rooms.
Room: KING DELUXE ROOM WITH SEA VIEW
Adults: 2, Children: 1
Room Subtotal 210,000 points
Total for stay 210,000 points
Rules & Restrictions

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel for any reason, attempt to modify this reservation, or do not arrive on your specified check-in date, your payment is non-refundable.
Points will be deducted from your balance and a Reward Certificate will be issued at the time of booking confirmation.
Reward value rates quoted apply and are only valid for arrival date and length of stay shown. A printed copy of this confirmation will include the Reward Confirmation ID required for check-in.