mecabq

Can someone knowledgeable please provide an overview of the architecture of these systems? (Not sure if this is the right forum, but there doesn't really seem to be a forum in which this fits.)

I have stayed at a certain out-of-the-way property outside the U.S. more than 15 times. I made the reservations on the Hilton web site each time, and they acknowledged my membership/status at check-in, yet each time the points didn't post. The front desk, naturally, just shrugged their shoulders and said it was "their" fault, meaning Hilton Honors I suppose.

They said that points post "automatically," at which I laughed and said, exactly, there's obviously some problem because they haven't. They told me to call Honors.

After five stays of this, I eventually demanded (politely) that they call Honors. They did, and got all of the points to eventually post. After another five stays, same thing. After another five, again, etc. I kept imploring them that there is obviously a problem with their system interface, or whatever, but no one seems to care.

My basic question is, how do the systems work? The hotel is locally-owned, managed by Hilton somehow. Does Hilton provide the software used by the front desk? Or does each hotel choose its own third-party system (perhaps some klugey locally-sourced solution in this case) and build its own interface? (Of course it's not rocket science, and Hilton must at least provide the protocol.) When one checks out, is there supposed to be some automated interface to the Honors database, or does someone at the hotel have to manually intervene to push the information to Hilton?

I am not cynical enough to believe that this is intentional on the owner's part to save on points (would there be a financial benefit to doing so, other than perhaps IT development costs?), but rather incompetence. They probably get few elite or even repeat guests, and most of the stays seem to be on wholesale packages, many all-inclusive, so perhaps not even points-earning, so this is not a focus.

But how can the systems even be set up to achieve this result? Of course I've had glitches with points posting here and there at various hotels in all chains, like everyone, but never something so systematically ineffective.

I don't feel the need to name the hotel, as the staff have been earnest once I prodded them, and they treat me great otherwise. Perhaps I could call Honors and ask them to look into it.

bbbb

Is your HH # on your final bill or has it been removed?

writerguyfl

When discussing these types of things, terminology is important. Most hotels are franchises (meaning they are locally-owned) that are NOT managed by Hilton. Of the 5,500 Hilton branded properties, only about 285 are managed by Hilton.

The list of properties using Hilton Management Services can be found on their website.
Hilton Management Services | Portfolio of Properties

So, chances are strong that the hotel in question is locally-owned and locally-managed. That fact doesn't really change the answers to questions, but it does matter in terms of who is responsible for fixing errors.

While I worked in multiple hotels, I never worked at a Hilton hotel, so my knowledge is based on talking to colleagues. But, every hotel group requires franchises to use the same property management system (PMS). In some cases, more than one PMS is available. For example, full-service hotels will have one PMS and limited/select-service hotels will have one with fewer features.

I think Hilton's PMS is OnQ. (Don't quote me on that, though.) That would be the US-based PMS. Since the hotel in question is outside the US, it might be different.

Certainly, hotel IT isn't rocket science. That said, it can get complicated when you consider all the different sub-systems that must communicate: Reservations, Front Desk, Key Systems, Life-Safety Systems, Telephones, Entertainment (pay-per-view), Housekeeping, Restaurants, Sales, Catering, and Accounting. In some cases, the PMS must support sub-systems provided by multiple vendors with multiple formats in multiple languages.

I can't directly comment on Hilton's requirements. But, the process of updating Hilton Honors would either be automated or batch on a schedule. One of my hotel jobs was Income Auditor in Accounting. In that role, I audited the night audit. Once I reconciled everything and entered it into the ledger, the system would forward the appropriate information to Central Reservations where frequent guest points were added to guest accounts. So, our points got awarded the following day, except on weekends. Stays for Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays were awarded on Monday.

The financial benefit would be not having to pay for those points. There's no IT cost savings because the franchisee would be required to use Hilton's PMS.

Given what you've described, my best guess is that it's a bit of incompetence. At some point, some employee is doing something incorrectly (or skipping a step). Because this hotel is "out-of-the-way" and potentially has fewer guests who collect points, the management may not even realize this is a systemic problem.

The best way to get a problem fixed is to talk to someone with the power to make changes. Honestly, no one you can reach by phone or email at Hilton Honors is going have that power. You're only hope would be for an Honors representative will send your complaint up the ladder. But, you'd need that request to go up multiple rungs on that ladder.

Unfortunately, it's going to be a difficult task finding the person responsible. Where I worked, that would have been the Regional Operations Manager or Regional Revenue Manager. Those were people who oversaw hotels and ensured that the rules of franchise agreements were upheld.

My advice would be to contact Hilton Corporate. I'd try writing or calling one of the offices listed under the "Corporate, Non-Media Contacts" section. Be succinct and mention that you think there's a systemic issue with how a franchise is handling Honors points.

https://www.hilton.com/en/corporate/contact-us/

I completely understand why this is a frustrating issue. There's no reason why guests should have to repeatedly ask for points to be awarded as promised. That said, trying to fix these problems isn't your job. It might not be worth the time and energy. I'd be tempted to just create a spreadsheet and spend 1-2 minutes submitting a point request after every stay via the Honor website.

Good luck.

mecabq

Thanks for the detailed tutorial. You're right, it's a franchise, surely not a management contract with Hilton. Plan A is to keep pressing at the hotel, and see if there is anyone high enough (like the GM) who would care. It's an oddly bare-bones operation there; in all of my time, I have never seen anyone higher-ranking than a hapless, but kind, front office supervisor of some type. Plan B is to try corporate.

bbbb: Yes, my Honors number is on the final bill.

mecabq

You were prophetic. I tried the "contact us" e-mail form mentioned that most stays had not posted at this particular hotel and could they please check what the systemic problem is (I didn't use the missing stay credit form), and here was the reply:

Even worse than I thought. Typical comically rote response with no evidence that the rep even read my message, much less understood the need to escalate it.

I found some people on LinkedIn with the title Cluster Director for various functions in the region, so maybe I will try them.

craigthemif

I know the OP doesn't want to "name and shame", but apart from general curiosity about @writerguyfl sharing something interesting, I think many people reading this thread will simply want to know which Hilton Honors hotel isn't worth the aggravation...

Orange.Man

Maybe if you proceeded with the verification request you might get a response to your question?

mecabq

I suppose I could send them the confirmation for one of the missing stays, at which point they would probably credit that stay. Might as well just do the missing stay form for each one going forward. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a major burden, but defeats my objective of trying to help them get the process working, which I seriously doubt will result from this "verification." Yeah, I am exasperated at the indifference and incompetence. First-world problems!

COSPILOT

I applaud your efforts to get things fixed but your approach is wrong, as I wouldn't blink at sending a yearly list of confirmation #'s to HH. You have decided to not give a clear history to HH by showing a specific pattern that is easy for them to research. I don't call HH and as them to look into HGI at xyz as though I'm some secret agent. If you sent me that message about my own company without detailed info I'd hit the delete button. Give me detailed info though and maybe something can be done without wasting time.

But I also don't understand hiding which hotel this is on FT. Giving others a heads up on how to deal with said property is helpful, not disclosing may make you feel better, but that's it.

mecabq

Well, I did tell them my name and Honors number, the name of the hotel, and the check-out dates of three stays that still have not posted. How is that not sufficient?

The title of this thread was about me trying to understand the root cause of the issue, partially for my own curiosity about how systems work, partially to engage in FlyerTalk gallows humor, and partially to try to be proactive if I can get the attention of someone locally or at Honors to solve the issue for my benefit and others', in spite of the inability to see the issue on the part of their front-line staff. If a highly loyal customer (e.g., Diamond) did that for my own company, I would appreciate it.

COSPILOT

Still, make life easy and forward the confirmation #'s to them. Your a Diamond, just like me, we are both nobodys in a sea of likely hundreds of thousands.

I had a client that would call and complain to no end and like you gave general info as though we had time to investigate when he could have given us better info, always with threats that we suck, blah,blah. I finally hopped on an airplane to only find out he was hiring crap subcontractors and sent him a bill for the $5K for my wasted time. He is still a good friend and client, but he is by no means my best client. He went from daily complaints to maybe one a year. Same volume $ from him, but he provides incredible detail now, without the daily complaints.

You obviously don't care, or you would have disclosed the property.

Often1

1. If you want help here, the best (only) thing to do is to name the property. Perhaps someone here knows the GM and can help. If you are worried about "hurting" the property, you are not. This won't affect it's bet revenue by a dollar.

2. Front line CS people deal with immediate issues. E.g., if you did not receive credit for a specific stay, they arrange for the credit. Back office functions look at systemic issues, e.g., properties where there are too many complaints and what those complaints are for. If you want to send in a note with a list of the confirmation #'s for all your stays and point out that a large percentage of problems are at a specific property, that is about as far as it goes.