Roluke

Hi, I just became a Diamond member on January 1, 2019. So I figured I would stay at Hilton chains during my drive cross country. Incredibly, not one location acknowledged my status ( I verified that my account said Diamond). All locations charged me for premium internet. All locations did not offer snacks. I was not given one room upgrade. Incredibly at the Embassy Suites location in Destin, I politely asked why I was not given any snacks when checking in and the front desk representative said my setting probably said I don't want them. Okay, that could be a possibility. I checked my settings and they were actually set that I wanted snacks. Well, the next morning, I politely advised the front desk at check out that my settings were set for snacks and I appreciated them telling me about the settings on my account. Well, the front desk representative went haywire on me. She said it was my fault regardless of the settings. I should have called before arriving asking for snacks. It is your responsibility to let us know. We will not just hand you snacks or ask if you want them. She kept going on about how it is my issue and don't bother them. I was shocked that I was being lectured to. Rather then thank me for being a Diamond member and ask if I wanted the choice of snacks now or getting 1000 points, I was yelled at and lectured too! Incredible. I called the front desk manager and he said the front desk representative was wrong and handled it terribly. He said I would get the 1000 points and apologized. Did I get the 1000 points - No. Really, the points and snacks are not my problem, the problem is the treatment of their top tier members. I really felt it was a waste of time getting Diamond Status. I should have not wasted my time and perhaps stayed at Marriotts'. Being yelled at and dismissed by the Destin Embassy Suites really threw me for a loop. Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.

squeakr

How to get more compensation? 100 points seems fair and it may take a few days to get to your account.

Roluke

Has anyone had this type of experience? Do you request upgraded rooms or perks when checking in? Is Diamond status even worth it?

submonte

As Diamond VIP I always felt treated like a king. The lower scale the brand, the less benefits can be provided, no matter what chain you chose. From a missing snack to conclude that Hilton top tier members are treated not accordingly, is an impermissible generalisation, and unfair. Where did you go, at what hotels did you stay?

LondonElite

felizdenovo

Did you make reservations as a Gold or as a Dimond? When I made reservations as a Gold waiting to become a Diamond, hotels still treated me as a Gold during the stay even though I was already Diamond. The same was in the Silver/Gold situation. They still treated me as a Silver for some time.

Roluke

LondonElite, did you read my post? I am not all upset over the snacks. I am upset at the treatment I received at the Destin Embassy Suites. Plus, at all the other hotels, Diamond perks were not being offered. Please read my post before diminishing my comments and concerns.

craigthemif

It appears that you were staying in the US. You might not have noticed but everybody is a Diamond from the credit card so many hotels just don't care or are fed up with some bad attitudes (not necessarily yours, but we'll all seen lots of over-entitled FT posts...). Many others can't be bothered to train their staff, since they'll be gone in 6 months to a job that pays 50 cents more an hour.

If that's your regular travel pattern you really won't notice much difference due to status. Head to Asia and you'll love it...

submonte

Name names!

Roluke

Thanks craigthemif. Good point about the staff. When I got my Hilton CC they automatically gave me Gold not Diamond. Sounds like Diamond was not worth my time or energy in the US.

loomis

It is probably best that you read up on the T&C's before staying at each brand. I don't know what other brands that you stayed at, but upgrades are not a stated Honors benefit at ES.

It sounds like they were nit-picking regarding the whole snack thing though. This Diamond has never experienced anything like that. Bummer.

Roluke

IAHtraveler

I've not been lectured to. However, I always ask for an upgrade or the given perks when checking in, if not offered. Unfortunately, it's come to that in the US as one can become diamond just by getting a credit card.

Really depends what you're looking for as a Diamond. If you want waters, more points and free breakfast (and the occasional diamond parking space and upgrade), then your expectations should be met and it's not worthless. If you think you'll get upgraded to bigger rooms or suites consistently, hotels will regularly go out of their way for you, or provide other perks not listed, you'll unfortunately be disappointed.

xooz

The things that strike me from the OP's post:
- Be sure you have your amenity selections properly configured for each property
- You had a bad experience, escalated it and got an apology and 1000 points offered. I assume if this was not what you wanted you would have pushed back with the FD manager. In general, the best time to resolve and get compensation sorted out is right then rather than later. Looks like you did that and simply await delivery of the promised compensation.
- If the promised compensation has not been applied to your account in a reasonable time, I would contact HH Diamond services. I would give them a little time though. You must have just stayed there this last few days since you only became Diamond on Jan 01. Not sure what is a reasonable wait time as I have never had an issue where I was supposed to get points as compensation. Maybe others can chime in on what a reasonable wait time is to see compensation points added to an account.

pauleeepaul

Just back from 5 days in London where (with some advance work on my part) Diamond got me a high floor Mayfair suite on Park Lane.

This was an interaction with one employee at one (low end) property. In the words of Queen Elsa- let it go.