Confusion over new cancellation policy
 

I just got off a VERY frustrating call with the Diamond Desk. I just made a reservation for a Hilton Grand Vacations property in Hawaii for a trip in December--we are hopeful that we may be able to do some travel by then, but it's obviously very uncertain.

I thought Hilton's policy was clear--any new reservations made between now and June 30, 2020, for ANY future arrival date can be cancelled up to 24 hours before arrival without any penalty.

The Diamond Desk representative, however, claims that the policy only applies to STAYS through June 30, 2020. She claims that after June 30, 2020, whatever cancellation policy that would have applied to the reservation before the COVID-19 exception will go back in force (unless the policy is extended further.)

Even more confusingly, my reservation confirmation email states in a big graphic:

"Plans change. So have our policies. To give you greater peace of mind, you can now change or cancel this reservation through our website or mobile app, free of charge, up to 24 hours prior to your arrival date."

But the fine print at the bottom of the email says:

"If you wish to cancel, please do by 11:59 p.m. on Nov-xx-2020 to avoid cancellation penalties."

So, what information is correct?

To be clear, I am sure we will know more than 30 days before arrival if we will be able to make the trip, and the reason I called them was for similar confusion about whether or not this reservation required a deposit or was "pay when you stay" [the reservation page said both], but I want to know if the Diamond Desk representative was correct. If so, it will impact any new reservations I make.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7c96039af0.png
The information in the reservation confirmation email.

The Coronavirus Information Page, linked at the top of the hilton.com homepage (https://www.hilton.com/en/corporate/coronavirus/) Seems to be pretty clear:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bc3978229a.jpg

Sounds to me like you are right and the agent is wrong. I would be interested to direct that person to this page and ask them to reconcile what they said with what the page says.

The way I read it, if you have an already-booked stay - one that was booked before this update on March 25 - which is scheduled for arrival prior to June 30, you can cancel without penalty up to 24 hours in advance of scheduled arrival. In addition to that, if you MAKE a reservation now (between this 3/25 update and 6/30), for any arrival date in the future (it goes without saying that the 'future' should include *next* December, but obviously wouldn't include *last* December), you can cancel that reservation up to 24 hours in advance of the scheduled arrival.

I would call back. Or reach out to the social media rep here on FT

Twitter is your best bet, as there is no HH rep currently monitoring this forum - likely a casualty of the severe business downturn.

Hilton does not seem to be very flexible on their policies. I have a prepaid reservation for July 3rd in Paris for a few nights and, despite the ruling that all non Schengen zone travellers are required to undergo a 14 day quarantine, Hilton will not budge on allowing me to cancel.

Looks like I'll have three days of looking out of a hotel window at a Parisian street. 🙄

OP, what does the actual cancellation section on the reservation page itself say? (See below for an example of what is depicted on a page for a stay I have booked)

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6352704365.png

You would think they couldn't possibly be so dumb.

I called on the global support number to cancel an advance purchase booking for arrival on 20th June and have been told that they cannot do that as it was purchased in January! The agent can only cancel bookings made from March AND arriving before the end of June. The guy seemed either completely incompetent, or he had been told by his superior (who was not available until Monday) to avoid making any cancelations in line with Hilton's stated COVID cancellation policy at all.

Have you tried the property directly? I had some prepaid (but not yet charged) reservations made in January. Emailed the property, and they canceled immediately.

Thanks. I have now emailed the property directly. I also emailed [email protected] (as per the Hilton Honors Ambassador thread)about the phone agent difficulty and sent a tweet to @hiltonHotels. The latter two both responded within minutes and have sorted out the cancellation already! I am happy to wait a bit to receive the refund.

Good work from the corporate email and twitter teams - surprising as direct telephone contact is usually the easiest way of sorting things out.

I still don't understand why OP didn't just look at the cancellation section of the specific reservation page in their profile instead of unleashing a multi-pronged social media / phone barrage...as I noted upthread, the correct policy should be reflected there, and it takes 5 seconds to check.

Huh?

Many reservations only show the original booking conditions, not the updated Covid-19 ones. I think they tried reasonably on the phone with Hilton first, before being told incorrectly.

OP said in their post that they had "just" made the reservation. There would be no "original booking conditions" prior to the current terms, hence the reason why the appropriate terms would show online as in the example image I posted above. What exactly about that is unclear?

The cancellation policies for each individual rate at each hotel are maintained at property level, not by Hilton. Unless a very bored revenue manager went through and updated every rate with the temporary cancellation policy, even new reservations will have the "normal" cancellation.

The hotel have responded via email and agreed to a refund "which might take 5 days". About an hour later I got a notification from my Amex app on my phone which is a bit confusing as it looks like a further charge (as does my available balance) not a refund but the hotel has responded very quickly to my query with a copy of the refund slip.

Anyway, we'll see what comes out in the wash when my next statement arrives.

EDIT: Refund received.

Email/twitter was a much better way of dealing with this than by phone. YMMV.

Got this Mail from a Hilton in France:
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We hope that you, your family members and friends are all safe and well in these difficult times.

We note that you were due to stay with us on xx/06/2020, but unfortunately, your booking was cancelled due to travel restriction related to COVID-19. The rate you booked was nonrefundable and you paid a deposit at the time of booking.

You may already be aware that the French Government has taken measures to protect tourism (Ordonnance n° 2020-315) in the country and as a result has stipulated that hotels are to offer a voucher for any bookings, which fall in this category. You are being issued this email as a voucher for the value you have already paid of (xx €) and have up to 18 months from your original arrival date to redeem at this hotel.

Please contact us by email with your preferred date so we can book this for you.

We are looking forward to welcoming you back to the hotel and to speaking with you at your convenience to arrange the date that works best for you.

Stay well, and Stay safe.
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So how does this comply with Hiltons policy?

It looks like they're trying to divert people to rebooking rather than cancelling, but it doesn't say they are not refunding. Just trying to slow down the bleeding, I'm sure