Enskie

Omg, Hiltons BRG is so frustrating...

polandspringuy

I'm convinced this is a scam. I've steered most of my recent stays away from Hilton for this reason. I don't even bother anymore.

nacho

They denied mine due to the same reason. Somehow they don't allow hoteltravel to be used as a comparison site.

Simon Schus

I'm still waiting to see if they get back to me on a 'pay now but flexible' claim. Lauren has been great help escalating claims where necessary but she shouldn't have to constantly deal with the BPG team not adhering to their own policies - sort the problem at the source rather than mopping up! Her time (and arguably our time) is way too valuable for that!

OVERSIER

I have an update. I was contacted on the day of my checkout and told that I would get a $392.06 refund and that the BRG Manager sent an email to the hotel about this. I later replied that my claim was only for $67.09 while my whole stay cost $427 in total but they gave me some strange reply about only counting room price without taxes.

I have now received the $392.06 refund 0_0, was upgraded to Junior Suite(I am Gold) on check in and given 9768 HH points which I value at $50. Overall if you include the Suite price difference I finished this stay $420 in profit.(Surely it would of been much cheaper for them to just approve the BRG lol)

My question is, should I still pursue the $50 voucher or does this have a possibility to bankrob Hilton Group? ahahahahahahahaah

mingzie

Another ridiculous experience with the BRG, me and family friend submitted claims for the same dates/hotel and both of us don't have any automatic reply confirming submission. Can only assume (like in the past) that these claims have completely disappeared.

I have sent a message to Lauren, who will hopefully be able to help us out on this occasion.

In the past:

- Rejection due to a site selling 'unbundled wholesale rates' despite the website not bundling the rate with anything and not appearing on the list of websites that no longer accept submissions (it still isn't there!). If the website is not on an unauthorised list, why is it my job to ensure that the website is 'authorised' (sounds like a scam), especially when Hilton still accepts bookings from them.
- Strange, extremely quick reply from BRG 3 hours later (after rate disappears) saying they can't find the rate, then the rate reappearing. Goes along with the 'reply fast if can weasel out a deny' theme some of the members have mentioned in this thread.
- Cancellation terms not equal (12 hours apart), despite being submitted after Lauren laxed the policy to 72 hours.
- Currency fluctuation clause on same currency bookings


If these don't go through, I will just give up completely and cancel. I don't mind paying the normal rate, but if you offer a BRG, please let it work correctly or don't include it at all. At least Marriott/SPG have a REAL brg that accept claims a vast majority of the time.

mingzie

huge thank you to Lauren who took the time to help us both out with our BRG claims. Our BRGs have been approved and we are looking forward to our stay this weekend. You are awesome Lauren, and a huge asset to Hilton and Flyertalk.

By the way, they noted that change of room type would void the BRG rate - does anyone know if this includes paying for upgrades at check in?

daruda

What are the regulations if they reply too late?

Already waiting +48 hours for a reply. The lower rate will probably be gone by now

simcity4000

For those without any response after submission online BRG form, don't hesitate to contact Hilton HHonors in facebook official page. Finally I can claim 10000 points.

Simon Schus

Hi all,

Just updating everybody on recent experiences which I'm sure others have had as well. I'm publicly venting a little too because I took a step back today to realise that I don't have these sorts of issues consistently with any other company, hotel or otherwise. I have vented privately to Hilton too but the consistent nature of the issues has honestly become too common. I then found out that these issues have been going on for several years as I'll indicate at the end of the post.

I submitted a BPG claim yesterday. I've been waiting over 24 hours for a response, which is annoying but I understand that it is a weekend so it doesn't bother me too much. However, I'm getting fed up of submitting claims only to be rejected for reasons that are outlined as invalid in this FlyerTalk forum. I pursue the claims nonetheless because I have the time and it annoys me so much that every claim becomes an argument. Over the past year, I've had claims rejected by the BPG because:

1. - it has taken the BPG team >24 hours to get a response to me (this is unacceptable - they state 24-hour turnaround time prior to submission of the forum and that they need to review the claim within 24 hours). Delays in adjudication of the claim are not on the part of the customer but instead on the part of the BPG team.
2. - they can't find the rate but I can find the rate so I have to send them screenshots (this is sloppy work as if I can find the claim then so can the BPG team; even more unacceptable is that there are unverified reports on FlyerTalk of some claims being intentionally verified slowly in order to be rejected for the rate not being available). In many instance I can find the lower third-party rate before submission, take a screenshot, then find the rate again after rejection and take a screenshot.
3. - they state the rate isn't equivalent; e.g. I make a flexible-rate booking but don't book HHonors rate booking so that isn't the lowest price, despite stating that both rates need to be equivalent and not part of a member's only program. I appreciate the HHonors rate bookings are relatively new and therefore that there is some uncertainty here.
4. - they state that the website isn't eligible in any circumstance, despite it being on a list that explicitly states that it is eligible: first here (URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23855160-post1261.html) and then here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24023623-post3.html). The lists were given out in late 2014 and early 2015 by Hilton's official HHonorsRepresentative on FlyerTalk. The list and policy, as yet, hasn't been rescinded. I'd understand the reasoning if it had been rescinded but it hasn't been.
5. - they state that the cancellation terms are different, despite being within the 72 hour 'pay at hotel rate' leeway or being the identical cancellation period but on a 'pay-now-but-flexible-cancellation' basis. Again, the leeway here has been explicitly outlined by the official Hilton HHonorsRepresentative on FlyerTalk here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-hhonors/1658544-hilton-best-rate-guarantee-brg-2015-onwards.html#post24023623]. Nothing has been communicated about this being rescinded.
6. - they state that they didn't receive the claim despite my sending screenshot evidence that the claim was submitted to them, or going out of my way to email them with the details prior to 24 hours after making the booking. This is the most annoying reason of them all as this is a technical issue that stops us from even submitting to the BPG program. This technical issues have been ongoing for weeks and there is no reason for it not to have been fixed. Imagine what would happen if the booking system went down on Hilton - somebody would be fixing it straight away. This is presumably a much smaller fix and one that could be presumably be fixed within a day. Another frustrating aspect is that the BPG team reject the claim and state that there is no technical issue. However, it has been acknowledged publicly that this is an issue by the Hilton HHonorsRepresentative on FlyerTalk here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-hhonors/1658544-hilton-best-rate-guarantee-brg-2015-onwards-post27038227.html#post27038227.

I get frustrated by all of the above reasons because I've got evidence that each of them are invalid in specific circumstances many of which outlined by the official Hilton HHonorsRepresentative on FlyerTalk and are posted in full public glare (to ensure I'm talking about fact, I've included linked to some of the evidence above). Yes, the reasons given by the BPG team can be valid and should absolutely be enforced when they are found to be true - that is understandable and entirely reasonable, and their perogative: the program needs to protect Hilton and the individual properties from a significant loss/abuse!

However... given the linked policies on this board by the Hilton HHonorsRepresentative which I have outlined above, there are specific scenarios where we have reasonable recourse to challenge the rejections. Indeed, there are cases where the BPG team are patently wrong and are incorrect, it is sometimes hard to believe that some of the incorrect rejections are done so unknowingly.

If the linked policies outlined in this thread aren't true or being adhered to then what is the point in them having been written or existing in the first place? Including myself, a number of people on the FlyerTalk forum who are incredibly active patrons at Hilton hotels holding either Gold or Diamond status in the HHonors program make BPG claims with the view that some of the linked policies which I've alluded to above, operate within specific bounds (e.g. there is a list of 'allowed websites', there is a list of policies regarding 72-hour lee-way). Yet, we're still rejected on as if those specific policies outlined by the HHonorsRepresentative weren't in place... so we have to email back/forth in order to get the published policies on FlyerTalk to be recognised! It undermines the whole transparency of the process and those trying to make the program work, like the kind and hard-working HHonorsRepresentative!

The whole issue of rejecting-then-emailing-to-challenge-that-rejection makes the process frustrating and time-consuming, especially now that every claim becomes a fight. It makes me feel like a bad person for even challenging because I know the claim team are trying to do their job, but the policies that they are enforcing do not chime with the rules and spirit of the program discussed here in the forum. I spend so much time on each submission. In some cases, the time waiting for the claim to be adjudicated exceeds the length of the stay or in some cases isn't even fully adjudicated by the start/end of the stay. I had one experience earlier this year whereby I booked and submitted a claim on the Wednesday, had the stay on the Monday but *still* hadn't received adjudicated of the claim by the Tuesday morning at check-out! That was utterly ridiculous, and the hotel itself had to refund the money to me after the BPG team finally got back to me - I'm sure that the hotel had better things to do than deal with issues outside of their control. The stay itself was wonderful, perhaps my best stay and the one where I certainly felt the most welcome so the BPG claim issue was such an unacceptable and avoidable blotch on an otherwise stellar experience.

I always check for a lower price before making a booking and it is always hit/miss whether I find one, or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. For example, I've submitted 3 claims in the most recent weeks but have made 9 bookings so that is only a 30% submission rate. Even when I submit those 3 claims, every claim becomes a fight with about 3 or 4 emails to and from the team, or with recourse to the (very kind) HHonorsRepresentative here on FlyerTalk.

The whole philosophy of a rejection is that the customer is incorrect... in many cases, that might be true that the customer is incorrect when submitting a BPG - I know that I have certainly been incorrect when the BPG team have pointed out something that should have been obvious to me but which I missed (mostly these were to do with my not accounting for local/sales tax, number of people in the room, or significant currency exchange fluctuations). In such cases, I try to be humble and accept that it is my error!
In many cases, reported on FlyerTalk, the customer is arguably correct for submitting a BPG but is told that their claim is rejected anyway. It is such poor customer service and arguably immoral for making a customer feel incorrect when they have a reasonable expectation of the rules after reading this forum including posts from the official Hilton representative that haven't otherwise been rescinded. There is a lack of respect and makes an unacceptable mockery out of the customer - equally, it makes a mockery out of the BPG team who just want to do their job, and it makes a mockery out of Hilton.

I recognise that the BPG isn't entirely designed to encourage customer loyalty but it will presumably have some impact on the perception of Hilton as a broader entity: if one has a negative experience with one aspect of a company, then that negative experience can be generalised outward to the rest of the company irrespective of the generalisation being accurate or not. For some people, it might affect their choices to stay with Hilton particularly if they're stay only in a few hotels per year (though perhaps they're unlikely to be part of this forum anyway). A few instances of that are listed in this thread of people pulling hotel stays from Hilton as the result of the (apparently incorrect) BPG claim rejection For me, I actually really like the Hilton product, and will be staying in their hotels around 30-40 times this year: the BPG program doesn't really have much of an impact for me in my choice of hotels. Sure, I have moved a handful of my stays to other brands (mostly Le Club Accor properties around airports in Europe) after the BPG team rejected a claim. However, the change in hotels was mostly just in short-term annoyance and that the other property offered a slightly cheaper rate... maybe 10-20% of my stays but nowhere near a significant proportion not that Hilton would mind too much anyway. Nonetheless, I still continue to stay at mostly Hiltons having just returned from another trip with them. The BPG rejections remain an annoyance but they don't mean that I'm going to dramatically alter my hotel choices but it doesn't make the rejections any more acceptable.

Anyway, my post was mostly just venting my frustrations because (as I said at the start of this post) I realised today that I don't have these sorts of to&fro, backwards&forwards email exchanges arguing with any other company, in the hotel business or otherwise. The emails to&fro are consistent... almost every submission. I've come to expect them, I click 'Submit' on a claim and I just wait to get embroiled in another discussion. Perhaps, though, it is me and it is unreasonable for me to expect the fairly recent policy information posted in this board to be adhered to by the BPG team. Either way, this isn't necessarily a sustainable system in the current form.

I have tried to remain quiet about these issues here on the forum, only asking for clarification on policy before. However, I wanted to write this post today to vent some frustration in a semi-public forum. I have communicated these broad issues to Hilton in private over the past month, both through the HHonorsRepresentative and through the Diamond Desk/Hilton.comments email addresses. I felt that in offering the feedback, perhaps some form of response would be warranted by the BPG team if only to improve service quality. Enacting changes in response to problems tends to be how things work in other industries - if you report a problem then some form of review is held to improve the system. Sometimes that works out in favour of the customer, and sometimes not... but at least the customer knows where they stand. In the cases of my providing feedback, despite asking for a written response, nothing has changed. Maybe we can hold onto hope though. Perhaps this public feedback will get further than the private feedback that I have given but I don't have much hope given this article from a number of years ago about the HHonors program: . (URL: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea....rantee-claims/). Exactly the same issues are being brought up in 2016 insofar that:

This is some five years after the article was published, so there is clearly something that hasn't changed despite the feedback, both in terms of haphazard denials as well as having to effortly escalate. For example, my last claim required me sending a long letter through the HHonors Representative to the BPG team, presumably which was escalated to supervisory levels described above. Though I have significant praise for our FlyerTalk HHonorsRepresentative ambassador, one gets fed up of asking to use this route every few months.

Ho-hum, I guess I'll continue to wait for the BPG team to get back to my BPG claims. No doubt, there will be an argument. In isolation, that in itself isn't too bad and so this feedback isn't about a specific claim. The feedback is more broad because there is a consistency of the BPG being slow and denying claims haphazardly. I have found other BPG programs to have excellent response times and to be a lot fairer/more transparent (my experience is with IHG and Club Carlson, but I have seen a smattering of others talking about SPG and Marriott).

daruda

already waiting +5 days...
With the new brg system, do you still receive mails after submission of claim?

polandspringuy

Simon - I completely sympathize with you and echo your frustrations. I save myself the stress and don't even bother anymore with the BRG. Where possible, I now find myself avoiding Hilton altogether.

Simon Schus

I can absolutely understand that sentiment.

I actually quite like the Hilton product to be honest and that the breakfast is included per the Diamond benefit. I'd usually pay the rate prior to the BPG rate, and usually do - I just hate the idea of an advertised program not working as advertised and delivering really poor service standards atop of that. As mentioned in my broad feedback, the failure of the BRG program isn't one that is going to affect my choice in stay too much right now. It might eventually, but I try to segregate my experience with the BPG team from the rest of the Hilton brand (though increasingly it is harder to do haha)

As a follow-up to my message on the weekend, I've still not had any response yet from the Best Rate team either to my broad set of feedback nor to my trying to deal with two specific price claims that hadn't been reviewed in the published timeframes.

Regarding my broad claims, it has been weeks since I submitted something to them about the issues. I'm not really expecting a response any more on that.

Regarding my specific claims, I've emailed the Best Rate team twice now to ask for them to review one of claims but I've not had any response after almost 72 hours. This includes copying the Diamond desk onto the email. I've decided only to pursue one of my claims rather than pursuing two claims, it just seems easier to do that than to expend effort bombarding them - they're only trying to do a job, and if they haven't gotten back to me within 72 hours then something is awry.

wantan

with the long on-going "HHonors Discount" promo, I'm confused as to which rate I should select to qualify for BRG ?

I've found a AUD92 rate on travel.mastercard.com (does this site qualify?) for the Doubletree in Melbourne. hilton.com is showing AUD132.

Did some BRG claims before with 70% success rate. However not too sure now which rate I should book and submit ? The catch is that the mastercard rates are all pre-paid non-refundable .... hence I would need to select a pre-paid rate on Hilton as well so trying to be extra careful !

mingzie

we are no longer receiving automatic emails from hilton confirming receipt of BRG and hilton denies any claims have been received

not sure if everyone else has this issue too?