Notenut

To add a comment on this disaster of an offer, I just noticed that the BRG ad on the Hilton website has been readjusted. It used to be prominently featured in the upper right hand side of the header. Now is has become much smaller and is included in a rotating series of logos in the bottom left hand side under the heading of "News and Updates". So you might not even see it at all when looking at the Hilton homepage. That's how proud they've become of the "guarantee".

PatBateman23

Actually I brought one denied claim to the attention of the BBB... and had success getting it approved thereafter - took me only some nerves and about two month So I can only recommend bringing it to the attention of the BBB !

HiltonGuy

I had heard that Guest Assistance (department that processes the BRG claims) was way behind on those. That department was moved from Memphis to Dallas a few months ago and lost many of their seasoned employees and Supervisors in the process. Thus, the new employees had to be trained on the BRG Claims process compounding the delay. I also heard that the transition didn't go well, adding to the confusion.

ffj

FWIW, submitted two BRGs on the same day last week, for the same hotel, but different dates. One was approved within 6 hours, the other was rejected at 22 hours. The sale had ended overnight, but a call to guest assistance (GA) and a screen shot resulted in them overturning the decision.

The rate has yet to be changed in either reservation, as shown on-line. A call to GA resulted in a file being opened on both cases. As of today, still no rate change shown.

I suspect that getting the $50 Amex wil require calling GA once again.

Overall, this is a process in futility. It makes sense to get rid of the guarantee. Marriott's process is smooth as silk. As a result, my business has gravitated towards Marriott over the past 2 years.

BKKLEE

At least you're getting a response from Hilton BRG as I submitted 2 BTG's for same hotel/different nights last Friday and now its Tuesday WITHOUT any type of response so like their guarantee, their 24-hour response is likewise BOGUS!

[QUOTE=ffj;12841434]FWIW, submitted two BRGs on the same day last week, for the same hotel, but different dates. One was approved within 6 hours, the other was rejected at 22 hours.

ffj

FWIW, from a person in the Hilton guest assistance (GA) department, the Hilton GA department approves around 5-10% of the claims. Marriott appears to approve 70% of my claims, so assuming 5%-10% is an exageration on the high side, you can see the approach taken by Hilton. Hilton hotels also get penalized when they are "caught", and pay for the BRG.

Also, was told that the director of guest assistance is Ms. Stacy Shearouse (sp?).

The difference between Marriott customer care and Hilton guest assistance is mind boggling. Both have friendly demeanors; the difference is their effectiveness in helping resolve situations, and whose side they are on. Marriott works to keep you as a customer. Am not convinced that is the case for Hilton.

nissan motor

I would double that and strongly recommend everyone to involve the BBB with denied BRGs @:-)

carrotjuice

Having read this thread entirely for the first time, I join you all in feeling appalled at the poor approach Hilton has on BRG... trying to find any imaginable reason to deny a claim. (My previous claim with Marriott LNF received a positive response within just an hour... this significantly raises my confidence in their attitude and desire to have my continuing business).

Booked online for Conrad Brisbane at AUD 275 tax inclusive. Saw a rate on Hotelclub at USD 220 (approximately AUD 245) again tax inclusive. I sent in a BRG.

Chileas Lee - Guest Assistant Specialist responded after 12 hours:
"The reservation booked could not be verified on Hotelclub as the rates shown on this site are all inclusive. Per the term and conditions these rates do not apply therefore your claim is not valid".

But anyone who's been to Australia knows that all hotels there quote their rates inclusive of tax, in fact the booking that I made on Hilton's website does exactly the same!

As Hotelclub is powered by Orbitz, interestingly I've now found another cheaper rate on Orbitz at USD 197.64 + USD 21.14 tax = USD 218.78. And as this the Orbitz rate was also found within 24 hours of booking, I'll follow up using the Orbitz rate. Since they asked for a non-all inclusive rate, that's exactly what they'll get. But should be interesting to hear what alternative excuse Hilton will come up with this time.

boxo

I sincerely wish you luck, carrotjuice, and will be anxious to see your update.

carrotjuice

Decided to abandon my follow up claim with BRG.

After spending another hour of thrawling through the internet, I found Conrad Brisbane's own website. It was offering a rate of AUD 185 tax inclusive for the same room, which works out to be USD 166 and actually cheaper than my original USD 170 BRG claim had it been successful (USD 220 price on Hotelclub minus USD 50 bill adjustment).

It's weird that the Conrad Brisbane website isn't synced up with the other Hilton group websites; you can't login using your Honors profile thus have to create a new standalone one. Also this AUD 185 rate is never available on any of the other Hilton or Conrad or Honors websites.

Reading through some of the earlier posts on this thread, I suspect my follow up claim using the Orbitz rate - had I chosen to pursue it - would've likely failed as well because the original AUD 275 rate from the Hilton website allows cancellation without penalty up to 1 day before check-in, whereas the Orbitz rate allows cancellation without penalty up to 2 days before. One can argue that's hair-splitting? Perhaps so. But I can somewhat foretell that Hilton will very well use it as an excuse (as the earlier posters have indicated before) not to honor the claim... reaffirming Hilton's general insincere approach to this so-called guarantee which is no more than, if anything, a smokescreen.

margarita girl

I also had a BRG claim denied today for Hilton Minneapolis. Best flexible rate on hilton.com was $199, advance purchase rate was $159. I found a cancellable rate of $121 on www.gtahotels.com.

Got the same drivel that my competing rate could not be verified. When I pressed further, I was given this explanation:

I still didn't understand what that meant since it looked like the booking was made through a regular cc process, so I asked for more specifics and got the following response:

I have no idea if this is true or not. However, I have had multiple BRG claims from gtahotels.com approved by SPG. Can anyone comment?

SK AAR

Any chance of BRG being honored by Hilton when booking the January Sale rate and applying a 10%-off Orbitz voucher (like 10FASAVE or WELCOME10)? I believe these vouchers are generally available to the public - if you know the code you will get the discount for applicable hotels.

amanuensis

If I was to say that I thought your chances were slim, then I would be wildly optomistic.

nissan motor

I think you guys don't want to understand that Hilton never honors any BRG claim @:-) They have for everythin a wischi-waschi excuse Don't waste your time with Hilton and its BRG.

yyliu88

Successfully approved BRG claim for Hampton INN Ontario, matching rate found on expedia.com

I had read this thread, it seems like only rate found on expedia/travelocity/orbitz will be approved since they don't require "voucher"

expedia is running some kind of sale on their website, which offers slightly lower rate than hilton.com for many hampton inn properties.

give a try.

BTW, it took almost a day for them to reply!