mcgahat

That is a horrible way to communicate with another human being. I guess this is the way we do things now but shouldn't be allowed in a civilized forum.

shonamac

Sorry to have offended your "civilized" sensibilities, but I will be very glad to be coached by you for a better way to communicate in this specific instance:

If you follow the context, you cannot escape noticing that the comment of the HH Rep in this case was indeed absurd. This is exactly in line with the brainless way some of the folks at Hilton's BRG department deal with claims.

So if you were faced with this situation, how would YOU react?

As for me, I believe in calling a spade a spade. Like it or not, virtually in every business, customer service reps have gotten more dumb, to the detriment of the consumer. There is no way to sugarcoat this.


For your easy reference, here is the particular response that this was in reference to:

Go on, defend it!

banffflyr

To get things back on track...

Just filed a BRG claim for Conrad NYC. 3rd party website shows it for $342 / nt, while Hilton.com shows $475 / nt. (gross prices). Same cancellation policies of 24 hours in advance. Will keep you apprised of the results. ^

mcgahat

I know the comment that you are referring to and I disagreed with it as well. I just refuse to use insults such as stupid and retarded (that is offensive to mentally challenged in my opinion) to make my point.

I am not defending anything and certainly not people that cant simply stick to the facts and just argue on merit rather than sling insults.

banffflyr

BRG desk responded today with an approval. $342 is still steep for me, but I may stick with it and splurge for this hotel. Have had great experiences with the only other Conrad I stayed at in Istanbul.

flieduk

I do not know how they are doing this!

Just got a BRG response to say that they cannnot find the rate I have mentioned on hotels.com and do I have any screenshots.

All ok except (a) the rate is available still on Hotels.com (just checked) and (b) I included links to the screenshot in the original BRG (posted on Tinypic).

Are they not allowed to look at links or something?

Gagravarr

Sounds almost identical to my experiences from about 2 weeks ago. Quite why they can't follow links to screenshots given in the claim is beyond me. If Hilton really don't want their staff following links, why not do what many other chains do, and allow you to upload screenshots in the claim form?

You can attach screenshots to your email reply, so I can only advise you to reply back ASAP including the screenshots, and ideally the URL to go to + buttons/links to click to reproduce the rate. Took rather a long time when I did that, but they did eventually confirm my BRG. Good luck!

IsleOfMan

I think a big part of how they (and most other similar programs, mail in rebates, etc) operate is to generate at least some level of push-back, confusion, or hurdle that might prevent someone from pushing forward with the claim. A LOT of people probably just don't try after making the initial submission, especially if frustrated by a dumb response, which greatly decreases the number of claims paid. It may even be a KPI for the employees (claims denied/approved/abandoned). It's a shady practice but I wouldn't be shocked at all if it were being practiced by BRG staff.

flieduk

But surely the result is then people start booking through aggregators and Hilton have to pay out a chunk of commission.

IsleOfMan

Not if they want to keep their HHonors earnings and benefits. Keep in mind, a huge chunk of Hilton's business is people who don't particularly care about getting the absolute best bottom-dollar price since they're not paying for it themselves (business travelers that expense their stays)... this kind of traveler looks for the best personal return (usually points earnings and status) that still conforms to their company's travel policies. I doubt there are many people willing to leave a program based on their BRG policies, but being able to advertise such a program goes a long way.

mcgahat

What do you mean by Hilton having to pay out a chunk of commission?

Lets all remember why the best rate guarantee exists and that is to force people to hit the Hilton site to make bookings because they get a huge commission if the booking is done there but if people book on 3rd party sites they do not. Personally I think Hilton has an obligation to fix the "Amoma" issue or do right by people on the claims.

I think the hotels and 3rd party sites are just playing games with the guarantee by slightly adjusting cancel by times, adding breakfast etc just so the claim will not go through. Pretty shady all the way around really.

flieduk

Well if people book through a 3rd party site then that site will need to get paid a tonne of commission.

It sounds like you know more about this than I do. Am I right in thinking for bookings that come through the Hilton site that hotel must give Hilton a big chunk of comission just like they would a third party site.

scubaccr

Yes Hilton corporate earns a large part of it's annual income from commissions on rooms booked in hilton.com, which it will not earn when rooms are booke though OTAs. Hotels also have to pay hilton to buy the points posted for your stay. And additional hotel has to pay other facility fees to Hilton, such a percentages of revenue , management fees, website fees etc.

Recently on hilton.com you'll see a flas-line saying free-internet benefit only applies to hiton.com bookings, as do some individual hotel sites, eg Hilton Canary Wharf.

I guess as well as OTA bookings being non-qual-nights/zero-points, whilst hotels mostly give elite bennies, the hotels don't have to.

shonamac

May we please have a list (perhaps even a wiki) of sites that are commonly rejected by the Hilton BRG crew for valid or invalid reasons? One such site is www.amoma.com (no justification, IMO) but there are countless others which they deny on some spurious ground or the other.

So what sites have you tried unsuccessfully? Listing these sites will help others avoid wasting their time on submitting claims that will be stillborn.

Conversely, what sites have worked and pass their criteria?

pmarrsouth

Hopefully this issue will get fully resolved before travelling in less than 2 days