Lisa40403

This happened a while back. I contacted them in late June. So as I said, I missed the requirement by just a couple of days.

And no, as I pointed out in the inital post, I did not get what I wanted. I asked about the conditions and was enrolled instantly and then denied the chance to have the trial start at the date I wanted it to start.

Also, I accept the fact that it is, as you put it, a privilege. However, a cusotmers business can be a privilege, too. In deciding to be inflexible and also rather unhelpful, Hyatt lost this privilege, just as I lost the privilege of the trial.

One last comment about why I did not give GPConcierge a chance: I use forums relatively seldomly. I am a traditional person who has to resort to phone calls or, at max, emails. While I am sure about the fact that the GP team on FlyerTalk does a good job, this is just not what I am looking for. I want customer service on a good level the traditional way. Hyatt did not seem to be able to offer this. Would I have been a long-term Hyatt customer, I probably would have taken up on the offer. I am not, however, since I shall be moving on and seek my luck with SPG.

Also, this was not meant to be pure rant or complaint. I also wanted to get your opinion on whether I was misjudging what happened. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment.

MarkMColo

When I inquired about the Diamond Trial this past December, I received a response confirming that it was available and providing instructions to send a copy of my Hilton statement. Only after I did so was I confirmed as enrolled.

So here is where I am confused: did you go ahead and send a statement with your initial inquiry, or did the GP representative go ahead and enroll you in the Diamond Trial without it?

LA2CDG

Hello OP (That's Original Poster) for our more traditional users. I think we've beaten this horse dead.
I guess Hyatt is not the right chain/program for you. I'm sure others will be more than happy to accomodate you. Good luck and leave those suites to us.

RTW1

And who is inflexible now?

Sorry but I'm having a hard time understanding why you did take the effort to post and then not accept the help that is offered. Claiming "the traditional way" is really weak and it seems you had made up your mind even before posting.

Why ask for anybody's opinion when you're just going to ignore it?

I would take any help that is offered to correct this relatively minor error and try the GP program and the Hyatt properties so I could really judge if it's worth your money. It will just take a simple private mail and you will be all set...

BXIAN

I just finished a Diamond trial (successfully). I think that the issue is that they have to manually enter your start date in the system, which then starts the 60 day clock ticking. They don't have a way of setting the start date at a point which will occur in the future. Like the OP, I had made some advance reservations in connection with an upcoming conference and other travel before asking about the Diamond trial. The phone representative explained that I should e-mail Hyatt GP 24 to 48 hours prior to the actual date that I wanted to start the trial. I did that and it worked out fine.
I had some other hiccups at the start of the Diamond trial, but things are working very smoothly now (in fact, I am about to write a positive post about a recent experience).

dpends

I have also had a recent customer service experience with respect to the Diamond Trial that is highly frustrating.

I am a GP Platinum member and also a Platinum (top-tier) member of the Fairmont presidents club. I recently called GP customer service to inquire about a Diamond status challenge and was assured by two representatives on the phone that they would accept my Fairmont status for the challenge. However, upon emailing my proof of status, they simply sent a form letter denying my request because is was not SPG, Hilton or Mariott.

I have stayed about 20 nights at the Hyatt Regency Houston over the past two months and will probably need to stay in Houston for business a total of close to 100 nights over the rest of the year. However, because of this I am seriously considering spending those nights with one of those competing chains that will match status with Fairmont.

The really sad part about this is that there would be little downside for Hyatt. As mentioned, I am already a GP Platinum, so if I did not complete the challenge, I would simply revert to the status I already have.

I agree that the Diamond trial is a privilege, and I should not feel entitled to it. However, the fact that I can get that level of treatment from Hyatt's competitors gives them a competitive edge for my dollars. Additionally, it is probably most frustrating that I was repeatedly told I was eligible for the trial, and then denied via form letter - this does not inspire a lot of confidence in GP customer service.

antonius66

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.0.4; en-us; DROID RAZR 4G Build/6.7.2-180_DHD-16_M4-31) AppleWebKit/534.30 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/534.30)

Soooo..if you have 20 nights already...and are doing 100 more...your major anger is that they won't let you have the challenge (which would you would be wasting anyway) even though you could easily EARN the status by spending 30/100 more nights at Hyatt? This would leave you enough nights to earn top status with another chain too.

MSPeconomist

Have you tried to negotiate with the hotel's general manager to get the Diamond status on-site perks in the meantime until you officially become Diamond? Many properties take very good care of their regular guests, better than they do of new elites in their hotel chain. You would of course miss some Hyatt-program benefits such as extra points in following this path.

jayer

Multiple Hyatt nights in Houston. Brings back memories. Been there and did that. Where I first became a hotel status junkie.

Downtown FS, North Loop FS, or HP? The location is very convenient to wherever your business is, or your business is all over town? You do or do not have (need) a car?

There is being Diamond. There also is a numerical score based on recent stay activity. As noted above, and especially if your stays are all in one place, hotels tend to start kicking things in at least 5 or 10 nights early, and if they are not ask. (20 in the bed and a 100 night advance booking should get attention).

Why did you pick Hyatt Diamond over somebody else to start with? What is the objective? (Still a good choice for free vacation nights, if not the obvious choice it used to be). Frustrating perhaps, but if the reasons Hyatt was your first choice still apply you are on well your way and (presumably) doing it on company money (I wasn't).

There are not (or didn't used to be) clubs in the Houston properties, so you are not missing anything there. The Marriotts and Sheratons do (did), so if that's the point cut your losses and start over. Otherwise why quit now.

gum

IMHO you are very unreasonable here and you harm yourself more than the Hyatt Group looses revenue

You experienced what I would call a "one-time-subpar-service" out of several reasons: not well-trained staff, staff making assumptions that this Diamond trial wouldn´t be really important in view of the great hotel stays and your history and so on. So at the first glimpse I would have reacted similar like you.

But on the long run it is NOT important if you are treated as returning customer, Diamond or whatever if you have a look on the Hyatt properties and there value for money .

So regardless if you are travelling for business or for leisure Hyatt and the GoldPassport loyalty programme has great Unique selling features:

1.) A nearly self renewing Regency Club upgrade for only 3,000 points.
2.) Superb architecture and towers in many cities of the World.

IMHO the Hyatt group has the best hotel of the world in Shanghai. As well as another great properties and sophisticated architecture.

It has the full range of modern architecture and hotels in renovated classical building complexes.

Therefore I *think* you harm yourself more if you stay in other hotel chains with nearly the same price range but not such great buildings like Hyatt.

So if I would be you I would divide my revenue between Hyatt and any other hotel chain of your choice.

Hope this helps.

wharvey

Lisa,

I am curious... what hotel chain did you decide to go with that you believe will provide you with better service?

Every chain has its issues... and not every employee is perfect... so not sure I would have "taken my toys and ran" as you chose to do.

Sounds like Hyatt did what you asked (even you admitted you communicated wrong) and when they did it, you got upset. And you did not want to give them a chance to repair the issue. That is harsh.

spankytoes

I don't understand the point of this thread.

Were you looking for guidance, which was offered by posters and a HGP rep, or was this simple an opportunity to publically renounce your dealings with Hyatt?

Seems that you're more content with having something to gripe about than you are trying to actively resolve the issue. That brings my post full circle.

dpends

Actually, the frustration comes from being told I could do the challenge over the phone (twice), and then being told no I can't via email. My sense is that the email customer service reps could give me the challenge, but they are just lazy (i.e., why their initial responses were form letters asking for the information I had already sent in the initial email.)

You're right, I could stay another 30 nights and "earn" status, but if that's the way things should be done, why offer the challenge at all? Why do any hotel chains offer status match? Its because people who stay lots of nights will choose to spend their money there over a competitor if they do.

dpends

I actually started the Hyatt because it is the closest hotel to my employer's downtown office. Since that time, my work has shifted so that 85% of it is out by the Galleria. I've stuck with the Hyatt because I like the hotel, but I imagine I would like one of the Westins or the JW Mariott by the Galleria as well (and they would be more convenient).

Thanks for the tip about the actual hotel manager - I originally posted hoping the Gold Concierge would also reply to my concern, but I will try that avenue as well.

gengar

There are many motivations to post reviews. Personally, when I post negative elements of my stays in hotel reviews here, I don't expect anyone to contact me or offer me compensation. I do it in the hopes that my review will benefit the community by allowing FTers to make more informed choices, with the secondary hope that it possibly benefits the property/company in making improvements.

In this case, OP's motivation seems clear as it is stated explicitly in the OP. But there are other benefits. Someone reading OP's complaint will now know that care is needed in preventing miscommunication when inquiring about Diamond trials. It also allows HGP to review the current policy on starting trials which seems far too strict. Certainly it's better for HGP than not getting feedback at all.

For the record, while I value the contributions of the GP Concierges here on FT and their presence has a positive impact on my opinion of HGP, I have to admit I fully understand OP's position as far as feeling that customers shouldn't need to explore alternative communication channels in order to get problems resolved.

If you're going to be in Galleria, I don't think there's any reason at all to stay at the HR downtown.