TravelStar

[QUOTE=Kalboz;27110824]Based on what Todd Tomlin (Director - Hyatt Gift Cards) says, there might be a cause for a class action there .../QUOTE]

Todd Tomlin left Hyatt over a year ago. He's currently in charge of the Hotels.com gift card program.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddtomlin

cdancer20

I'm almost certain that that thread was referring to ebay seller SVM. Many of us on this thead, including myself, bought from him. They were physical gift cards. I actually had no issues with these cards and I had them for a few months. (Before all the mass amount of craziness came to light.) I remember checking them though a few months later after my Cardcash GC was compromised and they were still fine. Based on the amount of inventory that he carried and his ability to continuously have huge sells last year, I would say that he was definitely an authorized seller direct from Hyatt. However, I can see Hyatt turning a blind eye to compromised GCs bought them him for the same reason a previous poster stated.

SportsTech

You are correct, it was SVM. I actually paged Todd when I saw the eBay listing; I think my question about SVM is what provoked his response here. And I bought 4 physical cards from SVM; one of them was compromised, but Hyatt replaced it without issue.. They are no longer standing behind cards purchased elsewhere.

cdancer20

<hits like button> I'm actually a little timid to use any anymore but I recently redeemed some Discover rewards for cards. With no more sells going on, a 10% discount on the gift cards is a decent redemption to me. However, I have only been redeeming when I have travel coming up in a few weeks. I'm curious though if those were compromised who would be liable. Would Discover replace my cards? Or does Discover buy directly from Hyatt in my name so Hyatt would replace?

Kalboz

Greg, the Frequent Miler, also had some familiar issues ...

http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...-hacked-twice/

PhilHugi

I had the following experience:

I wanted to pay my stay at the GH Rio with Giftcards,
I had several with me. 3x 100$ and 2x200$ (egift cards)

So the Lady in the Club went to check the balance on all them to pay the max possible of the bill by giftcards. She returned telling me both 200$ were empty, first I was shocked but as I had to catch a flight soon I thought I will check later and talk to the vendor.
So I paid the rest of my bill (roughly 350USD) by CC.

When I arrived home other Day I called their Hotline to see what is the value on the cards. And guess what? Both of them are still valid with a balance of 200$ each.

I am pretty mad at GH Rio, as I bought this cards to use in South America during my trip. Now im left with the cards worth 400 USD here in Switzerland where I cant use them.


Anyone had a similar experience?
I sent an email to them asking them to suggest a solution.

josephstern

I thought those don't work outside US and Canada. I thought only the gift cheques worked internationally. Am I wrong?

PhilHugi

they do work in South America and Caribeans too..

cdancer20

That's what I thought too but I just checked the Hyatt website and it says: *Valid in North America (includes Canada), Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and South America

OP, I would call or email the accounting dept and hotel managers to see if they can change the payment method for you. If the front desk agent messed up, that's not your fault especially since you specifically bought these cards for this trip.

Brendan

Similar to Josephstern, I thought that Hyatt GCs were valid only in North America & the Caribbean. Were Central America and South America recently added to the zone?

CubsGirl

I've had success having a gift card applied after a stay, and hyatt has specifically suggested it to me at least twice (once when I was dealing with a gift card that had been drained by someone else and once when their computer system at a specific hotel was having issues). Have never had any issues with credits back to my credit card when I've switched the payment.

suite2suite

How long after checking out have you been successful in getting the hotel to switch payment from a credit card charge to a GiftCard? Thanks

PhilHugi

the girl from the Grand Club in Rio who did the checkout and told me the cards are invalid got back to me, asking after the codes so she could check with Hyatt..

Sent her the codes, lets see what happens.. The cards were still valid this morning when i sent it to her

moretimeoffguy

I ordered Hyatt eGift cards having pins using American Express MR points just before a trip to Hawaii. Redeemed them successfully a week later at the Grand Hyatt Kauai. Just an anecdote, but was glad I took a chance.

serfty

My story - bought a $300 eGift late last year during a promo planning to use in March but that fell through.

Tried to use it in mid June - came back with $0 value. The Hyatt Place was fine (seen it before) - they took the details and said they would contact Hyatt - I had to fly out that morning. They said I did not need to pay anything.

I contacted Hyatt as well later that day - once I explained, I was told "someone who handles these things" would call back. They did within 15 minutes; I explained I had been hoping to use the balance at a property I was overnighting at the next morning.

She sent me an email I was to to give to the property explaining that the balance (~$85) that should have been on the card was to be credited to my account and Hyatt corporate would pay it.

The next day at the front desk they refused to do so - I had another flight to catch so had to pay the full amount withou further negotiation.

Later that day I emailed back to Hyatt corporate stating what had happened. I received a 'phone call within an hour advising they would get the property to refund me the balance.

There was nothing for a week, so I emailed again.

A week later I received an apologetic email asking my to hold tight - they would again contact the property.

Still nothing, so two weeks later I sent another email - this was replied to almost strait away, stating they would be contacting the property.

A week later (it was now mid July), still nothing so I emailed again. A day later I received an email again apologizing, stating the management at the property had changed, the details of my situation had been mislaid and the credit would be going through. Also, 10,000 points were to be credited to my GP account as compensation. I logged on and there it was 10,000 points- 2 days later the credit arrived on my card account.

To finish it all I sent an email thanking them for their efforts.