Manager offered ... but was not honored
 

I had a recent large group stay at a hyatt property. While seeking information on rates and availability; the group sales manager offered 5 points per dollar AND night credits for each room. This was confirmed multiple times via email and obviously made an impact on my decision.

When I wasn’t credited - she and the general manager of the property did a manual request because they didn’t know why I wasn’t receiving the night credits. They sent me a copy of the request submitted only to discover that World of Hyatt wouldn’t honor the request or the offer.

I’ve now been through 2 levels of customer service and they are still denying this because it’s not policy. I realize that their T/C is what it is - but if I was offered something by a representative of the hotel (and at the manager level) I would expect that the company would stand by that. If they discover they need better training or clarification - that’s fine, but not at the expense of dishonoring an agreement?

Help, thoughts?

I'll move this to our Hyatt forum.

chgoeditor
co-moderator, Info Desk

In any organization, you'll find people who make promises that they are not authorized to make.

I'm not sure I'd couch it as a 'promise.' It was in writing along with the stated rate and other details as well. It was also both managers at the property, not exactly a lower level employee. It's up to Hyatt to decide if it's worth it to absorb their mistake. Not every company can be Zappos though.

If it's not part of a signed, enforceable contract, it's just a promise.

It doesn't matter. The managers were not authorized to make that promise. Even a vice president probably doesn't have that authority if he/she is not in the World of Hyatt hierarchy.

It'll be interesting to monitor that situation.

I could see a compromise where you get the points as bonus points, purchased by the hotel, but IMO it's extremely unrealistic to expect to receive far more nights credit and base points than WOH rules say you can get.

A hotel manager offered a personal bribe, to be paid by Hyatt Corp. When Hyatt Corp wouldn't pay the bribe, screamin' and hollerin' ensues.

Sorry, but I think Hyatt Corp is doing the right thing. Hotel manager offered something which was not theirs to give.

Suggestion: ask nicely at the hotel if they can offer some kind of customer service bonus points. The situation is 100% caused by the local hotel, so it's 100% their duty to fix it. Still, I don't see a fix as a likely outcome, as the hotel has already shown their expertise at trying to make Hyatt Corporate foot the bill for their own mistakes.

Who’s many nights credit are we talking?

Color me unsurprised.

Hotel sales managers are, quite frequently, horrible people. I say this because I worked with many of them for years (for Hyatt, no less). They'll say anything to book the business, then they don't give a cr*p when you're disappointed. They've already moved on to their next victim.

Hyatts are usually just managed by Hyatt, and owned by someone else. Sounds as if the hotel will have to make good on its own somehow--you might get them to give you some free nights, gift cards, etc., but possibly only for use at that property.

I would expect them to honor it too. If not WOH, at least the hotel should have to buy you the points or refund a portion of the stay roughly equivalent to the points lost. If it's a significant amount, you could try small claims court too for the cash value. I'm not a lawyer, but I'd be livid if I was in your position too.

Yeah there's a potential damages claim here. Though I doubt you could force Hyatt to provide the precise benefit promised. The biggest issue would be whether you could enforce a promise that's inconsistent with the WoH terms and conditions. I wouldn't be surprised though if a small claims judge was offended by the property's position and ruled in OP's favor.

Please don't provide pretend legal advice.

The law of contracts enforces promises. That's fundamental.

I'm shocked this community jumped on the OP like this. Let's be better, people.

Surely a simple(ish) solution is for the hotel is book the OP into an empty room at the hotel for the next 30 days or however many night credits are missing. With award nights now counting, there surely is a way of making that work.

As long as the OP has no other overlapping Hyatt stays, they could make up the missing elite nights that way.

What about this contract do you find unenforceable? A promise in this context *is* a contract. An e-mail offer has been considered acceptable as a written contract for many years, now. OP performed under the contract, and money from the large group was paid to the hotel.

OP: This is on the property itself. They *must* make it up to you in some way. They won't be able to get the night credits they promised you, because they are not theirs to give. However, they are guilty of bait and switch. Their lawyer would advise that they make it up to you, as one call to the attorney general of their state would cause severe problems. You made a buying decision based on what they told you in writing, and you were not given those things.

Now, you have to figure out what's reasonable. As expert Gary Leff has always told me (paraphrasing), "you have to ask for what you want". But you have to make what you want something that they can give. If what you want is night credit, you won't get it without suing Hyatt Corporate, and convincing the Court that the hotel is an Agent of the company. They are, but this will cost you way more than Globalist status is worth. If you want points, the hotel can give it to you. Write them an e-mail explaining how you would have stayed somewhere else if not for their promise, and you believe you deserve xx,xxx points for not being able to living up to their end of the bargain. I don't know how many points is correct, because I don't know the size of the group and the number of nights. But I've been given 20,000 points by a Hyatt for a much smaller mistake. There are other things the hotel itself can offer, like free nights another time, guaranteed upgrades, dinners in their restaurants (if they have one), etc. But asking directly for what you want is key. Don't put it on them to decide.

so what does the reference to zappos mean?