3rdworldresident

Me too.

And that makes me away from staying at their hotels, which is fine by the way because there are very few of them in the region i lived.

(Personally i thought SPG BRG is way better than Hyatt's BRG.)

applelover2

The most recent claim was rejected saying
"I have reviewed your claim and determined that, based on the third party's terms and conditions not matching our requirements, this reservation is not eligible for our Best Rate Guarantee. "

Now they even reject stating which part of the T&C doesn't meet. What an execuse to reject! Virtually, they can now reject any claims stating the T&C doesn't match requirements.

iherebyresign

BRG customer service is a huge disgrace - each person you speak with will tell you something different - even going so far as to directly contradict their own terms and conditions. I'll be writing up a letter to document my horrible experience and will post it when I am done.

Andrea Waters

I had the exact same experience as documented a few days ago. The rep argued with me that the promotional code has to be a publicly available code. When I directed her to the code on front page of Travelocity's website, she then stated that promotional codes were not allowed.

When I asked her to explain why there's a promotional code box on the BRG form since promotional codes are not allowed, she had no explanation. When I then asked her supervisor where in the terms and conditions it says that promotional codes are not allowed, she directed me to a non-applicable clause about package rates.

Generally, I am satisfied with Hyatt as a brand but my experience left me, for lack of a better word, disgusted.

It is fairly obvious by the lack of response within this thread by the FT Hyatt rep that corporate very well knows that repeated, frivolous BRG denials are problem at best for customers and unethical at worst.

chicaloca453

IMO the screen shot is to make the representative do less work. When we used to have to call I had a new BRG agent so she was talking herself through the steps. She mentioned that I needed to wait just a minute while she took the screen shot. I have found that the screen shot does little else except maybe shows them what they're looking for.

Side note: I have the same question about a recently denied reason. Why does Hyatt.com still have to have the room available when I already have a room booked showing the higher rate? I just got denied a BRG because hyatt.com no longer had rooms to sell. Apparently I got the last one so a BRG was no longer possible to process. That one blew my mind. If a 3rd party site has rooms lower than the rate I booked just minutes before filing a claim, then why should that not be enough?

suite2suite

I think many people will agree with you.
Now we need to hear from the person who took Dana's place.

They're all important issues that should be addressed by Gold Passport at the management level.

synd

Latest denial:

Hyatt Rate : 1920 Euros
Booking Rate : 1900 Euros

Reason for denial:

"based on the third party website being within 1% currency conversion, this reservation is not eligible for our Best Rate Guarantee"

1 - explain to me where there is a currency conversion in this.
2 - even in the case there is a currency conversion 1% of 1920 = 19.2. thus technically i am close but i am not less than 1%.

Colin

I just wish they would price match without the extra 20% off for all the lower rates at HotelTravel, Otel, Despegar, etc. I hate overpaying to book at Hyatt.com just to get the stay credit.

suite2suite

There is no currency conversion that apply in this case.
And the competitive rate is not within 1%.

I hope you're not giving up and are taking it further.
Let us know.

bostonbali

So I've succeeded with 2 out of my 4 separate BRG claims using Despegar. All 4 claims had the same competing rate, the only difference was the agent's response.
BTW, I had more success getting BRG claims approved over the weekend, for what it's worth.

iherebyresign

If you feel like reading, here is the letter I sent in haste to [email protected] detailing my experience with BRG.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to inform you of a serious failure in customer service regarding a recent ‘Best Rate Guarantee’ claim that I submitted. The background information on the request is as follows.

Dates: March xx – March xx, 2015, at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta
Room Type: Ziva Ocean View Jr. Suite King
Hyatt.com Rate: $396
Hoteles.com Rate (converted to USD from MXN): $352

The saga began the night of January 31 when I submitted the standard BRG form. I included all requested information, including a screenshot showing the total and nightly price, room type, and dates. This morning, I received a reply from the Hyatt service desk informing me that the request was denied due to hoteles.com having the same rate as hyatt.com. Since I deemed that to be an incorrect statement, I called into the Diamond Gold Passport customer service line and requested assistance. This is where things start going down hill.

I was transferred to someone whom I assume is in the BRG department. Unfortunately, I did not catch this employee's name. I explained my BRG request and that it was denied, along with my reasoning for why I thought the denial was invalid according to the BRG terms and conditions. I waited a few minutes while the CSR located my request and reviewed the information. I walked her through how to find the cheaper rate, and she informed me that she could not honor the request because hoteles.com shows rates in MXN (pesos), while hyatt.com displays rates in USD. I requested that she point me to the terms and conditions and describe where that information is stated. She read to me the following excerpt:

“In the event that the Competing Rate is in a different currency from the Hyatt rate, Hyatt shall convert the Competing Rate into the same currency as the rate offered on the Hyatt website. If, after conversion to the same currency, a Competing Rate is less than one percent (1%) lower than the Hyatt rate, then such competing rate shall not qualify for the Best Rate Guarantee. Such deviations are often the result of fluctuations in currency exchange rates and other factors beyond Hyatt’s control.”

As any logical human being can discern, and contrary to what the CSR was telling me, this clearly states that my request was, in fact, valid. Hyatt is to convert the MXN to USD, and then use that value to validate if the rate is cheaper. I informed the CSR of such, to which she replied with some stuttering and a request for me to hold on. I held for approximately five minutes, and was then disconnected.

Perturbed by this situation, I again called Diamond Gold Passport and informed them of the above occurrence. I requested to be transferred to a supervisor in the BRG department, to which the CSR obliged. I was connected with “Vicki”. I explained my dilemma and that I had been disconnected while discussing with a previous CSR. She spent a few minutes locating and reviewing the claim. She reiterated that the request was denied because the rates are the same, and I again informed her that is the reason I am on the phone, to dispute such conclusions. Vicki told me that she could not locate the cheaper rate. I asked her if she opened the screenshot that I submitted along with the claim. She told me to hold on, she would have to check with someone else in order to open the attachment (what?). I was placed on hold – I held for thirty minutes (!) and was finally disconnected, which is what I expected to happen. Perhaps placing me on a hold and accidentally disconnecting would result in my giving up. No way.

Outraged, I called Diamond Gold Passport for a third time and told the agent (Mary) my situation and that I was furious with the way it had been handled thus far. I pleaded for assistance. Mary, who thankfully did not transfer me and was actually helpful, spent the usual few minutes locating and reviewing my claim, and of course told me the same reason as to why it was denied. I asked her to look at the screenshot showing the total in MXN. She had to sort through myriad other screenshots that I assume were attached by other CSRs, but finally found the one that I attached. The price per night from hoteles.com (this is hotels.com Mexico site) was MXN5271.90/night, for a grand total of MXN21087.60. This converts, using official currency conversion rates, to $352 and $1408, respectively. Clearly, this is lower than the hyatt.com rate of $396. Mary spent a few minutes looking and eventually indicated that she agrees with me. She told me she would have to speak with a manager to ensure she was looking at it correctly (there is no way the customer could be right!). After a relatively short hold of about five minutes, Mary returned. I was informed that Hyatt would be honoring my request as a “customer courtesy”, but the claim was, in fact, still invalid. The reasoning this time is because “the way Hyatt checks currency conversion is by switching currency on hoteles.com from MXN to USD”. I found this ludicrous – there is only one way to do a currency conversion – and that is by using official currency conversion rates, not by clicking a link on a website and changing the region. I told Mary that I disagreed with this statement, but of course accepted the most generous offer of a customer courtesy BRG.

In the end, I felt like I must hire a lawyer to get Hyatt to honor a Best Rate Guarantee claim that was pretty cut and dry according to Hyatt’s own terms and conditions. I spent over an hour on the phone with five different reps. I was told something different by each rep. I find this completely unacceptable, and frankly, as a Diamond tier Gold Passport member I expect to be treated with competence and fairness when I call customer service. I was provided with neither.

I request that a manager locates and reviews my recorded phone conversations and works with their department to provide better training. If Hyatt is going to offer the Best Rate Guarantee, they need to be ready to approve valid requests when they come in. I have submitted two other requests in the past, which were also denied due to some bizarre reasoning and misinterpretation of the terms and conditions. It’s obvious that reps are trained to go to great lengths to deny claims. It is also very difficult to get in touch with someone if there is a disagreement with an initial response.

If this is the kind of service I should expect from Hyatt in the future, I have no problem moving my loyalty to another program.

Thank you in advance for your concern. I would appreciate a follow up and I would like to know what Hyatt intends to do about this breakdown in communication. Wasting over an hour of my time is not acceptable.

Respectfully,

Jesse xxxxx
804-xxx-xxxx
GP 518xxxxxx

david55

Totally unacceptable customer service.

What make it t so odd is that I had nearly the same BRG claim ( same hotel, same competing website ( Hotels.com Mexican version in pesos) and my claim was immediately accepted! The CSR even thanked me for such a clear. concise screen shot.

It is almost as if some new manager in the office has issued the order to say no under any circumstances...even if you have to make up a reason.

suite2suite

Your claim was valid. Iherebyresign was not.

What Hyatt CR should have explained is that when a competitive website offers the option to select another currency besides the local currency, in this case US$ (dolares americano), Hyatt does not have to convert the local rate to the daily rate of exchange and I have never heard of them doing so.
It's hard enough for most CRs to figure out if the rate falls within the 1% rule.

Iherebyresign should be content with the ultimate result of getting the BRG validated and should have first asked the FT Community whether his/her complaint letter was warranted. In my opinion, it was not.

iherebyresign

If you pay close attention to what you're reading, you'll see that David has the exact same BRG as me, hoteles.com in pesos. Maybe you were the BRG rep with whom I was speaking! According to Hyatt BRG terms and conditions:
Where is the exception clause that states Hyatt does not have to convert using the daily exchange rate? Regardless of whether or not you agree with my claim, it should be understood that it is unacceptable to receive different responses from different CSRs.

suite2suite

There is no need in this case for Hyatt to convert MXN into USD$ because the conversion is done by selecting USD$ on the Competitive Site (hoteles.com).

I agree "it is unacceptable to receive different responses from different CSRs" and you should not have had to call back but the information you received from
the third CSR was correct.