LHR/MEL/Europe FF

can you still replicate the bookings now? Without seeing exactly what you were looking at at the time it is difficult to say what has happened.

If you had booked one room, as you say, it probably would have been fine. But booking 11 rooms they decided to have a closer look and have found it does not match the terms and conditions? Again, if we cannot see what you or IHG see then it is hard to say exactly what happened and who is in the right.

Your best path of action since you are in Australia would the consumer affirs office in your state. It is a free call and their assistance is free. They will assign you a case and follow it through for you. A best rate guarantee would come under ACCC or Fair trading legistlation. If they have found to advertise something which they have been misleading then the state may take appropriate action. But one way or another you will get an outcome.

nacho

I'm concerned since this is really dodgy for IHG to turn down claims like this.

Dolphinyong

It seems that they link up whoever having the same home address. Somebody suggested to adjust home address when making reservation, it's all under the surveillance of the BRG team.

Besides, I have sent a couple of questions to ask BRG team, and their response are as below :

Q : If we cancel an approved BRG, can we cancel the reservation and refile a BRG on the same date for a different room type or hotel.

A : No

Q : Can my dad claim a room and put my mum as second guest while my girlfriend claim a room at the same date and put my name as a second guest? I have the same home address with my parents while my girlfriend has different home address.

A : Yes

Hope it helps the others=)

samwkchan

Thanks for posting some answers obtained from an official source!

I still have a question. Does it imply that BRG team think that two individuals sharing the same home address cannot claim rooms for the same date? There is no clause in the terms and conditions prohibiting this practice. My arguments are sound per the current terms and conditions (dated 15 January 2013, with the last revision on 22 October 2012).

travelkid

Change adress on acct.

FlyingHigh20

Not completely sound. Two individuals living in the same home address can still be considered within the same household. Most laws define a "household" as individuals who have lived under the same roof for an entire year (this definition is mainly used in the context of tax laws).

Shanye2233

They said that if I have in writing of a free night an they decide to back out of that contract then I need to lodge a complaint online and have a case manger look Into retrieving my money . They can not back out of a written contact . So off to court we go.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

why make it so complicated?? Did you try the consumer affairs department in your state? There is probably no need to go to court on this one!

Dolphinyong

I don't suggest this way either. Because if they records of our current home address on file and already link our family accounts together, they will know it if we change the address on accounts. They just sent another follow up email for my mum's another brg to me. But we'll, it's only my assumption.

Dolphinyong

I aske that before to them, their answer is 'no', they quoted their rules with some modification on it.

tangey

"In the event IHG believes that a room eligible for the Best Price Guarantee has been resold, or the Best Price Guarantee is otherwise being intentionally abused or manipulated to circumvent its intent, we reserve the right to cancel the previously-awarded free room night and to cancel the lower prices for the rest of the nights of a multi-night reservation, and to reject future Best Price Guarantee claims from any persons who participated in such actions."

Basically says that if they believe something underhand is taking place, regardless of whether it is specifically covered by other T&C, they can deny the claims and reject earlier claims.

As written it would appear to me that their belief that the intent of the programme is being thwarted can overrule any other T&C, regardless of whether there is any basis for it factually.

One might therefore suggest that it was not their intent that one person would instigate a situation that he, friends, and various members of his family would successfully get accepted multiple claims filed over a few days for free single nights in one property.

I'm not saying the above is in any way fair, but if that wasn't their intent, then they might be rejecting it based on the bit I quoted.

Shanye2233

Again today I'm suppose to check in within 8 hours under a free night and I receive a email from the agent who approved it saying it has been further reviewed and now has been declined and I will have to pay the full rate as booked , another $485 !

I'm not going to court I have contact the government agency and once nothing comes from that I will need to go to court. I'm not sure if your familiar with IC Sydney but they aren't a co-operative bunch especially when it comes to revenue

samwkchan

Sorry for using synonyms. The word "individual" does not appear in the terms and conditions. The word "person" is used instead. Therefore, there is no ambiguity that two people, regardless of their connection, can claim free rooms for the same date.

There is no point in quoting rules with their own creation or modification. They are doing wrongly.

Again, I predict that there will be some related changes on the terms and conditions in the next revision. It is because agents are notified of the changes slightly before they are published and implemented. They sometimes quote the unpublished new rules before they are valid. It happened to me three times in the past.

nacho

Almost 54k of my PC points are gone from my account - I suspected these are the points they took away for the BRG stays. Mr. Nacho had about 14k disappeared from his PC account too.

It's super annoying that they don't tell you why they took the points away.

Anyone has the same problem?

Thanks in advance!

travelkid

Keep us posted^

Thats a new one. Can you call and ask? Another IT glitch during the current revamp?