pomkiwi

Woke up this morning to find a reservation notification that somebody had made overnight using my account. Not the first time this has happned. Text of e-mail I sent:

'This reservation (Hotel indigo in London) appeared on my account at 23.45 last night UK time.
It was not made by me and I have therefore cancelled it.
It was presumably guaranteed by my credit card.
This is not the first time this has happened.
I am now asking for a full explanation as to how your systems can again allow a reservation to be generated on my account without my knowledge and consent.
As your systems are clearly insecure I will be removing my credit card details from my account. I am also reviewing the security implications of remaining with the Priority Points Program (which has become significantly less attractive in any event).
I look forward to your earliest reply.'

Based on the previous occurrences they will have no idea how this happened and little more interest.

dgwright99

What basis do you have for assuming your CC was used ?

Most likely, the PCR # was mis-keyed.
I get mysterious stays on my account periodically. Never been charged, but do get the points. No complaining' from me

Tilly123

I had a good half dozens stays on my Acount last year, the person had the same name as me and lived and worked the other side of the world. I got the points for the stays so all worked out good for me as they stayed in expensive rooms.

They paid with their credit card, they just seem to have my PC number for a while somehow.

pomkiwi

No idea how the reservation was guaranteed but since all the other details from my account were applied to the reservation I remain uncomfortable assuming that my credit card details remain secure. The hotel have replied that it is because they know more than one pomkiwi (not that I have ever styed there) - so that's OK then.

uk1

I think your concern about the CC was perfectly rational. In your situation I'd be concerned that a no show would be charged to the card registered on the account until promised in writing otherwise because when making a booking it always defaults to the registered card on my membership.

3544quebec

And I spent months getting a charge reversed for a reservation attributed to me 3544quebec of Sydney Australia but made by 3544quebec of Baltimore USA who did a no show at the HI Brussels Airport. The hotel's back office linked their reservation to my PC account. Similar thing happened (incorrect linking of reservation made by person of same name as me) at the Intercontinental Rio de Janiero (may it rest in peace ) . My experiences have been that I was already known to the hotel either through previous stays or a prior cancelled reservation (remote from the disputed booking).

uk1

So the property manually linked a booking from a person who had booked - but not as a registered club member - randomly to your account by simply presuming you were the same person because of your surname - even though the addresses didn't marry - and then charged your card?

If the booking hadn't been booked via your membership (to get the points and nights) and the address was different - why didn't they correct it immediately?

pomkiwi

I think that this is the basis for my concern - and other's experiences suggest that it may lead to financial loss.

Priority Club have replied thanking me for my comments and promising that executive directors read feedback.....

FullMoonMadness

As I am not a member, I don't know if you can do this: Perhaps you should remove your credit card information from your profile. I realize it is a nuisance to have to enter it every time you book a room, but it would lower the probability of, 1.) someone booking a room on your credit card, and 2.) your credit card info being stolen in the event their servers are hacked.

Personally, I have a policy of not letting websites remember my credit card info due to reason number two. It seems one company or another is having their servers accessed by someone all the time.

I'm willing to trade the 30 seconds it takes to pull my card out of my wallet and enter my info for not waking up in the morning and seeing a hotel reservation has been booked on my card. I wouldn't want the stress of that news, and the potential red tape of getting the charge removed if I somehow don't catch it in time.

Just my three cents.

3544quebec

Not just same surname but same first name as well - nothing random about it just plain sloppy

Very good and obvious question - the hotel ignored a couple of emails sent directly to them and then when Amex chargeback followed provided insufficient information to Amex to validate the charge but Amex accepted it as valid. Blew up Amex for accepting a charge that was pretty obviously made by some corporate travel office in Baltimore (info I gleaned from the documentation the hotel provided to Amex). Amex reopened case and eventually after multiple attempts and involving Ambassador Services got an email from the hotel saying oops we stuffed up. I suppose that was better than the response from Amex stating that they were pleased to inform me that they had resolved the dispute.

Direct email communication with the reservation dept at the Intercontinental Rio resulted in an email from them stating that this was exactly what was happening - the reservation went from IHG to the hotel and someone in the reservation dept linked another 3544quebec's reservation to my account (and my credit card guarantee). It was much easier to resolve it that time as I saw the reservation prior to the stay and was a regular at that hotel. I received no undertaking that the system that allowed these serious and quite fundamental errors would be reviewed.

WilcoRoger

First thing first - do NOT store your CC info with your PC profile. Yes, a bit more typing, when making reservations, but so much more peace of mind.

PS - the hotels also store the CC you used with them...

WickedStepMother

In November last year I spotted a 4 night stay at the Holiday Inn Bangkok in my husband's PC account list of upcoming reservations. Something he wasnt telling me?!? The reservation had his name and email address, but a company address in the US (we live in the UK).
He cancelled the reservation and I phoned UK reservations to report the problem, to find out how it could have happened and also so that the other Mr WickedStepMother didn't fly in to Bangkok from the US only to find he had no hotel room.
My husband got the following response from the hotel by email a day or two later (their grammar and spelling, not mine)

We have learned that your reservation was found at Holiday Inn Bangkok unfortunately you are not stay with us in this period, after investigated then found that reservation profile was wrong selected by hotel reservation therefore your name have place in our system.
Please accept our sincere apologize and please be ensure that your profile including membership number was remove from our system.

My husband has never stayed at and IHG property in Bangkok, although we were, at the time, planning to spend Christmas there. We had only recently made an enquiry to the Intcontinental about RA benefits on award stays, where they asked for his PC number before they would answer our questions. Was his profile added to a local system at that point I wonder...

CaveatEmpty

re: that cc number in your reservation profile -- 'some' card sources offer *virtual card* features, with time and/or value limits .. perfect for using online (or that hard-to-cancel gym or AOL membership!).

Park a $10 virtual number in the profile to handle those 'temp pokes', and present the real card at checkin. The same effect can be achieved with a cheapie pre-paid card.

/.

darben

Please see my post
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...l#post20391152

FLYGVA

I know it is not very practical, but I have alkready decided some years ago not so store any credit card number in my account but to type them in if I make a booking. This gives me the opportuniy to switch between cards (e.g. for business and leisure stays) and gives me at least a little bit more safety in terms of credit card fraud.