keloutwest

Shocked to find so little commentary on this. Does IHG have an on-shore (North American) call center, and if so, how does one reach it? After hitting brick walls with the off-shore agents (and managers) who truly just don't understand anything other than booking a new reservation, and being told there is no US agent option, I wanted to confirm this for myself.

I don't often need live customer service, but if this is my only option on the occasions when I do, IHG hotels will be my absolute last choice moving forward. Sometimes off shore agents can be surprisingly good, but these agents are bottom of the barrel in my experience.

Often1

"On shore" depends on where you are located. If you are in Romania, I don't think that there is an "onshore" call center. Not sure why it really makes a difference.

keloutwest

I've clarified, thank you. I think you may be alone in your perspective that "on shore" and "off shore" call centers are equal in the level of service they provide. Yes, there are examples of great "off shore" call centers and awful "on shore" call centers. But as a general rule, many companies have learned the hard way that moving call centers "off shore" is a great way to lose customers.

In any case, this is off topic. I would love to know if there is a way to reach a North American agent, or if IHG has shifted all customer service at all levels "off shore".

UKtravelbear

Not sure why you think a US based call agent is any better than one based elsewhere.

They can only provide assistance to the degree the policies and procedures the company permit them to.

If you give us an idea about what you are calling them for you might get some advice on solving it.

Chinatrvl

You might reach your Anglo Saxon birds of a feather with the UK number. Certainly, that is off shore.

Adam1222

I was wondering whether the OP was referring to agents located on off-shore oil platforms.

Indeed, there's nothing inherently better about customer service based on what country the agent is located in.
IHG, is of course, based in the UK, so seems strange to ask if they have "shifted" all of their agents out of the United States-- particularly given several of their brands have no properties in the United States

keloutwest

It’s really a tough crowd here on flyertalk. My post was really pointed at the fact that IHG appears to offer some of the worst customer service I’ve experienced from a hotel chain. Granted I have elite status with Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton and no status with IHG, so I was hoping for advice on how to reach a stronger customer service group for this brand. The agents really struggle to communicate effectively in English, regardless of their location.

I actually did not know IHG was UK based, but off shoring still applies 🤣. However, the term in itself is a very well established business term, usually referring to moving a call centre to a lower cost country, which is exactly what IHG has done.

Adam1222

If your point is that you, as a non-elite member during a pandemic, have found IHG customer service worse than the chains where you have elite status, that seems to have little to do with where the reps are located. I have had terrible customer service from plenty of agents who are based in the United States with various companies.

I have never had a problem with English understanding with IHG agents. Perhaps you have more complicated needs on your occasional stays with IHG.

If you have a specific problem that you need assistance with, the community here might be able to provide assistance--even if many members are located "off-shore."

Doppy

In my experience "off shore" CS reps from companies (not necessarily specific to IHG) usually are working with less training, flexibility, and authority than their counterparts based in the US.

I find this to be extremely frustrating because these days I only call customer service if I have a problem that can't be fixed online. That means that either (1) it's a complicated problem that needs someone with the attributes I listed above, or (2) the company's online self-service is garbage.

writerguyfl

This is a great idea.

Many people (even frequent travelers) don't fully understand the business model of hotel groups like IHG. In many cases, customer service agents and even managers at the hotel group (Central Reservations or Corporate Office) do not have the authority to make changes to reservations. Each individual hotel effectively controls their own reservations.

If you are trying to make a change to an existing reservation and it's not possible online, it's almost always best to call the hotel directly. Involving customer service at the hotel group makes things more difficult because it usually means the agent will have to contact the hotel to ask get authorization to make a change. Not all agents have the authority to do that action.

Adam1222

And many times, what people call bad customer service is the refusal to make exceptions to policies or rules, which first-level CSRs can't typically due, no matter what one's stereotypes about foreign countries may be.

keloutwest

Thank you for conveying this so well.

Appreciate everyone’s offer to weigh in on the specific issue I’m having. I don’t think the situation is all that relevant to the topic of how to reach good customer service at IHG but just to satisfy your curiosity, here goes.

While I was not asking for a policy exception, I was trying to speak to someone who could help me match or challenge status. My situation was somewhat unique in that I needed to stay in a hotel for several months during a renovation. Since my stay would only post upon checkout, I would miss all elite benefits in the meantime. Checking out and in again was too much trouble with all my things and is technically against the rules anyways.

The “offshore” agents (plural, I tried more than once) just kept repeating “there is no status match option available, you can stay X number of nights to reach Gold, Y to reach Platinum etc etc.” I appreciate there may not be an option for this, but I asked if I could speak to someone about my situation who might be able to evaluate further. Total dead end even with a supervisor.

In contrast, I called Hyatt and spoke to a very helpful front line agent. She took down my information and said she’d get someone to call back the next day. They did (someone in their back office, which is even more impressive) matched me to Globalist, and I booked 3 months at a Hyatt.

Adam1222

So IHG and Hyatt have different status match options. IHG does not offer a status match, nor is its elite program comparable to Hyatt's. You can become IHG Platinum by getting a credit card, and you can buy into the Ambassador program like anyone ese. IHG Platinum does not offer free breakfast or other benefits like those Hyatt does.

You concede it *was* escalated to a supervisor, you just don't like the answer and think you deserved a special exception because you think you are "unique."

The nationalities of the people you spoke with has nothing to do with it.

Dave Noble

There is nothing unique in that you want to book a stay at a hotel - there are plenty of people who stay in hotels for long periods

I cannot see how what you want, is not asking for a policy exception

You spoke to customer service on multiple times and was consistently told that there is no status match available. Seems a consistent message on what you want is not offered. It seems that you are hoping to play agent roulette and find one in another country that doesn't care what the policy is and will do it anyway .

Why do you believe that the multiple agents (including a supervisor) , that seem to understand what you want, are all wrong?

Jon Maiman

If there was a language issue (regardless of the location of the call center), then I sympathize with the OP. E.g. if the people you're speaking with aren't fluent in English (for callers from the United States), it makes it very difficult to communicate. Unclear to me if the OP did eventually get to speak to someone at IHG who spoke English fluently. If they did and just didn't like the answer the received, then move on. If they felt like they never got to an agent nor manager who truly understood what was being asked, that would be very frustrating.

It also occurs to me that the OP should have called and tried to negotiate directly with the property they were considering staying at for 3 months. The GM probably would have been interested in doing something to earn a 90 day stay. At this point it is moot since the OP has decided to stay at a Hyatt property instead.

--Jon