pokee

I had an SPG hotel reservation for Aug. 23rd that was made at a much higher redemption rate. I went in today and made another reservation at the lower rate, and then cancelled the reservation at the higher rate. The original points to be refunded calculated fine - only problem is - my points refund for the original reservation is missing.

When I called they confirmed that the refunded points were deposited into my Old SPG account (with the old number) and will need to be transferred into my New SPG account (with my new number) - which will take 24 - 72 hours (as this is when the points transfers between old and new accounts is complete). I was a little skeptical of this occurrence considering my points were already transferred over - so theoretically, the system is "done" with my account. The rep assured me that any balances or untransferred information in your old account will automatically trigger the transfer to the new account. If this is the case, I am guessing that this "transfer program" is likely to be an ongoing process that will run for the next year or so, to "catch" all changes that are made to reservations made with your old SPG number?

slariz

peroorim

I did the same for a Marriott property and the points difference was back in my account immediately

CPRich

That's likely because the new system is the old Marriott system, not the old SPG system.

slariz

pokee

Yeah, it's not an issue for Marriott reservations, because your Marriott account hasn't changed. This is only an issue for SPG reservations made prior to Aug. 18 - because everyone was generated a new SPG number. The refunds are being posted to the old SPG numbered account.

I'm convinced they are going to need to implement a fix for this - and it's going to take time. Their conversion program was only intended to take points from your old SPG to your new SPG once. Unless they run this conversion program daily for the next year, triggered to transfer points from old to new if there is a points balance in any old-numbered SPG accounts, they're never going to catch all of the points posted to old accounts.

I am guessing the only other resolution (short of a manual adjustment) is they create a program to somehow link the old and new spg accounts, so any refunded points will be reflected in the new SPG account.

My concern is that once the SPG and Marriott accounts are "merged" - will the ability to refund points for old SPG reservations be lost forever?

pokee

I think it will make things worse. I don't plan to merge until my points are refunded.

Falimz

This looks to be quite the IT issue. Have a similar issue. Stored all my points in my SPG account. Even though I have a linked Marriot account it created a new marriot account and did the 3x multiplier and put my point in there. Plus I did a refund on a Ritz reservation for the pricing change and I have a bunch of point there as well. They are likely having issues merging your "new" marriot account created from the SPG account and your own marriot account.

AAUSTEX

I cancelled an SPG points reservation on Sunday 8-19 and the points did not refund. I called that day and was told the points should show up in 2/3 days. I called again today and was told that they should show up in the next 48 hours. The agent I spoke with said that the "button" on their computer program to manually put points back into someone's account has been disabled. He said that if the points do not appear in 48 hours I need to call back and tell the agent to escalate the issue to "corporate services"

MD/DC Flyer

My experience -

After combining the accounts (to the Marriott account):

1. Cancelling Marriott reservation - points immediately back to my account
2. Cancelling new SPG reservation (booked after combining the account as test) - points immediately back to my account
3. Cancelling old SPG reservation - points did not come to my account - short of 375,000 points. No real time frame or answer to when it will be resolved

h2d

To add to the mix - I have cancelled and re-booked two SPG stays, both made before the program changes. One was refunded immediately and I was able to use those points for another booking, one is still missing 48 hours later so YMMV

hamburgl4r

I have a stay that costs 144,000 points i made prior to the merging. I am considering rebooking using the points, but not sure if I will get points lost. Should I call and ask?

smokie

I have cancelled several SPG stays from my new combined account. For old bookings that I had made 3+ months ago, the points credited to my account immediately. For some SPG bookings that I had made in early August 2018, the points are still in limbo - 72+ hours and counting. Plat concierges are not providing any guidance as to when this will be resolved. Frustrating - as I need the points to make new bookings...

pokee

Ah - so this explains why some cancellations are being refunded immediately and some aren't. Seems as though their system is refunding the more recent pre-Aug 18 reservations to the old SPG account. Like yours, my missing refund is from a reservation made in July 2018.

Since they're aware of the issue, yet nothing is happening, I'm convinced their IT folks have to scramble to put together a fix for this to ensure it doesn't keep happening for cancellations going forward. Then they're going to need to develop a special routine that will fix any existing points that are sitting in your old SPG account.

For anyone that needs the points now for bookings, I'd be calling in to get a manual refund of points, since the 72 hour promise has come and gone...

slariz

Any luck getting someone to do this? I've asked several times and been told no, you have to wait.