shonamac

Yes, I had the same problem with slow responses from Club Carlson; it is especially bad over weekends, since they seem to work Mo-Fr only. Usually though I take screen shots of the competing site.

But I agee that the CC BRG staff are nowhere near as professional as some of the other hotel chains. CC sucks.

shonamac

Sorry, I cannot agree with you. When a hotel denies a BRG claim for such a bogus reason (tax included on competing site), I would also cancel my booking and stay somewhere else and then send copies of the correspondence + new booking at non-Carlson hotel to Carlson's executive office in MSP.

Those women at the BRG desk at CC are absolute bitc$#s

Adam1222

yay misogyny!

TravelinSperry

To their email or via snail mail? I just did this and would like to do the same. What is the address of either (whichever you recommend)?

shonamac

Everything was done by e-mail:

Initially to [email protected]
Escalated to [email protected]
Resolved by [email protected]

They certainly gave me a hard time and the problem was caused initially by their not looking at my claim for 72+ hours!

Yul_voyager

So how was it resolved ? Did they approved the BRG ? And did you cancelled your other reservation ?

TravelinSperry

You'll be shocked (sarcasm!) to learn I'm still waiting to hear back. They have a few hrs before it's 48 hours and as I'm learning, they like to take the whole time.

crazyhorse

Had my BRG claim denied for what is possibly the biggest technicality. Oh well... Marriott here I come. Makes me wonder why I even bothered to status match.

shonamac

Yes, they approved the BRG at the end - it just took some correspondence (=perseverance).

There was no 'other reservation' in this case, as it was a non-refundable booking. I had mentioned booking another hotel in another context and in response to another post, where the booking was for a normal 6pm cancellation and hence could be cancelled without penalty. I would be crazy to waste time in writing messages to CC if they unjustifiably deny a flexible rate BRG; I would simply book another hotel and stick my thumb to CC.

TravelinSperry

Ok, so here is the latest. I sent over the confirmation email as described a few posts ago. And I asked if they would accept a confirmation email as proof of a lower rate.

Here is their response:
"We will review screen shots of rates that are no longer visible on third
party websites. We will need the complete booking pages. It will
generally be 3-4 pages up to the point were the site requests your
personal information. Please do not input your personal information or
you may end up with a reservation from the third party of which we are
unable to assist with cancelling if need be."

Clearly the CS people cannot read or understand basic english. I obviously already booked the room at the intermediary and it was the last one. And I forwarded them a request telling them this and including the confirmation email. So how can I now get the booking pages (those shown to me prior to booking it?). I have re-emailed them to see if they will accept a confirmation email - although since I already did that once I'm doubtful they'll actually read and consider my request properly this time.

The only good news I can see from this, is that in the future - we can simply save screen grabs of lower prices without actually booking them and they will consider this. Of course, if they deny us (as in the ridiculous example above where the cancellation policy was 3 hrs off), then I will have only their booking at the higher rate. I must say this is really poor customer service on Club Carlson's part and is leaving a horrible taste in my mouth re their chain.

TravelinSperry

After 3 emails back and forth I finally was able to get them to look at the confirmation email and screen shots to consider my brg request. And I'm sure you will not be shocked to find they denied it. Here's why:

"Upon review of both rooms, the request is denied due to breakfast being included in the rate."

Apparently rates that include breakfast, even where both rates include it, are ineligible for the guarantee:

Per their T&C's
"Package rates that include the room and other components such as meals, amenities and entertainment."

To me this is absurd. Both rooms include breakfast!!! Why would this not be eligible? It is apples to apples.

So, like the Crazyhorse above, I find that I am out of luck. I shall make my own guarantee, Radisson and Club Carlson will see little, if any, business from me going forward.

I remain now even more loyal to Starwood (where breakfast is not a reason to deny a claim) and will continue my search for an alternate backup chain.

zussino

Good for you. Incredible being denied on a breakfast ammenity.

MightyTravels

It's incredible how quickly the Club Carlson BRG degraded from one of the best (much like Marriott) to one of the worst in less than 12 months. They should stop putting that claim on their website and be honest with their customers! Radisson/Club Carlson has no BRG.

Guillou

Just posted a claim regarding a reservation at Radisson Blu Berlin. The price quoted when booked through clubcarlson.com was more than EUR 200 more than the price for the same room when booked through a third party booking site.

Guillou

Received a response from CC within a few hours from posting the claim for BRG. However, the claim itself was rejected based on a difference in the cancellation policies. According to the cancellation policy by Radisson the reservation may be cancelled by 6 PM CET with no penalty. However, the booking made through a third party site allows the cancellation without a penalty until 7 PM CET and based on this the claim was rejected (i.e. the lower rate, which was approximately 40% less than the one available through clubcarlson.com, was better on its cancellation terms).

Although the terms & conditions of the BRG do state that the rates shall be subject to same restrictions I find the rejection based on one hour difference in the cancellation (in the benefit of the customer) absurd and a case-example of poor customer service. I have often stayed at Radissons as the ones in the Nordic countries tend to be quite decent. However, after this experience I believe its time to take advantage of the cancellation terms and see what e.g. Starwood has to offer, if not for anything else then just for the sake of principle.