yosithezet

Both ITC Maratha Mumbai and ITC Maurya Delhi, Luxury Collection properties, charge for the higher speed Internet. They credit the folio for the basic Internet and you need to pay the delta for the higher speeds. Am I to understand that this is not supposed to be the case?

Keyser

i might have done the same thing but i was only going to spend a few hours in the room & was checking out at 5 in the morning so saw no need to have an argument for 2-3 hours of internet usage....had this been a longer stay then i would have gone with william's suggestion....

Keyser

not at all....follow william's advice....

mastiff

Does it mean that the hotel is not entitled just to offer "slow speed" but to offer whatever they have, including "high speed" connection, for free?

controller1

For SPG Platinums, the highest speed offered by the hotel should be complimentary.

Keyser

thyetus, just sent you a pm with the complaint file number....

troyb

Checked out of here the other day and had a discussion with the front desk agent, who inquired with a manager. Refused to remove the charges for the higher speeds, despite me telling them I had confirmed with SPG that the highest speed applies. I said OK, I will just follow up with customer service - complaint already filed.

Funny though, I was just remarking to my colleague how the ITC Maurya doesn't nickle and dime guests. Lots of water in the room, often comp sodas at breakfast, just lots of little "things" that other hotels would charge for - the ITC does not. Guess they are sticking to their guns on the internet charge, which is pretty annoyin considering their two lower speeds are absolutely abysmal (128k and 256k).

BigBopper

Had this problem with the Atlantic City Sheraton 2 weeks ago. I even called down to the front desk to confirm the higher speed BEFORE I used it. Despite that, I had a problem at check out.

The charge was finally removed when i asked for a manager.

Keyser

just an update....i contacted corporate customer service who then got in touch with the properties....

once again, the issue was that the hotel was offering 2 different speeds & only the slower one was free....i got an answer from both properties today & i don't think they really understood what the issue was because they completely missed the point....here are their replies:

Keyser

william/thyetus, any clue what the next step could be here????

Starwood Lurker

I have already taken the necessary next steps. Thanks for asking, though.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

mastiff

It is Westin Macau (which I have already referred to William).

My complaint to the Corporate Service was as follow:

"I spent 2 nites at Westin Macau between 29th and 30th August, 2010.

I was charged for the internet I used at the room because I chose "high speed" internet. When I checked out, the staff members at the cashier counter told me that the hotel only offered free internet at normal speed to Platinum members. They told me that I should have been told about this at check-in. I was not sure about that. May be that was mentioned but I failed to register that in my mind. I reasoned with the staff member. At last, I was only charged for one day usage at MOP185 instead of 2 days.

Is it the case that the hotel is not entitled to charge Platinum members for internet, no matter they are normal or high speed?"


The matter was referred to Westin Macau and they replied in below.

Their reply:

"Dear [Mastiff],

Warmest greeting from the Westin resort Macau!

Thank you for taking the time to write us the feedback pertaining to the internet charges from your previous stay.

We wish to apologize for the confusion on this indefinite message and as a gesture of goodwill, we will waive the internet charges for this time.

It is always our intention to ensure complete satisfaction with all our guest and when errors do occur, we appreciate being informed so that we can take the corrective action steps as well as implement any necessary training programs or procedure updates to ensure similar incidents do not happen to others.

We will now work with our finance department to proceed for the credit card refund for amount MOP$185.00nett. Please kindly allow 14 working days for the complete process of refund from the merchant bank.

We look forward to welcome you back to The Westin Resort Macau again in the near future and I look forward to personally welcome you and apologize in person.

Stay well,
chris lim
assistant manager,
front office
the westin resort macau"


From their tone (my bold), it appears that they do not accept that the hotel has to provide free internet connection, whether they are normal or high speed.

yosithezet

In reference to saad's response, the ITC properties are providing multiple speeds of internet and download capacity. At the ITC Maurya in Delhi they have 4 levels and the second to slowest is marked as HSIA in their login/payment screen. So they are able to 'truthfully' assure everyone that they are providing the guests with HSIA for free as they classify the others as Premium Internet.

troyb

I've been told by SPG Customer Service that the hotel has recently received notification that all speeds should be comped. Checked out in the past couple of days and they did not waive the highest speed, only discounted it.

Due to this and the general rudeness when they discussed it with me, I plan on staying somewhere else next time I'm in Delhi. Maybe the Hyatt.

It is a small charge, less than USD 20 / day, however it is the principle.

Keyser

i recently received a pm from thyetus informing me that the properties i had complained about were now going to offer all 4 speeds (they were both itc properties) so it may be a good idea to raise a complaint & forward the complaint number to either william or thyetus....