50 Nights in 2010 but Downgraded From Platinum to Gold (Resolved)
Apr 3, 2011, 5:35 pm
#16
formerly v88matta
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: 9C
Posts: 71
Thanks all for your responses. I agree it's time to move on, my advice to you / the lesson to be learned from this is:
1/ Take a screenshot on the 31st of december of the total of the nights/stays on your account (b/c the information SPG has is not the same from what you see). Once the year is over, the system doesn't carry on all the special promotions.
2/ Deal with it right away and preferably by e-mail. (I agree it was my fault I didn't deal with it right away).
1/ Take a screenshot on the 31st of december of the total of the nights/stays on your account (b/c the information SPG has is not the same from what you see). Once the year is over, the system doesn't carry on all the special promotions.
2/ Deal with it right away and preferably by e-mail. (I agree it was my fault I didn't deal with it right away).
Apr 3, 2011, 6:12 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Northwest NJ
Programs: Starwood Platinum,Marriott Platinum, United Silver
Posts: 2,313
I have tried for the longest time to avoid posting my experience here as I wanted to give enough time for Starwood to find a proper resolution. But since they have failed to do so, I am going to share my story with the rest.
I am platinum member with Starwood and in 2010 I had reached 49 nights by December 31st (including double stays promo and overlapping q4 promo from 2009).
On Dec 31st, I stayed at the Westin Harbour Castle. However they never credited my account with a stay/night credit. As a result, I received an email on Jan 18th saying that my account was being downgraded to Gold. On Feb 2nd, I contact the platinum desk and explained my situation. I spent over 2 hours on the phone fighting my case but the platinum agent kept on insisting that I did not regain status for 2010. I asked her to manually count the stays but she refused to do so. She kept on basing her arguments on the number her computer was telling her.
Before ending our conversation, I asked her to have a supervisor look into it and call me back. I also asked her to put it in writing that I did not qualify b/c I knew it was not true. She sent me an email saying that I didn't maintain status and she sent me a master list for all my stays.
After I received the list, I called back and spoke to someone else and told them to calculate it manually including the bonus and the promotions but they said they've already looked into and I don't qualify.
I never received a call back from a supervior as I had requested. My status hasn't changed yet from platinum to gold so I thought OK, maybe someone caught up and got it fixed. I was wrong, b/c when I checked in to the Westin Mexico on March 14th, they had me as gold.
I had just flow in from Europe and was up for over 24 hours when I checked in around 12. I had just arrived to Mexico on vacation for 3 days and I wanted to spend some time in the sun.
I asked the hotel to contact customer service and I fought my case yet again for over 4 hours that day (all in the lobby). It was a horrific experience being transferred through different departments and chanels. I was being ridiculed in front of everyone and I had the impression that the agents weren't taking my request seriously. I spent alot of money with starwood in the past year and 100% of my stays are leisure only. I am very loyal to them and platinum meant alot to me.
Finally, I was able to reach someone who was able to track down the issue down to a computer glitch. According to him, b/c of the fact that the Westin Harbour Castle wasn't able to credit my night on the 31st, the computer erased all the rest of the nights that were counted due to a promotion (nights advance and double nights) so the agents weren't able to see it.
No one was proactive to look beyond the number on their computer screen and nobody gave me the benefit of the doubt until that moment. The agent apologized and said that his priority was to have my account fixed and since it was saturday, he was going to contact me back on monday to discuss proper compensation due to all the inconveniences.
My status was updated but I have never heard back from anyone. Not even an official apology. Today, I called and asked about that agent and I was transferred to a supervisor who offered me 1000 starpoints for my troubles. She went up to 5000 starpoints but I think it's completely ridiculous. I stressed on the fact that I spent alot of time fighting for something I earned hard by spending alot of money in the first place but she thinks the problem has been fixed and thus I don't deserve anything else.
I am fed up with this attitude and had quite a bit of other negative experiences recently (5x500 platinum amenity have not posted yet this year / specific issues at property level and other).
Overall 2011 is not a good year for me and starwood. I hope that by sharing my experience with you, you can share what you think about it.
I believe they have a great loyalty program but fail to deliver customer service wise big time.
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!
I am platinum member with Starwood and in 2010 I had reached 49 nights by December 31st (including double stays promo and overlapping q4 promo from 2009).
On Dec 31st, I stayed at the Westin Harbour Castle. However they never credited my account with a stay/night credit. As a result, I received an email on Jan 18th saying that my account was being downgraded to Gold. On Feb 2nd, I contact the platinum desk and explained my situation. I spent over 2 hours on the phone fighting my case but the platinum agent kept on insisting that I did not regain status for 2010. I asked her to manually count the stays but she refused to do so. She kept on basing her arguments on the number her computer was telling her.
Before ending our conversation, I asked her to have a supervisor look into it and call me back. I also asked her to put it in writing that I did not qualify b/c I knew it was not true. She sent me an email saying that I didn't maintain status and she sent me a master list for all my stays.
After I received the list, I called back and spoke to someone else and told them to calculate it manually including the bonus and the promotions but they said they've already looked into and I don't qualify.
I never received a call back from a supervior as I had requested. My status hasn't changed yet from platinum to gold so I thought OK, maybe someone caught up and got it fixed. I was wrong, b/c when I checked in to the Westin Mexico on March 14th, they had me as gold.
I had just flow in from Europe and was up for over 24 hours when I checked in around 12. I had just arrived to Mexico on vacation for 3 days and I wanted to spend some time in the sun.
I asked the hotel to contact customer service and I fought my case yet again for over 4 hours that day (all in the lobby). It was a horrific experience being transferred through different departments and chanels. I was being ridiculed in front of everyone and I had the impression that the agents weren't taking my request seriously. I spent alot of money with starwood in the past year and 100% of my stays are leisure only. I am very loyal to them and platinum meant alot to me.
Finally, I was able to reach someone who was able to track down the issue down to a computer glitch. According to him, b/c of the fact that the Westin Harbour Castle wasn't able to credit my night on the 31st, the computer erased all the rest of the nights that were counted due to a promotion (nights advance and double nights) so the agents weren't able to see it.
No one was proactive to look beyond the number on their computer screen and nobody gave me the benefit of the doubt until that moment. The agent apologized and said that his priority was to have my account fixed and since it was saturday, he was going to contact me back on monday to discuss proper compensation due to all the inconveniences.
My status was updated but I have never heard back from anyone. Not even an official apology. Today, I called and asked about that agent and I was transferred to a supervisor who offered me 1000 starpoints for my troubles. She went up to 5000 starpoints but I think it's completely ridiculous. I stressed on the fact that I spent alot of time fighting for something I earned hard by spending alot of money in the first place but she thinks the problem has been fixed and thus I don't deserve anything else.
I am fed up with this attitude and had quite a bit of other negative experiences recently (5x500 platinum amenity have not posted yet this year / specific issues at property level and other).
Overall 2011 is not a good year for me and starwood. I hope that by sharing my experience with you, you can share what you think about it.
I believe they have a great loyalty program but fail to deliver customer service wise big time.
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
Apr 3, 2011, 7:04 pm
#18
formerly v88matta
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: 9C
Posts: 71
Thank you stevens397, the hard part was when the supervisor I spoke to yesterday apologized on the phone and offered 1000 points, I could tell she really didn't care. Her tone of voice gave it all out.
I told her if her apology was sincere, I would have liked someone to take the time to write me and explain to me what it exactly went wrong.
Saying I apologize on the phone doesn't cut it in this specific situation. I would have liked someone to pull up my initial 2 hour phone call to platinum concierge and listen to it and see why the person kept on insisting on the numbers she had and didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt.
I asked the supervisor to pull it up as I had a reference number but she refused to.
All I wanted for Starwood was to investigate what went wrong and have it fixed starting from my phone calls to the computer glitch.
I told her if her apology was sincere, I would have liked someone to take the time to write me and explain to me what it exactly went wrong.
Saying I apologize on the phone doesn't cut it in this specific situation. I would have liked someone to pull up my initial 2 hour phone call to platinum concierge and listen to it and see why the person kept on insisting on the numbers she had and didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt.
I asked the supervisor to pull it up as I had a reference number but she refused to.
All I wanted for Starwood was to investigate what went wrong and have it fixed starting from my phone calls to the computer glitch.
Yes, you were horribly wronged. The absolutely worst part was the cavalier attitude that almost every single representative displayed - hard to believe no one was willing to listen and act as if you had something worth listening to.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
Apr 3, 2011, 7:45 pm
#19
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Seattle
Programs: Marriott Ambassador LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, United LT Silver
Posts: 1,085
Yes, you were horribly wronged. The absolutely worst part was the cavalier attitude that almost every single representative displayed - hard to believe no one was willing to listen and act as if you had something worth listening to.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
Additionally, people pointed out that it's not worth wasting the better part of a day of your vacation arguing over some minimal benefits. The OP might not like all of the responses, but the majority of them were, in fact, helpful. And, the OP did agree with many of them.
I agree that he shouldn't not have wasted his time fighting it while on vacation, even though some benefits were at stake. To the OP, if as a Plat you should have received breakfast, you could make an argument that any money spent on breakfast should be refunded or given to you in a credit. And, the 5000 points would cover any potential upgrade you may have received as Plat.
Apr 3, 2011, 7:46 pm
#20
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: LAX, PSP
Programs: SPG & CO Plat.
Posts: 3,143
When people ask "what makes SPG think they can get away with bad customer service" the answer is that people are willing to let them do so, some while mocking those who have been offended.
You are typically an excellent and respected poster, just as SPG is typically an excellent and respected program.
Life is not black and white. One can challenge others to be better and still have respect for those entities. Here's to allowing that people can make fair comment when disappointed.
Apr 3, 2011, 9:29 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: Delta, United, SPG, HHonors, Hyatt
Posts: 98
OP, I can understand your frustration. In reality, as you found out, the CSR or a supervisor is not that concerned about what caused the problem if it has been corrected. Maybe you can write to SPG the most relevant part of what you wrote with the reference number for your case and demand 15,000 points, as that's what you deem appropriate compensation, and see what they respond. People here suggested you put things in writing, right? You already described the details of your experience in the first post, so that doesn't require much time from you.
Apr 3, 2011, 10:11 pm
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,780
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
Apr 4, 2011, 6:40 am
#23
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: JFK, DCA, BUR, YVR
Programs: AC, AS, BA, DL, HH (D), MR (T/LTP), UA (*S), UScAAre (PLT/1,87MM), WN
Posts: 5,207
I am fed up with this attitude and had quite a bit of other negative experiences recently (5x500 platinum amenity have not posted yet this year / specific issues at property level and other).
Overall 2011 is not a good year for me and starwood. I hope that by sharing my experience with you, you can share what you think about it.
I believe they have a great loyalty program but fail to deliver customer service wise big time.
Overall 2011 is not a good year for me and starwood. I hope that by sharing my experience with you, you can share what you think about it.
I believe they have a great loyalty program but fail to deliver customer service wise big time.
Apr 4, 2011, 6:43 am
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2003
Location: AA Plat / UA NOTHING / Alaska 75K / Hyatt Diamond / SPG LT Plat / Marriott Gold / Priority Club Plat / Hertz Pres
Posts: 24,701
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)
Just wow.:shakeshishead:
Originally Posted by v88matta
Thank you stevens397, the hard part was when the supervisor I spoke to yesterday apologized on the phone and offered 1000 points, I could tell she really didn't care. Her tone of voice gave it all out.
I told her if her apology was sincere, I would have liked someone to take the time to write me and explain to me what it exactly went wrong.
Saying I apologize on the phone doesn't cut it in this specific situation. I would have liked someone to pull up my initial 2 hour phone call to platinum concierge and listen to it and see why the person kept on insisting on the numbers she had and didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt.
I asked the supervisor to pull it up as I had a reference number but she refused to.
All I wanted for Starwood was to investigate what went wrong and have it fixed starting from my phone calls to the computer glitch.
I told her if her apology was sincere, I would have liked someone to take the time to write me and explain to me what it exactly went wrong.
Saying I apologize on the phone doesn't cut it in this specific situation. I would have liked someone to pull up my initial 2 hour phone call to platinum concierge and listen to it and see why the person kept on insisting on the numbers she had and didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt.
I asked the supervisor to pull it up as I had a reference number but she refused to.
All I wanted for Starwood was to investigate what went wrong and have it fixed starting from my phone calls to the computer glitch.
Yes, you were horribly wronged. The absolutely worst part was the cavalier attitude that almost every single representative displayed - hard to believe no one was willing to listen and act as if you had something worth listening to.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
But you did make one mistake. You posted on FlyerTalk hoping that people would listen, understand and help. What you got was the usual BS and attitude. "Deal with it" "Move on" "What do you expect"
Your instincts are right on. They screwed up and truly have still not apologized in any way to acknowledge the time you had to spend on vacation righting their wrong. You've got at least one fan here.
Apr 4, 2011, 7:45 am
#25
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum, SPG Platinum
Posts: 1,990
This thread title is a bit misleading. While Starwood definitely messed up, you got your status back. I'd say about once a year I have an argument of some sort w/ a loyalty program, as they tend to mess up from time to time. Move on and take a deep breath - you'll feel better.
