LEFT June 28, 2010: Sheraton Richmond West, Virginia
 

The platinum members should all be familiar with the platinum welcome amenity card where you can choose from points, in room movie, fruit basket, etc. I usually take the 500 points. Anyway, the Sheraton Richmond West has been stiffing me every week for the past two months on the amenity. They swear up and down that they're entering it in (and I believe the desk clerks), but the points never post to my account. I've complained to SPG numerous times and all they ever do is make a point adjustment and promise to notify the property about the problem, but they never do ANYTHING to fix the problem. I've finally decided to stay somewhere else during the week until they fix the problem. Perhaps losing hundreds of dollars in revenue every week might help get them off the dime. Probably not, though.

Until two days ago there was a systems problem that was occurring with hotels using the Galaxy proprietary database to enter both Sheraton Service Promise points and Platinum amenity of choice points. IT put a fix in which has cured this problem.

I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we fixed it as soon as was possible and it should no longer be a problem.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Finally! Something that appears to be a real answer. I hope it's fixed now. Assuming it is, I hope it doesn't take nearly 2 months to fix the problem next time. Thanks for shedding some light on the problem, Lurker! Maybe I should post here a lot sooner next time.

Thanks, joltman. Something like this is hard to track down. Usually when a hotel has a problem getting their points to post, it is assumed that they either didn't do it correctly or that they just dropped the ball. In this case, we had a couple of hotels that showed there was a significant systems problem since their procedures looked good. Then we began looking at the other hotels that use Galaxy and noticed that there was the same trend. Of course, the only way we really knew about it was from members complaining about not getting their points, so it took a while to measure the full impact and realize that about 100 properties in North America were affected by it. My understanding is that once we knew there was a problem and what it was exactly, the fix came pretty quick. Still, I apologize to you and others who were similarly inconvenienced.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Kudos to Sheraton Richmond West on phone policy
 

It looks like Sheraton Richmond West is starting to get its act together, at least on the phone policy. Perhaps they got wind of the discussion under the $2.00/call direction thread that mentioned them specifically.

Anyway, I made a nearly 2 hr local call (dialup internet -- connected to Earthlink at about 26k, if you're interested) and I immediately checked out the interactive guide on the TV and saw that there was a charge for about $5 and change. When I got the bill under my door, however, there was no record of any phone call being made (i.e. they didn't just enter a reversal to back it out).

This has been one of my biggest peeves with this property. These annoying charges for local and toll-free calls ($.75 and $1 per call, respectively, plus an additional $.10/min after 60 mins). I heard here on that past thread that they would waive these charges for Platinums, but you had to stand in line at the front desk when you checked out and they would go over your bill and enter an adjustment for all the calls affected by the policy and print a new bill (too much of a hassle for me).

This solves that problem, although I think it would be nice if they informed Platinums (I'm assuming they only do this for Platinums) about this on check-in (perhaps with a little flyer or info sheet) so that people who aren't in-the-know don't read the phone policy and avoid using the phone entirely because they think that they'll get raked over the coals (and perhaps privately resent the hotel for it's steep charges because they don't know about this nice perk).

Anyway, kudos to the Sheraton Richmond West for taking some action on this! I think there are a lot of other Starwood properties out there that could learn from this.

Trip Report - Sheraton Richmond West 7/26-27
 

Stayed at this Hotel on a Priceline purchase. Received my Platinum benefits (that I was entitled to at this rate). The hotel is newly remodled, and the "Towers" area is pretty well decorated.

HOWEVER...Sunday morning at 5 am the fire alarm goes off. As we're walking back up the stairs the fire marshal says to us, "well now that this has happened again, I think we can pinpoint the malfunction." Fire alarm goes off again at 5:55 am. Talk to another guest who says "I've stayed here 4 times in the last 3 weeks, and this has happened 3 of the 4 times." Obviously, the management knows that there is a problem with the fire alarm in this building of the hotel.

Upon checking out, I ask the clerk if the hotel was "doing anything" for guests as a result of the inconvenience. Without apologizing for it, he says "what do you want?" Well I wanted an apology, but he calls the manager. When the manager arrives, and I state that I was asking about the alarm, she says "the hotel is not offering any discounts or reductions, this was a 'natural disaster.'" When I told her, I wasn't necessarily asking for money off, but maybe a meal, or some points she made the same statement, and followed it by "this hotel is a franchise. If you have any problems, you can call Starwood."

I promptly called the Concierge, and after initially being told that there were no Concierge available, one was located. She immediately took down my complaint, said she was very sorry, and offered to look into it Monday.

So I'd suggest if you're staying at this hotel, you ask if the fire alarm has been fixed, or ask to stay in a building other than the towers building.

Franchise or not, having a faulty fire alarm system is a legitimate customer service complaint.

You can call Hotel Customer Service toll-free at 1-800-328-6242 to report it, but it looks as if the (Platinum?) Concierge may have already done this on your behalf.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

I have stayed at this hotel a number of times in the past. Although I have never had the fire alarm problems, I can assure you that the seeming indifference to customer service is fairly commonplace.

I stayed at this hotel last week, and my overall experience with this property is good.

I also stayed in the tower building and there was no fire alarm problem. Food in club lounge is better than other places I have been to. One morning I even got a full breakfast buffet coupon because the lounge was not open. One thing I don't like is the phone charge. The hotel will charge you $1 dollar access fee even you call 1-800 # (calling card). Overall my experience is good and I will definitely come back to this hotel again.

Sheraton Richmond West
 

I have a major complaint about this hotel. I had a reservation for tonight and when i showed up I was informed the hotel had no power and people were being turned away. Some people were being rebooked other places but the front desk staff was not very helpful and were basically telling some people that they were out of luck without a place to stay, most places were sold out already. They were doing it in a manner that made it seem like they were doing you a favor telling you there were no rooms anywhere.

I understand that these things happen especially after the hurricane and tornado in richmond, but apparently the power has been out for several days. I would have expected, as a platinum at least, to have a phone call or email informing me of the situation and to look for an alternative just in case it wasnt repaired in time. After a long day of work, all i want is a place to sleep, not to be given the run around and mistreated by rude staff. I called the 1-800 number and was told this is an act of nature and it is my problem...but knowing a hotel has no power for several days in advance hardly seems like an act of nature. That turns into a customer service problem. What about telling people about the possibility of a problem?? Where is the service promise? Why should I work hard to stay with starwood to achieve platinum to be treated like my business doesnt matter.

What should I do? Do you think I have a legitimate complaint?

Actually, I think this time your expectations are a bit off base. You had some obligation to take care of yourself in this situation, after all.

I also had reservations at this hotel this week (Friday - Sunday), but simply called the property (no power = no service = no answer), then *wood CS for daily updates. Yesterday I got a call confirming what I already knew from CS - the hotel hopes to have power by Monday - 10 days after the hurricane and 6 days after the tornados. I'm cancelled.... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Were you unaware that Virginia was declared a disaster area, that 60+% of the customers in Richmond had no power even by Wednesday, that many places (including the University, had to be evacuated since the water was out or non-potable, that many roads were blocked for days?

The person behind the desk - did you ask how they were holding up? If they were now at work, but still had no power or water at home? Any damage to their homes? Maybe they were having "a bad day..." even by comparison with yours.

I was unaware of the problems Richmond was having. I live in NC and we are back to normal in terms of power and electricity after the hurricane.

I also dont expect guests arriving from many different places should assume that the hotel or the area is without power, even though it may be in the news.

While I empathize with those who have to deal with these issues in the area, I think a simple phone call or email is all that needed to be done since they knew in advance of this problem.

By the way, I called in advance the night before to cancel one night of my reservation as my trip was going to be moved a day later and I was never informed of this issue. I believe that this is the hotel's fault. This is their business after all, and they have a much touted service promise.

I disagree with PhillyFive, I think Skyteam777 has a valid point. When a *Wood hotel knows that this problem has arisen, I would think that someone(s) at customer service would get on the phone. It is entirely probable that the vast majority of the US population outside the mid-Atlantic region did not know that Richmond 1) is in the mid-Atlantic region (scary, but true) and 2) if they did know that, knew that the region was still out of power. Many of this hotel's guests are coming from far away and are unfamiliar with the situation. If I were this Sheraton, I would have had staff (otherwise unoccupied) on the phone.

That being said, I think this is a venial rather than a cardinal sin ... I wouldn't be too upset or expect anything but a polite and sincere apology.

Basically they sent confused people out on a mad search for places to stay because so many places were booked anfd they couldnt find alternatives. I had to fork over for a presidential suite at an airport hotel. I didnt mind, but it was three times the cost of the Sheraton. I wish I would have been awarer so I could make other arangements. They told me to drive down the highway and look for a place to stay. like a nomad. oh well, its not that big of a deal, i just think it goes against the service promise and concierge services provided for platinums.

SkyTeam777, I would report the situation to Hotel Customer Service. The toll-free number is 1-800-328-6242. Platinum Concierge is not in a position to deal with issues such as this, but I am surprised if they did not offer to transfer you to Hotel Customer Service when you called.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]