pilluelo

Sorry for the melodramatic title, but that pretty much sums it up:

- Booked a one-night stay under my SPG Plat # for my fiancée and me at a SPG property in China. Had her name added to the reservation.
- Traveling from different continents, I ended up missing my flight, so my fiancée ended up staying by herself at the hotel.
- We informed the hotel about the situation and my fiancée paid the next morning in cash, received the folio in her name. Since I didn't stay, I obviously don't get any points - so far, so good.
- When trying to claim credit for the stay afterwards (my fiancée is now a SPG Gold herself), she found out the following by talking to SPG on the phone:
..* My SPG Plat # (which was originally attached to the reservation), was removed.
..* The same day my fiancée had checked out, apparently a new SPG account was created and attached to the reservation to claim points for her stay.
..* That new SPG account had a Chinese address and some Hotmail email - both of which don't belong to my fiancée.
- Stay credit cannot be awarded to her "real" SPG account (because points have already been credited to the "fake" account). Also, accounts cannot be merged because the details on both profiles obviously don't match.

While I haven't heard the hotel's side of the story yet, this smells very, very strange to me. Why else would someone open a new SPG account after a guest checks out and link it to their past reservation? (For what it's worth, my fiancée never requested a new SPG to be created by the hotel staff.)

I know we're only talking about a few points here but I find the fact that someone - presumably the hotel staff, since they were the ones who eventually added the "fake" SPG number to the reservation - rather unsettling. Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, but I fail to see it.

Any thoughts?

-pilluelo

travelswithmyself

If the folio is in her name and her account is in her name and the other account is not in her name I fail to see how SPG can deny her the points which are due to the person who paid and whose name is on the folio. I would fight this.

This is aside from the possibly fradulent account-opening, which should be thoroughly investigated because I can see the potential for a systematic skimming of points...

wharvey

You should reach out to one of the Starwood Lurkers that monitor this forum.

skywalkerLAX

Seems like it is in her name but doesn't match her current account details.

The problem is that SPG associates involved don't seem to grasp this obvious fraud and that's the real problem at hand. This is a simple matter, deal with it and don't make it complicated.

mromalley

This. Smells like fraud to me and SPG should want to clear this up.

travelswithmyself

My reading of the post is that her account details are correct. What cannot be done is the merging of the two accounts to reclaim the points because the names don't match.

What I can't understand is how an SPG associate could say that the points can't be reassigned because they're already been given to someone. In the first place the points are supposed to go to the person whose name the folio is in, ergo OPs GF. Whom I believe has a proper account, since she has Gold status. At the very least the associate should offer to find out why points were given to an account which isn't in the same name as the one on the folio. The associate needs re-training.

Definitely fraud. Must be investigated.

MSPeconomist

It would be better if the OP's GF had paid with a credit card in her name.

pilluelo

Yes, the folio is actually on her name and the field "Membership No." is empty. Whoever opened the new SPG account afterwards and attached it to the reservation must have done it after she had checked out (or at least after the invoice was printed).

It's also my understanding that her real name was used for the new, fradulent SPG account which was assigned to her stay afterwards. Although none of the SPG agents we spoke with was able to confirm the details due to "privacy" reasons - except for the fact that it was opened the day she checked out, had a Chinese address and some Hotmail e-mail.

I completely agree. Unfortunately, the front desk refused to accept a foreign (i.e. US) credit card and since my fiancée had no Chinese credit card, cash was the only option. On a side note, I actually tried to arrange prepayment with my (US) SPG Amex prior to stay, but hotel came back and said they would only accept pre-payment via a transfer to their Chinese bank account (!)...

I'll be happy to provide the reservation # to the lurkers if they would like to further investigate this matter.

Never heard of anything like this. We'll certainly avoid that property in the future.
-pilluelo

luna6

That raises major red flags. First time hearing that. No way I would have paid with cash, but not blaming your g/f. You should name this hotel to help out others to avoid this situation.

pilluelo

First time for me as well! It was the Sheraton Great Wall in Beijing, China.

MSPeconomist

This is scary. I expect any Starwood to accept major credit cards, foreign or local. It's too bad the GF didn't push on this and refuse to give them cash. Depending on rates and how long I stay, I usually don't have enough cash with me to settle a hotel bill without using my credit card.

Also, did the hotel ask for a credit card at check in? If so, SOP is to preauthorize the estimated total bill. I'd raise a fuss with the credit card company to make trouble for the hotel. AmEx in particular takes a strong stance when a business advertises that it accepts the card and then refuses to do so when a cardmember tries to pay.

MarcoPolo88

Not that it will get you too far, but try emailing the hotmail address and see if anything comes of it.

Doc Savage

This all smells extremely fishy. Sounds like a bad employee. I'd be careful to check that the card used to make the reservation didn't also get charged, and that the employee didn't make off with the cash as well as the points.

skywalkerLAX

Huh?

Assuming his girlfriends name is Jane Wang.

Some hotel agent opens another account under the name Jane Wang and credits the points there. The names of the staying guest and the new account match 100%.

I can't see any reason why someone would do this though. It's not like you can use such a low amount of points as she presumingly collected for anything and obviously there will never be another stay credited to that account.

lcpteck

Wow The Sheraton Great Wall Beijing.. Thanks for the heads up.

Either way looks like the frontdesk staff is the culprit, better open a case with Starwood Customer Service and have them investigate this thoroughly.

I checked the SPG portal and hotel website shows this:

Credit Card Policy

The hotel does not accept third party credit card payment due to Bank of China regulations. Only bank transfers will be possible as a mode of third party payment. Please contact the hotel for further information.

What the heck is a 'third party' credit card payment??

Never heard of a Starwood hotel that doesn't accept foreign credit cards.