Aventine

I don't know if anyone else uses this service on Twitter but I've found it to be lackluster. Not really pleasant responders. They don't deliver messages. Won't respond to account enquiries without some sort of security call or you call in. If I wanted to call in then I wouldn't be on Twitter...

edit: contact done through DMs NOT tweets

Starwood Lurker on here is a much better help line. Recommend Mr. Sanders and the rest of the social media specialists!

KENNECTED

Stay Connected with Starwood with social media (Twitter, Facebook)
Starwood on Twitter?

I've never been a believer that "twitter" is a place to ask for help, considering the 140 limit. You can't really express the full content of an issue. Starwood/SPGs twitter account seem to be focused on sharing pictures and acknowledging hotel stays. Or sharing information on promotions, etc.

Perhaps these three threads can be combined.

Aventine

Sorry I did a search but they didn't come up. I meant through DMs not actual tweets.

mahasamatman

I for one, am extremely glad they do this.

But you're perfectly happy giving personal identifying information on a completely insecure channel?

Oxon Flyer

Is sharing personal information in a Twitter DM any less secure than sharing the same with a Lurker in a Flyertalk PM ?

mahasamatman

Either one is a bad idea in my opinion.

KENNECTED

I say Yes. On twitter, I could be sharing information with one of several people monitoring a company's twitter account. Not to mention, a rep on that end could also be monitoring their personal account at the same time.

At least here on FT, I know exactly who I'm sending my information to from my email to their email.

Zorak

DMs are not limited to 140 characters.

Twitter uses https, and will redirect you from http to https. In contrast, while FT works with https it does not officially "support" it (i.e. although all pages seem to work with https, there is no automatic redirect)

FWIW there is no guarantee of secure transmission of email. Your connection to your incoming/outgoing mail server may be secure but the handoff from one server to another is not necessarily secured.

It's interesting to contrast the concerns expressed here regarding Twitter to communicate with SPG, vs. the Delta forum where getting help via Twitter has been a thing for a while. Delta lets you indicate your Twitter handle in your profile, and accepts that as a reasonable measure of authentication. They are willing to waitlist upgrades and make changes to itineraries, basically anything that doesn't require payment. It can be very handy if you want to contact them while you're in the air.

Tweets/DMs to @Delta are handled by a multi-person team, sure, but so are phone calls and emails, so that wouldn't bother me either.

Oxon Flyer

Not just Delta. Getting online support from travel companies via Twitter DM is standard nowadays. The @marriottRewards Twitter feed, for example, is full of "Please DM your confirmation number/account number/details and we'll check it out" messages.

Starwood Lurker IV is one of several people too. @:-)

3Cforme

That's a key qualifier that the OP didn't address.

Extend my stay by a day. That is spending $.

Upgrade the room category.

Make a new room reservation.

It's reasonable to demand that such requests be made by phone or fax and show acceptance by customer of charges.

KENNECTED

I dont' think you read or understand what I wrote. Sending a DM to an account where several people have access to that account is different than sending an email to one individual.

When you send a DM to a twitter handle, several people (someone responding with *ABC) has access to your information. When you contact one of the lurkers, via there publicly listed email, you know exactly who your sending your information to. Understand?

Zorak

Can you articulate more what your concern is?

If it's that 3 initials are pseudo-anonymous, I suggest that it's at least as good an identifier as a first name someone gives you over the phone. Given the potential nature of communications I would assume things are still logged etc. for accountability but I will grant you I'm just guessing.

If you are worried about a rogue agent doing malicious things to your account, then I wouldn't think they need a tweet/DM as an excuse to get started.

Mind you, I do not think these are frivolous or purely academic concerns. But I also don't think that communicating via DM on Twitter adds any incremental risk vs. communicating via other channels. If you think it does, then of course it would be prudent not to use it -- again more just curious what your thoughts are.

Oxon Flyer

That's the key point. Most of the major travel providers now communicate with their customers via Twitter DM, so you can be sure they have assessed the risks and considered this channel is secure enough for that purpose.

The problem of rogue agents behind a generic ID is a different matter, and in this respect SPG, both on Twitter and on FT, is no different from anyone else.


Sending a Twitter DM to an account where several people have access to that account is exactly the same as sending a FlyerTalk PM to the Starwood Lurker IV. Several people in the SPG social media team have access to that account, so all of them have access to your information.

Similarly, the publicly listed email address (the spgchampion one) is accessed by more than one person too. So, when you send your information, who EXCATLY are you sending it to then ?