MSPeconomist

As someone who has spent literally hundreds of nights in Starwood properties and also hundreds of nights in FHR properties (using FHR rates and booked through AmEx so that I was actually entitled to published FHR benefits for these stays), let me point out that there's a lot of overlap on the hotel lists (with, for example, many but not all Starwood LCs belonging to FHR too) and also in the guests that these hotels attract.

Personally, I would feel equally upset if a FHR hotel denied me a guaranteed published benefit such as the 4 pm checkout.....and I certainly would not take the attitude that since I'm not losing life and limb, it's really OK. In fact, if my FHR booking attempted to deny me a published benefit such as the guaranteed 4 pm late checkout, I certainly would object and I would be calling AmEx about the incident ASAP.....and if a front desk worker or any other hotel employee referred to me as a entitled snowflake or told me to get over myself because I insisted on receiving my published benefits associated with my (FHR) reservation, I would also be reporting that to AmEx.

BRITINJAPAN3

I stay at Starwood [I]because[I]over and over I DO get what the prgream has decided I am entitled to, nothing about a freebiem nothing about what I think I should have, simply someting that SPG tells me I am entitled to and yes, something that is very very useful, infact thats why they offer it as its a genyuine benefit.

My guess is you got fired over not extending benefits you decided wer not needed due to your shortcomings, your overly agreessive attitude makes no sense to me, but suffice to say please lets us know where you work now, I will do my best to avoid the property !!

Dr. HFH

Well, let's just all take a breath, shall we?

In slidergirl's defense, is there anyone here who has never seen or heard of boorish DYKWIA behavior at FD checkin? There's no excuse for rudeness, ever. Not getting what you want or are entitled to from the FD agent? Rudeness, screaming and threats are never the answer. Apart from being ineffective strategies, they make things unpleasant for any/everyone who happens to be in the vicinity. I can certainly see the possibility for a FD agent to get frustrated at some point. That said, FD agents have no greater right to display poor behavior. Increased attention to civility all around is always a good thing. Unfortunately, manners too often fall by the wayside. As the Ritz Carlton Credo for employees says, "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." Let's all try to live up to our assigned roles as ladies and gentlemen. Imagine how much more pleasant the world could be!

OTOH.... Guests are just that, guests. And we are talking about the hospitality industry. If the hotel participates in an affinity program which guarantees certain benefits to guests (or subsets of guests), the guests are well within their rights to expect not only that the promised benefits will be provided, but also that the hotel's staff, particularly FD staff, will know and understand those benefits. A response like, "The only thing guaranteed to us is death" is unhelpful and escalates rather than defuses a difficult situation. It's reasonable for guests to expect a hotel to manage itself in such a way as to be able to provide the promised benefits. And if there's some extraordinary and temporary reason that the benefits cannot be provided at any particular time, it is reasonable for guests to expect a sincere response like, "I'm terribly sorry, but with the loss of power, the elevators are not working tonight" -- rather than a sarcastic one like a flip comment about death and taxes.

As guests, we have a responsibility to treat hotel staff with courtesy and respect. They are there to assist us; they are not our servants. Similarly, hotel staff, too, have a responsibility to treat guests with courtesy and respect. Yes, we all have bad days; but courtesy and respect should be the baseline below which we rarely, if ever, journey.

SHLTP

I am aghast that a former SPG champion would take this view of hospitality (and as I’ve mentioned before I like the posts generally of this person). Members spend lots of money and time reaching certain thresholds and should absolutely receive the benefits they earned. It is not the customer problem if properties cannot handle living up to program terms. And no I have never personally worked for a hotel company as a FD but my family does own/ invest in hotels. I actually stay at a starwood - and have my employees do the same — because of how good the loyalty program is ... over often hotels owned by family and friends.

The attitude of this person shows why so many loyalists have reason to question whether specific properties will adhere to program rules. And shows why so many owners get upset at hotel programs when the program employees are not living up to program details - the owner profits are hit when employees tick off customers or act as if adhering to program terms are not important.


- A Proud Snowflake

elleana

Leaving aside the tangential discussion on whether insisting on benefits makes one a fragile snowflake or not, I am curious if Starwood Lurker managed to investigate and procure a satisfactory resolution for OP?

Starwood Lurker

After receiving the OP's details, we asked the SPG Hotel Coordinators to contact the hotel and advise them of the error in their logic. The OP was given 1,000 Starpoints by the hotel. I am left to guess whether or not the OP considers that a satisfactory resolution, but we have not heard otherwise, so my assumption is that it was.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC

[email protected]

slidergirl

Wow. Just wow.

Anyone in any service industry will have stories of guests behaving badly.
What someone posts as a private person in no way is how someone would act on the job. To question if you are as obnoxious and aggressive on the job as you are on a public forum, expressing your own opinions, how would that be? To be in the service industry, one must be an actor. Look all happy and graceful while dealing with less-than-charming guests. Take verbal abuse with a smile. Front of the house personnel are not sitting back in a comfy office, it is literally a battlefield.
I have not been fired. Changes happen at hotels. Management changes happen. Better opportunities are offered. Have you not changed jobs? Not to toot my own horn, but I received several of those Platinum "thank you" vouchers, and I do see guests mention me in positive terms on various review sites, internal and external.
And, just so you know, I was the one who always fought for extending benefits because I was on that other side of the counter for years. You booked a room with a group block but demanded Plat bennies? I'd put down the points for you. You came with a non-status friend on their booking and demanded Plat benefits? I'd give you a breakfast coupon. You stayed with a friend and were trying to claim stay/points when it showed up on the SPG Discrepancy Report? I'd say "go ahead." If I was the one who saw a FAX laying on the printer from an Ambassador asking to "exceptionally request" something, instead of leaving it sitting there and ending in the garbage, I'd pick it up and take it to the appropriate department (and so you know, there was NEVER an ambassador phone call, always sent faxes.) I've helped the houseman clean a room at 8pm, I've run up to a room to do an inspection when no one else was available.
I only get frustrated on this forum because of the constant whining and the kneejerk reaction that, because something didn't go the way they wanted, they immediately label unfairly with the "lazy, incompetent, in need of retraining" mantra. Walk a quarter mile in the shoes of the people on the other side, please.

theddo

What you seem to still fail to understand is that OP wasn't denied a request, he was denied a benefit he had paid for by choosing to stay at Starwood properties time and time again.

That is a guaranteed benefit - not a polite request. He offered solutions that were met with "suck it", which isn't how a competent organization should treat their guests regardless of their opinions of them, thought their opinions of their guests certainly shines through when they do.

I am not required to walk a mile in the shoes of anyone when paying them to do something and getting a guarantee that I will be able to.

UKTraveller4Fun

I couldn't have put it better myself. This isn't a DYKWIA or a on request or even a subject to availability. This is simply a guaranteed benefit which was denied. No need for comparisons to death or loss of limb to make it seem like the Op was asking for something they didn't deserve or putting the front desk in a difficult position, simply a hotel denying a paid for service.

BRITINJAPAN3

So you would do all these wonderful acts, but then seem amazed someone would want what they booked. Sorry for me something is off.

But on point starts to be clear. Real service industry professionals are NOT actors, they genuinely love what they do and love to make their guests stays special, true from time to time a difficult guts comes a long and a skiled professional charms them around. Just sounds you are one of the ones who basically finds guests an annoyance.

slidergirl

Wrong. We may love what we do - why else would we stay in the business - but we are actors in the Front of the House. We have to always present a smile and be welcoming and engaging. And, it is not "from time to time" for that "difficult guest", but multiple times a week. Yes, we keep it smiling through all of them. But, that does not mean that, in the back office or in our personal life, we find some of them an annoyance. More than a few times, agents and managers I have worked with (and me also) had to walk to the back to cry because some rude guest decided it was permissible to verbally assault someone at the Desk. I've had a tablet shoved in my face because someone though they deserved any suite as a freebie, not the select standard suite. I had a guest literally jump up on the Front Desk and make a scene. I never said ALL guests. I've had guests who where an absolute joy and pleasure to serve, actually the vast majority have been that way.

I'm asking for the mod to close this thread as it has become far too off base and has turned into people bashing other people. It's feeding on itself. As for those who have PM'd me with positive thoughts, thank you. It let me know there are actually some decent SPG members out there who don't lie about me being fired, wanting to know where I work so they can ask that I get fired, wanting to know where I work so they won't stay there...

UKTraveller4Fun

I have to say I do feel some of the assumptions people have made about you are unfair however at the same time I do feel with some of your comments regards SPG members and also indicating you thought the Op was in these catogories for me you did leave the door a little open but equally it should not have been as personal as it was.

Comments made along the lines of

It seems a shame however for the thread to be locked rather than possibly edited as I think generally what people (certainly I) dont grasp is how from the perspective of somehow saying they work in an establishment that dont get guests like SPG hotels do, you maintain your higher calibre guests would be fine with being refused a benifit that they are entitled to when booking. This isn't a suite upgrade question or a grey area, it is something the guest is entitled to. You don't seem to give a reason for siding with the front desk being so unhelpful to the Op simply we do not know what the front desk have had to go through that day and how SPG guests treat front desk staff really badly where in this case all the evidence (including the hotel giving points to the Op)points to the front desk staff treating the guest badly!

People got personal because you laid into SPG guests and they are generally who you will find on this forum, yes more negatives get posted that positives as that is the general nature of the internet but you will find I have over time posted many positive experiences and comments about hotels as well as the negatives. In this case however the hotel was so clearly in the wrong and from what I can tell no one including yourself have given a valid reason for why the Op was treated why they were.

LIH Prem

This thread is not very productive anymore. It's turned into a rant and an argument, and insults to the entire community.

I wish people could stop doing that and post the interesting and good info that are in those same posts.

I think that we should all know what happens when a member tosses out insults here and I think we should all know how to measure a posters reputation in our own ways.

Though it might seem like everybody here just complains about every little thing, in my experience, that is far from the truth. Though it might not seem that way. You have to use your own filter around here, otherwise you'll miss all the good info, like the interesting stuff that slidergirl has posted in this thread from her perspective as an insider. Unfortunately, there's also a lot of nonsense mixed into those same posts, and people responding to that nonsense, which really just detracts from the entire experience.

-David

worldtraveller73

[QUOTE=Dreamflight;28906153]Thanks for all the replies! Reading everyone's insights has been helpful.

The property in question is the Westin Wall Centre Vancouver Airport. /QUOTE]

For what it is worth Dreamflight, I had the exact same situation occur in July this year. Staying at the Westin Wall Center Vancouver Airport on a weekend... SNA applied, cleared, then on check in they were "unable" to offer a 4 PM check out. They also countered with a hard 2 PM after a private back room consult with a manager. I just wanted to take the train into Vancouver and have breakfast so I let it pass and left at 2PM. It doesn't seem worth following up months later for 1,000 starpoints but good to know I wasn't alone!!

BRITINJAPAN3

Just feel the reaction from you shows some sort of chip on the shoulder and you comments about customers show a deep dislike which is unusual and I would have thought not great for FD work. I am sure there are some unpleasant customers, but the FD staff I know relish the challenge of turning them into pussycats !

Not sure anyone can simply request mods to close ( well anyone can ask) but to be fair it was youself that started the bashing and seemed suprised others may have a difgferent point of view.

And if it really needs saying again, this is a an SPG guaranteed benefit.