Rez change to award stay causes confusion
Jun 16, 2004, 8:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: MCO
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum / Titanium, AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 959
Rez change to award stay causes confusion
I thought that I would report this to see if anyone else has had any problems like this. Fortunately the problem was resolved in about 10 minutes, so I will not report the hotel that it happened with and I am not upset about it, but nonetheless, maybe measures could be taken to avoid this type of situation in the future.
Last year, I wanted to book an award stay for three nights, but I only had enough remaining points to book two of the three nights (I was waiting for SPG amex bonus points to arrive). I was advised by the SPG rep that I could reserve three nights (last night revenue) and change the last night to be an award night when the points arrive. This would assure that I would have the room for three nights. This procedure worked and I did get the room for three award nights.
Unfortunately, the website did not allow me to see details on this reservation (maybe because of the change order) so I was unable to print it. Since in 99.9% of my lifetime hotel stays I never needed the printed confirmation, I lazily decided to not call Starwood to get a printed confirmation. However, I would suggest (being a software designer myself), that I find it unacceptable to have a system that does not allow the printing of certain reservations - the ones with change orders are the most likely ones to cause confusion and thus SHOULD be the ones to need printing.
Upon checkout, the hotel receptionist told me that I had to pay for the final night - at the rack rate. I informed her that it was an award stay, to which she showed me a printout of the reservation (in its initial state with the 3rd night revenue) and put me on the phone with Starwood. The SPG rep tells me the same thing. I told her to check the change orders and observe my points being subtracted from my account. After 5 minutes of hold time, she confirmed that I was correct. It still took some convincing from her to tell the hotel receptionist that I was correct. In the meantime, I looked at some papers stapled to the reservation that the hotel receptionist showed me and lo and behold, but my change order was stapled behind the original reservation. At that point, everyone acknowledged that I was correct and billed me properly.
Now, I can understand that people make mistakes, but I did find it rather annoying that both reps (hotel and SPG) would first call me a liar before OPENING THEIR EYES and looking at all the information - it was right in front of their faces. I think this situation could be improved if the representatives were better trained to look at the details before telling the customer that he is wrong - I should not have to tell someone how to look up a reservation. Furthermore, if the website allowed one to view the reservation with a change order, that may have also eased the process.
Anyway, I posted this in this hopes that this can be made better in the future. Considering it was resolved in 10 minutes, I am not holding it against anyone. Other than this incident, I was more than happy with my recent Starwood stays.
Last year, I wanted to book an award stay for three nights, but I only had enough remaining points to book two of the three nights (I was waiting for SPG amex bonus points to arrive). I was advised by the SPG rep that I could reserve three nights (last night revenue) and change the last night to be an award night when the points arrive. This would assure that I would have the room for three nights. This procedure worked and I did get the room for three award nights.
Unfortunately, the website did not allow me to see details on this reservation (maybe because of the change order) so I was unable to print it. Since in 99.9% of my lifetime hotel stays I never needed the printed confirmation, I lazily decided to not call Starwood to get a printed confirmation. However, I would suggest (being a software designer myself), that I find it unacceptable to have a system that does not allow the printing of certain reservations - the ones with change orders are the most likely ones to cause confusion and thus SHOULD be the ones to need printing.
Upon checkout, the hotel receptionist told me that I had to pay for the final night - at the rack rate. I informed her that it was an award stay, to which she showed me a printout of the reservation (in its initial state with the 3rd night revenue) and put me on the phone with Starwood. The SPG rep tells me the same thing. I told her to check the change orders and observe my points being subtracted from my account. After 5 minutes of hold time, she confirmed that I was correct. It still took some convincing from her to tell the hotel receptionist that I was correct. In the meantime, I looked at some papers stapled to the reservation that the hotel receptionist showed me and lo and behold, but my change order was stapled behind the original reservation. At that point, everyone acknowledged that I was correct and billed me properly.
Now, I can understand that people make mistakes, but I did find it rather annoying that both reps (hotel and SPG) would first call me a liar before OPENING THEIR EYES and looking at all the information - it was right in front of their faces. I think this situation could be improved if the representatives were better trained to look at the details before telling the customer that he is wrong - I should not have to tell someone how to look up a reservation. Furthermore, if the website allowed one to view the reservation with a change order, that may have also eased the process.
Anyway, I posted this in this hopes that this can be made better in the future. Considering it was resolved in 10 minutes, I am not holding it against anyone. Other than this incident, I was more than happy with my recent Starwood stays.
