Hilton exec overrules “customer service” department, helps guest

vbGot a problem with Hilton? You might get help. Then again, you might not.

Ever since the Blackstone Group’s $26 billion buyout of Hilton in 2007, getting good customer service has been a hit-or-miss proposition. Some cases are resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Others aren’t.

I used to know most of Hilton’s executives, thanks to a first-rate corporate communications team. They made sure the channels of communication were always open between Hilton and any potential customer-service problems, much to their credit. Today, I have a queue of unsolved cases.

Is Hilton a lost cause?

No.

Consider the following request from Jean Moore. She was booked at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront, and wanted to make a quick change to her reservation. This is what she emailed to Hilton via its Web site:

May I change it from one room for two nights to two rooms for one night (no loss to hotel)?

That is, instead of my husband and me staying the nights of Dec. 20 and 21, I would like for my husband and me to stay in one room on the night of Dec. 20, and my parents to stay in one room that night as well, with everyone checking out Dec. 21.

Please tell me first if you would permit this request.

That seems pretty reasonable, right? Not to Hilton. It sent her back the following denial:

We are unable to comply with your request to modify your reservation. Reservations secured under the Advance Purchase rate program are non-cancelable/non-refundable and non-modifiable.

Ouch. She sent Hilton a brief, polite appeal. Its response?

Thank you for your recent communication regarding the reservation confirmed at our Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hilton location from Dec. 20th – Dec. 22nd. We sincerely apologize for delayed response, due to the volume of requests received; we was unable to respond to everyone in a timely manner. We would like to take the opportunity to respond to your concern as we have reviewed your reservation very carefully.

This particular reservation was confirmed in accordance with the Hilton Advanced Purchase Rate. The terms and conditions to these rates are very restrictive as we require full pre-payment for the entire stay; once confirmed we are unable to refund or modify an Advance Purchase reservation.

Should you choose to depart early, cancel or fail to honor the reservation for any reason, you will forfeit full payment for the entire stay without any ability to grant your request for a refund.

We understand that while theses rates are designed to be competitive with the lower rates offered by 3rd party booking channels, much like those channels, they carry the same prepaid, non-refundable restrictions. We contract these rates well in advance with all participating hotels through the Advance Purchase program and our obligation and commitment is to secure and protect the revenue generated by these advance bookings.

Due to the restrictive nature of this program, we make every attempt to notify our customers as we want to be very clear to our customers that once the booking is confirmed, we are unable to modify or cancel these reservations. Moreover, we provide a clear itinerary to specify the details of the transaction via email.

Jean Moore while I certainly understand your dilemma and with all due respect, reservations made under the Advance Purchase rate program are unable to be amended or credited; the directive and condition is very firm to this program. We appreciate you taking the time contact us; it is our hope that the condition associated with our Advance Purchase rate program does not dissuade you from choosing the Hilton Family Brands for your future travels.

In other words, no — and no! Moore sent me a note, asking if I knew any executives at Hilton to whom she could appeal this decision.

I didn’t, but a quick search of Hilton’s executives yielded the name of Kenneth Svendsen, Hilton’s senior vice president and global head of sales. His email address wasn’t too hard to find, either. Moore sent one final appeal to him.

I emailed Mr. Svendsen and said essentially that, although I knew I was in the wrong, my proposal would cost Hilton neither money nor occupancy, and I asked for an exception in the interest of courtesy and good will.

A couple of days later, a gentleman named Shariar Islam (972-726-3346 shariar.islam@hilton.com) called me and gave the exception. There was a little upbraiding about how this shouldn’t happen again and so on, but in general everyone was on his best behavior. I got my “one room for two nights” moved to “two rooms for one night.”

So thank you!

Ya see? I just knew that behind the facade of “nos” there were people who want to say “yes.”

(Photo: pamramsey/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Eric Smith

    With this being the low season in VA beach, it’s not hard to understand Hilton’s initial response. The CSR probably thought if she heard “NO” enough times, she’d book a second room for her parents. KA-CHING!!

  • Patrick

    I have had many problems with this property in it’s customer service department. Everything from the valet to the restaurant. When checking out, the only thing I received was an unsincere, “I’m sorry. “

  • Rachel

    That sounds frustrating, but when you book this type of reservation, it very clearly outlines the “no changes” policy. In fact, it explains that there can be no changes in bold red letters not once, but 3x during the booking process. If you don’t want the restrictions, don’t book that rate.

  • Roxanne

    There actually is a *big* difference between “one room for two nights” and “two rooms for one night”.

    The costs for checking in, room cleaning (more thorough cleanings for checkout than for daily tidying), laundry, accounting, toiletries and checkout are all doubled by default. The costs of any consumed “complimentary” drinks (coffee, bottled water) are doubled as well.

    If the family happened to take the last room in the hotel (overall or in a particular class) for that second night then it also cost the hotel money.

    It may seem like small potatoes, but it all adds up. I’m with Rachel – were the three warnings not enough?

  • Steven

    I NEVER book advance purchase rates with ANY hotel chain. The restrictions are to onerous (such as in this case) that the “savings” are just not worth it if something goes wrong or I need to make a change. And you also risk the particular hotel going bankrupt, changing its’s hotel affiliation, or any number of other issues.

    Often I’d only be saving $10-25 per night over AAA or AARP rates, anyway.

    However, with all the bad news Hilton has gotten recently with changes to their Honors Program (I’m “cashing in points” now before they lose 20% of their value and I’m probably moving as uch of my travel as I can to Marriott and Holiday Inn), it’s nice to see SOMEONE at Hilton recognized this change was a “win-win” for everyone.

  • Mike

    Good customer service sometimes requires that rules be bent in the interest of customer satisfaction. Since there was no loss of revenue and it is a very slow season there. (Virginia Beach around Christmas is a complete wasteland with some hotels even closing all together) I would have expected the hotel to accomodate immediately. heck, i would expect them to make sure thier guests coming at that time were treated very well. Kudos to the senior exec for telling someone to fix this simple request.

  • Carvere

    I generallyy dislike Hilton’s customer service, but in this case, the OP was very lucky. She asked for a fare change. Normally I ask that the hotel make exceptions to ronrefundable rates when there is a good reason. Here, the OP just changed her mind. That’s not a good reason

    Also, the assumption that 2 rooms in one night or 1 room for 2 nights gives the hotel the same revenue is not true. Room rates are dynamic. That second night may cost more or less based upon the occupancy

  • ct

    This story doesn’t include the reason Ms. Moore wanted to make the change. If it were some sort of emergency, she probably would have included that rationale in her original message to Hilton, so I assume that it was simply for her convenience. In which case, “No loss to hotel” may be correct, but the situation may create a loss for the next person who needs an exception granted for extenuating circumstances and who doesn’t receive it because management decides that it has granted to too many already.

  • Allan

    Chris – you should stick to helping people who have been wronged by travel companies, not people who assume rules they agree to don’t apply to them.

  • Topher

    I am glad Hilton did the right thing. Yes, the no-changes policy was clearly outlined when she booked the rate. It’s clear that Ms. Moore knew that. But whatever happened to treating people the way you’d want to be treated? You can criticize Jean for booking the promotional rate and then trying to make changes, but I’d all but guarantee you would do the same thing if your plans changed unexpectedly. It’s not like she’s trying to scam them or anything.

    The customer service in this situation is an EPIC FAIL. Take a look at that second response from Hilton. Everything about it is insulting, from the poor grammar (“we was unable to respond”) and inflated words, to the way her name is spliced in at the end. Not only is it clearly a form letter, it’s like someone blindly cut and pasted sections of several form letters together.

    Even though Hilton eventually granted Ms. Moore’s request, the fact that it took them so long to do so and the manner in which they interacted with her is enough for me to never stay at one of their hotels again if I can avoid it.

  • http://aol barbie45

    My fiance and I own a condo on the beach right nere the Hilton in VB. It is dead that time of year. The weather can be very cold. It was just a common sense decision. Vacancy is very low that time of year. There is not a great deal to do and very little activity.

  • J C

    A real hardship (death,etc) should be considered for a PR exception. However, this is simply a change, the reason wasn’t given.

    Get Real! – When you make an advanced rate reservation, you accept the NON-REFUNDABLE, NON CHANGEABLE policy. I don’t do it because of the many possibilties of change.

    Sorry – but you can’t make these low cost reservations and then be upset when you can’t change them on a whim. That’s what this seems to be.

  • Annie

    Agree with JC and Allan. There is a reason why the non-refundable/non-changeable rates are so low and it doesn’t matter if it’s low-season or high-season, she still booked it with all the warnings in big bold letters attached.

    She got very lucky on this one, and Hilton deserves double the brownie points since it went out of its way to accomodate her.

  • Chris in NC

    I too think the OP is very lucky. 1 room X 2 nights vs 2 room X 1 night is not the same. I too rarely purchase advanced purchase rates. They are CLEARLY disclosed as non-refundable, non-changeable under any circumstances. The cost savings of $10-20 is not worth the risk of anything going wrong (from travel delays, weather, etc.)

    In fact, this article kinda makes me a little miffed. Not at Hilton, but at the Ms. Moore. Her request does not seem reasonable, especially since she knowingly purchased a non-refundable reservation for 2 nights. The argument that there is no additional loss to the property doesn’t hold water (as Roxanne and Carver already pointed out).

    If hotels are going to routinely bend non-refundable rate rules, then whats the purpose of having them?

    Just my 2 cents
    Chris

  • ct

    @Topher
    “But whatever happened to treating people the way you’d want to be treated? You can criticize Jean for booking the promotional rate and then trying to make changes, but I’d all but guarantee you would do the same thing if your plans changed unexpectedly. It’s not like she’s trying to scam them or anything.”

    I would want to be treated fairly. It seems fair to me to say “You booked a lower rate knowing that something might change and you gambled that it wouldn’t. Unfortunately, you need to accept the consequences for losing that gamble.” I would be disappointed; I might even ask if the reservation could be changed; but after being told no (twice!), I would bite the bullet the same way I do when I buy nonrefundable airline tickets instead of fully refundable flexible ones and my plans change.

    In a sense, she is scamming them out of a room that she should be paying for.

  • Kevin M

    What all the posters who are pointing fingers at the OP saying “shame, shame” are missing is simple. Of course, Hilton was technically in the right on this one at the start. Of course, she should have known the reservation wasn’t changeable. (It sounds like she did, and she acknowledges in her appeal she was wrong, but is asking for special consideration in the circumstances.

    Here’s what any reasonably bright, competent hospitality professional (as opposed to corporate bean counter/attorney) should have seen: Here we have a property which will be in the midst of a slow season. We have a customer whose money we have taken for a reservation. She wants to make a change that is technically not allowed under our rules, but which could make her Hilton experience considerably more pleasant, and double the number of people pleased by Hilton’s treatment of them (her parents). For a tiny marginal increase in room changeover cost, we can choose between making four people happy – at Christmastime, no less – or we can stick to the rules, make four people unhappy, and probably ensure the name “Hilton” is forever associated with “Scrooge” in their minds. It’s a no-brainer what the smart thing is.

  • Monica L. Kennedy

    While I agree that there needs to be some level of customer service, but as a business professional myself, I understand that at some point the business actually has to make money. Sure it’s the dead season for hotels and the revenue is needed. I don’t argue that. This had nothing to do with a circumstance beyond her control (death, delay/cancelled flight, etc). She wanted the change because she didn’t feel like staying two days anymore. She wanted to change for her own convienence. Too bad for her. She knew that her rates/schedule was locked in. Period. I would have told her no, too.

    I agree with Allen. This type of issue shouldn’t be on Chris’s desk. This person wasn’t wronged by the travel industry. She thinks the rules don’t apply to her. And if companies keep bending rules, why have them? Constantly altering the rules sets a precident for the next person.

  • http://aol barbie45

    Kevin ,As usual you provided a very logical , well written,professional analysis of the decision by Hilton. Old adage rules are made to be broken. In some cases that does apply-not all of course.

  • Allison

    As a former hospitality industry professional, I have to say that Kevin’s analysis of the situation is 100% right on the mark. All of the people who insisted in their posts that Hilton would lose money by making an exception for this potential guest clearly don’t understand how hotels make money. They certainly don’t make money by alienating their guests. They don’t lose money by a one room incrementaly room clean–staffing would be totally unaffected and any microscopic differential in amenities or would pale in comparison to the value of retaining a potentially loyal guest.

    I also don’t get the conclusions that this person was trying to implement some sort of “scam.” I certainly hope the “holier than thous” here don’t work in the hospitality business…God help us all.

  • Chris in NC

    @Allison,
    I think you missed the point why some of us show no sympathy towards the OP. The facts are that the OP booked a non-refundable, non-changeable room rate. We can assume that this was done to get the lowest rate. Her schedule changed and she doesn’t want to spend a 2nd night. The hotel has a decision to make… apply the 2nd night towards a 2nd room (to buy goodwill), or reject the request (to follow the rules, but possibly alienate a customer). If I were the manager, I probably would accomodate the OP for the reasons Kevin listed. I think we all understand the rationale behind the decision.

    However, as a fellow traveller, I am still miffed. I think it penalizes those of us who follow the rules and avoid booking non-refundable rates because we are unwilling to take the risk. After all, if I knew that the terms and conditions would be “waived” on a regular basis, I too might start booking non-refundable rooms, take the chance, then kick, scream and complain if something goes wrong until someone bends the rules for me.

    Come to think about it, I think the real reason why I think this one stinks is that the OP had the expectation that Hilton SHOULD have honored her request. It smells of entitlement. As several others eluded to, I think if there was an emergency (ie illness, death in the family, weather related delays), I would have shown more sympathy towards the OP.

    Do I fault the manager for making the call? Absolutely not, but it doesn’t mean that I think Ms. Moore has the “right” position either!

  • Carver

    @Allison

    The folks who don’t feel that the OP is entitled to the switch aren’t addressing the issue of customer service. We are addressing the issue of whether Hilton was ethically right to initially refuse to change the reservation. We feel that a non-refundable rate should be waived when there are legit issues, i.e. unforeseen circumstances.

    In this case, it appears that the OP arbitrarily decided to change her plans and was upset that Hilton didn’t acquiesce to her demands. She also made a statement that her change was revenue neutral to Hilton, which is not necesarily true.

    Good customer service is another matter. I think the local hotel is in the best position to determine that since they are getting the request first hand.

  • jerry

    The second response from Hilton contained one of my pet peeves. The writer said they were “unable” to do what the customer wanted. Hilton may have chosen (as was its right) not to done what the customer wanted, but they clearly, as a firm, had the ability to over ride their rules if they wanted to.

  • y_p_w

    I once considered booking a nonrefundable reservation at a Hilton property. I actually put it off and didn’t get it. It would have saved me quite a bit with a better room location (opposite the freeway noise and with a view). I do understand why this is made. Cancellations cost hotels money, and nonrefundable rates ensure that they aren’t left without an opportunity to get a paying customer to fill a room. Most people stay with reservations.

    I’d also note that two rooms at the same price don’t really cost the hotel any more in terms of service and material than one room for two nights. Unless it’s a special “X nights and the next night free” deal, hotels almost always charge for each night at its own rate. The only places where that would be different would be extended stay hotels with weekly maid service, and even those often charge the same nightly rate if it’s one or more nights, until the weekly rate kicks in. About the only thing that might be different is checking in and checking out. Other than that, maid service is almost always daily, toiletries can be replaced daily if used/legally taken, and other items are replaced daily. If I use the complimentary coffee the first morning, it gets replaced with maid service. In any case, a hotel will almost always charge the same nightly rate (as long as it’s weekend/weekday rates) for two separate rooms as they will for two nights in the same room.

    If it’s not peak season and rooms are available, I would think a hotel manager might be able to bend the rules a little bit. I wonder why Ms. Moore didn’t just call up the hotel and ask directly.

  • Scott

    @ jerry:

    And the hotel is ABLE to give all rooms away for free if they chose, but that really would not help the BUSINESS aspect of being in business.

    Businesses have policies for reasons, whether consumers agree with them or not. If they make every exception that they are ABLE to, then customers soon have no respect or value for the policies in the first place.

    Thus, to ensure that people who pay for flexibility in their booking retain that value and to prevent the business from alienating other customers, the business is UNABLE to make constant exceptions to those policies.

    And frankly, getting petty about that word — and failing to understand the concept — is more of the entitlement problem with consumers.

  • Carrie Charney

    I have big “reservations” (pun intended) with the word “unable.” They definitely are able. I also don’t prepay most reservations. The ones I do prepay are usually international and I include them in travel insurance.

  • twy

    I think Ms. Moore maybe should have taken as much time to read the contract before purchasing a discounted room rate as she did trying to get out of the contract. Certainly is not fair to all of the other consumers who do.

    Kudos to Hilton for their initial well presented initial response and shame on Shariar for giving in.

  • Carver

    @ypw

    “hotels almost alwas charge the same rate each night…”

    That’s just not true. Forgotting the weekend/weekday issue which you correctly identify, hotel rates are based upon occupancy. If two weekday nights have the same occupany then the prices will probably be the same. But if one night has higher occupancy that another, the rates will almost certainly be different. I just made a two night weekend reservation at the Burbank Marriott for this weekend; the first night is 111, the second night is 103.

    Also, some hotels (Starwood) will just present the average rate, whereas Marriott and Hyatt show the rate for each individual night.

  • KathyJ

    I booked a Friday and Saturday at Kimpton’s Hotel Palomar Atlanta-Midtown last spring in order to visit my son in college there, take him to the Red Army exhibit at the art museum, and other things we enjoy. I chose the nonrefundable rates as I am also a college student and don’t have money to waste, but as I was about to graduate I wanted to treat myself a bit.

    Thursday morning I woke up sick to my stomach, among other things (I’ll spare you the details). I hoped I would be better by the next morning, but in case not I called the hotel and asked if I could please change to the following weekend, explaining that I was sick and might not be able to make it. I didn’t want my money back, the hotel wouldn’t have been out anything, and though I don’t know if the following weekend something huge was going on, I can’t imagine in a city the size of Atlanta anything less than the Olympics would have made a difference. Nonetheless I was refused. As it turned out I was too sick on Friday to make the 6 hour drive, so I checked again with the manager at the hotel but was again refused. I appealed to Kimpton InTouch Guest Loyalty’s customer service, but was denied there as well. Finally, I asked Chris Elliott here about it, and he said it wasn’t worth pursuing.

    When I was finally able to go, my dear son let me sleep in his bed while he took the floor. I couldn’t afford to pay for a hotel again.

    So when I was making four nights of reservations for dear-son’s graduation next May, and letting all the relations and family friends know where I was staying so they can make arrangements too, do you suppose it was the Hotel Palomar? How much business do you think will be generated by three sets of grandparents, four sets of aunts & uncles, four adult cousins, and three or four sets of family friends who would care enough to make this trip? More than enough to offset my $270 that Kimpton kept, I’m sure!

  • Carver

    @Kathy

    I’m surprised that they wouldn’t let you change the dates. In my mind, if you are sick they should offer you a credit to be used at another time.

  • KathyJ

    Aaaack! It was Hotel Indigo in Midtown Atlanta, and I contacted InterContinental Hotels guest relations.

    Otherwise the story is as I told it. They kept saying my rate was non-cancellable and non-refundable. I kept saying (and think so to this day) that I don’t see that asking to change the dates is the same as canceling or asking for a refund. They had my money already for two nights, and I’d just like to have been able to use them. I asked why they kept discussing cancellation and refunds when that had nothing to do with my request. They said the rate does not permit changing dates on my reservation. But that’s not the meaning of nonrefundable, and that’s not what the confirmation said.

    Some months later I did get one night’s charge credited back. But I still won’t try Indigo, and I’m done with Holiday Inn, too, since it’s the same company. The May reservations are with Courtyard by Marriott as Christopher has recommended Marriott, I believe, and that particular site is well recommended on Trip Advisor. (Though I don’t trust Trip Advisor as much as I used to, but that’s another thread.)

    Sorry for mixing up the hotels. I apologize to Kimpton and Hotel Palomar folks.

  • y_p_w

    I’ve seen some places (esp casino hotels) charge different rates for Friday and Saturday nights. However – I’ve booked multiple nights many times and haven’t found many cases where weekday rates changed unless it was a seasonal change. The large majority of rooms I’ve booked had the same weekday rate, and the large majority of times Friday/Saturday/holiday rates were the same. I said “almost always” and in my experience that’s been the case.

    The original article does seem to imply that the same rate was charged for both original nights. “No loss to the hotel” seems to imply that.

    As far as changing dates, the majority of prepayment rules make it clear that it’s a special rate in exchange for an assurance that they won’t ever need to change the dates or issue a credit. If those terms don’t agree with you, then don’t accept them. Take a higher rate with a more flexible cancellation/modification policy.

    Here’s what Hilton says about the advance purchase terms:

    Complete Rules & Restrictions

    FULL PAYMENT IN ADVANCE/NO REFUNDS: FULL PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS RESERVATION AT THE TIME OF BOOKING; YOUR CREDIT CARD WILL BE CHARGED IMMEDIATELY IN U.S. DOLLARS FOR THE TOTAL AMOUNT QUOTED FOR THE ENTIRE STAY AS RESERVED AND NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS WILL BE ISSUED. CHARGES CANNOT BE APPLIED TO OTHER STAYS, SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE. NO PRICES OR HOTEL AVAILABILITY ARE GUARANTEED UNTIL FULL PAYMENT IS RECEIVED. EVEN AFTER FULL PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL A RESERVATION WITHOUT NOTICE IF WE BECOME AWARE OF OR ARE NOTIFIED OF ANY FRAUD OR ILLEGAL ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PAYMENT FOR THIS RESERVATION.

    RESERVATION CANNOT BE MODIFIED: PRICE QUOTED APPLIES TO EXACT DATE(S)/NIGHTS/STAY BOOKED. MODIFICATIONS TO YOUR RESERVATION (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NAME CHANGES, DATE CHANGES, ETC.) ARE NOT PERMITTED.

    EARLY DEPARTURE/CANCELLATION: IF YOU DEPART EARLY OR YOU CANCEL OR FAIL TO HONOR THIS RESERVATION FOR ANY REASON, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY CREDIT OR REFUND.

    EXTENDING YOUR STAY: EXTENSIONS WILL REQUIRE A NEW RESERVATION FOR THE ADDITIONAL DATE(S), SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AND PREVAILING RATES AND THIS RATE SHALL NOT APPLY.

  • MichaelM

    Most of you seem to have missed Christopher’s real point: Hilton Customer Service has gone from its former excellent level to downright poor. I’ve been an HH Gold member for 15 years, and I have watched a steady decline over the past several years. Individual Hilton properties often stand out, but the generally poor attitude among corporate employees is quite obvious to me. My attempts to communicate with corporate have repeatedly been rebuffed with dismissive replies and nonsensical responses. The website is generally atrocious and user-unfriendly and the people at Hilton I’ve talked to all seem terrified of the website staff and refuse to contact them.

    As to the particular customer service issue Chris wrote about, I agree with Kevin M (and Allison), who correctly points out that this is the hospitality industry. Standing on ceremony in order to alienate your customers is just plain stupid.

  • y_p_w

    It’s pretty obvious to me that in general one does stand on ceremony when it comes to reduced-price terms unless it’s something within the direct responsibility of the hotel (such as quality issues during the stay). If you do this, you’re pretty much getting a “you’re not changing anything/use it or lose it” policy similar to the “Name Your Own Price” bid model from Priceline. I’ve actually booked on Priceline where plans changed such that I couldn’t go. The hotel was able to tell me I could check in the second day of the reservation without penalty (Didn’t Mr Elliott have a response to a car rental where a next-day rental changed the rate) although I wouldn’t be getting that missed day back.

    I’ve only booked Hilton properties recently. Did they offer any advance purchase reservations before the Blackstone buyout? I don’t dispute that their customer service may have declined, but I do understand “advance purchase”. If they’re not going to generally enforce these simple advanced purchase policies, then they shouldn’t be offering them.

  • Stan King

    I’m glad you mentioned the Blackstone buyout. I knew Hilton customer service had declined in recent years but was oblivious as to the cause. Good information at a perfect time, as I consider switching to Marriott.

  • Ed

    When you book at one of the premium boutique hotels, you expect a level of service that the second tier providers just don’t give. As such, when you make a request that is rather minor and costs the hotel little to honor, your level of expectation is such that you will receive better customer service…in this case, Hilton has shown that their premium brand is no better than a Ramada…If you pay Hilton prices and get Ramada service, well, stay at a Ramada and pay Ramada prices!

  • Ladamepta

    Mrs Naim,

    Is this issue below going to be taken care of anytime soon. ?? I have
    emailed Mr Johnson and you. Your refund did not reflect the Friday charge of
    157.05$ the extra day I was charged. I booked one day Thursday as my e mail
    confirmation reflects and this matter had yet to be resolved. Please at least
    let me know where we are with this issue. I think it is ap paling in the first
    place to make a reservation on line for one night then be charged for two and
    the issue is still not corrected. I contacted the Manager then Mr Johnson and
    now you . Better business bureau next.

    Thank You

    Lori Adame

    James,
    I have not received a response to this E Mail. Please let me know what is
    to occur regarding this matter. It is not 14 days since my stay and still you
    owe me funds you erroneously deducted from my account.
    Thank you
    Lori Adame.

    James

    RE #8529596
    I was refunded the extra night charge however the 133.38$ refunded does not
    reflect the 157.95$ charge for the extra day.
    Thursday rate (the night I stayed) was 133.38$ the Friday rate of 157.05 $
    is what should have been credited.

    Also I never received a call back or apology from the Manager. You have had
    157.95$ of my much needed funds for 13 days then I am refunded the wrong amount.
    Is this what I am to expect from being over charged?. I understand simple
    mistakes however when I make two calls to the manager he tells me he will call
    me back then does not. Then I call corporate and another mistake was made is
    unacceptable. My husband was an executive for Footlocker and has stayed at your
    establishments many times a month for over 22yrs. I have the VP of Footlocker
    Operations and Human Resources in New York on my speed dial. I have all of the
    executives on my e mail. I was courteous and understanding before. I explained
    my situation with losing my husband recently and this stay at your establishment
    was to help in my grief. This is not helping. There are 2 VP s of operations 12
    Regional executives 52 District Managers and over 30,000 associates world wide
    for Footlocker. Many of them I have met over the 22yrs my husband worked for
    them contact me daily. I do not feel that everything was done to rectify your
    mistake. Something my husband took pride in daily. Make the customer happy so
    they will return. You have failed to do so given double opportunity.

    Please take care of you mistake .

  • Serena Lim

    Dear all,

    I’m a foreigner and I stayed in Hilton Minneapolis recently and my baggage was stolen from my room. Instead of being empathetic towards our situation, the asst manager was really very rude to us. I need to bring this to higher authority in Hilton as no one including the security director give us a good explanation on the situation. This is a very serious matter and the hotel took this incident very lightly. Can anyone help us how I can deal with this to bring up to the higher authority ? Thank you.

  • GrantRitchie

    Hi Serena,
    At the top of this page, click on “Company contacts”. On the dropdown lists that appear, click “Hilton”. That will open a page with all kinds of contact information for Hilton management. One bit of advice… Chris always recommends written contact rather than phone calls. That way, you create a paper trail of any promises made. Good luck!

  • garry

    Hilton customer service is as bad today as discribed in2009. I have been attempting to resolve a reservation problem since 18sept12….4 email promises to fix from HILTON action=0 as of 20nov12
    Gold card member but will never stay at a hilton hampton inn again

  • garry

    Hilton Customer Relations or Customer Care is about the worst I have ever experienced