This is a really frustrating situation, and it’s obvious the reader hit the dead end. Sure, he was promised that somebody somewhere in Hilton corporation would look into it. But I personally would hate to rely on that and potentially waste weeks, hoping for favorable resolution.
There is no doubt that hotel’s draconian cancellation policy should have been clearly communicated by the agent. Unfortunately, Hilton still makes you call in order to redeem free night certificates. What is this, the nineties? So, as a result, some things tend to get lost in translation.
In addition, we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic, so I believe there should be some concessions made because of that. The reader called almost a week in advance, believing he was well within the cancellation window. And to add an insult to the injury, he was now stuck with the fraudulent charges and MIA property manager.
Of course, you are your own best advocate. Always. That’s why I recommend double checking your confirmation emails to make sure you are aware of all the details, including cancellation policy. The other day I was looking at my reservation in Andaz Savannah and noticed that the agent has mistakenly attached two free night certificates to one room for the same night. If I found this error after the checkout, who knows what kind of nuisance would be in store for yours truly.
Still, for all the reasons mentioned above, I strongly felt the reader is entitled to a full refund. In the past I had good success with sending a direct message to Hilton Honors team via Twitter. The agents who handle it usually respond within an hour, and try to resolve the issue the very same day. So, that was my advice to this reader. If that didn’t work, I suggested for him to call Hilton ( again), ask for a supervisor and politely insist the issue is resolved ASAP.
The outcome
The following day I got this message from the reader:
I would be happy with this resolution and applaud Hilton for doing the right thing. In fact, getting a refund in points rather than certificates would be preferable to me personally. Even though it may be possible to utilize the certs towards a property that costs more than 70k points per night, you are under pressure to use them or lose them by certain date. I still have five hotel certificates to burn before the end of the year.
Bottom line
When dealing with a large corporation, it’s best to try to take care of the issue within a few days max. Otherwise, you risk getting nowhere. Of course, I’m not talking about health insurance companies, though that’s a topic for another blog. I’m still working on resolving incorrect medical claims from January of this year, but I digress…
Even though many people don’t like Twitter, I suggest getting an account just for dealing with issues like this one. It also allows you to amplify your message because one thing big companies hate the most is bad publicity. Again, I’m not talking about health insurance companies. Those don’t care.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VARIOUS CREDIT CARDS AND AVAILABLE SIGN-UP BONUSES
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Great information thanks for sharing
Great article thanks for sharing this great article
Projectx, very true! It won’t work with every company, but Hilton team on Twitter has been stellar in this respect.
Yeah, nothing works with LATAM. Phone, email, twitter, DoT… if you have an issue there, you’re SOL!
That’s good to know! And here I thought Avianca is frustrating to deal with. That’s the thing with many of these obscure programs with fabulous niche redemptions. You also have to be willing to accept potential nuisance when things go wrong.
“Even though many people don’t like Twitter, I suggest getting an account just for dealing with issues like this one.”
This is the exact reason why I have an account. I don’t understand why it’s so much easier to get a resolution through Twitter, compared to email or the phone but… here we are.