Best Rate Guarantee? Farce

[neon_crossing]

Hey guys, keen to find out if anyone has had success with a BRG with Hilton?

I booked a room for 2 nights, Hilton Anaheim 12-14th Oct, for $139 on hilton.com

Half an hour later I noticed the rate on expedia.com.au was $100 per night, :shock: booked that also.

Put in a BRG form stating the websites etc.

24 hours later get a email saying my claim is DENIED with a screenshot of expedia.com not expedia.com.au

Emailed back, called up 3-4 times over the last two days, no-one will talk to me or return my emails and keep telling me that someone will email me, and yet I keep waiting for a reply. I have even got the girls on the other end of the phone call to look up the rate online currently as there is still a $39 discrepancy but there is 'nothing they can do' & the 'best rate guaranteed department doesn't take inbound phonecalls'.

Frustrating the hell out of me to be quite honest and the whole process seems farcical, especially that the rates are still currently cheaper right now.

Any suggestions/advice?

 

[RWJ777]

The good news is that you have enough time to resolve this in your favour.I would be inclined to google the name of their head of customer service and email him/her direct. Unless there are exceptions to the offer, it s a clear example of misrepresentation under Pt VI of the Competition and Consumer Act. The fact that their BRG department doesn't take inbound calls is no concern of of yours -- how they organise their representations to be honoured is their problem.Alternatively, you have already done enough to ground a complaint to either the ACCC or your local Office of Fair Trading. In fact, I'd be inclined to do that given you have been given the run-around.Good luck!

 

[serfty]

Put in another claim?

I don't put any creedence onto this "guarantee"; it seems SOP is to fob as many claims of with as many "invented" reasons as needed.

Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[neon_crossing]

UPDATE:
I have used this same trick with V Australia when they lost my bags once and it worked.......I took the claim to Twitter. Tagged in all the Hilton tags I could find and boom hey presto get a DM from Hilton asking for the reservation number so they could look into it. 3 hours later problem resolved. Clearly big companies do not like negative comments bouncing around in social media and are always quick to help out.
4-5 Phone calls to service centre and 3-4 emails = nothing
1 tweet = problem soved.
The way of the future!

Could be a good tip for anyone with a problem with a hotel/airline down the track.

I must say Hilton are pretty switched on when it comes to twitter I remember the last time I was in the states I put up a foursquare post with the Doubletree Seattle Airport tag in it mentioning that it was the last day of my trip. They quickly tweeted something like 'The USA will miss you, thanks for spending the last night here with us make sure you get a goodbye cookie " which I thought was a nice touch and I actually needed some help with directions & booking a cab when I was out and about later that day and I tweeted back to them a question and within 5 minutes they had booked a cab for me to pick me up from a shopping centre, damn good personal service and good use of social media.

 

[kyle]

Good to hear that it worked out in the end.

I've had two successful claims with Hilton so far. Strike rate 100%.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I get the impression that most don't try the BRG, instead booking the better rate and missing out on points/stays/nights and potentially status benefits as well.

I've used it only once and was successful, but it was a slightly different set of circumstances. The best rate was off their own website whilst I was trying to book an additional room in the hotel I was already staying in. The rate the hotel offered was considerably higher but they used BRG without issue (that was the reception managers call and he did not need to check that with any BRG team in the States).

One question though, you said you booked the Aneheim hotel twice........which booking did you cancel? I thought the process would be to find a better rate, telephone reservations and request they meet that rate, not to book the cheaper rate as you are still outside status T&Cs. Is this not how it works?

 

[neon_crossing]

I think you can book the cheaper rate with a third party as much as you like.

I ended up cancelling that rate and keeping the 'price matched' rate with hilton as it is part of the T&C's as you mentioned to go through with that booking to get the $50 prepaid amex.

I ran through my USA Tour 2012 (55 days baby!) itinerary again and found a cheaper rate in a hilton garden inn in Valencia (six flags) with expedia.com.au so I have sent that off BRG again, lets see if it is smoother this time.

 

[markis10]

The best rate guarantees with a a variety of hotel chains is proving to be not dissimilar to the price match retail stores have, its interesting to watch these evolve with condition after condition then either disappear or they drop the refund amount. The only one that works well seems to be JQ, which is amazing considering their track record on service.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I think you can book the cheaper rate with a third party as much as you like.

Do you have HH status? I was under the impression that bookings made through third party booking sites are ineligible for points/stays/nights as well as possibly status perks and if they are received, it's more good luck than good design.

I'd be curious to know if this is not the case.

 

[neon_crossing]

You can book any rate as long as it isn't a mystery site like priceline or hotwire I believe.

Just priced matched another, thats 2 from 2.

 

[Yoz]

Does anyone know how the Hilton applies the following two terms and conditions?

#7: Rate comparisons will be made net of taxes, gratuities, service charges, early departure fees, or other fees and incidental charges.
#10: Our Guarantee does not apply to the following: … Taxes, gratuities, service charges, early departure fees, or other fees and incidental charges.

Managed to get a claim put through with a US$1 discrepancy on the post-tax rate as Agoda only displays tax-inclusive rates in Australia.

It got rejected at first but I emailed them a screenshot with both websites afterwards and they put the claim through