Travel Troubleshooter: Help, my points are missing
Elizabeth Klikas and her family have a dreadful stay at a Doubletree hotel in Miami, and they're promised a refund of their loyalty points as compensation. But the points never show up in their account, despite repeated calls and e-mails. How does she get the property to keep its word? startclickprintexclude--> It's been nearly four months since we stayed at the Doubletree, and no points have shown up in my account. What's more, I haven't received any response to my last e-mail, in which I say that I feel as if I'm getting the runaround. Your help would be greatly appreciated. -- Elizabeth Klikas, Riverside, Illinois and maybe even any resolution at all. Hotels strongly prefer to resolve any customer service problems before you check out, mostly because it's far easier to make something up to you while you're still a guest. Of course, it's also embarrassing to have to explain a customer service lapse to your bosses at corporate headquarters. I can't imagine why Doubletree stalled on refunding your points. But in reading the correspondence between you and the hotel, it's clear that the delay was unintentional -- perhaps the result of a mix-up between departments or simple error. The last thing any hotel would want to do is to add insult to injury by failing to give you what it promised. I contacted Doubletree on your behalf. It replied to you immediately, apologizing for what it called a "lapse in communication" and credited your account with 30,000 points. It also sent you a certificate good for a free night's stay at any Doubletree hotel. |
