I recently warned about using credit card chargebacks where a hotel bills you for something you don’t owe – you could win the dispute, but get banned by the hotel chain even though you’re in the right.
A reader shared an example of this. They booked a double points rate through Hilton and never got their double points after more than a month’s worth of follow up. So they disputed the hotel charge and won. Hilton closed their Diamond account. This is the story of how they got their Diamond status back.
They spent two nights at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bozeman, Montana on the “Double Hilton Honors Points” rate. It wasn’t much of an upcharge for the bonus points and they needed the additional points for an award. They could have bought the points but that wouldn’t have come with a hotel stay!
- They didn’t arrive on property until 3:30 a.m.
- The night auditor marked them a no show and closed the hotel day
- And they didn’t flag him as an after audit check-in
That’s where things got complicated. When they showed up at the hotel they were treated as a new guest without a reservation. The property created a new booking, bringing over the rate from the original abandoned one, but failing to copy over the rate code for the package that included double points. So they never received the double points.
They exchanged several emails with the hotel, they were promised the points, but after a month they’d gotten nothing. So they disputed the charge for the stay, since they didn’t get what was promised in full. They won the dispute. And Hilton shut down their Honors account. They lost their (small balance of) points and their Diamond status.
So here’s what they did,
- Opened a new Hilton Honors account
- Used their first and middle name on the account
- Requested a status match (“using a current promo and rudimentary photoshop skills, replacing my last name with middle name” on the account they were matching from)
Their ID has a first name and middle name on it, so no problem. In any case, “several dozens of Hilton room nights later, it’s been smooth sailing. I’ve never been challenged on middle versus last name.” I do not recommend trying this at home, kids.
There’s a reason that United Airlines status matches no longer give you temporary status until after your first flight with them. Their system was granting status instantly to anybody without verification, people were status matching on the way to the airport (so United wouldn’t have time to catch status match fraud before using the status), and getting free checked bags and lounge access.
The United system was so bad a reader opened an account in the name ‘View From The Wing’ and upgraded it to Gold.
Of course nearly everyone in China staying at a Marriott hotel having Platinum status may be even worse. That status was available for sale there for $20.
The optimal amount of fraud isn’t zero. The things you’d have to do to eliminate all fraud would make the programs unusable. But some of the pathways for fraud are just super obvious.
With Hilton though status only goes so far, an elite food and beverage credit that doesn’t cover the cost of breakfast, no promise of upgrades to available suites, and late checkout isn’t even guaranteed. Still, showing up with Diamond status is better than not showing up with Diamond status!
It is absolutely bonkers for the actual offending stay to be included in this article. There’s no way Hilton wouldn’t be able to identify the reader based on “a Diamond who lost his account over a credit card dispute with Hilton Garden Inn in Bozeman, Montana.”
Call the hotel directly after Midnight ask them just to check you in because you are arriving at 3:30 am
IHG wouldn’t even give you any points if billed this way.
No sympathy for him. Simply check in on the app. I do that routinely but ESPECIALLY if you are arriving later in the evening (let alone at 3:30 AM). BTW I can understand closing it as a no show. How many guests arrive for their stay at 3:30 AM? At a minimum call the front desk and let them know (if you don’t check in on line).
Frankly I blame the Diamond member (who should have known better). Also stupid of him to do the charge back. As most know, many airlines and hotels will close accounts and put people on the “no travel” list for a chargeback. Fully within their rights so be careful people
The lesson here is that when there is a problem like this a chargeback is the wrong way to solve the problem. Better to send multiple letters to customer service and if that doesn’t work then to the President’s office with the earlier letters attached. If that fails then sue in small claims court assuming you think it’s worth it.
I’ve yet to hear of that causing any sort of negative consequences even when the dispute was in the many thousands of dollars.
Nice photo of the historic New York Hilton Midtown…totally unrelated, but if only greedy corporations would learn their lesson that abusing customers and workers doesn’t end well for them…
“They didn’t arrive on property until 3:30 a.m.
The night auditor marked them a no show and closed the hotel day
And they didn’t flag him as an after audit check-in”
.
No Gary, the night auditor didn’t mark anyone as a no show. It’s automatically done by the operating system (OnQ or PEP) when the day is rolled. It’s what happens to every reservation that doesn’t arrive by the time the date is rolled.
Next, there is no such thing as “flagging” a reservation as an after audit check in. No such thing exists. The original reservation is transitioned from active to no show status. In essence, it’s cancelled. There is nothing to flag. That one is gone and a new reservation would need to be made for how ever many nights or as a zero night day use rate where the room and tax needs to be manually posted if you can get the operating system (especially PEP) to make the day use reservation with the hundred error messages that pop up along the way.
“When they showed up at the hotel they were treated as a new guest without a reservation. The property created a new booking, bringing over the rate from the original abandoned one, but failing to copy over the rate code for the package that included double points. So they never received the double points.”
The first sentence applies to every hotel on planet earth. Again, the original reservation is cancelled automatically as a no show. If you show up after the date is rolled, you are a guest without a reservation. You are a walk in. Your reservation was for the prior day.
Also, there are certain rates that cannot be booked on property. Things like pre-paid website/app only non-refundables, anything to do with a points redemption or double points. The desk agent can’t fail to do something they have no access to do.
The guest was promised the double points if they showed up on the day of their reservation. They didn’t. Period, stop, done. That transaction is over. Anything after that is something different that is independent to the original transaction. If they wanted double points, they would have had to make a new reservation for the correct date and then be checked in for that reservation at whatever that rate would be.
Finally, while technically, Hilton is the one that closes out the HH account, they only do it at the behest of the property. It means the property reached out to Hilton asked for the account to be closed. Without that, Hilton could care less.
Hotels, unlike airlines, are subject to state law. I think there is a good chance that a California court would say Hilton could not do that for a one time appropriate exercise of legal rights. Google “common law duty of innkeepers.”
I think if Hilton had done a “do not rent” and refused future stays for the guest that would clearly be illegal. Closer call with kicking out of a frequent guest program.
Gee – multiple levels of fraud here on the traveller . . . Hope they catch him again . . . Doing a chargeback for a hotel room that was provided for you over a dispute over bonus points was stupid and basically fraudulent if they claimed the whole amount. Then photoshopping ID – we’ve now hit a level of Hilton banishment . . .