My all-time favorite hotel complaint came from a blogger who emphasized that they weren’t a regular customer of the chain, was staying free as the result of a promotion, and felt that the hotel was hard to find, the parking lot was busy, and that it was unreasonable to charge $2 for coffee. And it worked! He was given enough points for a free future stay plus 10,000 points.
Some guests head down to the front desk and complain about their hotel stay, every single time. A former Hyatt and Hilton employee talks about tracking a customer’s complaint history, the compensations they received, and notes about the guest. The hotel knows who’s a serial complainer, just doing it for the discounts, free breakfast or points. One guest wanted free champagne every day.
@melvcookie #hotel #motel #travel #karen #chad #advice ♬ original sound – KT
I don’t complain as often as I should (except maybe here on the blog) except for one Hyatt stay after another last summer which were the worst two I’d experienced with the chain in 15 years.
- In one case I was berated by a rude manager of a dilapidated property (other readers of this site have had run-ins with him).
- In the other a filthy, loud hotel had confirmed connecting rooms in writing for me but didn’t actually block them. I never received promised follow up, and they seemed to think they were doing me a favor by not charging me a cancellation fee for the room that they never provided to me.
Some guests, though, have expectations that are impossible to meet as memorialized in this priceless video about a demanding ‘Diamond Guest’.
Some people bring their loyalty down to the lobby to complain week after week, even chronicling publicly the trivial things they expect compensation for… pushing the envelope on what might get them banned as a customer.
Hilton in particular bas been known to ban customers who complain too much, and I’m always a bit torn. The framing is generally ‘we don’t seem to be able to satisfy you, so you should look elsewhere.’ That’s probably true! On the other hand, if someone has a string of bad luck with properties that genuinely fail in real ways, and a guest provides that feedback and keeps giving them another chance ot get that right, is it really the guest’s fault?
The worst legal precedent for airline frequent flyers is Northwest v. Ginsberg that stands for the proposition that you cannot hold an airline to a duty of good faith and fair dealing (that common low contract claims of this sort are state-level claims pre-empted by the Airline Deregulation Act). Bad facts can make bad law, and in this case bad representation in the lower courts.
The case was also known as the rabbi who complained too much. Northwest Airlines fired him as a customer because he seemingly complained after each trip for compensation. He lost his miles and his status, and we lost the ability to sue frequent flyer programs for pretty much anything other than violating their own written rules.
lol shot the shot loyaltylobby blog
That “Diamond Guest” video is not only priceless but so close to being on point for many travelers today! Loved it!!
And that video is 13 years old..some things don’t change
I bet the majority of complainers are women.
“Some people bring their loyalty down to the lobby to complain week after week”
🙂
I am a low maintenance guest. I’m glad they do keep track of chronic complainers who try to game the system. It doesn’t just hurt the hotels; it hurts the rest of us
Nothing worse than arriving at your room with luggage, and finding a truly awful room even if it’s the category you booked.
Do you go back (with luggage) to reception to ask for a better room, or not?
I have done that several times, especially if my stay is for more than one night.
I memorably did that at the Hilton Stockholm, after being allocated a dog-box in their newly-completed ‘annexe’ which was very detatched from the main building via weird underground airport-style walkways. My view was another building, and (the hotel’s) construction site.
I got given a new room (higher category I’m sure) with unobstructed views of the old town across the harbour. It was breathtaking!
Breakfast there was very memorable also.
@ AndyS — Such a lovely person you are.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Kensington Station in 2022. I was given an upgrade the next morning due to my gold status. My room was freezing cold. I set the thermostat for 22°C (72°F) as soon as I walked in that morning. When I came back later in the day, the room was still freezing. I went to the front desk, it was crowded with people checking in/out. I gave a written note to a bellman. “We’ll have someone there right away.” I guess that meant…sometime in the next month? No one showed up. I got to the room later on…still no heat. I went to call…buttons were pried off the phone! I finally got the front desk. To make a long story short, for my 3 night stay, I didn’t have heat. I stole a portable heater that was unplugged and sitting in the hallway. That took some of the edge off. When I went to check out, I asked for the manager. You guessed it…”Sir, he’s busy.” Aren’t they all. I was prepared to wait all day but my cab was pulling up. They offered me points. I already have 400.000 points. How ’bout a comp for one night? I got absolutely NOTHING. I wrote polite business letters to IHG Americas in Atlanta and IHG headquarters in the UK and never got the courtesy of a reply. The only satisfaction I got was that I told my company and because of complaints from others, mine finally was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We pulled our contract with them. I cut up my IHG Chase card and withdrew all of my 400,000 points and put them somewhere else.
I get that there are a lot of entitled “diamond guests* out there, but I find just as many hotel operators and employees who are disingenuous or just flat out lie to avoid giving room upgrades.
“Sorry we are all sold out of suites” – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that while I’m looking at multiple suites open to book right there in the app.
The worst is hotel staff just making up their own rules and treating you like a criminal if you don’t play along.
Just saying, it’s a 2-way street.
I don’t know how people get away with this, but as a diamond member of Hilton, I complained once, and the email I received was Thank you so much, no compensation, not even sorry. How do people get to complain every time and get compensated? It’s unbelievable.
Do people actually ask for a suit upgrade and expect to get it or is that just an American thing?
There’s a clear hole in the plotline of that video: how did the giraffe get on the airplane, or were they meeting the giraffe in Fort Lauderdale / Miami Beach?
Its a sad life of a traveling salesman. Gotta get some freebies.
This article is irresponsible. It undermines the credibility of guests who legitimately attempt to rectify hotel problems. For every customer who exaggerates an issue there are 20 who silently endure hotel troubles.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to those courageous enough to battle hotel and corporate management. Hotel service has declined in recent years. Imagine how much worse it would be if no one complained?
A coworker came back from vacation with a big smile on his face bragging about his free upgrade because his wife made a scene in the lobby at the checkin desk. He said she always found something insignificant to rant about during hotel visits to attempt to get a free upgrade. What’s ironic about their behavior is that both of them are rabid conservatives always complaining about other people scamming the system. This “Karen” finally get fired from her job because she was showing naked pictures of her husband to coworkers while she was at work.
Nice read!
As someone with over 8 million air miles and probably over 3000 nights in hotels (over 1500 w Marriott and 750 w Hilton alone) over the last 40 years I HATE the scum that try to scam the system and get something free. IMHO they are worse than beggars on the street. Sure if something is truly horrible (like someone already in room, room dirty, smoke smell in “non smoking” room or basic utilities don’t work certainly complain (but NEVER pull the do you know who I am by stating you are Diamond, Titanium etc – they know your status already) but those that whine about minor issues are pathetic. Also, like @Jeff above that think they are entitled to a suite just because it shows as available for rent – there are many reasons you won’t get it including minimizing housekeeping costs, expectation it can be sold (or an upgrade sold later) or maybe sold for one of the nights you are staying. In any event nothing is guaranteed. I’m grateful with an upgrade but never expect it (and top of the program in 4 of the largest ones). Also, never complain unless truly a problem I can’t live with as opposed to a minor inconvenience.
Reminds me of my sister in law who almost always finds something to complain about in a restaurant hoping she gets her meal for free! So embarrassing and we refuse to go out to eat with them any more.
I experienced the most disgusting hotel stay at a now closed Hampton Inn in Sherman Texas. I will not bore you with the details except for the fact I complained to directly to Hilton. Because of the cheap price (and that price should have been a red flag) for the room, all I wanted was for Hilton to look into their disgusting property. After my complaint the points for my stay never appeared and after conversing with Hilton, they replied the hotel stated they had no record of my stay as my reservation was canceled. Only after I forwarded a copy of my invoice did the points appear in my account. After a little research I discovered the same points scam by the hotel happened to others.
I was at a Crown Plaza in Tokyo on my first day there and paid for the first night $132 on the last day we stayed at the same hotel and paid $159, the last night was SO gross. The room was used and totally abused. This was the first time i ever complained and told the front desk of my first night and my last night at the hotel and told them the difference for a 20% increase did not justify a 75% down grade in quality. I guess they did not know i was a repeat customer. They marked my room down to a cheaper price.
The best thing to do is to TAKE PICTURES and post them on the internet .
@TomRI – be careful posting pictures. If some countries (Thailand for example) you can go to jail for that and also be fined in other places. Americans need to understand their laws don’t follow them around the world.
My latest favorite is a well known travel blogger at a St Regis ski resort complained to management about the room and derive……not for free stuff but “to improve service”. Then complains he got only a cheap bottle of champagne.
And now for the rest of the story.
With the operating system that Hilton is transitioning all properties to companywide, PEP, no, you cannot go into the property management system and see everything. Hell, you can’t see anything.
Just like in the prior system OnQ, the “complaint” is only trackable if the agent is removing the charge with the Service Recovery option. If you use the Correction option, nothing is tracked to the guest’s HH profile.