Several weeks ago, I covered how Hyatt laid off most of its US-based customer service agents, instead choosing to outsource these jobs. Well, I just had my first experience with what I have to assume is one of these new phone support agents. After 74 minutes on the phone, I need a nap, because I’m cranky…
An absurdly frustrating Hyatt call center experience
Before I share my experience, let me clarify that in theory, I don’t care where a call center agent is based, as long as they’re able to do their jobs in a satisfactory way. My issue is that all too often, when call center jobs are outsourced, the people put in those positions don’t have the training and tools they need to succeed.
Furthermore, I don’t in any way blame the frontline employees, but instead, blame the companies that hire them and then don’t give them sufficient training. With that out of the way, as a lifetime World of Hyatt Globalist member, I’ve generally found Hyatt’s call center to be one of the more competent ones, with agents (mostly) knowing how to do their jobs.
Today I called Hyatt for the first time in several weeks, and I think it’s safe to assume I was connected to someone on Hyatt’s new team. My request was simple, or so I thought. I wanted to apply one of my Suite Upgrade Awards for a Hyatt Prive reservation that I booked at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley.
So, how did that work out? Well, the call took a total of 74 minutes, and really, something was only accomplished in the last several minutes, when I was connected to a US-based “guest escalation” supervisor.
The issues started at the beginning of the call, as the agent had never heard of Hyatt Prive. She claimed I booked a “corporate rate,” and kept asking for details about what corporation I worked for. When I explained to her what Hyatt Prive was, she was confused, asked me to spell it out, etc. Eventually she said she’d have to talk to “customer care support” (can I just talk to them directly, pretty please?).
That process took around 15 minutes, for something that shouldn’t have even been a discussion, because there’s supposed to be zero issue with applying suite upgrades to Hyatt Prive rates.
Then came the process of looking up whether there was suite upgrade availability. This is something that should ordinarily take seconds. Somehow that took another 15 or so minutes, including me repeatedly being put on hold.
I asked her to confirm that she saw standard suites available, but she seemingly couldn’t figure that out. She said she’d then call the hotel to try to apply the upgrade, and I clarified the type of suite I’d like — a “Deer Valley Suite with Balcony.” The hotel has multiple types of standard suites, and in those situations, you can request which kind you’d like.
She obviously didn’t understand this contextually — “you want a deer suite with balcony?” Okay, no big deal, so I repeated myself multiple times, and she seemed to at least be able to repeat what I was saying. She then put me on hold to call the hotel to apply the upgrade, or something.
After an extended wait, I ended up being added to a three-way call with the front desk agent, who explained to me (if I understood things correctly), that Hyatt had centrally accidentally blocked me into the accessible suite rather than the one that I requested, and if I wanted to fix that, I’d have to cancel my reservation and book again.
I explained that I specifically told the agent the type of suite that I preferred, and that I had been on the call for close to an hour. Obviously it wasn’t the front desk agent’s fault, so I said he could get off the line, and I asked the Hyatt agent if she could please connect me to a supervisor.
After an extended hold, I was connected to Wanda, a “guest escalation” supervisor (I suspect these supervisor roles are among the only ones that haven’t been outsourced). Wanda was lovely, and provided exactly the type of service I’m used to at the Globalist line. She could actually understand what I was asking for, and in a matter of minutes, she solved the issue, contacted the hotel, and confirmed me in the right type of suite.
The whole process took 74 minutes. Wanda was a delight, and I feel bad for the fact that she probably only gets to talk to guests nowadays after they’ve had a terrible experience with someone else.
This is an absolute embarrassment, Hyatt
Historically, I’ve been a huge Hyatt fan. I mean, I’ve had top tier status with Hyatt for over 15 years, and I even have lifetime status with the program. I’ve long respected Hyatt because I felt like among the “mainstream” hotel groups, Hyatt cared more about customer experience than competitors.
Hyatt was smaller, and therefore had to try harder. For that matter, I felt like there was a genuine passion there for taking care of guests. Unfortunately as Hyatt has continued to grow and acquire an endless number of brands, I’ve increasingly felt like Hyatt’s spark is gone, and the company is increasingly like its competitors.
Look, it’s possible that I just had a very bad experience, but this certainly doesn’t give me a very favorable first impression of the quality of Hyatt’s outsourced call center.
Among the outsourced call center agents, are Globalists somehow being prioritized for better trained agents? Because if not, that’s disappointing, and it’s a devaluation to what I’d consider to be a valuable Globalist perk. Meanwhile if the agent I spoke with was supposed to be one of the better ones, then I don’t even want to think about what kind of an experience other people may be having.
It’s just sad when Hyatt’s frontline phone support suddenly makes Marriott’s seem amazing, by comparison…
Bottom line
Hyatt recently outsourced most of its call center jobs, and I just had my first experience with this new call center. The simple task of trying to apply a Suite Upgrade Award ended up taking 74 minutes, and it was only the tail end of the call where anything was accomplished, when I got connected to a US-based agent.
I’m curious if I just had an isolated experience, or if others have found the new agents to be so poorly trained. This is one of those situations where I wish Hyatt would send out surveys or let you stay on the phone to rate an agent, because I’m not sure the company realizes the damage that interactions like this do to the perception of a brand.
If you’ve dealt with Hyatt’s new call center, what was your experience like?
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