It’s disheartening to see how some companies don’t empower frontline employees to do the right thing, even when it’s not very costly, and even when it should be the obvious course of action.
World of Hyatt refuses to honor terms of reservation
OMAAT reader Jon shared a frustrating Hyatt situation that he’s currently dealing with. He recently started a World of Hyatt status challenge, thanks to the agreement between American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt.
In order to be able to complete this, he booked 11 nights at the Standard in Brussels. For context, Hyatt recently acquired the Standard brand, and he assumed the stay would be eligible for elite nights. When he booked, the hotel was bookable directly through Hyatt’s website and app, the email confirmation came directly from Hyatt, and the confirmation even explicitly stated that the rate was “eligible to earn points and tier credit.”
However, days after checking out, no points or elite nights posted, so he submitted a request for the missing points and elite nights.
The response he received from Hyatt indicated that the Standard hadn’t yet been integrated into the Hyatt ecosystem. Indeed, when you go to Hyatt’s website now, you’ll clearly see that it states “newly added, ineligible for World of Hyatt.” However, that message wasn’t there when Jon booked, and again, his confirmation made it clear that the stay was eligible for World of Hyatt benefits.
Now, let me say that as someone who follows World of Hyatt closely, I’m familiar with the timeline with which the Standard properties have been integrated into World of Hyatt, as it’s a gradual process. However, there’s zero expectation that the average guest would know this, nor should there be any obligation for them to know.
At the time that Jon booked, there was no indication of this, the property was bookable directly through Hyatt, and the confirmation email explicitly stated the stay would be eligible. That should 100% be all the evidence you need, especially since he made this booking in good faith (it’s not like he booked a $2 mistake fare, and is demanding the written terms be honored).
Even after escalating, Hyatt refused to do the right thing
Jon tried to escalate the issue with Hyatt, though in response, he was told that no exception could be made:
Please know that your case has been carefully reviewed and escalated. While we are unable to make an exception, your feedback has been documented and shared for further consideration.
He once again made his case, writing the following:
This is an opportunity for Hyatt to do the right thing, be transparent, and honor a written commitment to a customer, and it is immensely disappointing and frankly a huge turn off for me to the Hyatt brand that there is no acknowledgement that what might’ve been a mistake in Hyatt’s system is being paid for by a customer who trusted the Hyatt system not to screw him over.
I would also request that I speak by phone with someone who has the ability to impact this decision.
In response, Hyatt budged a little, but not in the area that mattered most to him:
Unfortunately, there is no way or no one that can override or manipulate the system to have this stay added to your account, as the property was not part of the World of Hyatt program during your visit.
That said, as a gesture of goodwill, I would be happy to provide with the equivalent number of points you would have earned if the property had been participating.
To me, this sums up one of my major issues with so many big companies, especially in the travel industry. Here you have a customer who was making a booking in good faith, and Hyatt promised him elite nights and points in writing, despite no warning during the booking process that things wouldn’t work out this way.
But then there’s seemingly no ability or desire to make things right. You actually have to appreciate just how extreme the Hyatt representative’s response is — “there is no way or no one that can override or manipulate the system.” No one — yes, no one — has the ability to override Hyatt’s system and make things right!
Bottom line
A World of Hyatt member booked a stay at the Standard Brussels directly through Hyatt’s website. There was no indication that the property wasn’t participating in World of Hyatt, and quite to the contrary, the confirmation explicitly stated the stay would earn points and elite credits.
Despite that, Hyatt was unwilling to honor those written commitments based on its own mistake, since the company hadn’t yet intended to integrate Standard properties into World of Hyatt. While I appreciate that Hyatt is giving him points after quite a bit of back-and-forth, it’s still refusing to honor the elite nights, which is what mattered most to him.
What do you make of World of Hyatt’s unwillingness to honor what the guest was promised?
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