Over the past year, Hyatt has outsourced a lot of its customer service, and many people have reported a decline in customer support.
I know that historically a lot of people have liked the @HyattConcierge account on X for customer service. However, an OMAAT reader shares a very frustrating interaction he dealt with, which suggests that may be going downhill as well (or maybe he was just really unlucky?).
In this post:
@HyattConcierge X account can’t provide basic information
A reader shares that he has always appreciated the option to DM @HyattConcierge on X, to get simple things done without calling. However, he says he has noticed a significant decline in recent times. His two last requests have been completely misunderstood, while he previously never had any issues.
He attempted to ask if the Hyatt Centric Delfina is classified as a resort or not. That’s because World of Hyatt Globalist members receive guaranteed 4PM check-out at all non-resorts, while it’s subject to availability at resorts.
Here’s how the interaction went (the bolding is his, and I’ve removed the names of the representatives he interacted with, but all three responses were from different representatives):
Customer: Hello is the Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica considered a resort for 4pm Globalist late check out purposes?
Representative: Hello John! Thank you for reaching out to us with your inquiry. It is my pleasure to assist you today! I would like to inform you that Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica is not classified as a resort property which means Globalist 4pm late checkout does not apply here. If there’s anything else you’d like me to assist with for your stay, just let me know, I’m happy to help!
Customer: Hi there – if it’s not a resort, then 4pm late checkout does apply there, correct?
Representative: Good Morning John! I am happy to assist you today. That is correct, late check out of 4:00pm is one of the Globalist benefits. Here is our weblink showing the additional perks. However, if you have a current reservation, I do recommend adding the request for late check out in advance to ensure that the hotel is aware of the expectation for the stay. Is there a current reservation where I may add this request to?
Customer: My question has not been answered here in the last 3 attempts to get an answer. Is it possible to escalate this question to a manager? The question: is the Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica considered a resort for 4pm Globalist late check out purposes? If it isn’t a resort, then 4pm check out does apply.
Representative: Hello John, thank you very much for your patience and please accept my sincere apologies for any confusion or frustration caused. Yes, the Globalist benefit of 4 PM late check-out applies for our Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica. As always, this is based on request and availability on day of departure. I hope this answers your question; please do not hesitate to reach out for additional support.
Are others noticing a decline in Hyatt customer service?
Back when Hyatt first outsourced customer service, I shared my first interaction with the “new” Hyatt Globalist line, which involved a 74-minute call to try and get a Suite Upgrade Award applied.
Honestly, at this point I do everything in my power to avoid picking up the phone and calling Hyatt customer service, though some things still can’t be managed online.
In theory there’s My Hyatt Concierge, which is offered as part of the Milestone Rewards program. While my assigned concierge is perfectly nice, she typically gets back to me days later, which isn’t of much use if I’m trying to apply an upgrade, or something else time sensitive.
I guess the sweet spot nowadays is to call the general My Hyatt Concierge phone number, which seems to have some of the few remaining non-outsourced agents that can be reached by phone.
I’m curious, have others also noticed a decline in Hyatt’s customer support? If so, what’s your strategy for avoiding frustration nowadays?
Bottom line
Over the past year, Hyatt has outsourced much of its customer service. There’s no reason outsourced agents can’t provide good service, but the issue is that with a heavy focus on cost cutting, there’s also often a lack of training.
While Hyatt’s X account has long been useful for getting basic customer service assistance, a reader’s experience suggests that the once excellent service here is no more.
Have you noticed a decline in Hyatt’s customer support, whether by phone or through X?
Broadly seems true of American corporate customer service across all industries, although there's individual sweetspots still. eg: Hilton's Diamond line seems to still be enthusiastic and efficient the few times I have to call.
Overall: there's far too much focus on squeezing the last pennies out of margins in this late stage capitalism, even if it causes lasting damage to brand values (and to people). So all the outsourcing, all the chatbots on front ends,...
Broadly seems true of American corporate customer service across all industries, although there's individual sweetspots still. eg: Hilton's Diamond line seems to still be enthusiastic and efficient the few times I have to call.
Overall: there's far too much focus on squeezing the last pennies out of margins in this late stage capitalism, even if it causes lasting damage to brand values (and to people). So all the outsourcing, all the chatbots on front ends, and AI triaging online support, single CSRs handling many chat sessions at once, etc. It's dystopic.
And once it's outsourced, it's really difficult (in this corporate environment) to bring it back in-house. So then it's just damage control for the damage they've done to themselves. Sigh.
Ironically, I'd just emailed @Ben yesterday before I looked at my digest asking him to write on this topic. My wife is a globalist and it typically takes weeks for her concierge to respond. As an Ambassador, I don't find that the Ambassadors actually do much, but I get answers within hours.
Obviously an AI response.
I don’t understand hotel “membership, points or rewards.” Hotels remodel & are not located consistently enough to merit loyalty.
Lately, when I plan trips (3 digit, interior door, non smoking w/breakfast properties only), I see reviews about roaches, lumpy beds, mediocre breakfast, poor wifi & card keys not working.
In the room: signs about every 4th day housekeeping, virtue signaling about environment, but really about staffing (yet leave a tip in this envelope,...
I don’t understand hotel “membership, points or rewards.” Hotels remodel & are not located consistently enough to merit loyalty.
Lately, when I plan trips (3 digit, interior door, non smoking w/breakfast properties only), I see reviews about roaches, lumpy beds, mediocre breakfast, poor wifi & card keys not working.
In the room: signs about every 4th day housekeeping, virtue signaling about environment, but really about staffing (yet leave a tip in this envelope, hand-signed with a smiley face heart. smh!)
Hotels data-harvest contact & AAA info during the reservation, so what more is there to give, for the privilege of nonchalant service? Not to mention that 99% of so-called ADA rooms are not. (beds too high, narrow doorways, poor lighting)
My husband can’t wait to leave well before the 1100 check-out. There’s No reason for anyone not to get their lazy toes out of bed so hotels can turn over the room.
And No reason to feel Entitled to write articles complaining 3 times about late checkout. Just pay for another night. 4pm seems late to be driving to next destination.
(Yes, I clicked to read & leave a comment - as my tip…)
Twitter/X concierge used to be very good service. Then they fired all the people with experience and now have people that really aren't trained well.
I recall an interaction I had with them about combining a cert and points stay and the concierge accused me of trying to circumvent the rules for certs and actually removed the one I had legally applied for part of the stay. Since then I really don't use the twitter/X...
Twitter/X concierge used to be very good service. Then they fired all the people with experience and now have people that really aren't trained well.
I recall an interaction I had with them about combining a cert and points stay and the concierge accused me of trying to circumvent the rules for certs and actually removed the one I had legally applied for part of the stay. Since then I really don't use the twitter/X concierge anymore, do most things myself and only call when absolutely necessary.
A decline ? If being worthless and frustrating is a decline , then yes.
My concierge has always been days late , but more importantly , a simple straightforward question receives a throughly confusing response , never to the point and more often incorrect.
I have found over the past few years, spending over 300 nights per year at hotels , to bypass both the so called personal concierge and the World of...
A decline ? If being worthless and frustrating is a decline , then yes.
My concierge has always been days late , but more importantly , a simple straightforward question receives a throughly confusing response , never to the point and more often incorrect.
I have found over the past few years, spending over 300 nights per year at hotels , to bypass both the so called personal concierge and the World of Hyatt .
The only help and accurate information to be had is from the individual hotel directly.
The main point of your article is not about the resort late checkout or not, but how badly Hyatt has degraded its top customers.
We've been put all over the world with customer services, not only Hyatt, the other ones too.
Huge warehouses in the Phillipines, dealing for all the brands, including other industries.
You can hear all the chatter in the background.
They are losing other globalists over this. Cost cutting with no direction - head of frontline support needs to be fired. They lost it
Customer service going downhill - that describes customer service in the US….there are other places around the world which are much more service oriented
A minor annoyance recently with the X account is now they always seem to come back and ask for confirmation of everything before doing it. Simple stuff like confirmed suite upgrades, cancelling a reservation, etc even when they have all necessary information. Never used to happen. Like I said, minor but noticeable. Maybe it is AI driven and they have to do it that way.
I booked a Hyatt property today through Priceline at an $80 per night savings vs. booking direct (which amounted to 43%). I'd rather have money in my pocket than empty status promises from a hotel chain.
Funny this is a Hyatt Centric now...I remember staying there when it was a Four Points Sheraton, then the Sheraton Delfina, then the Le Meridien Delfina. Good location if you want to be close to the ocean. Like many hotels in Santa Monica close to the water it's overpriced.
Fascinating history - this hotel has been branded as:
- Ramada Inn (1972-1974)
- Roman Inn (1974‑1979)
- The Inn at Santa Monica...
Funny this is a Hyatt Centric now...I remember staying there when it was a Four Points Sheraton, then the Sheraton Delfina, then the Le Meridien Delfina. Good location if you want to be close to the ocean. Like many hotels in Santa Monica close to the water it's overpriced.
Fascinating history - this hotel has been branded as:
- Ramada Inn (1972-1974)
- Roman Inn (1974‑1979)
- The Inn at Santa Monica (1979-1984)
- Bayview Plaza Holiday Inn (added tower; 1984-1998)
- Four Points by Sheraton (1998-2004)
- Sheraton Delfina (2005-2013)
- Le Méridien Delfina (2013-2024)
- Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica (2024-)
Excellent history!
Are you sure it wasn't also a Motel 6 before it was a Ramada?
We seem to get the same person every time we call the Hyatt Globalist line. She doesn't seem based in the US, doesn't know where any hotels are located (even when you give her the city), and you need to repeat your details several times. Forget it if you want to modify an existing reservation or add a suite upgrade (thankfully that can now be done online most of the time). It's painful. We have...
We seem to get the same person every time we call the Hyatt Globalist line. She doesn't seem based in the US, doesn't know where any hotels are located (even when you give her the city), and you need to repeat your details several times. Forget it if you want to modify an existing reservation or add a suite upgrade (thankfully that can now be done online most of the time). It's painful. We have the same issue with our concierge contact. She replies several days later, and sometimes, not at all.
Funny thing is, this is ALL solvable if brands placed just a little bit of more effort and money in having a better AI architecture. I had similar issues as Caesars a couple of months back and it was frustrating.
Extreme cost cutting or just lack of care? I would say the later.
They are losing other globalists over this. Cost cutting with no direction - head of frontline support needs to be fired. They lost it
This is one of the reasons why it pays to use a professional travel agent who can deal with this tiresome BS for you.
This reads like an AI generated response. More and more companies are trotting these out, as the LLM chat bots are far less expensive than paying humans to do it .
I'll keep emailing my concierge. I haven't yet had a time-sensitive issue where I've had to call or use the DM.
Bad engineering
I've definitely noticed a declined in phone based support; I'd say it's about a 20% decrease in quality and resolution effectiveness.
I never use my concierge (to your point, if I need escalation it's time sensitive. All she does is auto-register me for promotions.)
Definitely customer service has deteriorated. However, at least in this particular instance, the customer could have been more specific. Every time I'd reach out, I'd ask my full question rather than just concentrating on 4pm checkout as a globalist benefit. Or even better, after couple of times, I would have just called the hotel directly and asked them.
Is it the new normal? Yes. My latest two interactions are below:
1) Asked my concierge if I should get the points on the second room that I booked with me staying in room 1. They said "yes" and that I should call the regular customer service line to get that accomplished. I called customer service and they said, "No" I do not get the points for both rooms. HUCA next representative said, "Yes" I...
Is it the new normal? Yes. My latest two interactions are below:
1) Asked my concierge if I should get the points on the second room that I booked with me staying in room 1. They said "yes" and that I should call the regular customer service line to get that accomplished. I called customer service and they said, "No" I do not get the points for both rooms. HUCA next representative said, "Yes" I do get the points and got it done.
2) Asked my concierge if I should get a qualifying night for gifting a GOH cert. They said, "No" because I didn't pay for GOH room with my credit card. Called customer service and they got it done.
Boy, was I relieved. For a moment, I honestly thought I had wandered into the Twilight Zone during my recent call to the Globalist line. It was the first time I have ever encountered a representative who was clearly not based in the US, and the experience went off the rails from there. I was simply trying to book a points reservation without yet having the full points balance in my account, which is arguably...
Boy, was I relieved. For a moment, I honestly thought I had wandered into the Twilight Zone during my recent call to the Globalist line. It was the first time I have ever encountered a representative who was clearly not based in the US, and the experience went off the rails from there. I was simply trying to book a points reservation without yet having the full points balance in my account, which is arguably one of the most valuable Globalist benefits.
Over an hour of being passed from one outsourced representative to another, accomplishing exactly nothing. Arguing with me that the benefit does not even exsist. I threw in the white flag. No resolution, no progress, just frustration. I was genuinely stunned. It was a complete 180 from the level of competence I have consistently received from Hyatt and the polar opposite of what a Globalist interaction is supposed to feel like.
Surprisingly have had to call My Hyatt Concierge twice in the last few weeks (first time in 6-12 months). I didn’t get him, but got US based colleagues. The interactions were pleasant and efficient, and my needs were handled.
Data point: I was calling during US business hours on weekdays
Globalist for about 6 years here. Due to customer support's recent decline, I do not plan to bother anymore -- although I'll likely hit lifetime globalist within a few years naturally. Used to have great support at Hyatt, no more.
Absolutely agree. Had a Hyatt phone agent tell me I couldn’t combine a paid night and a points night to apply a suite upgrade to both. I told her she was wrong and she told me I was wrong. Awful service. My Hyatt concierge was able to get it done, but to your point the only issue is response time.
Who’s kidding who? We can all tell from that convo they’ve outsourced that outsourced job to AI.
Yep, last week hyatt concierge on x gave me a wrong quote of the cancellation terms.
I have noticed a significant deterioration in terms of actual human service quality for the Globalist Line team which I use by clicking through the app usually due to laziness. They don’t understand what is going on half of the time and require you to repeat yourself multiple times. Now I just go to My Concierge by calling her directly or by emailing her since she has always been responsive to me.
Lifetime globalist here. The last time I attempted to use the Hyatt concierge assigned to me, she ended up cancelling a reservation I was trying to extend.
Hyatt's customer service is nowhere near where it once was. And my stays reflect that.
I've never had much luck with the Globalist Concierge - - I've read blogs mentioning how they had an issue a check-in and it was resolved immediately via the concierge. In my case half the time I don't get an answer and need to follow... and/or days later i get a reply. I've given up on trying to do anything with the concierge. If others are having a better experience, perhaps I should ask for a new Concierge????
Sounds about right. Though I agree it's a chat bot and the person asking the questions could have made it much clearer and point by point to enable more or less a yes/no answer, which would be quite a bit more useful if they have to present it at a hotel front desk to back up a denied request.
I would have just called the hotel. Or maybe what he's leaving out is he...
Sounds about right. Though I agree it's a chat bot and the person asking the questions could have made it much clearer and point by point to enable more or less a yes/no answer, which would be quite a bit more useful if they have to present it at a hotel front desk to back up a denied request.
I would have just called the hotel. Or maybe what he's leaving out is he called the hotel, didn't like the answer he got, so he's trying to get a contrary "official" response. I've done that myself, resorted to chat to get something in writing when I didn't like what an airline agent said over the phone.
Undoubtedly a bot. Though it's not so likely a human would have been much more help. I've found chat agents are helping a lot of people at once. Some are improving, others not. I would give credit to American Airlines for some better experiences lately - it's been awhile since I used my Advantage miles for a ticket, then wanted to add my AS MVP number to get better seat assignments just to have the chat agent put my AS number in for the PreCheck KTN. Had a good interaction last week, but I spell it all out in the first message:
-Name
-I have a PNR on hold: XXXXXX
-I wish to apply this trip credit number as payment: xxxxxx
-My email address/phone/DOB are: xxxxx
-Please proceed with transaction. Thank you.
The run-on sentence in the query lacked standard English syntax and therefore was confusing to both human and machine. If the question was "Is the Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica considered a resort?" or "Do Hyatt Globalists have 4 pm check out at the Delfina Santa Monica?" a straightforward answer would have been given.
No, your proposed alternate questions would have been worse. The relevant paragraph in Hyatt's terms under "(V)Globalist (e) Late Checkout" is itself a run-on sentence and the "resort" exception covers more than literal "resorts." For example, hotels with a casino and Destination by Hyatt Residences are "resorts" for this purpose.
The terms specifically add:
"The distinction between a Hyatt resort and a Hyatt hotel may not always be obvious and Members are encouraged to...
No, your proposed alternate questions would have been worse. The relevant paragraph in Hyatt's terms under "(V)Globalist (e) Late Checkout" is itself a run-on sentence and the "resort" exception covers more than literal "resorts." For example, hotels with a casino and Destination by Hyatt Residences are "resorts" for this purpose.
The terms specifically add:
"The distinction between a Hyatt resort and a Hyatt hotel may not always be obvious and Members are encouraged to call a Hyatt Global Care Center for help determining a hotel’s or resort’s designation"
The chat agents responding could not help him because because clearly they were not trained or familiar with these esoteric details.
Reads like a chatbot response from Hyatt to me.
Also, the guest should have composed his question a lot clearer.
The decline in customer service online is likely because they got rid of people, outsourced to software (AI), or to less-expensive human alternatives... *cough* Perhaps, the goal is profits, cost-cutting, not actually solving problems... *COUGH* And it's not just a Hyatt issue... *burp*
This blog post would have been better served to include other examples of poor Hyatt customer service since the outsourcing rather than trying to claim one single AI mistake is emblematic of an entire company's CS 'going downhill'
Yeah, I'm sure it was just the one, single mistake...
Unless and until someone can out-compete the Hyatts and Marriotts of the world for availability, we will continue to have to deal with crummy AI slop bots like the one illustrated here. The brand won't care how much people hate it until it impacts their bottom line.
I've had terrible experiences with Hyatt Concierge in the last few months. The biggest issues seem to be related to the Mr and Mrs Smith properties and getting proper credit for stays there and spending on the Chase Hyatt Card. It cost be Globalist status because they couldn't get their act together. I'm done with Hyatt.
I used to always use the chat feature in the app which was similar experience as to DMing on Twitter but that’s become almost entirely useless. They can’t seem to get even the most basic and simple requests right.
Probably AI that got confused.
Bilt via iMessage does it all the time. Bilt is great and all… their customer service agents (human kind) are awesome… the AI ones are horribly programmed; they give out incorrect information, normally not in their favor.
That’s surely someone at an Indian call centre answering from a script. Even the stupidest AI bot would do better than that.
My first thought was actually that the answers were in fact generated by an AI - an extremely poor one.
Seems like a little miscommunication that was ultimately solved at the end. I wouldn’t be writing emails to you based on this conversation tbh. Maybe it’s symptomatic of a wider decline in Hyatt service but hardly end of world stuff.
Chat support in general is so good. I love the AA chat support even though the agents sometimes need a bit of coaching. I recently had a large slab of Air France points expire...
Seems like a little miscommunication that was ultimately solved at the end. I wouldn’t be writing emails to you based on this conversation tbh. Maybe it’s symptomatic of a wider decline in Hyatt service but hardly end of world stuff.
Chat support in general is so good. I love the AA chat support even though the agents sometimes need a bit of coaching. I recently had a large slab of Air France points expire accidentally (6 months earlier eek) and the agent on WhatsApp granted me am exemption. So easy.
@ Mick -- But it wasn't ultimately solved in the end, at least if we're defining "solved" as providing accurate information? The representative said that it's not a resort, so late check-out is a perk for Globalists, but only subject to availability. That's not accurate.