Nurse the Hate: The Hilton Situation Develops Further

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for getting back to us.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and appreciate your patience and understanding. After further research, we have noticed that the reservation was booked through a third party channel and we are unable to refund the charge in question when the reservation was confirmed through a non- Hilton source or third party website.

In an effort to make amends for your experience and to honor our brand guarantee, I would like to offer you a $100 Hilton American Express Gift Card. You can use it at any one of our Hilton brands worldwide. Please respond if you wish to accept this offer.

Thanks for your ongoing loyalty and understanding. If you have any questions, we want to speak to you personally. You can connect with us via Chat Click Here or email.

Best regards,

Romeo S. III 
Corporate Guest Relations Specialist
Hilton Reservations and Customer Care

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Greg Miller	1:31 PM (2 hours ago)
to guest.correspondence@hilton.com

Hello Romeo,

First, let me thank you for your prompt response.  I had been told the hotel had been conducting an investigation into the incident in question, and it is good to see police work conducted with rapid diligence.  However, I can’t help but note that the investigation missed the point of my concerns.

As you may or may not know from my earlier correspondence with Reinyl Paul S., I have expressed interest in becoming a hotel detective in your organization.  I am a bit of an amateur sleuth now, and if I may say, quite talented at drilling down to the core of mysteries.  I can’t help but wonder if the regular hotel detective from the Hilton Rockville Executive Hotel might have taken Thanksgiving holiday a tad early and left the investigation in less capable hands. Not everyone is cut out to be a “hotel dick”.  

Let’s talk shop...  I have really dug into this thing.  The facts in this particular case are not focused on the means of the reservation (which solidly point to Hilton creating two room reservations as per my attached document).  That’s a real “red herring” if I may say.   Let’s instead delve into the real crux of the issue, the action or rather non action of Hilton employees when the “computer confusion” fiasco developed.

Romeo, I’m sure that a man of your experience has seen a thing or two in the rough and tumble world of hotel guest relations.  It’s not an easy life out there on the front lines.  It’s a goddamn meat grinder.  Let’s talk turkey.  I’m not some sort of “hotel grifter” looking to scam free lodging at your many fine locations.  I am just trying to find a mutually fair resolution to the situation your employees placed myself and three other adults into at 2am.  Let’s not even get into the part where one of them is a Diamond Club Member and kicked to the curb.  No, let’s focus on the following:

*  the hotel had numerous rooms available 

*  the hotel would not provide us the second room because your employee could not think out of the box and accomplish this astonishingly simple task of getting us into the second room

*  we were then forced to cram into one room like refugees at 3am despite offering to provide a deposit for the other room and pay in a traditional manner once your system was back up  (why were you essentially closed for business BTW?)

* and then pestered by cleaning crew at 845am to turn the room

Romeo, as you can see, the issue at hand is not the system of reservation.  The situation is the horrible judgment and lack of service on the part of the hotel.  Look, I’m just an amateur hotel detective, but even I know what’s right.  How about this?  The Hilton provides me with two (2) $138 gift certificates to cover the cost of the bad experience for both roomfuls of people that were thrust together and inconvenienced by the hotel’s questionable decisions of that evening.  That is fair and certainly won’t bankrupt the Hilton Corporation.  

I await your response with the confidence that you will do the right thing.  I wish you and your family a relaxing and joyful Thanksgiving and I suspect I will see you around the office soon when I begin my hotel detective training.

Regards,

Greg Miller

P.S.  Is there a company softball team?  If so, I’d love to play left field.