False Charges, Poor Communication, No Wow Factor: Reflecting On My Horrible Travel Experience

They say the journey matters more than the destination, and that is definitely true when it comes to the customer experience. Even though a recent hotel booking saga ended with a fair resolution, my process of getting there was needlessly and considerably frustrating. It was almost as if the three associated brands came together to deliberately mock the idea of an “effortless experience.”

The Situation: The Consequences of Misleading Product Messaging

I knew I had to come to New York in early August for in-office meetings, but I did not know whether I would require a two- or three-night stay.

I thus sought a two-night reservation at an upscale hotel that would give me the option to cancel and switch to a cheaper place if I ended up wanting three nights. After perusing Google, some direct websites, Hotels.com, and our internal travel system, I settled on booking the Times Square Hilton through Priceline.

Beyond offering a nice hotel that was surprisingly affordable, near my office, and by major transportation, Priceline offered the enticing option to reserve now and pay later. Because I wasn’t paying anything upfront, and because this type of booking came at a non-trivial premium over the “pay in full” rate, I naturally assumed I could seamlessly cancel the reservation with no issue. That was a perfect match for the uncertainty of my trip.

When I ultimately decided I needed a third night and realized that there was no easy way to add an extra night to my Priceline reservation (let alone at the original nightly price), I opted to cancel. Expecting cancellation to be a simple, one-click process, I was shocked when I learned that there would be a significant penalty for canceling the reservation. My assumption about the flexibility of the reservation was wrong.

Though I maintain that my assumption was logical, I take full responsibility for not properly reading the terms. The brands at the center of this fiasco, however, must take responsibility for the burdensome support experience that followed.

The Customer Service Saga Begins: Bait-and-Switch, Long Wait Times, False Hope

I was in a tough situation. Even if I wanted to “take the L” and keep my reservation, I still needed to find a way to add the extra night. And because prices had gone up considerably from when I first booked, doing so would be an egregiously expensive endeavor.

Lacking a better option, I figured I would try my luck in the customer support process. I called the number attached to my booking confirmation; while going through the process I heard something about support being handled by a “partner.” I thought nothing of it at the time.

What I did think about, however, was the ridiculous wait time. After thirty minutes on hold, I gave up and sought a digital alternative.

There was no viable digital option, and I figured I would have no chance of getting the actual hotel’s team to support me on a “third-party booking.” As such, I searched for another Priceline phone option – and finally found one.

This line also had a wait time, but I eventually got through to a live agent. Unfortunately, after spending 10 minutes explaining the situation to a live agent, he abruptly decided to reveal that he “couldn’t help me” because my booking was actually through Booking.com and not Priceline.com.

Without sufficiently disclosing it to me, Priceline had routed my booking through its sister brand. And so even though I booked from the Priceline website and the two entities are united, Priceline apparently had no control over my reservation. It would have been nice if Priceline made that clear during booking. It also would have been nice if the agent made that clear before wasting 10 minutes of my time.

He advised me to contact Booking.com directly, which of course turned out to be the same “partner” I contacted earlier – the same one that put me on a never-ending hold. That happened again, prompting me to give up on the phone support option for a few hours.

Later that night, I went back through the Priceline website and found a note that the cancellation fee could be waived if I received approval from the hotel. With that information, I called the Hilton directly with the hope of securing their confirmation on the cancellation.

I did not get it. Instead, I endured a conversation with the rudest, most dismissive night manager one could imagine. He refused to even entertain the situation, irrelevantly noting that he was not responsible for a third-party booking. That I was following the prescribed process meant nothing to him; he was simply uninterested in providing support.

The following morning, I again tried to contact Booking.com through the provided number. I finally got through to a live agent. The agent ultimately reiterated the policy I had discovered earlier: if I could get the Hilton to waive the cancellation fee, I would be all set.

Thankfully, he also took the extra step of sending a “request for cancellation” email directly to the Hilton, and then waiting on hold while I called the Hilton front desk and asked them to review. Unlike the night manager, the daytime Hilton employee who answered this call was friendly, helpful, and resolute. He quickly noted that the cancellation request had been approved.

I reconnected to the Booking.com agent, who confirmed receipt of the approval – and thus completion of my fee-free cancellation request. I was now free to book a three-night stay wherever I wanted, or so I thought.

The CX Gets Worse: Shocking Charges, Little Assistance

With 36 hours remaining until my trip, and an alternative hotel booked, I was met with a shocking development: Hilton had authorized a charge on my credit card for the near entirety of my original reservation. The staggering charge made no sense for a variety of reasons:

1. My reservation had been officially terminated, thus eliminating any right Hilton had to charge my card. Since I had booked and canceled through Priceline, it is frankly unclear how or why they even had access to my card.
2. I had specifically booked a “reserve now, pay later” reservation, which means Hilton – cancellation or not, access to my card number or not – should not have been charging anything until check-in on the day of the reservation.
3. The amount greatly exceeded the official cancellation penalty (one night’s stay), so there was no way this was simply a case of Hilton forgetting that it waived said fee. Something else happened here.

I called Hilton to inquire about the issue, and the employee seemed equally confused by the situation. She apparently had no clear evidence that the reservation had actually been canceled, despite the confirmation I had from Booking/Priceline – which was based on a message from one of her coworkers. A warm and reasonable person, she nonetheless agreed to further formalize the cancellation on her end. She sent another message to Booking/Priceline confirming that this would be a no-fee cancellation, while sending me a separate email assuring that the authorization would fall off my card in the coming days.

With that evidence, I went straight to American Express to address the lingering charge. Consistent with the theme of my experience, the representative was extremely unhelpful:

1. Even though I had written evidence that the charge was illegitimate, he refused to put a block on the charge. He said the best he could do was monitor the charge and alert me if it posted, at which point I could file a formal dispute.
2. He refused to provide a temporary credit or raise on my limit to compensate for this massive, unauthorized pending charge.
3. He refused to block future Times Square Hilton charges from my account, even though I made it clear (and had written proof) that they had no authority to charge my card.

While I understand that #1 and #2 may be somewhat “standard” in financial systems (though I have definitely received temporary credits to counter fraudulent charges in the past), that does not make them customer-centric. Point #3, moreover, should be a no-brainer. If I have literal proof of an organization saying they have no right to charge my card, American Express should feel an obligation to prevent them from doing so.

But when it became clear the call was going nowhere, I withdrew – hoping that the situation would soon resolve itself. My hope did not come to fruition.

Things Get Even Worse: Another Charge, More Confusion

The following morning, I woke up to another pending charge from the Times Square Hilton. This one was roughly the price of one night, thus leading to my assumption – and outrage – that I was charged a cancellation fee despite having multiple forms of proof that any such fee would be waived.

Upon urgently contacting the Hilton, I ended up connecting with the same, rude night manager from earlier in my journey. His demeanor had not improved, but his ability to help slightly did. Although he could not (or would not) tell me exactly how this charge ended up on my card, he sent an email confirming that my reservation was canceled and that I would receive a refund for the new charge.

I again contacted American Express, and I was again met with the same inertia. They refused to hear me out on the idea that these charges were literally unauthorized (and thus fraudulent/illegal), and they refused to take any preemptive action to prevent them from posting or counting against my limit.

But insofar as I was about to leave, there was nothing more I could do. I had to try to enjoy myself – and hope for the best as it relates to this charge fiasco.

No, It Was Not Over – Another Charge, Another Unhelpful Customer Support Interaction

I’m a glutton for punishment, and midway through my trip, I figured I would check my American Express statement to learn of any new shenanigans. My paranoia proved accurate.

Although the excessive original charge had fallen off, the “one night stay” charge remained on my card. Further, a new charge for about half a night’s stay was also showing under pending.

Since I was already in the city, I figured I would go to the location and address the situation in person. Though kind, the front desk employee had no real explanation. She acknowledged that I should not have been charged, but she had no evidence regarding why or how I had been.

Making matters worse, she only had evidence of the smaller, half-night charge being authorized against my card. She was unaware that I still had received a charge for a full night’s stay. And so when she said she would work with her manager to process a refund, she said she was only able to explicitly provide one for the smaller fee. Her only guidance on the larger one was to hope that it was a mistake and would fall off before posting.

Beyond upset with this ridiculous situation, I asked her for a document confirming I should not have been billed anything. She printed a receipt that said I had a $0 balance, but that was not the same as proving I owed $0. It could instead be taken to mean that I had a $0 balance because I already paid the bills.

Without any better option, I nonetheless walked away and again alerted American Express. They advised me to wait a week and then file a formal dispute if the charges posted sans immediate refund.

A Final Scare: The Hazard Of Inconsistent Brand Communication

A week passed, and both charges did end up posting. Fortunately, I received a refund for the smaller one. Unfortunately, I did not receive a refund for the larger amount.

Before filing my AMEX dispute, I directly contacted the Hilton billing department. The kind employee expressed appreciated sympathy for my situation, before revealing a massive breakdown in the brand’s customer support framework. For whatever reason, she said a note had been put on my account to explicitly not refund the “full night stay.”

Yes, someone at Hilton actually said “do not refund this customer for a charge we told him never even existed. Charge this customer even though we, in writing, agreed he would not be responsible for any fees.”

Thankfully, she agreed with my logic. And upon receiving my email confirmations about the waived cancellation fees, she processed the refund. It hit my card a few days later.

Customer Service Lessons From My Hotel Debacle

A month-and-a-half removed from the situation, I am willing to see the silver lining to my stressful experience: I have some valuable lessons to share with the CCW Digital community.

1. Be transparent. Could I have read the terms confirming that a “reserve now, pay later” booking comes with a cancellation fee? Sure. Could the brand have avoided this hassle by being more open about the situation? Yes, as well. Needlessly trying to trap customers – and then pass the buck to them – may be legally OK, but it’s certainly not customer-centric.
2. Stop settling for “least viable customer service.” Clearly, hotels are willing to flex on the cancellation fee. And so instead of threatening a fee with the hope that many people will move on and refrain from canceling, just be honest about their options from the get-go. We see similar situations all the time – how many brands say “no refunds” on the first call, only to provide one when you escalate? This approach adds unnecessary friction and cost to the journey, while also minimizing the impact of the “gesture.” If you bend the “policy” to give me a refund at the onset of the situation, I’m happy. If you make me jump through dozens of hoops to get it, I give you no credit.
3. Make omnichannel a reality. Much of the issue stemmed from the Hilton team not having a “single source of truth” about my reservation. Provide that single source of truth, and fewer mistakes and inconsistencies will result.
4. Adapt policies based on empathy and logic. At the high level, I get that “pending charges cannot be disputed.” In my situation, however, I had written proof that such charges were unauthorized and fraudulent. American Express thus had no reason to reject my requests for a block on future charges and/or a temporary, compensatory credit line increase for the existing ones.
5. Problems go beyond the initial mistake. Objectively, all is well at this point – my reservation was canceled, and I did not pay anything extra. Subjectively, I do not feel fully “satisfied” with this situation. The various brands corrected an obvious mistake, but they did nothing to compensate me for the effort and stress I endured. Even giving me a small credit – maybe 25% off a future reservation, a free upgrade next time I stay at a Hilton, some American Express points - would have gone a long way to prove that they appreciated what I went through.

Image Source: Nathan Cowley, via Pexels