Why IHG launches complex promotions when the website isn’t ready, is beyond me. But normally I just say wait through it and it will all be okay. Just stick on them, and fill out the forms.
Recently, I reached the end of the rope.
So the Into the Nights Promotion, if you don’t remember, gave two free nights after completing certain tasks like app bookings, international stays, weekend stays, and a combination of all kinds of things.
On my wife’s and my account we had to book via the app. And while we did, we did not get credit for it. So I wait and wait for my nights to post and I have to choose my two free nights by Jan 31.
We had stays on Dec 30 and 29 and so it’s reasonable to wait a couple weeks. But then it’s apparent that it’s not going to post. So I fill out the missing claim form…
…
…and get no response.
Then the site was down.
So now the deadline passed and I refill out the claim form specifically asking for the free nights, and guess what.
You have the option to choose 15,900 or 2 free nights. However, as per terms and conditions free Nights earned must be claimed by 31 January 2015 or members will be automatically be awarded applicable points…
Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact us as we value your patronage. Should you require further assistance, please feel free to contact the IHG Rewards Club Service Center again.
Umm. What?
I filled out the form again, and nothing happened. I asked for the free nights but they just told me that it’s too late, and then didn’t deposit the points.
I have tried, and tried, and tried… and I still have no bonus points or nights. What the heck IHG?
Not to rant, but this is pretty typical. And humorously so at times. I actually started keeping a log of the insane answers I get from IHG customer support. But this is the one that robs me the most.
I imagine what I’m saying exactly isn’t too uncommon, maybe other people are dealing with it. Incredibly, I think nearly everyone has experience some sort of problem with this promotion.
So what do I do? I’ve emailed back, I’ve filled out the claim form, and then I did it all again. No results. And the best part is that they’ll just say, “rules are rules, and it’s past Jan 31”, and it doesn’t seem to matter that the reason I didn’t choose it before Jan 31 is because their system is broken and their service is at best negligent.
I hope it works out for you. I have faith that enough people are probably having the same issue that it will eventually get fixed. I wound up choosing the 50k points for the promo, which posted almost immediately.
On a side note, I’d take the fact that points haven’t posted either as a good sign that you’ll at least get IHG’s attention on the issue at some point.
On my account IHG hasn’t responded at all to 3 claim forms over a month… so it’s hard to reason with em. And I would be okay with defaulting to the points if it was 50k, but it was 44k + 10k, or 44k + 2 free nights. And Carrie’s is similar with 15,900.
Can’t make em check their email.
After several similar frustrating emails, I found that calling IHG was much more productive. The rep stayed on the line until I could confirm the free nights posted to my account . This was in mid January though.
Maybe I’ll HAVE to do that. It’s so much more time consuming… until you factor in the fact that I’ve now filled out multiple claim forms. So I think I gotta.
I had problems with this as well. I had booked my stays through the website but one of the reservations got lost before I checked in. I had to book as a walk in. I called IHG and after an extended period and having the rep talk to her supervisor, they ultimately gave me 2 free nights. I felt that the customer service on the phone was pretty good though they seemed unsympathetic to the fact that the problem was caused by their system. But ultimately I got what I wanted. Then just the other day I asked for 500 welcome points when checking in and the person at the hotel said that I wasn’t a platinum member. Somehow the status had been lost. It took multiple calls to IHG to get it resolved and get the appropriate points posted to my account, but eventually it all worked out. I am currently signed in for the set your sights promo. I have completed several of the requirements and of course, none of them have posted.
I had similar issues with part of the into the nights where they weren’t going to honor part of what we accomplished and thus we wouldn’t get the free points. It took 2 different phone calls, a polite but strongly worded email and an official complaint to the BBB but they finally agreed to give us the 2 nights. They do scam but I think if you stay on them they may actually show some customer service as what happened in my case.
I had the opposite experience. They posted SIX free nights in my account. I have no idea why. I even emailed them to suggest they’d given me too many, but their response was so “canned” I just decided let it be an error in my favor.
Drew, I agree with others. Just call them, I never use email anymore, it’s pointless with IHG. Simply call and insist on speaking to a supervisor. They should manually deposit the nights into your account, their system is set up to do so.
Forget about the IHG promotions from now on as they are liars and disingenuous and untrustworthy. Just wait 24 months and churn the Chase IHG card and forget about IHG. The best thing I have found is to amass airline miles and use miles for hotel stays and forget about American hotel brand loyalty. American hotels are usually out of the way and not where the action is in Europe and better to just earn airline miles and book cheap hotels that way.
Do you know when IHG will likely release their next break list?
I had similar issue where they refused to honor 2 stays at one property because they said it had to be at two different properties, even though the terms say “Stay at 2 Holiday Inn(s).” What does the (s) mean if not that it could be 2 stays at 1 property??? After several rounds of getting no where, I got very legal on them (I’m a lawyer) and they eventually made an “exception.” Total fraud if you ask me.
I also didn’t pick my free nights vs points right away, but when I went to choose them the site was broken as you mentioned. I contacted support, but that was useless and after about 2 weeks, they contacted me out of the blue and asked me if I wanted the points or free nights. I chose the nights and they deposited them. All is well now, but I’m getting pretty tired of IHG.
This is from their T&C’s:
Members will have the ability to choose their respective award from those offered at time of completing the Promotion and must claim their reward by 60 days from the end of the campaign promotional period
—IOW, you have until the end of February
Had the same issue, however the rep I was dealing with via email just yesterday gave me the option for either the points or the free nights. So, maybe I just got a good rep or a supervisor?
Concur that IHG email (via the Philippine offices) is MISERABLE….. Phone service can be terrible too — UNLESS you get the reps dedicated to handling Platinum members….
Drew, you’ve done so much to sing the praised of IHG, to over hype the “steroids,” even long after a lot of us were growing VERY weary of the misleading promos, the closed accounts, the “into the chaos,” …. they “owe you” big.
That you’ve now joined a lots of as IHG rope’s end….. that’s saying something.
My learning from the last promo was to document all the qualified stays and have the confirmation numbers ready for the phone call. I walked the rep through each stay and eventually got satisfaction. It felt like work, so I treated it that way and got paid in points….
I also asked for and received extra goodwill points on the calls for the inconvenience and frustration I experienced. So that was an unexpected bonus….
Your IHG personal representative has no intention of helping you. IHG is telephone pickpocketing, scheme with rewards for them of up to 279 bucks. I got taken. I hope you read these reports so you don’t get taken too.