Each hotel chain or hotel booking site offers a “Best Rate Guarantee” where they guarantee that they have the best price for their hotel on their own website. But if you book on their website and find a lower rate on a competing site for the same hotel, you can file a claim and potentially get the rate matched and get an added discount. Marriott for example gives 25% off the better rate if you find one.
IHG though gives a free night per stay if you find a lower rate. Obviously great for 1 night stays and for longer stays maybe you’d prefer Marriott’s 25% off discount. Now I heard many complaints about getting these claims approved but most of them are people not understanding the rules. People upset that they got denied because the cancelation policy was “barely” different, or that they booked a business sense rate and then tried to match it with the normal room.
This post isn’t just about complaining about IHG’s customer service, but rather, I have proof that they are purposely denying claims. Completely unethical although perhaps not too surprising from the company.
In fact, for some time I have been compiling stories of IHG customer service that are laughable, but I haven’t posted them because I don’t just want a blog that complains about customer service. This includes things like not getting 2 free nights because there wasn’t an app booking… when there was an app booking but they denied me because I didn’t have proof. *blinks* But in some ways that’s extremely typical with IHG partly because their IT is so bad and they don’t really care about customer service.
But this is of a more scandalous nature. Here’s what happened and what’s happening…
1) The Booking
For our last night in Ukraine (after helping with a long adoption for Carrie’s sister) I wanted to stay at the InterContinental because of the 4pm check out and my flight not being until 7pm. I immediately noticed that the rate on IHG was 60 Euros more than another site for the same room, a big difference. I filed a claim for a best price guarantee, and if approved I’d get a free night. Why wouldn’t it be approved when the same room was 60 Euros cheaper? I was pretty confident.
2) The Response (after no response)
I waited multiple days and got zero response and so I emailed the email address for the department.
“We have thoroughly checked our records to see if the claim form was received, however, we regret to inform you that no claim request was processed on our end and this is the first email we received for this month providing us the confirmation #6xxxxx63″
They “thoroughly checked” and found no claim of mine for the confirmation number. That’s odd, right? How could it get lost? Was it user error?
3) Rebook and file claim #2
Confident I was right, I canceled in order to rebook under a different reservation and then submitted a different claim form. This time I made sure it was submitted and I got a “thank you” page. I actually filed two different claims.
4) The Response (after no response)… Again
So after a little while I emailed again asking about the status. I kid you not, this was in the response email.
“On the other hand, we have thoroughly searched our records and we did not receive a previous submission for this claim. Instead, the other we had received is from the same hotel but under confirmation number 6xxxxx63.”
Wait a second!
I did submit a claim. I watched it, and can prove it with my history!
But here’s the crazy part!
Did IHG lose it, and did they “lose” my earlier reservation?
No! It was there all along.
In searching for my claim for my current reservation they only found the reservation for confirmation number ending in 63.
But just a couple days earlier they told me they “thoroughly checked” and found “no claim” for the confirmation number ending in 63.
Seriously. This isn’t a joke. They told me I had no claim for that reservation and later said they could only find the reservation they told me I didn’t file. It’s not that they lose them, they chose not to respond, and when I asked about the clearly valid claim they just didn’t have it.
5) So I responded explaining the irony of the above
I responded saying that I did surely file a claim and that earlier they told me the exact same thing, both times they said they “thoroughly checked” and now they can see the one they didn’t see earlier, (now that the reservation for that confirmation number is canceled.)
They respond by saying that it has been more than 24 hours since I made the booking and I can’t file any more. No duh it’s been more than 24 hours, but I filed a long time ago and that’s what I was trying to say. They only added,
“Moreover, we would like to reiterate that we have searched our records but we were unable to find a claim form under your email address and confirmation number xxxxxx24.”
So far they didn’t address anything regarding the fact that I caught them scamming me. No response, just says that they don’t have a claim.
So I asked two things.
First, forward the email quoting the previous agents about not having the claim to a manager. (I also emailed some IHG managers about the fact I have proof I did file, I’m told they don’t have any claims, and then later I found they can see the claims they say they do not have).
Second, I asked to search for any claims for the InterContinental Kiev on June 7th. Like, try using something other than my email. Try looking another way (giving them the benefit of the doubt, assuming that the database IHG uses is broken).
Guess what?
Zero response. None. Not one person responded saying that “yes we also checked the date and hotel location” or “we can’t search like that”. No response from the manager that my email was supposed to be forwarded to, no response from IHG management. None.
I’ve caught IHG with their pants down and all my emails go unanswered.
Recap
IHG appears to be losing my BRG claim forms despite me clearly submitting two for my latest reservation, waiting for the “thank you for submitting” screen and being able to see it in my history! Clearly I filed the claim, but IHG definitely says I never submitted any.
Then IHG admits to being able to see a reservation they told me they thoroughly searched for and never found.
I emailed managers about the fact that they claim to be losing claims when they later spill the beans that they can see them. Apparently they are just choosing to not respond to some. And I get zero response from any manager or IHG management. Just no one responds.
I’d like to think that this problem isn’t top down, but aren’t most issues top down issues? Even if it is an actual IT issue, IHG isn’t exactly known for realistic technology. Look how their last many promotions have been disasters. Look at my app bookings never working. Look at how crappy the app is.
Also, IHG is without a doubt the worst customer service of any hotel chain. Clearly outsource all of it to the Philippines, and unlike great companies where everyone is a decision maker… with IHG, you are NEVER talking to a decision maker. The best they can do is file a report which another middle man will eventually look at.
So, is it possible that IHG management isn’t giving the support the rest of the company needs? Well yes, of course.
But why were they able to see the claim after I canceled and not when I wanted to BRG approval? Very very very odd. I’m in shock how consistently the company remains to be the worst customer support, scammiest, and possibly extremely unethical.
But seriously, what’s happening to my claims IHG?
![Nick of FM on #40kFarAway [TIF Podcast]](https://travelisfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/travel-is-free-podcast-nick-40K-120x86.jpg)
Pretty ballsy of them… You should start a big fuss about it on Twitter — it’s these corporations’ worst nightmare for sure reason.
Even if I got what I wanted now, the structural problems still exist. I’ve emailed those who can fix it, and I doubt they care much.
I’ve had so many IHG BRG requests that go unanswered and then they claim they can’t find it, it’s absurd. They always seem to find and respond fairly promptly to the ones that are unsuccessful for some reason (like when you try one with close but not exact terms), but the perfect ones – nope, can’t find it. Occasionally they approve one.
Exactly! On the rare moments where I’m not actually matching a proper price, bam, instant response.
I have had claims go for many days though, and I knew on this one website it goes away 2 days before… sure enough they didn’t respond until 2 days before and said the rate wasn’t there any more. Crazy coincidence that they didn’t respond until nearly the exact moment that the rate went away!
Exact same thing happened to me. I gave up.
Too bad they haven’t tried to explain how this keeps happening to people.
Oh it’s all a scam – all the hotels do it. It took me FIVE times to get a BRG approved by Best Western
http://www.pointswithacrew.com/5th-times-a-charm-best-western-brg-finally-approved/
Reminds me of a story from a few years ago – there was a deal at Staples that involved having to fill out 47 (yes, really) mail in rebates. As a buddy and I went through it, I became convinced that they were intentionally denying a portion of them, just to see who was paying attention.
Once I would submit the form to say “why was my rebate denied?”, I’d get an immediate email saying it was approved. It was almost like they were just checking – and they figured anyone who spent the time to follow up had a legit rebate.
Not quite as easy with BRGs but it feels about the same.
I would have never said they were doing it on purpose until now. Before I thought they were just strict or often stupid.
… boy… in this case calling IHG stupid would be a compliment.
It’s not a BRG but I booked a room at IC Saigon for July via ihg.com. I did an advanced purchase. Several weeks later I noticed the rate had dropped on IHG’s website by $40/nt. I contacted IHG who emailed the hotel. Surprisingly, the manager got back to me with an offer for a “credit” of the difference while I’m staying. A small positive from CS.
Hey, when you work with a hotel directly good things can happen. But even then, if it’s via points they can have a very tough time trying to around IHG’s system. I tried to change a booking made predeval and the hotel couldn’t but wanted to.
It’s really only IHG who’s evil, not the hotels. 😀
“Missing claim” is just one of the tactics they employed. I’d simply move on submitting another claim – it’s not worth entering any discussion with the BRG desk. You win some you lose some.
Recently the BRG desk has gone to dogs, and no longer respecting their own BRG T&C. I am referring to the “Matching Term” clause which is discussed in many forums. How could IHG expect the customers to trust them if they don’t even respect their own T&C?
For the record, I submitted 3 claims that went missing. So I moved on to another and it just didn’t help.
I haven’t had many problems with that, although I know friends have. It seems they know the rules, but you have to remind them what they are in the notes. 😀 Insane.
Marriott is the only one I bother to file brg claims with anymore. Their the only ones I trust.
And it’s true, Marriott actually approves a reasonable claim. I’ve only had one denied and it was pushing my luck, and it should have been denied. 😀
Well, I’m a troglodyte and not a twitter user, but I sincerely hope that you transition this to a twitter campaign.
I recently made a reservation on the IHG website. Shortly thereafter, I filed a claim and landed on the same page showing that the claim was successfully submitted. Subsequently, I received no reply or a reply to a follow up submission.
I then emailed the IHG best rate guarantee team who told me that they had received no claim(s) for the reservation and that, since the email exchange was well beyond the 24 hour time period, there was nothing to be done about it at that point.
I then cancelled my reservation, made a new reservation, and filed a new claim for the new reservation. I replied to their email, notifying them that there was, indeed, a new claim for the new reservation and asked them to confirm that they did, in fact, receive it.
I received a reply noting that they did receive it and that my BRG claim was valid. The rep responded that it would take some unspecified time, likely well beyond 24 hours, for the claim to be formally approved with the rate adjusted and with formal confirmation of same.
Wow …
I find their conduct suspicious unless they have some real IT problems. Either way, there are serious issues that need to be addressed.
Before this I would have just said they have broken IT… which they still do.
But I’ve always known they are unethical and suspicious. I’ve had other issues. But I don’t personally have the energy to push it beyond writing a post and an email (still no response (shocker!)). Although I’d love to get the IT of my own involved to track and prove what they are doing. That would be seriously interesting but requires a little more energy. :-p we’ll see…
I don’t in any way disagree that IHG is probably ripping people off; we’ve all ran into the black-hole of call center customer service. But I do wonder if there isn’t any conflict of interest where you teach people how to manipulate IHG (I purposely won’t be specific here) and think it’s great and then when IHG manipulates you there is a huge uproar.
Well, in this case false advertising is actually illegal. I mean if this can be proven they would go to court and lose. Not that I would do that… but there are people that would.
Funny, I recently got a ‘we don’t have record’ email and then I began doubting myself if I ever submitted a claim! I did resubmit and get denied.
Here’s a logistical question about BRGs. I found a lot of good rates on trivago.com. Trivago pulls rates from other sites, like getaroom.com. All of my Trivago BRGs (Club Carlson, IHG, Hyatt) were denied. But when I go to getaroom.com directly, the rate is higher. Any idea why that would be? And has anyone had luck getting a hotel to honor a BRG via Trivago?
As per post below, yes, I recently used Trivago as the fastest tool for letting me know there were multiple sites offering lower prices. (but I didn’t submit the trivago results, per se. Instead, I submitted the direct link from Expedia (and others were available — again, as detected via trivago)
ps, for my experience, Trivago for hotel searches is much like google.com/flights. Dramatically faster than competitors — not fooling around with pop-ups, and they’re both not directly trying to sell you tickets…. (afaik)
No idea why the rate is different. But they definitely will not approve you on Trivago or Kayak. Even if they should they don’t. If they do, it’s a total error. Basically the rules say that it has to be booked on the website whos engine you’re using. Might not help, but hopefully save you some time. 😀 sorry bout that.
Sounds like you’re dealing with Incomm as their service and response to issues is the exact same. Almost unbelievable-except we know it’s their MO.
Yea, would be unbelievable if it were any other chain. 😀
Sounds like you should go to Chris Elliott with this–he could shine a light on this more publicly. I’m getting angry just reading about your experience.
I would enjoy reading about that as well. I don’t regularly follow his blog, but he’s done some pretty good pieces.
I’m not familiar with what he does. I assume his blog has a big following so he has bigger push?
IHG has never responded to a single one of my BRG claims (about 15). That’s why I always am so surprised you get so many. But I’m not surprised at IHG- I think it’s been well over a year since I got any stay to post properly.
I don’t even want to go into the mess right now where they are saying my recent mistake stay is non qualifying. First they said it was ANA/CP and that doesn’t count, but right on the website it says it does. I don’t care about points (I wouldn’t have earned many anyway) but I wanted it to count for status and summer promo. At no point was there anything saying that it didn’t count, and I booked direct thru IHG. Now they want a bunch of verifications I never got from the hotel, since no one spoke English there (I just have CC receipt from hotel). It’s one thing if it was non qualifying from the beginning, but they cant just change rules as they go. Not my fault there they made an error.
However I should be happy that now, after about 2 years of complaining, at least when I get a response from IHG it says “Ms.” Instead of “Mr.”
If I’m not wrong, you have the worst IHG luck in terms of promos? Didn’t you have something else not show up and they wanted proof?
It’s crazy they can just make up the rules as they go. I had qualified for RA and they changed the rules after they told me no… that’s the short answer.
Well whaddya know? Sweetness, after only 4 emails got it resolved, and I think extra points. They should have done 600/stay + cost points, not per night (I had a bunch of consecutive 1-nights). Finally, agent not reading email correctly or knowing rules (or, just nice) working in my favor! Guess who’s getting $7 points break hotels after the summer promo 😀
I’ve had some pretty bad customer experiences with IHG, but I usually hang up and call back until I get someone who knows what they’re doing. There are a handful (maybe only a handful) of people at IHG that are smart enough and have been around long enough to get stuff done. It just takes getting lucky and finding them.
Drew, it may be difficult for you to call IHG, do to your location. But I have had good result by phone. There is a special number to call. Takes about 10 minutes. I would post it, but I am not in my office now.
I’ve gotten a number for the BRG office and their phone line is completely down. Is there a number for them still? Or you just mean customer care?
I dumped IHG about ten years ago after my last Holiday Inn experience. They had the “make it right or it’s free guarantee.” My wife and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Long Beach Airport for a night. It was wretched. Some floors literally smelled like open sewers. The best room they could find had broken door locks (we had to jam a chair under the doorknob to secure it). The furniture was broken. The rooms smelled. The TV was broken. I reported all of it and nothing was fixed. The manager on duty told me that the owner had not put any money into the hotel for five years and were milking it dry. She pointed to the lobby ceiling which was painted white, but was almost black from years of dirt. She told me I had to contact Holiday Inn customer service for a refund because she were not authorized to handle it.
I e-mailed customer service who said that they forwarded my complaint to the hotel owners because it was a franchise–the same people who refused to fix anything or honor the guarantee. After that, repeated e-mails to the hotel management and Holiday Inn customer service went unanswered. It was obvious that the guarantee was simply a scam. By the way, after staying there, it was also obvious that many of the tripadvisor reviews were fake as well. IHG as scammed me for the last time. I’m not surprised by your experience.
That’s weird. I hope the hotel is now no longer part of IHG though?
I know you’re a big fan of IHG, but I’ve been Gold and Platinum with them forever, and I think they absolutely suck! Their BRG program is a joke. The best rates disappear quickly on the internet, that’s why they take their time to “confirm” them. I had a great rate with Hotels.com on the ANA Crown Plaza in Kobe Japan in March, checked the IHG site and they were much higher. I knew, from previous experience, that IHG was full of crap and wouldn’t honor anything so I booked the Hotels.com room AND the best available rate IHG room (both were cancellable). I sent a copy of both the confirmations to IHG along with the BRG form and they denied it. I still had my great rate with Hotels.com, and still avoid IHG as if they were a girl with the clap!
I will say two things. IHG’s status system is an absolute joke compared to any one else. The benefits are vague at best. “Upgrades” that don’t come and more points, which could net you an extra 1,000 points. It’s nothing. No lounge, no breakfast, no suite upgrade options… nothing.
So on that I agree. I’m in it for the points. 😀
And in terms of BRGs, they did get a lot better with a revision a couple years ago. Before it was actually impossible. Now it’s only impossible if they just “lose” your reservation… which I guess makes you right again.
At least it isn’t just me.
I went about ten rounds trying to get them to credit a stay. It was halarious really. I had stayed there once booked by a 3rd party and once booked directly. Ten email exchanges with increasing level of detail explaining yes, the stay on xx/xx/xx was booked by a 3rd party but the date I was trying to get credited was xx/yy/xx. I gave up.
BRG claims, ha, I get no response 9 out of 10 times. Not all chains are as bad, I’ve had some good luck with BRG stays at other chains.
So funny you say that. If ANY time my wife and I do back to back reservations (like we both want points) or I do one reward booking, it will get no credit. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. No joke. I even say at checkin, “I am checking out” like 10 times. “Can I please pay for this reservation before you check her in”. Everytime. Still nothing.
It is seriously the most broken hotel chain system that exist. In terms of hotel “management”, IHG is a joke.
But if you want to really laugh, know that IHG is now a management company. They provide the hotels with a broken system that sucks, and the hotel does all the work and making money parts. Can’t believe it. They just decided doing nothing has higher profit margins.
Yet, it somehow works. Hotels join for the rooms they fill given their previously existing network, and the name brand recognition that the hotels like Holiday Inn already have.
It’s like McDonalds really… It’s big because it’s big.
Record. Record your conversations with IHG. That’s what I did last year when they said I had not downloaded the app and therefore did not complete 5 of 5 tasks. So I called them and told them up front I was recording the call. I eventually got out of the Philippines and to a fairly senior person in the States. Again, I told her that I was recording the conversation from my end. Her words were something to the effect of, “We’re looking into it and I can’t imagine how you would not come out whole on this.” Eventually the app booking did show up and I completed the 5 of 5 tasks. But guess what? Instead of the 2nd free night — as I had asked for 10 times on my recorded calls — they gave me one free night and an extra 25k points. I haven’t followed up since I noticed, but I will. Anyway, the point is: call and record it.
IHG’s IT is so so so so so bad. So bad. Like, galactic biblical epic bad.
I recorded it once… Wasn’t sure what to do then. 😀 Nothing panned out in my favor, they just changed the terms and conditions later. lol
It probably does help though, especially if you can get an agent to promise something.
Being that the majority of your stays are either:
1. BRG claims
2. PointBreak awards
What motivation would they have for actually keeping you as a customer?
Clearly you’re not a profitable customer, or even close to it, so what do they have to gain by great customer service to you?
Drew may book on Point Breaks and other specials but in the end it is a room booked and the BRG should be honored.
So this isn’t close to true. All our stats are publicly posted so you can double check this.
In 2014 and so far in 2015 we had 2 pointbreak nights. One in Little Rock the other in middle of no where Kansas. 2 nights. And we have had way over 100 nights. So MUCH less than 2% is hardly majority.
Also, in the 2014 & 2015, BRGs were Nairobi and Vienna. That’s also 2 nights. That leaves probably 110 to 150 nights of neither of those.
Hi Drew,
Will you be adjusting your guides based on real life results rather than program promises? For example if it is really unlikely that the IHG BRG will be honored would you update the guide to take that into account?
Well I will try another BRG at another hotel. If this continues then… not sure what I’ll do.
Hi Drew…. It does still work, or at least in my humble case. fwliw, thank to your many helpful posts over the years about just how to do this, I happen to be staying very soon in an ocean front room, in a nice CP — on a certain gorgeous coast, gratis, thanks to winning a BRG challenge. I had never tried this before, just wasn’t seeing better prices. Few days ago, started seeing many discrepancies — via trivago short cut, and thought hey, let’s give it a try. Made the reservation — was careful about comparing apples with apples, then filed the claim. Got the good news reply within six hours. Lucky perhaps on the first try. (and thanks again to you for showing the way)
Yea. I don’t think this happens all the time. I have more approved than not approved. So I will try again. But I certainly don’t have any respect for the company. lol
Drew, let’s be honest.
You’re not exactly who they’re aiming for with the BRG, so I would expect treatment somewhat along these lines;)
I spend thousands of $s on IHG hotels In one quarter we spent over $2,000+ in Europe last year. We posted about it. Now, I’m not as profitable but hey, a guarantee is a guarantee.