Hilton reservation fraudulently over charge room rate without fully disclose exact price by selling

[young707]

Jurisdiction

California

Hilton Garden Inn Monterey deceptively and fraudulently without clear disclosure overcharge one night one standard room stay on July 21, 2018 for $684.79 by secretly sold me reward points without my knowledge nor consent in Hilton online reservation.

I plan to file Small Claim court against Hilton Garden Inn Monterey and their General Manage.

I plan to subpoena this General Manager for:
1. the same standard rooms charge next to my room, same night of July 21, 2018
2. In 2018, how many people are charged their hotel stay by purchase of only reward points for their entire hotel stay?

 

[zddoodah]

You didn't ask a question, so I'm unsure what the purpose of your post is. Also, I assume that, in the nearly five months since this happened, you have attempted to resolve the issue with the hotel but have been unsuccessful.

[Hotel] deceptively and fraudulently without clear disclosure overcharge one night one standard room stay on July 21, 2018 for $684.79 by secretly sold me reward points without my knowledge nor consent in [hotel] online reservation.

What does "secretly sold me reward points without my knowledge nor [sic] consent" mean?

I plan to file Small Claim court against [the hotel] and [its] General Manage.

It would serve no useful purpose to sue the general manager in addition to suing the hotel.

I plan to subpoena this General Manager

You cannot serve a subpoena in connection with a small claims action. Code of Civil Procedure section 116.310(b).

In 2018, how many people are charged their hotel stay by purchase of only reward points for their entire hotel stay?

Even if you could obtain discovery, this would be completely irrelevant.

 

[army judge]

I plan to file Small Claim court against Hilton Garden Inn Monterey and their General Manage.

I plan to subpoena this General Manager for:
1. the same standard rooms charge next to my room, same night of July 21, 2018
2. In 2018, how many people are charged their hotel stay by purchase of only reward points for their entire hotel stay?

Sic 'em big boy, make 'em fear you!

 

[flyingron]

Did you first ask the individual Hotel and the Hilton Corporate for a refund of the money you didn't authorize (or thought you authorized).

You do know that what happened to others in the situation is immaterial to you. Either you prove you were improperly charged or not. You only get to collect your own damages not for things that they may have done to others.

 

[young707]

I want to ask if I write my small claim filing properly.
If I can file SC-107 to subpoena General Manager as witness with document.
How do I proof the Hilton reservation is in error (the Hilton Reward customer service agent told me on the phone they had problems and they were making changes to their web site. The error was no showing how many point I have (or do not have) and end up charging the entire stay by buying points without disclosure nor consent. I never know I was overcharged and paying for point until months later looking at my credit card statement (secretly).

 

[young707]

Yes, I have written to this Hilton Hotel, Hilton Reward Point, and Hilton customer service. I have called this Hilton Hotel, Hilton Reward Point, and Hilton Customer Services.I have wrote and called and wrote my credit card company. No refund forth coming.

 

[flyingron]

If you are incapable of answering simple questions, I doubt we can help you.

Again. Have you filed the small claims suit yet? You can't subpoena anybody without a suit active.

Second, you seem to misunderstand what a subpoena is. If you want to bring in the GM and so you can examine him on the stand, you can subpoena him. If there are documents that exist that you want him to bring, you put that. You can't just use the Subpoena to ask him to provide you "proof" of your claim, to generate documents that don't exist.

 

[zddoodah]

I want to ask if I write my small claim filing properly.

Ummm...how should we know?

If I can file SC-107 to subpoena General Manager as witness with document.

My prior statement about subpoenas was incorrect as phrased. While no discovery is allowed in connection with small claims cases, you can use form SC-107 to subpoena a witness to appear at a small claims hearing.

How do I proof the Hilton reservation is in error (the Hilton Reward customer service agent told me on the phone they had problems and they were making changes to their web site. The error was no showing how many point I have (or do not have) and end up charging the entire stay by buying points without disclosure nor consent. I never know I was overcharged and paying for point until months later looking at my credit card statement (secretly).

You haven't coherently described what happened, so we have no way of knowing how you might prove your case.

If you are incapable of answering simple questions, I doubt we can help you.

Again. Have you filed the small claims suit yet?

No one asked this question previously.

 

[hrforme]

"I never know I was overcharged and paying for point until months later looking at my credit card statement (secretly)."

That's unfortunately on you......You only have a certain # of days to do a "chargeback" for the credit card company -- that's just one reason you should check your credit card statements on a very consistent basis. If you are more than 60 days out from the charge, which you are, there's nothing they can do for you. So in essence that period is gone, so Hilton knows you can't get the $s back that way.

 

[flyingron]

No one asked this question previously.

Must have been the same issue he posted down the street.

 

[young707]

I received this reply from Hilton on 9/13/2018,
Re: Existing Guest Assistance Case Inquiry

Thank you for your inquiry regarding points purchase. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.
For Non-Reservation Point Purchase transactions, Members can buy up to 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per calendar year in 1,000 point increments. The total cost of Points will be shown during the purchase process before completion. Points may be purchased online, via written request, by phone, or by sending an e-mail to Hilton Reservations and Customer Care.
In addition to the Non-reservation Point Purchase option, Members can purchase Points during the booking process when the Member does not have enough Points to redeem a Reward Stay. Members can purchase an unlimited number of Points up to the total number of Points required to redeem the Member's desired Reward Stay. Members must purchase these Points during the Reward Stay booking process, either by credit card online, or via telephone, at 1-800-4HONORS (1-800-446-6677), in the U.S. At any time, at the sole discretion of Hilton Honors, Members may be limited in the number of Points they can purchase via this option, and that limit may change at any time without notification. The cost of Points purchased through this option depends on the number of Points purchased and is subject to change at any time without notification. Total cost of Points will be shown to Member during the booking process before purchase. All purchases must be made in U.S. dollars only.
Finally, please keep in mind that these transactions are non-refundable. For more information regarding the Point Purchase Program, please visit Hilton Honors Terms and Conditions.

As always, thanks for traveling with us and please let us know if you have any other questions. You can reach us any time at HiltonHonors@hilton.com.
Happy travels, Cherish C. Corporate Guest Relations Specialist Hilton Reservations and Customer Care

 

[young707]

I received this from Hilton on 9/17/2018
Subject: Hilton Honors Point Purchase
We have received your request to reverse the point purchase that was made on June 15 and refund the $684.79 back to your credit card ending in 0067. Unfortunately, as those points were used for your July 21 Hilton Garden Inn Monterey stay we are unable to process your request. Our records show that the reservation and purchase were completed via your online account. The online booking platform will provide several notices if the member is required to purchase points to complete the booking. These notices include the amount of points that will be required to be purchased as well as the cost of those points. It is stated on the room selection page and twice on the summary page, which displays one of the notices in a yellow box with a warning icon on it that the member has to scroll past in order to enter the credit card information and confirm the booking. We do regret the inconvenience if you did not see these notices.
Thank you for your continuing support of Hilton and the Honors guest reward program. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely, Jennifer P. Senior Specialist Honors Finance

This IS totally incorrect. I made reservation on 1-2018 twice and 9-2018 twice, all show my balance. However this 6-2018 reservation did not show point balance, but show my balance can cover that hotel stay and do not require I have to pay cash.

 

[hrforme]

do you have any printout or confirmation on what you were supposed to pay? You are going to have to be able to prove that their system and notices were not given - and that's going to be hard to do unless you have a confirmation in writing on what you were supposed to be charged ($0). In the end, did you have enough points to pay for the full stay at the time you did the reservation? If not, how did you expect to pay for the rest of what was owed. Does Hilton even allow you do to a partial points stay without immediately purchasing enough points to cover the difference? It doesn't sound like it.

Honestly it sounds like you ignored the costs while booking, just like you didn't look at your credit card in the month(s) after the charge.

I suspect based on their response that they do have documentation of you acknowledging (or ignoring) the charge as you went through the reservation system. I personally think you are out of luck if they can prove this..... and it sounds like the system has lots of disclaimers and warnings.....

I do however agree that $648+ sounds like a lot of dollar points to purchase for a one night stay, however was there a convention, event or other such thing where the room charge would have been more than a regular one night stay?