Accor ALL Fawlty Towers performance

[newbuyer1976]

Have anyone else bore the brunt of their shambolic system like I have?

I do multiple one night stays in their properties so I rack up the hotel count rapidly. In 2022 alone, this has been my experience;

1 in 5 stays result in no points. I have to wait the mandated 7-9 days to report it to their Paris office. And even then, it has been 2 months with no resolution in sight for ALL of my issues. Bad pun intended.

2 separate occasions I had points ‘regularized’ off my balance. Again, no explanations or appeals. Paris office says they’ll look into it with no resolution. It can’t be expired, i have been staying in their hotels since January and have bookings all the way to May 22.

I had enough this week and contacted their Asia Pac MD and got a rep to liaise with me. No resolution yet after one week. Why should I bother chasing my Diamond status of this is the level of care they have infused throughout their organisation.

 

[jase05]

That sounds absolutely awful.
We had 72 nights in Accor properties last year across probably 40-50 stays and I’d estimate 1 in 6 stays the points didn’t appear for about a month and on 2 occasions we had to chase points with 1 Occassion where we had paid cash but then charged a whack of points. The points took 8 weeks to be returned to me.

 

[craven morehead]

I've had some success dealing with these people. Currently Diamond but this will be last year at that level.

Member Relations Executive
Pacific

T. +1300 36 36 37 (Option 2)
E. [email protected]

PO Box 980
Parramatta NSW 2124

 

[collcars]

I was missing pointo from a recent stay, after a couple of weeks I emailed the property i stayed at and the points where credited the next day

 

[rginoz]

I was missing pointo from a recent stay, after a couple of weeks I emailed the property i stayed at and the points where credited the next day

I had that experience too from a recent stay at the Mercure King George Square in Brisbane. The points were credited the day after I emailed them. I have found that for a long time, it has usually worked OK, so the exceptions are more annoying.

 

[Anna]

I wouldn't have any idea cos I never check hotel points

The few times I have been gifted status, it has made no practical difference to my experience. Upgrades to rooms not noticeably any better, bottles of wine I can't drink in one night and can't take with me on international flights - not worth the hassle for me. YMMV. I'd rather book the room I want outright.

 

[jase05]

I wouldn't have any idea cos I never check hotel points

The few times I have been gifted status, it has made no practical difference to my experience. Upgrades to rooms not noticeably any better, bottles of wine I can't drink in one night and can't take with me on international flights - not worth the hassle for me. YMMV. I'd rather book the room I want outright.

Generally I find with Accor they are a bit stingy with upgrades in Australia and will give you just a minor upgrade although there have been exceptions to that. In Asia though our experiences are that you will get upgraded well above the next room up and especially in Vietnam and Thailand it was often to suites or their best rooms

 

[newbuyer1976]

That sounds absolutely awful.
We had 72 nights in Accor properties last year across probably 40-50 stays and I’d estimate 1 in 6 stays the points didn’t appear for about a month and on 2 occasions we had to chase points with 1 Occassion where we had paid cash but then charged a whack of points. The points took 8 weeks to be returned to me.

I see, So i guess what I’m experiencing is basically par for course. And it’s not as if you can easily pivot to another chain, it feels like every week brings news of yet another accomodation chain being brought into the Accor group.

 

[SydneySwan]

I have long since given up my status with ALL and now book all such stays via Hotels.com. It is so much simpler. Never had any issues with the nights not posting.

 

[jase05]

I see, So i guess what I’m experiencing is basically par for course. And it’s not as if you can easily pivot to another chain, it feels like every week brings news of yet another accomodation chain being brought into the Accor group.

I am Diamond with HH aswell and I’ve found those 2 suit our needs the best but we are not wedded to them entirely. I will often book hotels not in those two chains whilst overseas especially in Europe.

 

[DC3]

I was missing pointo from a recent stay, after a couple of weeks I emailed the property i stayed at and the points where credited the next day

So, they kept the points until you chased them up? I wonder how many people would forget about those points?

 

[forevadelayed]

I've had about 10 stays over the last 6 months.
3 stays have not credited properly. Twice have been with the Mercure chain. One Mercure stay didn't credit correctly and then caused a Peppers stay to not credit. It took 3 or 4 cases and a few months to sort out.
The delay in wait 7+ working days to report a missing stay meant we missed out on Platinum benefits in our next stay.

Overall it's the Mercure chain that has been the most inconsistent with the level of service, application of All benefits and crediting of stays. I have found Peppers and Mantra have taken care and effort to provide good service, seek feedback on service and follow up on things that are not satisfactory. I certainly feel valued when staying with them but not with Mercure. Anyone else noticed a trend regarding chains?

 

[NM]

I think the problem with points not posting automatically is that most hotels are run independently even if they are branded as part of a chain. It seems that the hotel itself has to "process" the ALL account information and that this is not always an automated process from whatever system the hotel happens to use in-house.

So I recommend the first point of contact for missing points to be the hotel itself, and if they do not resolve in a timely manner then go to Accor/ALL for assistance.

 

[newbuyer1976]

I've had about 10 stays over the last 6 months.
3 stays have not credited properly. Twice have been with the Mercure chain. One Mercure stay didn't credit correctly and then caused a Peppers stay to not credit. It took 3 or 4 cases and a few months to sort out.
The delay in wait 7+ working days to report a missing stay meant we missed out on Platinum benefits in our next stay.

Overall it's the Mercure chain that has been the most inconsistent with the level of service, application of All benefits and crediting of stays. I have found Peppers and Mantra have taken care and effort to provide good service, seek feedback on service and follow up on things that are not satisfactory. I certainly feel valued when staying with them but not with Mercure. Anyone else noticed a trend regarding chains?

Wow, your experience confirms that these ‘faults’ are a feature not a bug of ALL.

 

[newbuyer1976]

I think the problem with points not posting automatically is that most hotels are run independently even if they are branded as part of a chain. It seems that the hotel itself has to "process" the ALL account information and that this is not always an automated process from whatever system the hotel happens to use in-house.

So I recommend the first point of contact for missing points to be the hotel itself, and if they do not resolve in a timely manner then go to Accor/ALL for assistance.

Spot on, I was just explained this by one of the 4 hotels I am chasing points from. But the snag is then Accor/ALL Paris who handles the emails is somehow worse than the Fijian Qantas Call Centre if that’s even possible.

That ‘customer service’ department explained in detail to me their hotels’ error and agreed that I had been shorted points…then did nothing to resolve. Going on third week now and even with an Accor Pacific specific Rep, still nothing.

 

[oz_mark]

Spot on, I was just explained this by one of the 4 hotels I am chasing points from. But the snag is then Accor/ALL Paris who handles the emails is somehow worse than the Fijian Qantas Call Centre if that’s even possible.

That ‘customer service’ department explained in detail to me their hotels’ error and agreed that I had been shorted points…then did nothing to resolve. Going on third week now and even with an Accor Pacific specific Rep, still nothing.

It's a bit of a hotel-specific thing. Accor has a preferred platform (probably Opera), and for those hotels, it's all pretty much automated. For others (and this is mostly hotels from chains that have been integrated into ALL) that operate on other platforms, it is more manual.

Even if you send the request to Accor, they will often forward it to the hotel for resolution. Often the missing points issues can be resolved by simply contacting the hotel.

 

[forevadelayed]

Spot on, I was just explained this by one of the 4 hotels I am chasing points from. But the snag is then Accor/ALL Paris who handles the emails is somehow worse than the Fijian Qantas Call Centre if that’s even possible.

That ‘customer service’ department explained in detail to me their hotels’ error and agreed that I had been shorted points…then did nothing to resolve. Going on third week now and even with an Accor Pacific specific Rep, still nothing.

I must admit I've opened quite a few cases and have found them handled correctly each time. The information provided has been accurate. The timeline to resolve is reasonable.
It's just the 7+ working days wait to log a claim is a kick in the pants. I will use the tip of contacting the hotel directly next time though.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I've got status at a couple of major hotel loyalty programs, namely Hilton Gold (thru status match) and Marriott Gold (thru United Gold status) and most recently Accor as a lowly Silver but stay at a number of properties. I'd say about 90% of the time I stay at a chain like an Accor, Hilton or (heaven forbid) Choice Hotel. For me the key factor in making the booking is price and location. Often times, I have found, at least in Australia, that Accor tended to be the chain with the best price and amenities at that price level out there. Outside of Australia, I generally find something like a Marriott or Choice hotel providing the best value overall.

Now when it comes to elite status and the benefits conferred from it, I'd agree with others that Accor tends to be the worst. Perhaps it is because I'm a lowly silver that I rarely get upgrades, never mind the late check out that is advertised as a benefit. Points and stay credits have been posting, perhaps that's because I book direct with Accor? I will however, point out that Accor points are useless since it's tied entirely to hotel savings in Euro. However, those QF points you receive from booking with Accor sweetens the deal for me.

In terms of which chain treats me the best I'd say that would be Marriott. Even as a Gold I can expect there to be a decent upgrade and never an issue getting that 2 PM late checkout either. Better yet, I'm a couple years away from achieving lifetime Marriott Gold status thanks in part to my Marriott AmEx card that grants me 16 night stay credits every year. Hilton is nice for the free breakfast, but my experience staying at Hiltons is you don't get much in terms of upgrades of late checkouts, but at least you get something for your stay.

So to sum up, don't go out of your way to book a specific hotel with a specific brand. Chances are you'll be disappointed with the money you spend out of pocket and the lack of benefits received. If you can find a great deal at a hotel that's part of a chain you belong to, by all means go for it. But don't go into this thinking I need to be a slave to the chain I have status for.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Anna]

don't go into this thinking I need to be a slave to the chain I have status for.

Agree. When I'm booking a hotel, the convenience of the location and the price are the biggest factors for me, not 'loyalty' which often gets me nothing much anyway.

 

[newbuyer1976]

Got a quick update if anyone’s interested.

Accor Pacific Rep liaised with me across 2-3 days after lining up all the ducks in a row. They credited me with approximately all the points and nights stayed.

Approximately because neither of us knew how much is owing due to at least 2 hotel errors when they put wrong dates in resulting in declined entries when the subsequent hotels entered their dates. It was easier to just ‘pay’ me the average points earnt across 50+ nights stayed this year.

None of this is showing on my transactions listing on the app or website, so i am still hesitant to call this resolved as they had deducted points weeks after the fact before. Time will tell.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.