Centurion Concierge Service: Fact or Fiction???

[MrSpokeyTokey]

Hi,

On the Centurion website, there are a number of "Concierge Stories".

I read them with interest however, I can't help but giggle and read with a bit of scepticism.

For example,

[h=2]BAGGING A MUST-HAVE PURSE…[/h]A fashion-forward Centurion member in Singapore desperately wanted a hard-to-get Hermes Birkin Bag. These coveted handbags are not even sold in Singapore where she lives. My colleagues in Asia called me for help, in Mexico, they sell the purse, but the wait is usually at least a year! I located a shop that sells the bag and negotiated my way to the top of the list. I had the bag in a record two weeks' time. I sent the bag to Singapore, and a more fashionable than ever Centurion member.
Gabriela, Centurion Concierge, Mexico

or

[h=2]HUNTING GREEN AFRICAN TREE FROGS IN LONDON…[/h]For his little girl, but the first shop I found had only brown tree frogs. After jumping through a few more hoops, I was able to locate the little green guys, and had them delivered to the Centurion member and his daughter. They arrived safe and sound, and my Centurion member felt like a prince.
Georgina, Centurion Concierge, United Kingdom
or this one, closer to home,

[h=2]CAVIAR AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE…[/h]While enjoying a glass of Veuve Clicquot with friends, a Centurion member decided that some caviar would make the evening complete. She called us to see if some Persian caviar could be delivered to her home – that evening! I called all over Sydney to find a seafood restaurant that could accommodate the request. I finally found a restaurant and organized a taxi to pick up the order and deliver it to my Card member in Darling Harbour. She truly enjoyed a taste of world-class service along with her champagne and caviar.
Juliana, Centurion Concierge, Australia
I am a Centurion card holder and even I question whether they are true or simply a bit of advertising BS!

Don't get me wrong, I once believed in the hype. I even tried it to no avail.

For example, I was once overseas and wanted to buy my wife a LV bag. I knew the exact model and colour, however, I could not get it in the country that I was in.
I knew that I would be transiting through Singapore on my way home so I rang up the Centurion Concierge.
I asked them if they could arrange for the bag to be purchased in Singapore and delivered to the SQ Business Class lounge where I would pick it up on my way through.
They told me they could not do it, as LV Singapore does not accept credit cards via phone.
I asked if there was another solution.
Nope.
End of story.
WT? What happened to doing the "impossible"?

Anyway, I was just wondering if any "REAL" people have experienced similar stories as the ones on the Centurion website.

Regards,

MrSpokeyTokey

 

[BAM1748]

The caviar one is believable.

The others well, I've seen some strange things in my time so I believe they are possible but testimonials in my opinion are a waste of time, no business puts up anything bad do they.

 

[alemdohorizonte]

Hi,

On the Centurion website, there are a number of "Concierge Stories".

I read them with interest however, I can't help but giggle and read with a bit of scepticism.

Anyway, I was just wondering if any "REAL" people have experienced similar stories as the ones on the Centurion website.

Regards,

MrSpokeyTokey

Here are two of my Centurion Concierge stories.

1) I wanted to get a friend a particular Hermes wallet that was no longer made for his 35th birthday. I sent the Centurion Lifestyles Team (Centurion Concierge Service) an email and explained that Hermes had stopped making the wallet several years ago and that I had seen it offered on ebay recently but the colour in the ebay listing was not what I wanted. I included the pictures (and listing) from ebay so they could see the exact model and style I was after. Several days later I received an email saying. "We have tried contacting several stores and they unfortunately do not sell the orange wallet any longer. However, I have found this particular Hermes wallet on ebay which is almost similiar (sic)."

Since the wallet the Lifestyles Team referred me to wasn't anywhere near similar to what I was seeking, I wrote back stating that I was disappointed in their lack-lustre efforts to procure it for me and that I found it particularly ironic that they had referred me back to the source that I had originally referred them to (ebay) with a suggestion that I purchase something that in no way resembled what I was seeking. I asked them to please try again and suggested that perhaps calling the manufacturer (Hermes Paris) might be a good starting point. About a week later, I was told told that the both the Sydney and Paris Hermes stores had told them that the wallet was no longer made and that this wallet was no longer sold by Hermes in Australia or France and that they were sorry they couldn't help me.

After receiving this email, I called the Hermes Paris store myself, explained what I was looking for (by providing the model number from the original ebay listing I had supplied the Centurion Lifestyles Team) and the very helpful Hermes representative referred me to a Parisian boutique that specialised in vintage Hermes items. I called the boutique. They had the exact wallet I was after and sent it to me that same day. (Although the boutique accepted Amex, I paid for it with my Visa card.)

2) While travelling in France, I left my iPhone in a taxi and despite repeated attempts to track it down, it was never returned. Since I was travelling for several more weeks, I needed the iPhone replaced quickly. At the time, unlocked iPhones were not available in France.

I called the Centurion Lifestyles team, explained what had happened and asked them to purchase a new, replacement iPhone from the Apple store in Australia and express courier it to my hotel (I thought that this was a relatively simple and straight-forward request--tailor-made for what a Centurion Concierge could do). The next day I received an email from the Centurion Lifestyles team stating that Apple Australia did not ship their products outside of Australia and that even if they did, it was illegal to send mobile phones by courier since they contained lithium batteries and those were not allowed on planes. (I love the part about the lithium batteries).

I didn't even reply to the email. I just asked a friend to go to the Apple store in Sydney, buy the phone and send it to me via DHL. I received the phone two days later.

After these, and several other similar experiences with the Centurion Lifestyles team, I no longer use them. As you can see my experiences with the Centurion Lifestyles Team (the Centurion Concierge) fall into a different category of service than that which is discussed in the Centurion literature.

I say "Myth Busted."

 

[GBK06]

I find Centurion Lifestyle equally as poor as the commnets above.

I wanted a particular brand of clothing in the USA when I was travelling, called the Australian number and asked them to locate it in either San Francisco or Las Vegas two days later, they couldn't find any stockist and assured me it wasn't stocked anywhere but through some online stores. So I decided to call the USA Centurion number, who were more then happy to help btw. Within an hour they located stores in both SFO and LAS (Sacks and Barneys stocked it so not exactly obscure!). So if travelling in the USA I suggest all card holders just use the American number!

I swear all they must do is Google it and if it doesn't show up or seems too hard they don't bother. I have had several discussion with team leaders over the lack of performance but they don't seem to care.

GBK

 

[pshepvic]

The next day I received an email from the Centurion Lifestyles team stating that Apple Australia did not ship their products outside of Australia and that even if they did, it was illegal to send mobile phones by courier since they contained lithium batteries and those were not allowed on planes. (I love the part about the lithium batteries).

Better call all the airlines then and let them know they shouldn't let anyone on board with a Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, smartphone, or any other phone sold since about 2007 then!

 

[connieguy]

Better call all the airlines then and let them know they shouldn't let anyone on board with a Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, smartphone, or any other phone sold since about 2007 then!

Guess I can't take my Bose QC15's on the flight then as they have a AAA Lithium. :shock:

 

[pshepvic]

Guess I can't take my Bose QC15's on the flight then as they have a AAA Lithium. :shock:

Oh bugger, me too! Will have to back to using the old alkaline batteries!

 

[oz_mark]

Guess I can't take my Bose QC15's on the flight then as they have a AAA Lithium. :shock:

Lithium Ion batteries are dangerous goods and there are a whole set of guidelines on what may or may not be taken on as hand/checked-in luggage.

Courier companies have their own sets of rules, and, as an example Australia Post is quite strict on it.

 

[pshepvic]

Lithium Ion batteries are dangerous goods and there are a whole set of guidelines on what may or may not be taken on as hand/checked-in luggage.

Courier companies have their own sets of rules, and, as an example Australia Post is quite strict on it.

Not sure though, how anyone can take an iPhone on a plane, but they won't send one couriered on a plane! Is there a difference?

 

[Homer]

Like anything, it depends who you speak to. I’ve had some of the same sort of poor responses as others have mentioned, but I’ve also had some really great ones. This story is from just a few days ago. We were overseas for July and half of August and, when we returned, we noticed that the Just for Laughs gala was on at the Opera House and we really wanted tickets. The problem: it had sold out while we were away.

So on Thursday I called my preferred contact at Centurion Lifestyle, a former concierge from a major hotel, and asked if there was anything he could do to get us tickets for the sold out show on Saturday night (yes, that’s last night). I didn’t think he’d be able to pull it off but he has been brilliant with restaurants and hard to get tickets and invitations in the past so I thought it was worth asking the question.

He tried all the usual means but confirmed it was sold out through those channels. Then he said that he had put a call in to the Just for Laughs folks in Montreal, Canada, to see if they could make it happen for us. I thought that was pretty creative thinking and demonstrated his “above and beyond” attitude. Unfortunately they too came back and said there was nothing they could do. But he told me all was not lost as he would monitor the Opera House ticketing site all day Friday in case some seats were released.

Then mid-afternoon Friday he called me and said that six seats in the front row of one of the circle boxes - almost as good as the front row of the dress circle - had just been released and he snapped up two of them for me. He said he had been searching on the Opera House web site all day, just refreshing the seating plan, waiting in case something came up.

So in summary: he called Montreal; he sat on the Opera House web site throughout the day; he achieved what I wanted - two (first rate) tickets to a sold out event the day before the event itself. I couldn’t be happier. And no I am not giving you his name.

 

[oz_mark]

Not sure though, how anyone can take an iPhone on a plane, but they won't send one couriered on a plane! Is there a difference?

Just the courier companies being cautious, and wanting a simple policy. Some courier companies will accept such shipments, and some won't.

The issues is that batteries with a power rating over 160Wh are not permitted on an aircraft (in the case of Qantas). Between 100Wh and 160Wh, it is allowed as carry on, but not as check-in luggage (and requires operator approval), and under 100Wh they are free to carry.

 

[haydensydney]

I too have had lacklustre performance on difficult requests with the concierge team. Often with the average run of the mill stuff, they are great. Throw anything tricky their way and they seem to struggle to deliver.

- I wanted to buy two ipad2's in London, and couldn't find anywhere. I called centurion to see what they could do, and got a half assed attempt to track them down. I also mentioned that we could also pick them up in Budapest or Abu Dhabi, but they still couldn't provide any options.

- I had to organise a bucks party in Wellington (next weekend). A couple of months ago, I thought I would test the centurion team to see what they could come up with. I got another piss poor response after a week and a half of waiting, and the options they gave me were pathetic "straight from google" responses. I was irate, so didn't go any further with them.

I'm sure i've had a couple of good experiences with them (such as when I wanted to go to the Olympics opening ceremony one week out - they found me tickets: for $15k each) but the lacklustre experiences outweigh the good. In saying that however, I always throw stuff their way to see what they come up with: if they deliver, they deliver, if they don't - no skin off my bone.

 

[ajca]

Before I file this thread under "F" for "first world problems"...

Clearly the stories about Centurion Concierge having an endangered Indian elephant flown in to accompany a cardmember to a last minute dinner at Per Se are ridiculous. No one who has ever tried to get CTS to do anything more complicated than a basic travel booking would believe these.

Some recent (not so good) experiences:

1. Tried to make Saturday night booking at Vue de monde in a few weeks time. Amex tried and said there's no way. I called someone I know who works there and got a booking in about 2 minutes. I got the feeling Amex didn't try very hard
2. My girlfriend tried to get her Hilton HHonors Diamond membership. CTS registered her HH account with a non-existent email address and sent the card to the wrong postal address. After 3 months of us going back to them and saying "it hasn't arrived", they finally emailed through the membership # and I sorted it out through hilton.com
3. Tried to get them to book some British Airways flights around Europe, CTS's pricing was about 5x what I could get through booking directly
4. Asked them to recommend somewhere great to stay in Fiji for a romantic getaway. They suggested Warwick Resort & Spa, which is clearly a package-deal destination for kid-wielding bogans. We ended up finding Likuliku ourselves which was amazing

I have also had some good experiences with Amex - getting a last minute Saturday night dinner table for 4 at Aria, negotiating a great deal at Park Hyatt Melbourne when I said I had found a much better rate on the Amex website etc

These days I mostly use them to make hotel bookings on FHR rates. But I only do this because Amex can't seem to get their act together and make these bookable online.

As others have said, the Centurion service is very dependent on who you get. Some are good, some are average. Overall I would rate them "ok". But they rarely seem willing to go the extra mile, and the idea that they could actually pull off something really tricky seems pretty implausible to me.

I would never RELY on them to do anything.

P.S. Platinum and Centurion Concierge / Travel Services seem to be handled by the same team. So Platinum members are really not missing out on anything on the service front

 

[mini2]

After reading this thread, I've decided to give them a run for their money as well

It will be good if they can locate the watch I'm after and told them it doesn't have to be in Australia either. Hope they can deliver the goods in time for my birthday.

 

[haydensydney]

After reading this thread, I've decided to give them a run for their money as well

What a good idea!

Perhaps we can all come up with some crazy scenarios, call Centurion Concierge and see how they measure up against the hype. Thoughts? Here are my suggestions:

"Hi - I saw Tom Hanks on the news yesterday and he was wearing silver and green cufflinks. I would like to buy a pair"

or

"I would like a tour guide that can take me through the backstreets of Ulan Baatar and outline the impacts of western society on modern Mongloian architecture"

or

"I would like to book Lord Howe Island for a birthday - I must have the entire island"

It would be entirely scientific for research purposes. Is anyone with me?

 

[mini2]

What a good idea!

Perhaps we can all come up with some crazy scenarios, call Centurion Concierge and see how they measure up against the hype. Thoughts? Here are my suggestions:

I suppose it's got to be within reasons and somewhat achievable..setting them up to fail doesn't really prove much

 

[haydensydney]

Absolutely. We could measure them on:

1. Ability to deliver
2. Time taken to come back to the requestor
3. Attitude of the staff
4. Deadlines honoured by the staff

We could even make it a regular thing i.e. "The Centurion Concierge Test" with monthly benchmarking results

 

[MrSpokeyTokey]

Lol

Too funny!

Mini2: pls let us know how you go with your request.
I'd be interested to see what happens.

MrSpokeyTokey

 

[mini2]

Absolutely. We could measure them on:

1. Ability to deliver
2. Time taken to come back to the requestor
3. Attitude of the staff
4. Deadlines honoured by the staff

We could even make it a regular thing i.e. "The Centurion Concierge Test" with monthly benchmarking results

Putting KPI/SLA's around what they do LOL

I think the test should involve something that's not Google'able (if there's such a word...)

 

[thewinchester]

What a good idea!

Perhaps we can all come up with some crazy scenarios, call Centurion Concierge and see how they measure up against the hype.

Sadly, its already been done (and it seems we have two threads crossing over at the moment).