Minor Accor rant

[RooFlyer]

So I'm Accor Gold, just missed out on plat last year ... not the greatest program, we know, but I like their hotels and friends I tend to travel with insist on it, so may as well keep with it.

But good grief, they are teeth-grindingly bad in many respects!

Today's experiences.

1. Book hotel in Sydney on line. 3x points offer - nice, so I register, choose room etc, go to payment (paying up-front), and at last minute the web page tells me "Room at that rate no longer available, no payment paid etc etc." Try to book again, web site tells me careful, I am repeating an existing booking.

So I call the Accor call back and I get a prompt call back. Explain situation; am told yes, there IS a booking but no cc details, no payment, so booking will cancel in due course.

I don't want to wait, so I call the hotel direct. After a wait on the phone, reservations there tell me that the booking is there and payment HAS been received. Sends me a confirmation which appears to be OK and reservation appears on the web site under my account. Hooray!

2. I have an existing booking at Playford in Adelaide - not pre-paid, so is cancellable. So, after checking for 3x point offer availability, I go to my reservation on the web site and cancel it, as I'll re-book under the 3x points offer. Hit cancel button ... nothing happens. Wait and click again ... nothing. Re-open booking, cancel again, wait ... nothing.

A bit later I call the hotel. Reservations there have just gone home (5:00pm promptly, local time ), but receptionist says yes, reservation still there, but she can cancel it. Does so. I ask for cancellation # (gives it to me) and I ask if I will get a cancellation confirmation. She doesn't know but can hit her 'send e-mail' button. OK. I receive e-mail, its a 'pleased to confirm your reservation'

Dear Accor, does it have to be this difficult?

End of minor rant.

 

[robd]

Wasn't Basil Fawlty you were speaking to by chance?

 

[RooFlyer]

Wasn't Basil Fawlty you were speaking to by chance? 

Which time? there were 3 calls!

 

[cove]

Do you really expect to get points from Accor for your stays??....I had a teensie weensie problem with that concept so I gave them a miss.

 

[puppysparkes]

I suggest keeping an eye on your credit card activity statement as I have previously been charged for cancelled bookings.

 

[robd]

Which time? there were 3 calls!

Basil, Sybil & Manuel perhaps?

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you really expect to get points from Accor for your stays??....I had a teensie weensie problem with that concept so I gave them a miss.

I've always had the points credit, but to be honest, that isn't my main objective with them (which is probably just as well ). I just like their hotels (mostly) - pitched amenity and price point (throughout their range) that suits me pretty well, from Casablanca to Moscow, Melbourne, Bangkok, Paris (of course) etc. Italy a notable exception! 4 x Mgallery all not up to scratch.

I just wish they wouldn't make it so bloody hard ! The web site is simply atrocious, as anyone who has dealt with it will attest.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I'll chip in here on my own little Accor experience.
I pretty much gave up on them after failing continually to have points credit for stays.
Towards the end of last year I activated the comp Plat upgrade and Advantage Plus that I get with my Amex. A few days later I received a "Welcome to Advantage Plus Silver" email with a new LeClub number. No email arrived regarding Plat upgrade and no cards in mail. Over the past couple of weeks I've been receiving "Welcome to Accor", "Please Join LeClub" emails. I tried unsuccessfully to log onto the site using my new Advantage plus number but no dice. I tried logging on with my old LeClub number again no joy.
I rang Accor today and they have no record of me whatsoever.
Eventually chasing it through Amex I found out that Accor have cancelled my Le Club membership due to inactivity since 2012 . FWIW I have 4 paid stays at Pullman in 2014 one of which I received points for.
They are denying any knowledge of ever giving me my comp Advantage Plus.


Accor are an absolute basket case...

 

[blackcat20]

There's also been a change where friends and family rate no longer earns...

 

[Buzzard]

That's why we have HHonors, somewhere for disgruntled Accor members to come.

 

[OzEire]

Agree with comments so far. I stay regularly at Accor properties and have found them very frustrating (the Le Club points, etc. not the hotel).

I now have check and recheck card number appears both at check in and out... Strangely there are times when it appears in my booking on check-in but has dropped by check out ?!? I also have reception add comments to the invoice when I get the feeling that the Le Club process is not working well (as a prelude to a retro claim).

My most common reply to "how was everything / your stay" is now something like, "nice hotel but Accor loyalty scheme is frustratingly bad." and often the manager wants to know more... And I'm happy to oblige.

 

[Anna]

I think I must be a beneficiary of how disorganised they are. Every year they renew my platinum card even though I don't have a huge number of stays.

The most it usually gets me is a plate of chocolates, but that keeps me happy enough. Occasionally wine, which is often a nuisance if I'm on an int flight next. Had to leave behind a lovely bottle of port in Portugal

 

[RooFlyer]

That's why we have HHonors, somewhere for disgruntled Accor members to come.

I hear what you are saying Buzzard, but I'm happy to stick with Accor as I like the hotels. I regard the points and perks (such as they are) as a fortunate add-on and as long as I can vent here from time to time about their web site, sanity can prevail. A few years ago I ended up gold - or was it platinum - with Starwood and I used to seek out their hotels. Didn't work. I ended up staying at hotels not where I wanted to stay and some very ordinary ones. I status matched to HHonors but they were too expensive at the locations I would use them.

Where Accor don't have a hotel (in many places in Nth America, unfortunately), I home back to Starwood if feasible, and usually swap their points for Aereoplan Air Canada miles when Aeroplan have a bonus conversion offer on.

When in Canada my client puts me up in an apartment; else I would have about 150 nights a year on some chain. That would probably be worth chasing

 

[pagingjoan]

Add me to the list of those totally infuriated by the Accor online performance - but a fan of the hotels and their on site services. The LHR T5 Sofitel, in particular, has been terrific, in our experience of multiple overnight stays, in terms of early check in, late check out, upgrades, proactive professional staff with impressive attitudes and people skills, and excellent food, both in the breakfast room and with the tasting menu in the up market restaurant. Not to mention the convenience of the location!

I won't bore everyone with details of the recent frustrations with online bookings, other than to say that a six night booking in December (not at the Sofitel), which should have worked online, took six international phone calls and about the same number of email exchanges to 1) make the reservation and 2) extract a confirmation at the time of departure for the hotel. Astonishing. Yet the hotel itself (a Pullman), while not up to Sofitel T5 standards, rated pretty well, in my opinion.

Oh, and I have three Accor numbers, as a result of similar experiences to those reported by PF above, with the number on the card in my possession not being recognised, so having to re-enrol. As each new number was issued, I attempted to have the old account number deleted. Of course, the inevitable result was that the old accounts mysteriously re-surfaced, leading to even more confusion.

Ayee.
But .... don't want to lose the membership, with its benefits at LHR, so will be sticking with it for now.

 

[markis10]

Agree with others that Accor have frustrating systems, interestingly on the cash back front they seem to work in the consumers favour.

 

[docjames]

Accor have been on my avoid list for some time due to their recurrent cold calling trying to sell me timeshare, which coincidentally happens 1-2 weeks after i (not by choice) end up staying on one of their hotels. And when I ask where they got my number i'm told it's a "randomly selected number".

 

[pagingjoan]

Heavens! Haven't had the pleasure of that one!

 

[Pablo]

I would have to say that I really haven't experienced any issues in the past 12-18 months with bookings or with points posting (except if the individual hotel is slow in processing points - ie, Sofitel Nusa Dua). When I first joined it was painful and every second stay I would have to chase up points but I haven't had to do that in recent times (and I've had 80+ nights in them in the past 12 months across Australia and Asia.)

so im actually pretty happy with the program. Working towards blowing a heap of points on accommodation in Dubai in April which will be nice to do.

 

[medhead]

Can I have a rant about Accor Places? The earlier thread is closed, only a small rant. Stayed at the Ibis Adelaide in November, check in in places, they registered the check in. Just followed up this week to see the check in was refused. Send them the booking reference to be told - So sorry the terms and conditions clearly say you have to claim within 2 months. Umm Hello! I claimed way back in November with the check in. These alleged terms and conditions don't seem to actually exist anywhere available to the public. Clowns

 

[basso]

Can I have a rant about Accor Places? The earlier thread is closed, only a small rant. Stayed at the Ibis Adelaide in November, check in in places, they registered the check in. Just followed up this week to see the check in was refused. Send them the booking reference to be told - So sorry the terms and conditions clearly say you have to claim within 2 months. Umm Hello! I claimed way back in November with the check in. These alleged terms and conditions don't seem to actually exist anywhere available to the public. Clowns

I have one that has been refused. Customer service keep setting it back to pending and telling me it will be approved. Always goes back to refused. Two months is up shortly, so I guess they will ping me on that (FWIW On Flyertalk there was some discussion that there is a timezone issue. Soounds like stays from our part of the world are recorded on the previous day...