Hilton reservation secretly sold reward point for my hotel stay

[young707]

Monterey, 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?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Do you have a question?

Your only real issue is, did they charge you more than you agreed to?

 

[Zigner]

What do you mean that they "secretly sold me reward points without my knowledge nor consent in Hilton online reservation"? Are you saying that you failed to notice the charge, even after you clicked that you agreed to it?

 

[quincy]

Monterey, 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?

Your situation is unclear. Did you expect your reward points were going to cover a free (standard room) stay at the Hilton and you were charged the regular rate instead?

How many points had you accumulated? Did any expire?

 

[HighwayMan]

It almost sounds like he was charged for getting additional points added to his account, in addition to being charged for the room. I didn't even know you could "buy" points but who knows what happened. OP needs to do a much better job explaining.

 

[Taxing Matters]

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?

First of all, in a civil lawsuit when you want to get information from the opposing side, you do that through a process called discovery, not by issuing a subpoena. However, California statutes do not allow pre-trial discovery in small claims court. "The pretrial discovery procedures described in Section 2019.010 are not permitted in small claims actions." Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 116.310. The reason for that is that small claims is supposed to be a relatively fast and informal process to resolve small disputes. Discovery significantly adds to both the time and cost of a lawsuit, and to do it right you really need a lawyer who knows the rules that govern discovery. So if you elect small claims court you forgo the ability to do most discovery in small claims court.

I wouldn't help you to get that information anyway. Hotels charge a variety of rates for the exact same room based on all kinds of factors and thus what the base rate was or what they charged other guests that night does nothing to tell the court what rate you agreed to pay for the room. You need to look at the contract for your stay to see what the correct charges were.

If you claim fraud, you'll have to prove the hotel lied to you about what the rates were for your stay. Do you have evidence to prove that? If so, great. If not, you'll have a problem. Did you read the details of the booking to ensure it was what you thought it was going to be before you clicked that accept button?

 

[quincy]

It almost sounds like he was charged for getting additional points added to his account, in addition to being charged for the room. I didn't even know you could "buy" points but who knows what happened. OP needs to do a much better job explaining.

I agree that a far better explanation is needed.

I recently returned from Disney where we used reward points to cover a lot of our costs (room and meals). I know from our own experience that there can be errors made with crediting accounts correctly.

It didn't even occur to me to sue. I was able to clear up the error through two phone calls to customer service.

 

[FlyingRon]

The first thing you should do is call the hotel and then Hilton corporate and ask for the money to be refunded for the points you didn't order.

You don't get to sue for what they may have done to other parties, only for your own "injury."

 

[quincy]

The first thing you should do is call the hotel and then Hilton corporate and ask for the money to be refunded for the points you didn't order.

You don't get to sue for what they may have done to other parties, only for your own "injury."

A phone call (or two) should be the first step.

Lawsuits should never be considered before other options to resolve an issue have been tried.

I still have some question about the "ordering" or sale of points.

 

[FlyingRon]

I've not seen it on the Hilton reservations (I have no shortage of Hilton points, I'm a GOLD HHonors member). I have seen it offered by airlines when I'm checking in and booking.

 

[quincy]

I've not seen it on the Hilton reservations (I have no shortage of Hilton points, I'm a GOLD HHonors member). I have seen it offered by airlines when I'm checking in and booking.

I checked the Hilton site and see where you can buy or sell or trade points. We just use them for free or reduced rates so I never checked on buying or selling them before.

https://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/shopping-dining/index.html

 

[LdiJ]

There is possibly some English as a second language going on here that might be confusing things.

 

[quincy]

There is possibly some English as a second language going on here that might be confusing things.

Possibly. Or young707 could be using speech to text on his phone.

 

[young707]

I want to ask if I write my small claim filing properly.
Can I 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 several times since.) 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 by buying reward points for $684.79 for a $150 room until months later shocking found this charges in 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.