Four Points Pleasanton
Do you know who Christopher Elliott is? He’s the writer behind the Elliott Blog, a place for travel tips and his own personal reports and views on customer service issues in the travel world. Most recently, one of his readers brought to his attention a service issue he encountered with the Four Points in Pleasanton, CA. Elliott contacted the Four Points Pleasanton on behalf of the guest who wanted a cancellation fee refund. Click here to read his post.
After some delayed ping pong communication with the manager of the hotel as well as with Starwood customer service, this was Elliott’s conclusion . . .
“Sheraton apparently doesn’t care. It won’t answer a customer’s question, either at the customer-service or managerial level, and it apparently doesn’t give a hoot about what the press thinks of it.”
Ouch! While entitled to his personal views, I’m still picking my jaw off the floor after reading such a gross conclusion. Even if this one property is completely at fault, this single event isn’t nearly enough for anyone to draw a generalizing conclusion that Sheraton as a whole doesn’t care at the customer-service or managerial level. Mr. Elliott, with all his touchpoints on customer service issues over his lifetime, should be among the first people to recognize that.
According to Trip Advisor, the Four Points Pleasanton is #4 out of 21 hotels in Pleasanton, and its average rating on the site is 3.5 out of 5.
At this point, Starwod’s online “lurkers” have contacted Elliott and we’re waiting for the resolution. I suppose his little rant worked in the end. I think it’s important there are people like Mr. Elliott out there fighting for consumer rights, but tainting the reputation of an entire company based on one example at a hotel Starwood doesn’t even own may perhaps be a bit overkill.
