Norm Amos review: Customer service

Customer Service,

I have been an American Express cardholder for an extended period of time – probably over ten years and have been extremely satisfied until today. Likewise, I have been a long-time member of the Hilton Honors program and a regular user of Hilton services during my career, all over the world.

In the joint program you have with Hilton, I had three “awards” one expiring Dec 2, one at the end of Dec, and one in March 2023. As a result, I was planning a trip during November with my wife to meet the deadline dates. That was until Hurricane Ian destroyed 80% of our home. We are still without a roof, screen porch, carport, front awnings, porch roof, not to mention the water damage inside. Power and water were out for two weeks. Given the stress on my wife who has dementia and assisting in the care of her soon to be 102 yr old (Jan) father, I planned to go forward with a vacation to New Orleans.

So, I called Hilton today, requesting a short extension (two weeks) on the expiration date of Dec 2, explaining why due to Hurricane Ian. Anna firmly stated those were the rules and it could not be done. She said it had already been extended during the pandemic. I responded that these were extenuating circumstances beyond my control and Hurricane Ian is a declared Federal Disaster as well. More importantly, I asked several times to talk with a supervisor and she steadfastly said no. I asked who made that decision and she said it was a joint decision between American Express and Hilton.

Initially, I was going to cancel the trip, but spent hours changing it around. We were going to invite another couple to join us. Our original plan was to stay all five nights at the Roosevelt Hotel. Now that is lost revenue to the hotel, airlines, tour operators, and restaurants, etc. How ironic it is be very city we had chosen was hit by Katrina. I wonder how many exceptions were made during that disaster.

The end result is that we are still going by ourselves, but now spitting the hotels. The truth is I am extremely disappointed by the refusal to even consider my request.

I have no recourse in reality. I believe rules need to be in place; however, there are times exceptions could and should be made. As a former, retired Executive Vice President of Supply Chain of a $1B corporation, I would never treat long standing customers in this manner.

While I have enjoyed the relationships, I will use my remaining points with Hilton until gone then no longer book with Hilton entities thereafter and discontinue using my American Express as my primary card and not renew it at expiration. In many respects, it is unfortunate that American Express is being impacted by poor customer service by its partner, Hilton.

It is simply not the way I would do business.

Sincerely,

Norman Amos

315 Tresa

North Port, Fl 34287