Whine Wednesday: Should Hyatt Just Drop The Useless World Of Hyatt Globalist Concierge Feature?

This week, our Whine Wednesday is about World of Hyatt and the Globalist Concierge feature which members receive when qualifying for the top tier level with the prescribed amount of 60 nights.

Hyatt had these designated account representatives even before the transformation of the program to World of Hyatt but made it an official feature when the program was rebooted.

When this concierge program was an unofficial feature called “Personal/Private Line” it was relatively easy to get in touch with your representative, and because it was an invite-only item the level of service was actually quite good.

Hyatt then did away with these levels of agents because word had it that they were doing too many favors to “their” members that weren’t technically possible according to program rules. Hyatt also discontinued all loyalty representatives and the Diamond Hotline. All calls were now answered by the same call center, although a priority phone number would sometimes have the phone answered as Hyatt Diamond/Globalist Reservations. The level of service and agent knowledge became dismal!

Following this, Hyatt made the intended mistake of rolling out a modified version of the Private Line reps, calling them Globalist Concierge, and basically assigning every single Globalist that re/qualified with the 55 (now 60) nights to such a representative.

The idea appears to be great on first glimpse – the top-tier customers who spend two months per year at Hyatt properties get personal assistants. Well, the reality is, unfortunately much different when you really want to use these associates properly as intended.

The main “problem” is that nobody works seven days a week; that’s a given, and nobody expects that. However, Hyatt didn’t build in any redundancy for your assigned agent. If the associate is off, sick, on holiday, or otherwise not reachable, then your email won’t be forwarded elsewhere, and calls aren’t being routed to an alternative agent either.

However, when a member needs the assistance of the concierge, it’s usually something urgent that can’t be done online. For example, applying for a suite upgrade using certificates, booking awards in another person’s name, or doing a points transfer.

When these requests aren’t promptly attended to, then it could very well be that availability disappears, and the hotel is no longer bookable. Members can’t just wait until the emails are answered days or sometimes more than a week later.

In the end, I have to call the general hotline in 95% of all cases because it’s simply pointless trying to get a hold of the Globalist Concierge.

Here is a reply I received from earlier in the year:

I apologize for the delay in my reply. I have been out of the office for a week on vacation myself and I am very sorry that the other agents were not able to reply in a timely manner in my absence. We have been swamped with end of the year inquires.
The only thing I got in your last email is a photo, is there supposed to be a message attached?
Kindest Regards

Another one here:

Good Evening Sebastian

My name is Xxx and it is my pleasure to assist Xxxxx with her emails today.

Again we sincerely apologize for the delay in our responses to you. It is not because we do not care we have just had a very high volume of emails the last two weeks and it has delayed our response time considerably. We are working diligently to get back to our regular timetable. I am including your My Hyatt Concierge Xxxxx hours to this email so that we can better assist you in the future.

Then there were other instances. At some point, Hyatt suggested to me that they should assign me another agent, but I replied that I really don’t care what they do because the problems will remain the same.

Greetings Sebastian,

Thank you for your message, my name is Xxxxxx, and I am assisting Xxxxx with emails on today. I am very sorry you are having a hard time contacting Hyatt customer service. Our normal business hours are 6:00am-2:00am CST.

As for My Hyatt Concierge Service we could try to get you assigned to a Concierge in our Asia Contact Center if you feel that would be better for you. Would you like me to look into that for you?

I removed all names of the agents involved here because it’s really not a personal matter. Different operational hours will not change a single thing. Hyatt doesn’t even have a 24/7 call center anymore where you can reach someone around the clock. More than once, have I tried to call Hyatt from Asia during the late afternoon/evening, and the hotline announcement is simply that they are closed.

The only change that would bring improvements is to have all requests by members collected by a general team email, and whoever is on duty goes through these emails in the order they come in to process the requests. Also, bringing back a 24/7 call center is absolutely essential.

Here is the option in terms of hours I was given to contact my concierge:

My Schedule (Hours in Central Standard Time CST):

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm

Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday: Out of the Office

Should you need immediate assistance anytime when I am out
of the office, please call 888-544-9288 and select the option to speak with a
fellow Concierge colleague who will be happy to assist. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

It’s simply insane to give ONE agent the responsibility to deal with all the members that are assigned to his/her account. You have off days, sick days, holidays, and other times when you’re not on duty for whatever reason. This is not a way for a global company to run a personalized concierge. Even Lufthansa HON Circle and Amex Centurion work better than this.

It would also help when Hyatt would finally consider improving the website. Why do we have to call every time to apply for a suite upgrade? Even Marriott can do this online. There is a lot that could be done online without ever needing a live human, but no, because Hyatt doesn’t properly invest in the IT infrastructure, you always have to email and call. Sometimes you really wonder if this is 2003 or 2023.

Conclusion

The World of Hyatt Globalist Concierge program has a lot of issues. While it was okay in the beginning, Hyatt’s ongoing shortcuts have unfortunately led to the deterioration of the program to the point where it takes agents several days or even weeks to answer emails.

Why are these requests not auto-replied or forwarded to other agents and immediately processed to the customer can get assistance with matters that are (presumingly) urgent?

Under the current circumstances, Hyatt can just as well stop the Globalist Concierge program altogether, as it makes no sense and doesn’t contribute anything to the customer relationship.

What is your experience with the concierge program for Globalist members?