A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a Compensation Clinic from a stay at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui hotel in French Polynesia, where employee(s) had forged tip amounts on receipts.
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You can access Conrad Bora Bora Nui here.
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Here’s the message from the reader:
Attached are four PDFs. They are regarding my personal correspondence with Conrad BB, Hilton Corporate, Amex Service Excellence, and proof of recovery.
In addition to all of this, we talked on the phone to many people at Hilton and Amex. It was a time consuming and tedious process.
I posted the summary of our experience on Tripadvisor and Google. I’m certain that this fraud/scheme has been going on for a while. Local people are hurting financially after Covid. When we talked to a few local tour guides after we changed resorts, they were not surprised at all.
I asked if they had copies of the forged receipts:
No, I didn’t but since they didn’t deny what happened I dropped it. There was one forged receipt, one disappeared (no paper trace) and one was only changed in the computer system but not on paper. I should have taken a picture of that receipt during check-out, but I’m not sure how that would have changed the outcome of this case.
Amex Complaint
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Hilton Guest Assistant
Emails With Property
The reader sent us a copy of the correspondence with the property that I won’t all post here.
Review that the reader left on Google and TripAdvisor:
Gratuity forgery and fraud.
I can’t believe I have to write this review. Massage therapist committed forgery and fraud by writing/adding in her own hand writing an extra $100 tip! (Local currency equivalent). She wrote in/added “1” in front of the amount given and changed the total amount in the same way. She did it in such an unsophisticated way that it almost looked childish.
On top of that, at least 2 servers added about $70 extra tip to the receipts. One of the servers added a zero in the system, but not on paper.
Hotel staff was unable to find the third receipt as it magically disappeared, but posted an excessive tip amount in the computer system.
We caught it at check-out. The front desk concierge Hiro B. appeared visibly shocked by this. He tried to contact the GM who did not respond to calls.
After contacting Hilton Corporate and Amex and a number of emails to Conrad Bora Bora, GM agreed to issue a refund for one night back to my cc.
In addition to that, the AC line broke in our room resulting in a flooded couch which had to be replaced. Repairs lasted a few hours and also included a broken phone line and changing of curtains that were full of holes.
Hilton Diamond desk provided compensation for this specific incident.
Please, check your receipts and better yet take pictures of everything you sign. Given the nature of this incident it’s likely this has been going on for some time.
Compensation:
The hotel refunded one-night charge back to the Amex used.
In addition, Hilton Guest Assistance issued 50,000 points as an apology.
Conclusion
The hotel was also willing to issue a Be My Guest certificate that could be used for a standard room at any Conrad hotel worldwide.
We have covered these certificates several times, but I believe, considering the monetary amount in question here (excess of $1K), that a refund was a better option for the reader.
You must check your bills, which may sometimes involve requesting copies of the signed checks. I have had wrong charges billed to my room several times when someone has mistyped the room number.
Also, two restaurants in the past week have had items on the check that we didn’t consume, as they were out of stock.
It is regrettable that there appear to be dishonest employees working at this otherwise lovely Conrad property that I have visited twice and have another reservation for later this year.
It is easy for Conrad Bora Bora Nui to figure out who forged these checks and end their employment. As the reader points out, it is unlikely that this would be the first time, but there must be few guests that scrutinize their folios carefully enough.
