Reader Email: Extremely Poor Quality IHG Customer Service Chat Replies

A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a case about a missing stay request with IHG, along with incorrect and contradictory information provided by IHG’s chat agent. Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll cover them here several times a week. […]

May 31, 2025 - 04:45

A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a case about a missing stay request with IHG, along with incorrect and contradictory information provided by IHG’s chat agent.

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll cover them here several times a week.

You can access IHG here.

Reader’s Email:

This might make one for you?
I stayed at the Holiday Inn LA Monterey Park this week on reward nights, but it hasn’t given me any credits towards my status.
When I contacted IHG, they said that reward nights are non-qualifying.
I replied to say that was wrong, and pointed them to section 31 of the terms and conditions on the IHG website.
https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/customer-care/member-tc
They then opened a case for a supervisor to look into it!

Reader’s Chat with IHG:

Quite a contradictory chat, which sole purpose is to get the reader off it rather than even remotely trying to resolve anything, and simply making things up on the fly.

Relevant Part of the T&Cs:

Qualifying Rates: Qualifying Rates include Reward Night/Free Night*, IHG Employee Discount Rate and most business and leisure rates, such as Advance Saver rates, Best Flexible rates, Global sales negotiated rates (including but not limited to Corporate Gold rates), national/regional/local government rates, and specified leisure rates as confirmed by IHG’s reservation systems. In Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), Qualifying Rates include all locally negotiated rates. Note: In Greater China, Qualifying Rates also include all corporate negotiated rates settled with hotels via regular payment. In all other parts of the world, locally negotiated rates are classed as Qualifying Rates if the rate is discounted less than 30%.
In Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia, hotel-direct extended-stay contracts are classed as Qualifying Rates if the rate is discounted less than 30%.
*When staying on a Reward Night/Free Night, Members will not earn Points or partner miles/credits on the room rate or room rate equivalent; however, Points are awarded for all other eligible charges.

The chat agent managed to get both the qualifying charges and the stay credit incorrect on that one-screen chat.

How is this even remotely possible with an organization that should give some training to these agents rather than simply handing them a keyboard to start typing incoherent replies?

Conclusion

I had a similarly bad quality chat experience with IHG last year when I tried to apply a Suite Upgrade Cert for a stay and got a “spanking” from readers when I called that out (during the chat).

The IHG One Rewards customer service is genuinely good and fast, especially via email, or at least it is with the Ambassador/Diamond desk.

I would forward the booking confirmation email to ambassador@ihg.com and ask them to post the stay, with nothing more than ‘Thanks!’ at the end. These issues are usually resolved in under an hour.

But the question must be, how on earth can IHG have such poor-quality replies coming from their chat? Don’t these agents get any training on the IHG-related issues?

The agent manages to contradict themselves, and the information provided is incorrect. Doesn’t IHG conduct any quality surveys of these chats to monitor what is taking place?

I’m honestly baffled.

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