And your dog Toto, too.

So today, the credit card statement came through and the Homewood Suites‘ $180 charge was on it. (quick refresher – we made a reservation when our floors were being refinished, but as it turned out we didn’t need to sleep out. when we called to cancel, they said there was a 24-hour cancellation period so we couldn’t. they failed to mention that when we made the reservation.)

The manager, Joy, wouldn’t return our call. It felt like we were with 60 Minutes! So we called the Hilton office and they said they couldn’t help us. We had to talk to Joy!

Isn’t it ironic that someone with such a cheerful name would be so fricking unpleasant? But I digress.

We called Capital One. We were surprised to hear that they wouldn’t put the charge in dispute unless we first talked to… you guess it… Joy.

Oy.

But then, I got the mail. On Hilton letterhead.

Your effort and time in sharing your comments surrounding your experiences with Hilton Hotels is most appreciated and something we take very seriously. Please accept my sincere apologies for any aggravation or inconvenience you may have experienced during your visits.

We are constantly monitoring the performance of all hotels in the Hilton Family of brands against high service and quality standards. In our mission to be the first choice of the world’s travelers, it is tea feedback from our guests that enable us to continually improve and exceed those standards. You can be confident that we will follow up on the points you have outlined to ensure staff awareness and additional staff training where needed.

Andrew Scherer, Hilton Hotels values your patronage – we want you as our guest! Again we extend our apologies, an hope you will allow us the opportunity to serve you again in the near future.

Sincerely,
William Chapman
Guest Assistance Specialist

And William seemed to care. Well, it was a form letter. But still, why not give him a chance? So Andrew, being the calmer of the two of us (hey, I see you laughing!) called the guy.

And guess what? Willie is going to send us a refund check.

Score one for the good guys.