Shangri-La blocking Golden Circle accounts from last years promotion

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I have had a few emails over the last couple of days from people who have had their Shangri-La Golden Circle accounts locked. The accounts for myself and my wife were locked on Friday as well.

(This is the second time our accounts have been locked in the last 6 weeks. Last time they could be unlocked by using the ‘Activate Account’ function on the website. This is not possible now.)

This all appears to date back to the generous promotion that Shangri-La ran last Autumn. You could easily earn 1,000 Golden Circle points which are redeemable for a $100 food and beverage voucher. With the new Shangri-La hotel in The Shard due to open, this was a great opportunity for a couple of get themselves $200 of credit towards a free meal (restaurant pictured below).

I can only assume that Shangri-La has been having some issues with fraud due to people opening multiple accounts in different names to take part in this promotion.

It appears that any Golden Circle account which has no other activity on it apart from points from this promotion has been locked.

The only way to unlock it appears to be to send a copy of your passport or driving licence to the Golden Circle office at golden.circle@shangri-la.com.

I have just sent over passport copies for myself and my wife, so I will see how long it takes to get them unlocked.

I must say that, if Shangri-La is concerned about fraud, they have left it pretty late to act. Anyone with a number of fraudulent accounts who also had half a brain would have emptied them at the earliest opportunity.

Hotel offers update – December 2021:

Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points? There is currently a special offer running with IHG Rewards (80% bonus to 4th January 2022) and World of Hyatt (30% discount, equivalent to a 43% bonus, to 30th December 2021).

Category

Shangri-La Golden Circle

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Alan says:

5 Oct5 October 08:53

This happened to me too, but it was unlocked within a day or so of emailing a scan of my driving licence. eVoucher has now been issued too 🙂
Paul says:

5 Oct5 October 08:53

Well that explains a lot. My account and that of my wife had this about two weeks ago. We thought it was a change of password and the correspondence with GS never once hinted at Fraud. Strongly worded letter of complaint will now follow. Getting sick and tired of organisations treating customers in this way when they, the customer, have done nothing wrong. Argggh
- Phil says:
  
  5 Oct5 October 09:00
  
  They just unblocked mine. All done quickly and trouble free.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Oct5 October 11:42
    
    Just got an email saying ours done as well.
- Brian says:
  
  5 Oct5 October 09:09
  
  You don’t honestly think they would accuse you of fraud???
- Nick says:
  
  5 Oct5 October 10:48
  
  Out of interest, to what extent are you their customer? Are you an active member in the loyalty scheme?
Nick says:

5 Oct5 October 09:47

I redeemed my voucher at the Shangri-La HK which was excellent. I’d booked a table for my girlfriends birthday on the 2nd January . Turned up at the business centre with passport ID and proof of GC acc and voucher I’d printed off. Business centre was strict about ID but I just went by instruction with no problem. The restaurant even brought out a free cake. The food was excellent and service too. People who tried (if) taking out multiple accounts for this promo deserve everything they get in my opinion.
- BlueThroughCrimp says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 17:30
  
  Shangri-La Kowloon brought birthday cake out for my Mum when we stayed there too!
  Great hotel, and the Horizon Club staff were fantastic.
Guesswho2000 says:

5 Oct5 October 10:03

Hmm, doesn’t even recognise my membership number now, saying that it’s not valid (although I still have the original email confirming it).

I’ve dropped them an email, so we shall see!
Roger says:

5 Oct5 October 10:27

Thanks for the warning.

I would have expected a message from Golden Circle about this, even if it was a blanket e-mail requesting confirmation of valid membership.

Silly me.
What's The Point says:

5 Oct5 October 11:25

Both mine and Mrs WTP accounts were locked. I emailed them photocopies of Passports and both got unlocked in under 48 hours.
Used one of the $100 voucher at the Buffet in Shangri-La Pudong Shanghai last week – very nice indeed!
Just went to reception with the print out and they printed another sheet out, stamped it and said to hand it to the waiter before paying. No request for ID at any stage.
Its a shame there is no other way of earning GC points in the UK other than staying at their one hotel in London (which in my opinion is way overpriced vs other top end hotels in the area.)
CC says:

5 Oct5 October 13:00

Dam I didn’t even think of opening multiple accounts on this!

Is it possible to do multiple subscription of The Economist with different Iberia + accounts, then get all points into 1 BAEC does anyone know?
- JQ says:
  
  5 Oct5 October 13:41
  
  Probably, but I think the best you can do is to get them into a single BA HOUSEHOLD account.
Nick says:

5 Oct5 October 14:48

Does NOT work..
- squills says:
  
  5 Oct5 October 16:53
  
  Sorry about that. I assumed too much, the instructions said new customers needed to register but existing customers just had to add the code. Doesn’t surprise me. Maybe there’s a new customer out there who’d like free £10, I suppose.