Hotel Rewards Programs Accidentally Prints Phone Sex Line Number On Membership Cards

Members of The Intercontinental Group (IHG) Spire Elite reward program who received their membership cards in September 2015 where in for a shock when they tried calling the support line number printed on the back of their cards. Due to a typo on the card, dialing the phone number connects callers to a phone sex line instead.

“It was just a simple mistake” a company spokesperson said; “the cards that were printed in September had the 800 prefix instead of the 844 one.” A slight mistake that connected hundreds of customers to a sex chat line instead of Spire Elite reward program help desk.

Intercontinental group is one of the largest and most reputable hotel groups in the world, owning several popular hotel brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Candlewood Suites. The company admitted that someone mistakenly printed the wrong number on the back side of the membership cards.

Several reward program members went to twitter to share their awe when they called the line.

@ihgrewardsclub r u kidding me??? # on back of Spire card is a PORN #!!! Ur rep laughed when I called to report! pic.twitter.com/peLxibpcHh

— Keith S. Ellard (@bamakeith88) September 14, 2015

Clearly, it was a big surprise to all of them. There are some people who complained that the customer help number printed at the back side of the card took them to a “porn line”. Most people did not take the matter too seriously.

InterContinental Hotel Group spokeswoman informed Consumerist.com that the company had already sent emails to all affected members to alert them about the wrong numbers that were printed on the back side of their cards. They were also told that should expect to get new cards in their mail soon.

Here is the email that affected members received:

You don’t have to wait for a new card to get help for the hotel’s customer care department. If you have not received a new card and you need to get help for Spire Elite Reward Program, replace the 1-800 on your card with 1-844. In, simple terms, the real Spire-Elite Reward Program telephone number is 1-844-774-7300. Try not to call the other number!

The embarrassing typo only affects the cards that were printed in September 2015; cards that were printed before and after September have the correct phone number.

I wonder if some people who were looking for help from the hotel decided to stay on line to enjoy what the naughty chat line had to offer. However, you may be a little disappointed if you really wanted to get help from Spire Elite reward program help desk but you ended up in line with people who want to talk about sex.