As a Platinum member via SPG, I recently tried out Marriott via the Zurich Marriott and was appalled by the apathetic customer service experienced that apparently tolerates violent attacks on hotel guests.
On the morning of check-out, after a final leisurely stroll across the river to the park near the hotel, I returned to the hotel and visited the executive lounge to get a bottle of water from the fridge to drink in the room before finishing packing and then checking out. Whilst I was patiently queueing in line in front of the fridge, as soon as I got to the front and as I was reaching down to grab a bottle, suddenly from my right side a male guest violently shoved me out of the way.
This was a violent aggressive assault which knocked me off balance and also caused me to fall over. Even worse was the fact I was holding a glass bottle in my hand at the time and this could have easily been dropped or gone flying and shattered everywhere. Children were in the lounge so this could have been quite dangerous.
Shocked by the fact I had just been assaulted, I asked the man for an apology but instead the only reply I received was "**** you".
Concerned for my safety and not wanting to be violently assaulted again, I decided to leave the lounge. Meanwhile, the male lounge attendant made eye contact with me but did and said nothing. Eventually I said that he should bring the violent man into line and maintain standards of behaviour. No reply was forthcoming, although the violent thug started shouting foul language again.
Finally I noticed that about 25mins later, as I loaded my suitcase into the car to take me to the airport, the violent criminal was smoking in front of the hotel. He again made a violent gesture towards me and mouthed the words "**** you".
I took a photo of the criminal smoking in front of the hotel and send it, together with an email setting out the full facts, to the hotel and seeking their help to investigate and for contact details to file a police report. Initially I did this via the Marriott app (the concierge always answered instantly with other requests - this time I simply asked for the GM or hotel's email address). I was asked why I needed the email address and I then said I had been assaulted and needed to send a photo of the attacker (a fellow guest who was therefore a danger to everyone in the hotel) but the message was ignored and the concierge then left the conversation - I have the phone screenshots to prove this.
Through Google I found the GM's email so sent everything in. Got the out of office reply but it contained his deputy's email for urgent matters so I sent it to her.
Silence for 48 hours and all I received was a vague assurance that this was an isolated incident and a thank you for reporting the matter to them. No attempt at service recovery, and my questions about identifying the culprit, or to send me the contact details for the local police, among others, were all completely ignored. Rather miffed I then emailed Marriott HQ. They bounced the matter back to the hotel who told me that they did not get involved in "disputes" between guests, ignoring the fact that there was never any dispute and I was simply the victim of a random attack. Again, another empty apology and an offer to give me the police contact details if I wanted them (despite my first email clearly asking for them). Still no service recovery and just a pathetically expressed hope I would stay with them again and give them a second chance.
By the way, the animal smoking in the photo below is the thug who attacked me. If you see him, beware he may randomly attack you.