Originally Posted by
emanon256
I just got a call from someone who stated she is Mr. Marriott's assistant. She was very nice. However, she stated that Mr. Marriott has forwarded my letter back to the hotel to respond, and she apologizes for the delay as the hotel manger is on vacation, so they have not heard back yet.
She said that Mr. Marriott is saddened that I am upset by my stay, but that He and Marriott corporate do not get involved in disputes. She stated that it is in fact Marriott's officially policy to always leave any dispute up to the hotel to settle, and that whatever the hotel decides is final and that Marriott will not make any additional compensation, and will always side with the hotel's final decision.
She stated that they hope I continue to stay at Marriott and that this was an isolated incident with one hotel and she doesn't want it to reflect badly on he other hotels. She also stated that with over 3,000 privately owned franchises, Marriott simply can not offer any compensation when a customer has a bad experience at a franchise, that its up to the franchise manager.
I explained that I am still out money and points and not made whole. She stated that she is sorry I feel this way, but that my dispute is with this privately owned franchise, not Marriott itself and that there is simply nothing she can do per Mr. Marriott's corporate policies.
She was very nice, friendly, and diplomatic. However, I am simply shocked that a hotel can carry the Marriott name and Marriott will not get involved. I guess I am torn now as I do like the other Marriott's I have stayed at. I have stayed at the Renaissance in Times Square 4 days a week since it was renovated, it feels like home. But do I want to keep staying at a hotel chain that has a policy that the customer is always wrong? I know thats not what they state, but that is how it feels. If they had simply refunded 25,000 more points and 1/3 of the spa cost as well as the discount I was supposed to receive, I would have walked away grumpy , but not have a problem continuing to stay at Marriott.
This is an absolutely outrageous response, and doesn't sound like the Marriott culture at all. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if this person is not really an "assistant to Mr. Marriott," but rather someone who works with the customer service representative you originally contacted who is trying to cover his you-know-what.
That's not likely, either, I guess, but something about her response -- many of the statements that you are citing -- sure don't seem right. For example, "with over 3,000 privately owned franchises, Marriott simply can not offer any compensation when a customer has a bad experience at a franchise, that its up to the franchise manager" seems like the opposite stance that a company that so prides itself on consistent, predictable experiences would take.
In any event, the notion that "He and Marriott corporate do not get involved in disputes" and "will always side with the hotel's final decision" is a red herring. There is nothing preventing Marriott from compensating you for the poor service that their franchise property provided. It needn't cost the owner of the hotel in Thailand one penny.
The logical conclusion of their argument is that the Marriott brand is a meaningless concept (except, perhaps at the handful of hotels that they operate themselves). You could make a reasonable argument that, in this case, you don't feel like the brand standards you come to expect at Marriott will be honored, so you could take your 200+ nights somewhere else.