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.
Let me see if I can possibly explain it a little differently
If you contact Mr. Marriott's office (regardless of communication method) the issue is always sent directly to the hotel GM's office for response within 48 hours and all responses from the GM's office must be cc'd back to Mr. Marriott's office. In rare situations Mr. Marriott's Office will resolve the issue directly however only after the hotel has attempted to resolve it but it should be noted the hotels are able to satisfactory resolve nearly all of the situations brought to the GM's attention (regardless of who is managing the hotel)
The rational for this method is the GM will be able to handle the situation in a much quicker manner.
With all of this said if you dont feel you were treated fairly by the GM once they do respond I would recommend you contacting Consumer Affairs again (aka Mr. Marriott's Office) however I feel there is a better than 50% chance the issue will be resolved in a manner that you will feel good about