Originally Posted by
iflyjetz
As far as big companies trampling over consumers, I understand that. I also understand that Marriott is THE MOST ethical company that I've ever dealt with. If it's a gray area, they'll rule in favor of the customer - just look at how they dealt with rollover nights this last year.
On the other hand, I own a BMW. BMW is one of the least ethical companies I've ever come across. While under warranty, I had door actuator failures (they covered those under warranty) which resulted in killing my battery. The battery is also covered under warranty but they stated that my 'driving profile' was the cause of the battery failure ... I have a lot of short trips and the service manager stated that I had something like 110 trips of less than 5 miles over the last 60 days. Never mind the fact that I drove more than 4000 miles in that time (I had warranty oil change ~60 days earlier). The dealer replaced the battery on my dime. I sued BMWNA and was given a check a couple of weeks later. Denying warranty claims and promised maintenance is standard operating procedure for BMW.
I agree 100%. Marriott has been very good to me for several issues and I have never ever had a problem like this, and I find Marriott to be very, very consumer friendly (which is TRULY rare these days--look at airlines). However, that is not to say that these problems don't exist. I had to laugh on the BMW reference. As a multiple BMW owner at various stages of warranty coverage (factory warranty, CPO, and out-of-warranty) I can say that they hate fixing anything for free. In Maine, we only have one BMW dealership in the state and it is truly a "stealership." That's not to say I don't love the cars!
Anyways, back to the topic at hand--OP are you just going to disregard the letter? It seems like your conversation with the new GM would make the letter's contents outdated. I definitely think a follow up needs to be done to higher ups. Marriott definitely dropped the ball in not making the hotel pay the $100. However, I do now see what other people are saying. The $100 guarantee DOES NOT come off the room rate. It is paid in cash. Thus, the room rate was accurate and should not have been subject to a chargeback. Thus, it seems the property owes you $100 from the guarantee. At this stage, they are saying you owe them $100 for the chargeback, so I would call it even.