To SkiAdcock:
As you can see on this thread, many customers did NOT know about the lifetime balance deduction because as stated in my post: "No publication from Marriott and no representative had ever told this to me before." The company has a legal obligation to disclose such terms clearly and directly to customers. Hiding such terms in micro fine print violates that legal requirement. Furthermore, I could care less if Marriott eliminates the buyback program -> it is currently hurting their customers more than it is helping.
My post is meant to help others by:
1) warning them of the situation
2) giving others a means to be made whole (via a class action suit should it come to that) if they have already been impacted either this year or in previous years as I was
So while I respect your opinion, I sure hope others won't think like you. If we all had the same "a class action will get you nowhere" attitude, then we would be living in an uncivilized world where corporations abuse the rights of customers.
Thanks,
tigrr49
Originally Posted by
SkiAdcock
First, welcome to Flyertalk!
Now to the other stuff:
The CEO has bigger things to think about, such as the upcoming merger w/ Starwood. You'll get nowhere w/ a class action, and the end result of your attempting to do so could be Marriott eliminating the buyback program entirely. They're not required to offer one.
As leeky mentioned, once you were notified of the deduction of lifetime points w/ this buyback you had the option to continue w/ it or decline it. I'm assuming you declined this time.
FWIW - I've always found the buyback to be a so/so proposition. If it gets someone lounge access (assuming they stay at full-service properties) & they think they can earn back the points that are being deducted from their regular account, then it might be worth it. Otherwise I don't see it.
Cheers.