Originally Posted by
CJKatl
Obviously in an attempt to keep the news close to the vest it was not shared with employees outside of those within Marriott Rewards until the last minute. The confusion seems to be from a lack of communication to employees and not confusion from those running the program.
What's amazing is that Marriott was obviously the one leaking everything for 7-10 days. They clearly leaked the worst-case scenario to generate publicity and favorable press. Remember during the launch when Marriott's vice president of loyalty said (at the opening!) that he read all the blogs and listened to everyone.
They had all that time to provide clear, concise and accurate information to legacy Marriott Rewards and legacy SPG customer service agents, corporate sales staff, and last, but not least, front line workers and managers at individual properties.
I've spoken to three properties that I regularly book and two sales staff in Marriott's central sales office. Not a single one has any information on how Rewarding Events is changing. The only answer is a single FAQ on the Marriott website that implies there will be a new "construct" for Rewarding Events. I have five events for post-August 1 out for RFP. I also have four signed contracts for events in August. This is ridiculous.
And don't get me started on not having a new name for the unified program until 2019. I'm sure the credit card companies aren't going to appreciate re-issuing all of the new cards in 2019 to reflect the new name.