I'm sorry, but does it really make any difference if Marriott thought the crossover date would be Aug 1 and they have now decided to push it back a few days? The same people pointing to a possible date change as proof of incompetence would likely be the first to point to any mistake in an Aug 1 rollout as proof of incompetence. We do not know the reason for any possible push back on the date, but it may be as benign as avoiding someone's vacation date or maybe it is taking longer to get staff updated on the changes than originally anticipated. Those who are attributing anything sinister or pointing to this as proof that Marriott is inept are looking for reasons for those claims. In the scheme of things pushing the official start date back means nothing and likely shows that Marriott is aware enough to know there might be issues and cares enough that they want to get it right.

End of rant.