Originally Posted by
RedSun
You can't blame all on Marriott. We were all urged to attach the TPs to existing reservations. But a lot people did not do that. Because a lot of the TPs were purchased for speculative purposes. Look around. A lot of the OC1-5 TPs were purchases and the members had no intention to stay at those hotels. So what are the way out of this?? Knock on wood.... And have ourselves to blame too.
From my perspective, it wasn't so much what changes they made but the lack of notice beforehand. If Marriott had told customers well before August 18 what the conversions would be, it would have prevented much of the speculation and hostility. Relying only on social media to announce that category changes will no longer be allowed a few days beforehand and not telling anyone what the exchange rate would be isn't going to create customer loyalty. I might be unusual, but I didn't know the exact days I would traveling this year last August, which made it futile to attach old certificates to future reservations. If Marriott had simply posted on its website or sent emails to its customers detailing the conversion process a month or so in advance, the reaction to the changes would have been muted.