Originally Posted by
CCIE_Flyer
As has been so astutely noted here on many occasions, to Marriott the customers are the property owners/operators, and we are the product that Marriott delivers to said customers. It's a scenario almost exactly as OP describes that caused me to abandon Marriott for SPG some years back.
This is why it's important to air your grievances as publicly and in as great of detail as is possible (e.g. TripAdvisor, Yelp, social media, etc, - and of course here also!). Even if you can't expect any satisfaction from so-called customer service, you can at least hurt offending properties where it counts the most by driving away at least some bookings in telling your story publicly.
I'm one of the people who has said this for ages. We, the guests, are the product that Marriott sells its customers, the owners. Marriott Bonvoy is basically an elaborate marketing campaign masking as a global hotelier.
With that said, 99% of hotel guests don't understand this. Just like most guests don't understand that Marriott doesn't own nor manage the vast majority of its properties.
Marriott could be a case study for a business school on the perils of franchising and licensing.
Tommy Hilfiger experienced this first-hand many years ago, when he licensed his name off without any consideration of quality control. His brand suffered in the long-term.