Originally Posted by
hockeyinsider
This is a false analogy. Most of the complaints don't deal with the inability of a Marriott property to provide a clean room or whatever. They deal with the consistent delivery of loyalty program benefits, the correct posting of stays by properties and the computer system and corporate customer service.
Imagine if the minimum wage McDonald's teller had to deal with a loyalty program. Teller: "Oh right, sir, you have titanium status and because of that you get the double Big Mac hamburger instead of the junior hamburger." Yeah, no.
Or imagine if you had to call corporate McDonald's to get the franchised restaurant to correctly place your order. Yeah, no.
If anything, you've proved what I'm about to say:
Most of the problems we are experiencing is due to CORPORATE failing to get the basics right. The franchisees ARE getting the basics right. Yes, there's issues with corporate-issued policies such as breakfast, welcome amenities, and upgrades, but the basics of providing a clean, proper room and usually good staff are getting done. I can think of quite a few restaurants which operate with corporate taking the orders and handing them off (correctly, no less...Marriott, are you listening?) to the local restaurants. Pizza, sandwich chains, etc., all do this. Jimmy John's comes to mind, and it's very efficient. W/r/t staffing, I do believe the hotels are paying more than minimum wage for the front desk, and yes, I'd expect someone who's paid minimum wage to be able to understand basic loyalty benefits. Just because they're low man on the totem pole doesn't mean they're dumb and untrainable. Even cruise ship employees understand VIPs and they're paid an order of magnitude lower than minimum wage.