Originally Posted by
margarita girl
I'm trying to understand this. If it's not Marriott imposing the penalty (requiring compensation), then the hotel has to penalize itself for Marriott's IT shortcomings by providing compensation?
I'm pretty sure that calling Marriott would confirm that the guest did not cancel the reservation because that's what the Marriott systems say.
This might be one of those times where consumer protection has to intervene and impose a fine.
The minute a fine is imposed, the IT will magically be fixed, because there is suddenly an economic incentive to do so.
Right now, the economic incentive is for Marriott/Franchises to not do anything. I am sure there are many cases where a customer, whether or an individual or business, did not realize that they were not charged/refunded for a cancelled reservation. In fact, that happened to me once when I noticed a charge from 3 months ago. This means these franchises are getting free money.
But the minute they start getting fined for such practices, the IT will be fixed quickly. And the money from the fine should go to the affected customer. Hence, compensation.