Providing an immediate resolution for the customer and opening a case for further investigation to determine and correct the root cause are not mutually exclusive. I agree fixing the root cause(s) for issues is ultimately what needs to be done. Dragging the customer through an extended troubleshooting process on what is frequently a time sensitive issue is poor customer service. MR CS agents should be empowered to fix most common issues themselves. They should also be trained on when to open a case for further investigation to facilitate identifying the root cause and fixing it. Off SoapBox....

--Jon

P.S. I hate to be one of those people who talks about the good old days. For this issue, I will make an exception. MR CS agents used to be very empowered and have a lot of discretion in solving customer issues and handling customer requests. It made for a great customer experience and helped build customer loyalty. Today Marriott and the hotel industry in general seem to have lost that concept. Airlines have similar issues. The empirical results is less customer loyalty across the board and more price shopping including considering independents when making choices. When Marriott was very loyal to me, I returned the loyalty and %99+ of my stays were Marriott. Approx. 10 years ago, I added IHG as a secondary program. Currently i still look at Marriott and IHG first, however, I am also much more willing to deviate and stay elsewhere.

For airlines I am now heavily influenced by schedule and price. With the operational issues all of the airlines are having, I also look at the available backup options should my flight get cancelled. When booking air travel, if schedule, cost, and backup options are similar, I prefer SWA and to a lesser extent United. My air travel has been spread across 5 airlines this year. Granted I never had higher than mid-level status on any airline, so never got tons of perks. I do have UA Silver and SWA A-List. A-List is handy to get out of the 24 hour or pay for Early Bird check-in game. UA Silver is of minimal value. The last devaluation when E-Plus access became at check-in time rather than booking took away most of the value prop. YMMV....