Originally Posted by jerrychuang

Hey flyertalk,

I am a 7+ year Marriott/SPG platinum and now lifetime silver. This year I am likely titanium. I recently encountered an outrageous experience with Marriott. Hoping to hear your thoughts on what the best next step is:

1. I had a catastrophic stay in a (expensive) hotel under Marriott management in Argentina on July 4. I initially filed a complaint on the Marriott website just looking for some appropriate apology on July 12, but received no reply from the hotel after a whopping 31 days. On day 31, I called Marriott customer service hotline (the 301 number) and someone rang the hotel. The hotel almost immediately sent me a BS email, saying they were happy to inform me that *I do not have to give a refund to them*.

2. This letter triggered me, so after requesting a supervisor from the 301 hotline on August 12, a gentleman coordinated with the property to offer me a refund for the stay. I received a written confirmation email from the property on the same day that they will refund me, and asking me for my bank details. I provided the information to them.

3. So I carried on with my business and almost forgot about this sh*tshow. In early September, I was going through my bank accounts and found out to my surprise that there was no refund anywhere. I wrote to the property but received no reply. I called the 301 number on September 9 (give or take) again, informed them of my case, and was told that the case would be transferred to the gentlemen who originally coordinated the hotel refund in August. I was given a new case number.

4. In the September call with Marriott, I made clear that my demand is to receive the refund as the hotel promised. I am not interested in points. A very rude old lady named Vivian very condescendingly demanded me to close the case with 35000 points. I refused.

5. Yesterday I called Marriott again, only to be told that my case was closed without me knowing anything! An "apology letter" was sent, only that the letter was found nowhere! Not in my email, not in my actual mail! This completely outrages me. The receptionist on the hotline was like all old ladies on their hotline, dismissive of all things claiming Marriott has no responsibility to its customers in such cases. (this also truly baffles me, why would marriott have a bunch of entitled idiots who clearly enjoy bullying people take high value customers' complaints? )

Now I'd like to hear from you. What do you think the next steps will be? This really is not a money issue to me anymore (probably wasn't the case in the first place). I feel repeatedly insulted and would like to take legal action regardless of the fees, at least against the hotel since they have a written document giving me a contractual promise. Regarding Marriott, I am starting to write because I am fed up with their attitudes, but would appreciate some guidance from experienced people.

Thanks,
JC