rives21

i am staying at the ithaca ny courtyard on rewards points electronic certificate. when i arrived at the front desk, i reminded the check-in clerk that i recently attained platinum and i gave him my mr number again to confirm. then he asked me for my credit card and gave me the keys to the room. after i went to the room and put my bags away i went back downstairs and very politely asked to speak with a manager and asked about the platinum garuntee. she and the check-in clerk both went red and said, "oh we'll find you one right now". i said thanks, but "you know i thought that i read somewhere about a $50 garuntee". she said, "oh, yeah, right" "let me go and talk with the GM". when she returned, she said that the "GM told her not to pay me because my MR number was not in the system prior to my arrival." I was polite, but asked how in the world could my mr number not be available, when i was staying on a mr award on an electronic ticket. in addition, i had gone out of my way to tell the check in clerk that i was platinum and i gave him my mr number again. but she was obstinate and said, "look you can take it up with marriott corporate, but you're not getting any money."
i wrote an email to marriott from their website, but so far no response.

dingo

This got me intersted...from the MR website:
"If a member believes that compensation is due with respect to any aspect of the Elite Benefits Guarantee, he/she must request payment of the compensation while still a guest at the hotel, prior to checking out. Failure to request such payment prior to check out will result in a complete waiver of any right to receive such compensation."

Seems like you did this.

"In order to qualify for the Guarantee, the member's Marriott Rewards number, Elite status, smoking and bed type preferences must be included with the reservation. Reservations made through meeting planners, travel agents, wholesalers or other third party sources must include this information in order to be included in the Guarantee. "

Seems like the fact you were there on an award means they obviously had your number and that they also had to have your status.

There is no reference in the T&C to award nights...I'd say you have a pretty strong case.

rives21

Thank you Dingo. I agree. However, here's the reply which I received this morning from Marriott's online guest relations department:

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"Thank you for contacting Marriott Guest Relations regarding your claim that
you are entitled to the $50 Elite Benefit Guarantee because the
Ithaca/Lansing Courtyard by Marriott did not provide a Platinum Arrival
Gift. I have researched your issue and unfortunately, you do not qualify for
compensation. Your Platinum Marriott Rewards number must be offered at the
time your reservation is booked to qualify for this benefit. There was no
number on your reservation. Therefore, the hotel would have had no way of
knowing that a Welcome Gift would be required upon arrival. Currently, the
Marriott Rewards number that you have given to the hotel, *******, is your
wife's and is not a Platinum number. However, as soon as the hotel was
advised that you were a Platinum member a gift was offered.

You can contact Marriott Rewards on line at marriottrewards.com for further
clarification of your Elite benefits package.

Thanks again,

Internet Guest Relations/Carrie Rose"

--------------------------
Can you guys believe this? And so, I wrote back to them the following:

--------
"what the heck are you talking about?! I do not have a wife!! and of course, my MR number was offered when i booked the room. i used an electronic certificate based on redeeming points from my account (no one else's!). in order for your hotel to deduct points from my account and provide an electronic certificate in the system for the night of september 3rd, you would absolutely have to have my mr number. no excuses. if your reservations system misplaced the number or the agent did not look in the right place. that is not my fault. but how in the world can you tell me that my number was not in the system when i made the reservation, yet at the same time give me a reservation based on redemption from my account?!
re-read my email below carefully and please note the sequence in which the events occurred. i went out of my way to tell him that i was platinum and to give my mr number. this was a good 5 minutes before he even asked for my credit card and began to assign a room. only, after all that, did he assign the room and direct me toward the elevators. all without a welcome gift."
-------------
you know, i wish that they would just be honest, and say yeah, "we screwed up, but our policy is too tough for us to stick to and we just simply do not care to honor our word." this would be better than blaming me for their error. in fact, i would have never noticed this error, if it wasn't part of their stated policy. but i didn't write the platinum garuntee policy. they did. i am merely asking that they honor it.

fireworksboy

Don't think that you are being treated any worse than anyone else. Par for the course w/Marriott. Fight on and you'll probably end up with $25 like I did. It's not the money though, it's the point. Either have a guarantee and follow through, or DON'T HAVE THE GUARANTEE.

fenger

That cracked me up.

fireworksboy

What a life, without a wife.

hnechets

Note to Self:

Next time you make a reservtion as a platinum, print out the confirmation showing your MR number twice.

Keep one with you, send the other to your attorney along with a copy of your profile showing that the number is yours and not your wife or s/o's.

What a shame that it comes to this...

LexPassenger

Not that I have any experience here, I've only been Plat every year since 1986 'cept one.

Used to be, Plat meant something. You got treated real nice extra special. Very few suite upgrades after the first few years, but there were a LOT of plats and golds and really, what do you do in a hotel but sleep? I don't really get the mania for suite upgrades unless your ego is a little small.

Trouble is, all the "guarantees" have meant that the heartfelt, useful extra specials for plats have diminished. The more the "gimme
'cause I'm special and you promised" mentality has taken hold, the less the "you mean something to us 'cause you stay a lot" response has obtained.

Used to be, we often got special "nices" just for the halibut. Now, we usually only get what we're "entitled".

Guess what, kiddies? What I used to get unasked is a lot more than I now get "entitled". Room switches, dessert comps, meal comps, breakfast comps, wine, brandy, discount certs, luggage handling, package reception, suite upgrades, on and on. Hardly ever, any more.

And you know who's to blame? All the entitlement-addled yahoos who demanded and complained to the rooftops until Bethesda made rules TO BE FOLLOWED by the front-line which they now usually follow to the prior-perk-dropping letter. Enjoy!

yashan

You should find out how many MR points are in your "wife's" account and combine her account with yours. After all, you are "married" to her.

dingo

Please keep us updated on this one...I'm very curious to see the outcome.

fireworksboy

I've got 5 bucks says he gets 25 dollars (maybe some points but doubtful) as compensation. Any takers out there think differently?

dingo

So I should funnel my business toward Marriott away from *Wood and Hyatt so I can be given some empty promises? That is ingenius...I think Marriott may have hired a few folks away from USAir.

My advice is bump it up higher and tell them they could save some face among FT folks if they just suck it up and honor their policies and promises.

rives21

hi gang,
thanks for the responses. i haven't received any other email feedback from marriott. but, i'm still on travel and so haven't been home to check snail mail. i'll let you know if they follow through.
all the best.

Florida Flyer

I agree that, on this one, it's about the principle. Things like this are the reason I'm THIS/CLOSE to saying goodbye and taking Hilton up on their offer of Diamond status. Heck, I'll even get a 50 percent bonus to boot, a lot nicer than Marriott's 30.

NeoOfTheCRS

Lexpassenger--I understand what you are saying, it can be a turn-off to hear gimme gimme gimme, but Marriott is receiving this feedback justifiably.

The benefits of elite are there in black and white--baked into the terms and conditions of the rewards program. I think that if anyone of us failed to honor the terms of the program we would be warned and then expelled to the Fairfield Inn in Busted Flat, Utah.

But since the benefits of elite are there in black and white--it builds up expectations that are seemingly more often than not unfulfilled. Perhaps because there is so much gray area between best available room etc. Marriott needs to enforce or clarify so we know what to expect.