DJ_Iceman

And they were a full-service Marriott before that. I don't know how much of the management or staff were around that long, but there should be some people there who are indeed familiar with Marriott policies and procedures.

As for the guarantee, saying they "lied" about Delta not participating in the guarantee is a stretch. I think it's more likely (as you yourself said) that the people you spoke with are simply not familiar with Marriott elite benefits. Once corrected, I would have preferred they apologized and offered you the guarantee but the bottom line is that a thousand or two thousand points is better than the 500 you would have gotten.

SkiAdcock

However, the $100 penalty is there so the hotels do follow procedure. It's a $100 lesson for the GM of the property (who, presumably has gone through some Marriott training).

Cheers.

sammyindc

If the property just transitioned over to Marriott Rewards and rebranded as a Delta hotel I would give them some slack. Can't expect the staff to know the policies right away.

dgreen12

Corporate Marriott doesn't given an exception to newly-flagged properties.

It's a potentially expensive learning curve.

Mr. Vker

They were a non-Marriott property for several years in between. 3-4 IIRC There still could be some overlap, but it wasn't a direct transition.

chix

I understand what you are saying about they "lied". Let's just say their management team was disrespectful about all benefits from the top down.

They could care less about the truth and what the Platinum benefits are.

Their true colors came out when they said, you got a room upgrade and now you want this? And tried to find a scapegoat to get out of it.

chix

I tried really hard to cut them some slack at first, but their attitude was terrible.

They were extremely accusatory and adamant that I was wrong and they were right.

At the end of it, they tried to get out of it again this morning, and would not let it go because of their poor attitude and unwillingness to learn that the customer just may be right here.

They paid it out this morning claiming they had no knowledge that guest relations discussed it last night.

I wasted another hour of my time after the customer relations rep was 100% in agreement that they were wrong and I had proof.

They would not pay it out until I had them take over my phone and listen to the rep and we emailed them the link.

Absolutely Horrible lack of knowledge and know how as to how to treat customers.

chix

Evidently it's been a Delta for a few months now. They should know procedure by now and care about listening to a customer.

SkiAdcock

Oh good grief re: the first & agree re: the second.

Cheers.

RogerD408

Chix,

Glad you stuck with it. I'm sure it will be a conversation or two in the next staff meeting and the GM may have some 'splain'n to do. I find most FDCs and some FDMs are not well versed in their loyalty program (not limited to MR).

As I have explained a few times to our customers (back in the day), they get a lot more time to work on a problem before reporting to us and we have to move to a new problem with the next phone call. We need them to let us know what quirks aren't working. It's not possible to do exhaustive testing before release. We have the luxury to drill down on each component and work them to our benefit.

Thanks for posting the outcome. You might want to post a review in the property specific thread too so someone else staying there might see it and report back if they've learned their lesson.

chix

Hi Roger,

You made me feel much better after an exhausting and stressful event both last night and then had to repeat it again this morning because the night manager had a power trip and did not want to believe me and was adamant to not pay it out.

I am in sales and know what a good customer experience is all about.

When I am on the reverse side and get to be the customer and experience a major failure, I do not let down on getting the attention of management.

The GM never even took the time to call me back and apologize for his staff that they made mistakes. Given that, I am certain that he is mad that his staff was forced to pay out the guarantee and that I invoked it to begin with. They all felt that I was given enough with a room upgrade.

Management at this property is terrible and I will post a review here and on TripAdvisor so more people will know.

I am still super disappointed that management at this property still thinks they were right and think I am a jerk for proving them wrong.

dgreen12

Perhaps Marriott Plat Flyertalkers in the area can arrange for a mini-DO at the facility, use BRGs to cut down the room rate, then all claim compensation for failure to provide the welcome gift.

DJ_Iceman

Sorry, chix, that sounds like a terrible stay. I can tolerate honest mistakes, but certainly not a guest-hostile attitude. Thanks for sharing your experience--now I know one hotel that won't be getting any of my business in the future!

chix

Thank you Iceman, yeah, nothing genuine and friendly about the attitude of the staff here. One would think they would want to put the customer first. Especially a Platinum.

elephentravels

Stayed at Renaissance Johor Bahru over 2 weeks ago, but no points and PAG added to my account yet. Is there a way to get the platinum guarantee?