SkiAdcock

This was post #289 in the BOGO sticky & everyone might not be reading that right now. So I decided to highlight it in a separate thread because they're asking for our input for the next 30 days.

You can post in this thread or others, but I strongly encourage you to post in the group/conversation they'll be monitoring at Insiders.

"In the olden days (8 or so years ago), manual systems were employed to send BOGO coupons to you via direct mail, which you used at the front desk during check-in after calling a reservation agent to book your reservation. Then about five years ago, we moved the delivery method online via marriott.com, however no other element of the process was automated.

This has caused a lot of issues: for members – your ability to use BOGOs is clunky, manual and availability is haphazard; for hotels – there is a large incidence of fraudulent activity and an inconsistent on-property experience; and for the program – there is no ability to track the value or the who/what/when/where of the promotion. Hardly the experience we had in mind.

Many of you have voiced your opinion – enough to validate the popularity of the BOGO offer, so thanks for your support in that area!

We’ve tried various fixes to the BOGO process while keeping the offer in-market, to no avail. Now we’re enduring your disappointment - and our embarrassment - by suspending the promotion. We’re hopeful that a proper solution can be identified. We wish there had been a better way.

I oversee the team responsible for BOGO. If you are interested in continuing the dialogue directly with me, a special group has been set up on Insiders specifically for this topic. http://www.rewards-insiders.marriott...o-conversation For the next thirty days this area will be set aside for the conversation.

-MichelleL
__________________
Marriott Concierge Team
[email protected] "

BTW - I call BS on some of the above & will be indicating so when I join the group.

If the hotels didn't know how to process BOGOs, it's because Marriott did a crap job of training their people on how to do so. But the question is why it's an issue. BOGOs are BOGOs, whether they arrive in the mail or via email. The program itself didn't change in 8 years.

Also I don't understand the comment re availability being haphazard. The BOGOs were available during a pre-determined period(s) of time during the year. One had to print out the cert & bring it with to present at check-in. The only difference between now & 8 years ago is that the certs were mailed then & electronic now.

Not to point out the obvious, but if Marriott is concerned about eBay sales they can monitor eBay re: what's being sold - and even buy some of them. The member's elite # is on the cert; they could then lock the elite's account.

I value my airline/hotel programs too much to take a chance on selling something & possibly having my account locked.

Or they can make the certs non-transferable like they do w/ the Cat 1-4 certs.

If they are thinking of limiting them to 1 per person (bad idea IMO), then they need to make them available internationally again as well as open up the domestic markets they shut out.

And what's with not being able to track the who/what/when/where - the program has defined dates, Marriott can certainly track when/what/where the certs are being used & by whom, just as presumably they did in the years when the certs were manual (and also transferable, lest we forget).

Again, I encourage my fellow FTers to join/register/log-in & provide your input to Michelle. We've got a 30-day window!

Cheers.

LKO

Thanks for the info & link Sharon!

I agree with everything you posted regarding the EEO certificates. Marriott didn't do their job of training the hotels how to process them. Numerous times the front desk agent would look so puzzled when I handed them one. Sometimes they would stop to read the entire thing, then go get someone to help them. It was very frustrating to use them, but it didn't need to be. I always followed the steps exactly, but Marriott didn't train their people about this benefit.

Mr. Vker

Thank you. Just added my two cents.

imverge

Done! Thanks for the heads up!

SkiAdcock

I hope a lot of the folk who post in this forum will sign up/login & provide feedback. It's our chance to let Marriott know our thoughts - and options for the future since it doesn't seem they've set the 2012 BOGO policy in place.

It's not often they proactively ask us for our input, so let's provide it!

PS - It goes without saying that we should be polite & respectful in our posts.

And for those who have booked nights at other chains due to the BOGO disappearing I think you need to point that out.

Cheers.

dan1431

I found the BOGOs hard to use and had stopped using them (some time ago) because the hotels that I stayed generally did not accept them.

In my experience once a benefit is removed (international hotels, limited domestic hotels, etc.) very rarely are they (the removed benefits) re-instated.

I am really unsure what Marriott can do at this point, my only guess is that they are going to make them a one-click and they are gone kind of thing.

I have started to use the BOGO Restaurant coupon more in recent years as the excluded hotels are few and far between and the coupons are accepted at many good restaurants that are located in Marriott hotels.

Dan

pinniped

Generic question: how was there an incidence of fraudulent activity with the mailed paper certificates? Were hotel employees pilfering them and distributing them to friends or something? Those were color certificates and heavy paper stock...I seriously doubt there was a big counterfeiting operation going on.

Even with the emailed ones where you could obviously print the certificate many times, it was never clear to me whether that was prohibited, frowned upon, acceptable, or downright encouraged by Marriott. At some point in the e-BOGO history, I maybe did 2 Marriotts in a single quarter once. I averaged 1 Marriott a quarter and maybe 1 Renaissance a year. But even if I had used one a weekend, the very restrictions on the certificate itself prevent me from using it at the most desirable properties. Nearly all of my uses of the cert were in places where it's a half-empty hotel on the weekend. Typically my total BOGO cost was about the cost of two Priceline nights anyway. Basically the BOGO was good to earn 1 EQN and the associated Marriott points with one paid night.

Really? What fixes? What was the underlying problem? People redeeming massive amounts of BOGO's?

+1. Major training issue - we all saw it frequently at the hotels. BOGO's, Bonus Bucks, Premium Pounds, the long-running HPR promo, etc. - some (not all) front desks at full-service Marriotts were severely undertrained at how to handle all of these.

I suppose with the emailed certificates, because one could theoretically print and sell an unlimited number of them on eBay, Marriott has a good reason to try to prevent that. Part of me bristles at how much some companies try to intervene in (non-copyright-infringing) aftermarkets for their products. But it's hard to take the side of a user selling e-certificate screenshots...to me, it becomes a similar argument to copyright infringement.

Ditto. I don't always agree with the travel providers or the other marketplaces who seem to be afraid of their lawyers, but it's not a risk I'd take with my own miles or points.

Agree with all of that. If they're going to take a step back, I hope they restore some of the things they've taken away from us over the years. The nontransferrability thing wouldn't bother me...I'd trade that for usability in more places.

*sigh* Okay, I'll go provide an earful over there...

SkiAdcock

Thank you! Since they set up the conversation over there, they're going to monitor that more than individual threads on FT.

Cheers.

bigguyinpasadena

Sharon-thanks so much for posting this in a seperate post ^
I jumped through all of the(many)hoops Marriott's marketing folks put up in order to post in this special group. I also linked back to the discussion here so that there can be a wider audience without a 30 day window.

BTW-I was polite in my posting "over there"

Mr. Vker

I saw you over there! I am Tker on Marriott Insider. Wouldn't take Mr. Vker.

bigguyinpasadena

Well I will be interested in the discussion both there and here.
I like the Handle Mr.Vker-wonder why it did not tke

SkiAdcock

I'm going to suggest this thread as one of the threads that gets posted in the TalkMail newsletter, which comes out November 15th. That should increase the visibility and direct people to the Insiders conversation page.

We have a limited timeframe to provide direct feedback & get the BOGOs back on track in a way that meets elites' needs. We don't need 'enhancements' w/o input.

Again, I hope my fellow Marriott FTers will join the conversation.

Cheers.

sophiegirl

Posted.

And is it only me that finds their format very unfriendly to less frequent posters?

As well as the fact that the 3 of us who have posted all ended up in different "discussions"?

Mr. Vker

It didn't like the punctuation. I chose Mr. Vker on FT because my wife is Vker. So I took couldn't do that on the other board. The discussions should be fun!

living near shamu

What about MisterVker? Mr(period)Vker? MrVker? SeñorVker? TheVker? Lol