C17PSGR

As I mentioned, I was surprised when I submitted it to the website and received a response from my ambassador. I'm hoping that means that things are getting settled.

That being said, I suppose I submitted it to the website rather than the ambassador perhaps because I thought an ambassador's time might be better utilized doing things more like BHR's ambassador

RogerD408

Hmmm, at bit disturbed by the claim no contact info. Don't they have access to our member profiles? Doesn't that have telephone numbers and email addresses? Were they looking for fax numbers? Maybe we need to tell them only snail mail to communicate with us members. The increase in postage costs will flip out the bean counters in control.

MSPeconomist

hockeyinsider

After 2 1/2 months I finally received an email from the ambassador assigned to me. Of course, he hasn't called me during the three times I said he could call me to introduce himself. Meanwhile, another ambassador that picked up when I called the general ambassador telephone line has been very helpful and been working with me via email since my assigned ambassador is missing-in-action.

puddy

Agreed. I found this hard to believe as well. I don't blame the Ambassadors. My feeling is it's just poor execution by Marriott management given that it's legacy SPG program.

C17PSGR

Not quite. Marriott had an Ambassador program before 8/18. Members were selected by Marriott based on unpublished criteria (in my case I have been legacy Plat Premier for too many years to count). The SPG program was easier to qualify for so they had more ambassadors. It's my understanding that the ambassador program is under David Flueck so your explanation isn't entirely right. My legacy Marriott ambassador retired shortly after the merge and I went two to three weeks before a new one was assigned but since then I haven't had any problems.

I believe based on postings here that there are US based ambassadors in Omaha, Kansas City, Austin, Boston, and Salt Lake City. By and large, its the same people doing the same thing.

But part of your explanation -- poor execution in merging systems -- makes sense. There were lots of people who suddenly qualified because of the combined 100 nights ... some turnover in ambassadors although its hard to see if that's anything more than normal turnover.

Still ... Mr. Flueck appears to have spent a lot of time on program design but execution does not appear to have been his strong spot. He failed to recognize that some of the best customers might have some concerns. He failed to recognize that some franchisees might blow off program changes or even resist. I remain surprised that there hasn't been an email or outreach to those of us who stay 100 nights or more in Starriott properties.

hockeyinsider

Making it worse are the public statements by Marriott's chief executive officer that indicate the CEO looks down upon the company's most frequent and best customers, many of whom have expressed constructive criticisms and offered countless ideas for fixes and improvements. When the CEO doesn't think there's a problem then it's no wonder that those further down the management line in Marriott don't seem bothered by all the issues and problems.

Where are we going to go? Hilton? Hyatt? IHG? Hyatt is the only one with a viable alternative in terms of concrete elite benefits, but they don't have the properties for most of us.

bhrubin

C17PSGR

Most of the complaints about ambassador responsiveness in this thread are from people with ambassadors from the legacy SPG program so it can't be "pre-merge Marriott “Ambassadors” now having to function like their pre-merge SPG Ambassador peers despite the obvious lack of experience."

My pre-merge Marriott Ambassador is fine and acting consistent with the vast majority of experiences in the legacy SPG ambassador thread. I did have a three week gap between ambassadors but there has been no problem.

I raised questions earlier regarding location. If ambassadors are in Massachusetts, Kansas, or Texas or Europe/Asia, they are from the legacy SPG program not Marriott.

You raise valid points about the IT infrastructure. I don't know whether the person driving that is a legacy SPG or legacy MR person.

I think people can also raise valid points about Mr. Flueck's leadership ... since you'd think he would have known that (a) there would be new members with ambassadors who would need people assigned, (b) the SPG properties would be continuing to operate on a platform that provided limited information regarding status, and (c) the program needed to keep their best customers happy.

UA-NYC

You must be reading a different thread than I am....while the legacy SPG Ambassadors have all been a mixed bag, people are complaining in this thread about 1) not getting assigned an Ambassador (assuming mostly legacy Marriott people just getting one for the first time), or 2) assigned one but never hearing from them, or 3) sending requests to the new Ambassador and never hearing back.

C17PSGR

The most recent posts -- 1053 and 1060, for example, are both discussing legacy SPG ambassadors .....and those concerns about never hearing back.

stant

As I mentioned in a post in this thread a week or two ago I have not been able to reach my ambassador ONCE since the merger, at least never on the phone. I was having a problem making a booking at a particular property (turned out it was an it issue from switching their system over) so I call in to my ambassador and get put in the line to reach the next available ambassador. The guy i talked to was really helpful, called the property, called me right back with answers for me, and most importantly, actually picked up the phone when I called him back. So We are talking a little bit about the list of things I was waiting for *my* ambassador to do and he asks me if there was anything else I needed. I jokingly said 'yeah, switch me from my current ambassador to you'. He sheepishly admitted that this was not really condoned, but that he had no way of topping me if I would respond to one of his emails with exactly such a request - and typically said requests are honored.

Simple as that I have a new ambassador who actually is reachable on the phone AND gets stuff done for me. I know others have always said that it was the luck of the draw with who you got assigned to, but with the way my experience went downhill after aug 18th, I assumed it was all because of the merger. Now I see what having someone helpful at starriot is like and i'm really impressed. I went out of my way to tell him I didnt need a lot of hand holding BUT that a stay in london coming up before christmas was to celebrate a 10 year anniversary, so lets see if he goes above and beyond. Given his performance thus far I'm expecting nothing less than tea with the queen...

puddy

Yeah, I know about the Marriott program, but didn't really factor that in due to it being undefined/unpublished.

I don't know anything about locations, but my ambassador comes from SPG and is based in Ontario. I figured she worked from home, but based on this thread I guess not?

C17PSGR

I believe the ambassadors often work from home as they tend to be more experience. My ambassador, for example, has an Omaha phone number but definitely doesn't live there.

As a general rule, it seems legacy SPG folks continue to be served by legacy SPG ambassadors. I haven't seen any complaints in this thread about Omaha based ambassadors .... but maybe I've missed them. I think that is because SPG had movement between people who gained/loss ambassadors while Marriott didn't take away an ambassador once you had them,

hockeyinsider

I had an agent from Sarnia, Ontario, who answered the platinum premier number when I called Wednesday of last week. She even asked why I didn't call the ambassador line. I said I've been an ambassador since August but have never been contacted. She gave me the number, but then proceeded to spend 30 minutes helping me with a couple of complex issues relating to missing points, etc.

I then called the ambassador line, spoke a helpful gentleman from Omaha who gave me the contact information for the ambassador assigned to me. I emailed my ambassador, who was based in Austin, and received a response the following morning, Thursday. He asked when he could call me. I gave him times for later that day and the following day, but, of course, he never called and never responded to email.

Meanwhile, the ambassador who answered the line when I first called, the Omaha fellow, has twice followed up with me. Once to see if my ambassador responded and twice to see about helping me with my upcoming stays. If my ambassador, who I presume is legacy SPG since he is based in Austin, doesn't respond by the close of business today I'm going to either call and ask for a supervisor or ask the Omaha fellow to be my ambassador since he seems to actually care.

I don't expect much out of ambassador because most of my stays are work stays are at domestic properties that are hardly aspirational. I suspect the most I could get out of an airport Marriott or airport Sheraton is maybe a bottle of cheap Andre sparkling wine. On Friday, I did tell the Omaha ambassador temporarily helping me that my suite night award certificates hadn't yet cleared for the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House, noting this was a "special" trip for me. He said he would see what he could do. They cleared last night and now I have a premium park suite, the highest category of suite available with the certificate at this particular property and, overall, the second-highest category of suites the hotel has in its inventory. The suite has a fireplace in the living room, a separate bedroom, a huge bathroom, and what looks like a balcony or terrace.