Travel Package - Class Action?
Aug 21, 2018, 6:54 am
#48
Join Date: May 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: Starwood PG, Delta SkyMiles, AA/Alaska, Priority Club
Posts: 6
Not loyal
This issue is that Marriott CSRs were either purposely selling cat 6 and cat 8 hotel+air packages knowing that they would be losers with the new category map, or they were winging it and management knew they would put out a map that limits losses. That is poor customer service and borders fraud, but clearly unethical.
Aug 21, 2018, 7:04 am
#49
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,276
Aug 27, 2018, 9:50 am
#50
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 19
I've been on the phone for hours with Marriott and spoke to several supervisors. Apparently, Marriotts promise to return the extra 30k points for categories that don't exist isnt so simple.
1. You need to wait till September 18th to request a refund
2. Most rewards reps had no clue what I was talking about and kept saying that travel packages cannot be changed. You may need to jump through many hoops and call a few times till you find someone who will help you.
Additionally, Marriott is not letting you book a stay using the certificates until September 18th. I called again & again, I begged, spoke to supervisors, & spoke to elite services, no one will book a reservation using the travel packages. How can such a large company shut down for a full month without a word? They didn't shut down the ability to book a room using a credit card. How many points/certs are they writing off this month?
Marriott was very quick to respond that they will refund the points and customers can now use their travel packages. That was in fact complete lie made to the public!
1. You need to wait till September 18th to request a refund
2. Most rewards reps had no clue what I was talking about and kept saying that travel packages cannot be changed. You may need to jump through many hoops and call a few times till you find someone who will help you.
Additionally, Marriott is not letting you book a stay using the certificates until September 18th. I called again & again, I begged, spoke to supervisors, & spoke to elite services, no one will book a reservation using the travel packages. How can such a large company shut down for a full month without a word? They didn't shut down the ability to book a room using a credit card. How many points/certs are they writing off this month?
Marriott was very quick to respond that they will refund the points and customers can now use their travel packages. That was in fact complete lie made to the public!
Aug 27, 2018, 10:31 am
#51
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: MR-Amb, Hyatt-Globalist, AA-EXP
Posts: 1,744
I've been on the phone for hours with Marriott and spoke to several supervisors. Apparently, Marriotts promise to return the extra 30k points for categories that don't exist isnt so simple.
1. You need to wait till September 18th to request a refund
2. Most rewards reps had no clue what I was talking about and kept saying that travel packages cannot be changed. You may need to jump through many hoops and call a few times till you find someone who will help you.
Additionally, Marriott is not letting you book a stay using the certificates until September 18th. I called again & again, I begged, spoke to supervisors, & spoke to elite services, no one will book a reservation using the travel packages. How can such a large company shut down for a full month without a word? They didn't shut down the ability to book a room using a credit card. How many points/certs are they writing off this month?
Marriott was very quick to respond that they will refund the points and customers can now use their travel packages. That was in fact complete lie made to the public!
1. You need to wait till September 18th to request a refund
2. Most rewards reps had no clue what I was talking about and kept saying that travel packages cannot be changed. You may need to jump through many hoops and call a few times till you find someone who will help you.
Additionally, Marriott is not letting you book a stay using the certificates until September 18th. I called again & again, I begged, spoke to supervisors, & spoke to elite services, no one will book a reservation using the travel packages. How can such a large company shut down for a full month without a word? They didn't shut down the ability to book a room using a credit card. How many points/certs are they writing off this month?
Marriott was very quick to respond that they will refund the points and customers can now use their travel packages. That was in fact complete lie made to the public!
I can't understand why they would go through with "merging" the programs until all the hotels could be combined onto the same reservations platform. Maintaining two systems in the backgrounds is making everything a huge mess, and I don't think anyone was complaining about the status quo.
Aug 27, 2018, 10:56 am
#52
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Post merger & acquisition threads about class actions, fraud, and the like are common. This one is no different. The fact is that courts in the US, EU member states, much of Asia and elsewhere, routinely uphold program terms such as Marriott's and the occasions when they don't tend to be non-precedential one-offs.
On the social media side, most people believe that points, miles and other rewards are freebies and are happy to get what is given. A bunch of people talking to themselves won't generate significant brand damage and certainly not more than is built into the deal.
Why? Marriott's HVC's are large corporate interests with negotiated deals. Experience shows that for all the people who threaten to jump ship and for those who do, there are folks in other programs having a tough go over something else who are taking their business to Marriott.
Bottom line is that all of this chatter is built into the transaction cost and has been paid for already.
On the social media side, most people believe that points, miles and other rewards are freebies and are happy to get what is given. A bunch of people talking to themselves won't generate significant brand damage and certainly not more than is built into the deal.
Why? Marriott's HVC's are large corporate interests with negotiated deals. Experience shows that for all the people who threaten to jump ship and for those who do, there are folks in other programs having a tough go over something else who are taking their business to Marriott.
Bottom line is that all of this chatter is built into the transaction cost and has been paid for already.
Aug 27, 2018, 2:49 pm
#53
Join Date: Apr 2004
Programs: AA plt 2 mm, Marriott LTT, HH dia
Posts: 1,215
Post merger & acquisition threads about class actions, fraud, and the like are common. This one is no different. The fact is that courts in the US, EU member states, much of Asia and elsewhere, routinely uphold program terms such as Marriott's and the occasions when they don't tend to be non-precedential one-offs.
On the social media side, most people believe that points, miles and other rewards are freebies and are happy to get what is given. A bunch of people talking to themselves won't generate significant brand damage and certainly not more than is built into the deal.
Why? Marriott's HVC's are large corporate interests with negotiated deals. Experience shows that for all the people who threaten to jump ship and for those who do, there are folks in other programs having a tough go over something else who are taking their business to Marriott.
Bottom line is that all of this chatter is built into the transaction cost and has been paid for already.
On the social media side, most people believe that points, miles and other rewards are freebies and are happy to get what is given. A bunch of people talking to themselves won't generate significant brand damage and certainly not more than is built into the deal.
Why? Marriott's HVC's are large corporate interests with negotiated deals. Experience shows that for all the people who threaten to jump ship and for those who do, there are folks in other programs having a tough go over something else who are taking their business to Marriott.
Bottom line is that all of this chatter is built into the transaction cost and has been paid for already.
If there is a class action lawsuit, the lawyers will get a big chunk of any settlement, and it could take years to reach that settlement. There won't be much left for the litigants. In my opinion, it is better to wait until September and calmly contact Marriott to try to work something out first.
People here have a right to be angry. There just aren't a lot of good options right now. If the situation is bad enough, then leave Marriott. An identity thief called both Hilton and Holiday Inn years ago, and talked the phone agents into redeeming a bunch of points from my account. I sent both hotel chains copies of the police report for the identity theft. Hilton made it right. Holiday Inn did not. I no longer stay at IHG hotels. I do stay at Hiltons. However, I didn't sue.
Aug 27, 2018, 4:44 pm
#54
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YYZ
Programs: Ex-Bonvoyed, Hyatt, Hilton, BR, AC, AA
Posts: 1,298
Small claim court is a much better option than class action. If you self-represent you get back almost everything, including disbursements, and for Marriott it's not worth sending a lawyer to handle these cases as they would cost more than representation, so you usually just win by default.
If lots of Marriott elites do it, it will actually hurt Marriott and they can't do much about it (and unlike class actions, they must fight each small claim individually, which is extremely costly).
If lots of Marriott elites do it, it will actually hurt Marriott and they can't do much about it (and unlike class actions, they must fight each small claim individually, which is extremely costly).
Aug 27, 2018, 4:51 pm
#55
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
The main people that profit from class action suits like this are the lawyers. I have gotten notices of class actions about other rewards programs in the past. My portion of the settlement was tiny. I am talking about $20 or less. It wasn't even worth the time to fill out the paperwork.