Elite Benefits Guarantee contradiction from website & hotel for CY
 

According to the online Elite Benefits Guarantee website: https://www.marriott.com/marriott-re...s/guarantee.mi
Courtyards in the US are supposed to give you 400 points AND a f&b amenity, or customers get $50 compensation.

At check-in, I wasn't offered anything, so in the morning I requested compensation. The manager told me that it was 500 points OR f&b voucher. He handed me a printout showing that was the case for Courtyards. I showed him the website and he didn't care.

So which is it? The website or the hotel printout? With the contradiction, it seems that if either of them were not met, then the guarantee should apply.

Manager is being cute. He's showing you what you are supposed to be offered at checkin. You're showing him the guarantee and what you get if the property fails to offer you your choice at checkin. Since you say nothing was offered at checkin, the guarantee applies and you get compensation as set forth in the guarantee. Remember, you must claim before leaving property.

Yeah probably that too, but my main comment is that the website says it should be points **AND** f&b, but he showed me a paper saying **OR** so there is a contradiction, so what's a customer supposed to do?

The only ones that can answer this question would be MPG, we only have observations or opinion. But from what you've stated is they offered neither so no question the guarantee should kick in. Again, you may need to have MPG step in on your behalf.

I have invoked this twice now due to property incompetence.

The Marriott Mexico City Reforma (awful property, with terrible management team) and the Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC (a borderline dump).

Somehow I still don't think these Amenity issues will ever be solved at these 2 properties.

The claim does not have to be done before departure from the property, both were done post-stay in my case.

did you get the guarantee from general marriott support? or was it contacting the property directly after

You need to make the request with the property BEFORE you check out.

Over a month in and this is another area where IT hasn't updated this part of the website.
8/18 did change Courtyard from points & market item to points or $10 food credit but multiple areas of marriott.com still show the previous plat arrival gift
Hotels should still honor what is publicly shown on the website IMO but I have not had much luck myself.

This is the paper that hotels were sent for the new arrival gift terms
https://members.marriott.com/wp-cont...ift_Final2.pdf

It sounds like both of them were not met, so a moot point regarding your specific discussion with the manager for this stay.

That page you are referring to is from the Legacy MR Program which had the Platinum gift that you are describing. If you look at the page, you'll see that there is no mention of any SPG properties and Resorts are excluded from Breakfast options. There are still old program pages around which is what people are using to see their MR Lifetime points but if I look at the current site and click on the benefits and then terms & conditions, the Courtyard is 500 points or f&b voucher. That is definitely what we were offered at our most recent Courtyard stay in early September.

The new pages have "loyalty" in the URL. Clicking on the links in the latest marriott site, I can find this page: Search for "Platinum Elite Welcome Gift Choice" which is a little more than half way down the page.

The link you posted shows the benefits and guarantees before August 18, 2018. You probably found the obsolete page with Google, not with a link from the current Marriott.com website. Marriott should delete it.

Beginning August 18, 2018, the Welcome Gift for Platinum Elite (and higher) members at AC Hotels and Courtyard (U.S & Canada) changed.

— Before August 18, 2018: 400 bonus points AND a Food or Beverage Amenity. At AC Hotels, the F & B Amenity tended to be a single &10 F & B credit per stay. At Courtyard, the F & B Amenity tended to be a single item from the market pantry, such as a bottle of iced tea or an ice cream bar.

— Beginning August 2018: 500 bonus points OR $10 F&B credit for member + 1 guest, daily. The new Welcome Gift is a big improvement, especially when it's a multi-night stay and/or there's second guest in the room.

So if a hotel forgets to tell me about my welcome platinum amenity I get compensation if I claim it before check out. Will I still get the welcome amenity and compensation or can I only claim compensation? Doesn't say anything in the terms.

You are entitled to both. That said, I tend to be lenient on claiming the compensation as long as the property makes the appropriate effort to recover and it has otherwise been a good stay. E.g. they are apologetic and post the platinum amenity immediately when reminded. The net result is I have never claimed the compensation though one or two properties gave it to me anyway (e.g. fully acknowledged their mistake including giving the compensation).

On a semi-related note, I have had a few terrible stays. We all eventually do if you're on the road enough. However, for those stays the platinum welcome amenity was handled correctly, so even though I would have been tempted to push a claim for the amenity compensation from them, I didn't have grounds to do so. I still could push for compensation for the issue(s) regardless. In general, I only tend to do that very rarely as well. If the property doesn't offer up appropriate compensation when the issue is raised (and fix the issue when possible), I just vote with my wallet and don't go back to that property. Each to their own....

--Jon

Reading the follow on posts, no, OP was not entitled to both (under the old rules, yes, new rules no). But the issue remains that they failed to offer either so the guarantee should kick in. Some properties will say they have until you check out to offer the PAG (which I don't believe is the case), but that means if you bring it up before you check out, like you should, they can then turn around and offer points at that time and meet the rules. Well...

More Marriott wiggle room.

Thanks for this concise summary.

If a property does not honour the amenity guarantee (i.e. offered neither bonus points nor F&B credit), after check out what is the preferred channel for seeking recourse? Contact hotel or email marriottrewards@marriott?