Marriott CEO Asks Unhappy Members To Hold Tight, Platform Is Stabilized
Oct 1, 2018, 11:19 am
#31
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Oct 1, 2018, 1:46 pm
#33
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I am still missing one of my reservations from my Starwood account. They assure me it is there, I just can’t see it on the Marriott app. And it’s part of my honeymoon so no sweat, right?
I am uncertain what my lifetime status should be. No one seems to be able to give me a straight answer.
I am uncertain what my lifetime status should be. No one seems to be able to give me a straight answer.
Oct 1, 2018, 2:11 pm
#34
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I am still missing one of my reservations from my Starwood account. They assure me it is there, I just can’t see it on the Marriott app. And it’s part of my honeymoon so no sweat, right?
I am uncertain what my lifetime status should be. No one seems to be able to give me a straight answer.
I am uncertain what my lifetime status should be. No one seems to be able to give me a straight answer.
Oct 1, 2018, 3:32 pm
#35
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Oct 1, 2018, 4:02 pm
#36
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Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson was in the back row of an early-morning shuttle from New York to Boston in early August when he found himself in the middle of a debate. Also on the flight was the writer of an article for Bloomberg Businessweek about how the Marriott-Starwood merger was creating fear in points-obsessed travelers. As it turned out, actual points-obsessed travelers were there too.
Oct 1, 2018, 5:10 pm
#37
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Not only the website and mobile apps but even the property management system (PMS). Even PM-SPG employees don't understand why Marriott didn't go with Starwood's newer PMS instead of the Marriott's PMS which is over 40 years old.
Oct 1, 2018, 5:55 pm
#38
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I don't know anything about either system but I'd be willing to wager a wooden nickel that the Marriott PMS is cheaper.
Oct 1, 2018, 7:53 pm
#39
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I was talking to a manager at the front desk of a Sheraton recently, who asked me how I thought the merger was going. I said I didn't like it, and he said the same -- that the Marriott system is far inferior to the SPG system. It sounded like he had been told that it would be easier to convert ~1,200 Starwood hotels to the Marriott system than to convert ~4,000 Marriott hotels to the Starwood system. Penny wise pound foolish.
Oct 1, 2018, 10:30 pm
#40
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My office has primarily booked Marriott properties over the past 10 years for a variety of reasons, usually location & consistency of the properties. From a Marriott-centric customer, this transition has been dreadful. When I've got an exec breathing down my neck, wanting to know where they're staying tomorrow, and they want to know NOW, if Marriott.com is down, I'm booking Hyatt/Hilton/IHG. Waiting 40+ minutes on Marriott's 800# isn't an option. I've booked more non-Marriott nights for our office this year than I have in the past 10 years. Worse for Marriott, this has been a record year for hotel stays/nights/expenditures for our office.
Even before the transition, Marriott's website and customer service had been declining. Over the past 12 months this decline has just accelerated, with customer (dis)service being unreachable and often unhelpful when we are able to reach them. Their website's gotten progressively worse in loss of functionality, worse UI, and reliability in that time, and that's BEFORE the merger.
Having done some brief Googling, it seems that Marriott's IT department has been trying to decommission MARSHA and go to an Open-Source platform...with one of the main reasons stated as being low/no cost software. I have no problem with open source software -- the entire back-end off my office runs on open source software and platforms. BUT, the axiom still holds true: Fast, Cheap, Better. Pick two. I suspect Marriott tried to pick all three and bit off more than they could chew, which explains the problems we saw with the Marriott systems over the past 24 months. To add insult to injury, they added the merger to this already unstable mess.
The real crime has been the complete lack of communication/acknowledgement from Marriott about problems. I've even spoken with some of the higher-level customer service people and they sound surprised when I tell them about problems I'm having. They've been pleasant to talk with, BUT seem powerless to change anything or relay up to the execs just how bad things are.
Even before the transition, Marriott's website and customer service had been declining. Over the past 12 months this decline has just accelerated, with customer (dis)service being unreachable and often unhelpful when we are able to reach them. Their website's gotten progressively worse in loss of functionality, worse UI, and reliability in that time, and that's BEFORE the merger.
Having done some brief Googling, it seems that Marriott's IT department has been trying to decommission MARSHA and go to an Open-Source platform...with one of the main reasons stated as being low/no cost software. I have no problem with open source software -- the entire back-end off my office runs on open source software and platforms. BUT, the axiom still holds true: Fast, Cheap, Better. Pick two. I suspect Marriott tried to pick all three and bit off more than they could chew, which explains the problems we saw with the Marriott systems over the past 24 months. To add insult to injury, they added the merger to this already unstable mess.
The real crime has been the complete lack of communication/acknowledgement from Marriott about problems. I've even spoken with some of the higher-level customer service people and they sound surprised when I tell them about problems I'm having. They've been pleasant to talk with, BUT seem powerless to change anything or relay up to the execs just how bad things are.
Oct 2, 2018, 1:24 am
#41
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Is this guy for real 1M+ to obtain a stable system? Just think this would have been bank, credit card or manged private bank accounts instead?.... Truly a low bar on ETA and expected functionality...This merger have been mismanaged not only on the IT front. As an example look how MAR changed the T&C for SPG brg without ensuring that the legacy SPG team employed the same practice as their MR counter parts. There seems to be a very low or totally missing emphasis on details. A lot of general mangers making crucial decisions with no knowledge of the core problems...Amateur Hour ..
1. They should issue a 9 digit numbers (aka new Marriott account) prior to 18-Aug.
2. From 18-Aug, all stay posting should go to 9 digits number, aka there is no more posting into SPG accounts.
This will make it clean on what they need to migrate from SPG into MR is only up to 17-Aug
I do not see why technically the existing MR members should get impacted.
I think the choice of 18-Aug-2018 (18.08.2018) is probably not a good number for them
Oct 2, 2018, 2:06 am
#42
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8s are a lucky number in China... I would not be surprised if someone chose that date as a nod to growth in China without thinking through if they were ready to go.
Half of their CS issues would never have existed if they just did integration on Jan 1. I bet more than 50% of CS questions have to deal w status and stuff wrought about by changes
Half of their CS issues would never have existed if they just did integration on Jan 1. I bet more than 50% of CS questions have to deal w status and stuff wrought about by changes
Oct 2, 2018, 5:34 am
#44
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Marriott lost $3,000 of my hotel bookings that went to other hotel brands during the mess that was the transition because I could not trust that they would fix the wrong status (PP vs PPE).
Oct 2, 2018, 9:40 am
#45
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8s are a lucky number in China... I would not be surprised if someone chose that date as a nod to growth in China without thinking through if they were ready to go.
Half of their CS issues would never have existed if they just did integration on Jan 1. I bet more than 50% of CS questions have to deal w status and stuff wrought about by changes
Half of their CS issues would never have existed if they just did integration on Jan 1. I bet more than 50% of CS questions have to deal w status and stuff wrought about by changes
I have a few problems but the least of my worry was the initial incorrect status. Maybe they are targeting 4 months to clean things up
