C17PSGR

Which seems strange since they must be taking a hit on reservations because of the instability of the app and website.

username

What I would ask is whose decisions caused things to go this poorly (initially and the subsequent lack of communications/responsiveness) and hold those people accountable. Of course, the way things are going, I think the problem is on top and typical merger politics probably also contributed to the issues. You wonder if the truth would ever come out and probably scapegoats would be picked based on politics.

All the costs of fixing the problems have to hit their numbers. I wonder if they are seeing any impact on bookings.

Of course, we haven't seen anything yet - wait until the next devaluation!

I personally had a bunch of problems with disappearing Chase certificates that took 1 unreplied e-mail + 2 long phone calls to fix. My pre-merger SPG airline transfers have not shown up on the other end and the answer is essentially "we don't know because the airline transfer team has not told us anything". Mean while, I am less than 3 weeks from a bunch of airline miles expiring.

erog

Is it just SPG people that are unhappy or legacy Marriott members as well?
I was a lifetime Marriott member but left them because the customer service was so bad (hotels were fine). Now going back I find it even worse, maybe its because of the transition.

photaco

lol, annual fees don't wait. Marriott's inaction already sealed the answer to "hang with us" for many credit card accounts. As they probably know, Amex SPG personal cards in particular were screwed hard.

chad75

I feel like sending him a strongly worded email Fax.

username

I am lifetime PP with Marriott and lifetime Gold with SPG. The post merger problems hit me on both ends.

I have stayed with SPG a lot more in recent years because of a combination of corporate discount and better elite benefits (note: hotel quality is not one of the reasons ). The SPG Lurker Team on Flyertalk is wonderful. Marriott has been bad on FT since the EEO BOGO thing a few years ago and looks like now their customer service is completely gone.

What I can't understand is how can things be this bad....

username

If you expect any reply, don't send it through their website

X-ON

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 ..

PointWeasel

And yet this morning:

Marriott

All systems are up and running as of....26SEP2018.

Mergers like this are never, ever better for the consumer.

RogerD408

... but notice they didn't say "properly"... Marriott has very good wordsmiths that can say nothing with many many words, just read the T&Cs.

pinniped

I've been a member of both programs for many years. Been Gold/Platinum in both off and on since the early 00's.

I'm unhappy with the execution of the merger from all ends. When the terms of the merger were announced back in March or whenever it was, I was cautiously hopeful because I was originally expecting it could be much worse - a Hilton-style dynamic award scheme that effectively ended aspirational awards. At a glance, I was reasonably satisfied that the designers of the combined program were at least attempting to be fair to all. But then it became clear leading up to the merger that Marriott was in no way ready to support it, hadn't really tested anything, still had many unanswered questions, and had no customer support solutions in place at all to handle it - either before or after the merger event.

It was rushed. No one was ready. Not IT, not customer support, not the marketing people, and not really the hotels themselves.

transportprof

What is it about CEO's whose last name starts with an S?
Smisek and Sorenson seem to think alike when it comes to imagining how great life will be as a monopolist.

Seriously, I see a lot of parallels with the CO-UA merger here. It will take many years to regain the brand value that they are letting slip away each day.

itsaboutthejourney

maybe someone knows the number for his Flip-Phone?

MSPeconomist

GrandOldTurkey

A singing telegram! O'Marrott, O'Marriott, how we wish you never bought Starwood ...