Entirely possible. You also fail to address my point: that one shouldn't need to jump through endless hoops to confirm something that should ostensibly be seamless. And why give MR IT the benefit of the doubt at this point?

Because Marriott IT currently is a cluster & that's not news to anyone who's on FT, that would be one very strong reason why the OP should have quadruple checked everything rather than making a reservation (that he may or may not have actually made; we'll never know if it was user or IT error at this point) & heading off overseas w/o knowing if it was really a done deal rather than blithely assuming it was all ok.

Over the many years I've traveled I've assumed the reservations (whether any airline or any hotel, again not specific to MAR) were ok, but I always made sure I put (back then paper/now digital) back-up documentation where I could access it if there was/is a problem at check-in. The airline/hotel/car rental/train system should run smoothly when reservations are made, but just in case I take responsibility for my own reservations & have the back-up documentation I need.

Cheers.

The exec was possibly speaking out of school, or without full knowledge. It's way messier than this. Although when Marriott has acquired chains or added them (or SPG for that matter) by absorbing them and dumping them into the program as-is, you've seen no issues. But that was never going to happen here, which leaves us where we are.

I always confirm by Fax and Telex with Marriott... they are not yet in the internet age.

True. But customers are quick to blame the company because:

A) There are many who are experiencing their own unique set of I.T./account issues with Marriott. But more importantly
B) There is a gradual erosion of trust and confidence when these people feel there is just a deafening silence from the company's side. And the fact that we have to screen shot upon screen shot nowadays everything or write things down on a piece of paper speak volumes on our level of trust/confidence with the merge. And most importantly IMO,
C) Statements like "all together" now or "hang in There" or "99% complete" gives the perception that the company is oblivious and/or indifferent to the customer's concerns.

There is just no accountability and communication. Hence many can relate to the OP in their own little way and all together now blame Marriott. If people are not weary and frustrated, they would think this was just an oversight made by the OP. True Marriott does not owe us anything...Not our trust nor our confidence.

Agree. The problem is that if a reservation isn't showing neither you or Marriott can't cancel it. I've recently been charged for a night stay which I'd booked earlier on fully flex but because it wasn't showing it dropped off the radar (I make 4-5 bookings a week on avg). I've been refunded.

The absolute state of Marriott shills. This is beyond pathetic my god.

I usually send a runner or carrier pigeon.

Do people really print every confirmation for hotels? Seems like a huge waste of time if you stay at hotels 50+ nights a year... I don't even know anyone who owns a printer.

I don't. I do save the confirmation email and create a calendar appointment for every reservation, and drop the email in to the appointment as an attachment. That way it is there on my phone if I need it.

I don't print the confirmations, but keep them in a file on my laptop so I can easily access them if needed. That's for all hotel, airline, car rental & train confirmations. FWIW - I do own a printer & most people I know own one, but I don't usually print out the confirmations (unless I'm not bringing my laptop w/ me on a trip, which is rare).

Cheers.

I do as I write notes on the back i.e. your lounge at the airport is, your seat number is, meet and greet inside airport booked etc etc. It's handy, plus, helps me keep on top of my spealling ;)

Who said anything about a "requirement that a checklist of tasks must be completed" ? sounds like FAKE NEWS!!

Many of us take simple precautions so that what allegedly happened to the OP can be easily resolved at the front desk.
As I said, I take three steps upon making a new reservation:

• Write down the reservation # or print out the confirmation page
• verify that the reservation shows up in my account
• verify that I receive the confirmation e-mail (which is almost always instantaneous)

The OP FAILED to take even one!

What was he possibly thinking of when he never received the almost instantaneous confirmation e-mail?
As long as he's on the Marriott website, allegedly making the reservation, how long does it take to navigate over to his account to check the reservation has been made and is accurate? 15 seconds?
How long does it take to write down a confirmation #? 5 seconds?

The OP allegedly makes a last minute reservation, using points, traveling from one foreign country to another and makes NO effort to verify the confirmation was actually made. Yet somehow this is Marriott's fault ? :rolleyes:

People need to start taking responsibility for their failure to take reasonable actions.

Newman