Boycott Paid Stays Until CS & IT issues Fixed
 

We are all complaining a lot about Marriott customer service and IT issues. But Marriott clearly doesn't care about our complaints. Clearly.

And our complaints are falling on deaf ears.

I have had it as I have written repeatedly. Today for example I got an email saying I cancelled my suite night requests... This was after hours of trying to apply them in the first place bouncing between APP, website & CS agent! Now I have to start process all over. I have called CS on 2 continents this past week, emailed over 10 times to fix issues that should not be issues. None of the issues are resolved. I still can't see all my upcoming reservations, and can't book properties half the time.

Quite clearly Marriott thinks all is well with integration except for us at the fringe.

Let's vote with our wallets until IT and CS issues addressed. Perhaps only then will that pressure Wall Street and real estate owners to push corporate. Being loyal meant ease of life, extraordinary service and nice benefits, I am not getting this so why bother with Marriott?

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1) if you have achieved lifetime status, you stop booking Marriott paid stays unless forced

2) for non lifetimes, stay at Marriott until you requalify for plat and then stop booking paid stays for that qualifying year

We have to remember for all the rhetoric that Marriott considers property owners, not us, its clients. My guess is Marriott will realize/ think the costs of maintaining a loyalty program at the high end is too high and will start keeping the current terrible service and rollback benefits.

If their profits keep coming in, who cares about the truly loyal consumers and our problems? The only way Marriott seems to think is on revenue, profits, etc.

Anyone else with me?

i'm thinking the majority of the members (non-FT) fall under this category.

And that is the problem - Marriott can get away with a lot and people will stick with it in hopes IT issues will be fixed.

I always wondered why they chose August for integration - they must have realized it would be a shxtshow and did it to ensure people kept boooking remainder of year to requality.

Many of us here are probably very vocal but don't add much to bottom line. I'd be interested in seeing ratio revenue loyal members added to SPG vs Marriott can

I, too, have had few to no issues since the integration. Clearly, the IT issues have not been universal which is odd.
I disagree that the owners are the main client of Marriott. They can't even franchise to owners without a guest portfolio. And meeting revenue, which also drives guest revenue.
And, I would also argue that we will not see Marriott dump the loyalty program. Airline/Hotel loyalty programs are profit centers, so there's no reason to kill them.

Please don't take this the wrong way - I agree with your sentiment on many levels. But speaking realistically, if everyone (up to an including absolutely everyone) who regularly posts in this forum withholds all of their revenue business indefinitely, Arne's theory of "noise at the edges" will only be reinforced. Analysts will go on that there has been no appreciable downtick in bookings, and they'll all be thrilled that customer who are actually paying attention to customer service levels no longer have anything to publicly complain about (owing to their abstinence).

Face it: from a business/revenue perspective, Marriott is now just too big to fail. Your individual business is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, and you (and many like you/us) are entirely expendable - maybe even no longer all that welcomed. In UA/CO parlance, "over-entitled" comes to mind...

Not I. I will continue to book the properties that make the most sense.

I very much doubt that. 99% of hotel guests don't think of status as a game.

Herein lies the problem. Despite terrible service and and a non-working IT system, even the FTers who complain so much still won't join me in doing more than just complain.

The reality is most people are tethered by corporate policy or budget to stick with Marriott's large footprint. For casual guests or those booking on OTAs, they won't know or care about the issues.

so, in many ways, Arne is right. Those of us who complain and act by booking elsewhere are at the fringe.

Those of us not forced by budgets or corporate policy will go elsewhere. Perhaps we are small in grand scheme of things.

But perhaps we are not. And we certainly are over entitled to demand what we pay for.

Only a tiny fraction of such people will do so. If it makes you feel better, then by all means you should do so. There's nothing wrong with being in the minority.

There must be some loyalty from someone. I (Plat) stayed at the ORD Marriott last Thursday/Friday. Last minute. Happily stayed on the 4th floor in a double as no upgrades were available (11th floor is concierge level and floors 9-11 are key card controlled). That is a lot of filled rooms, of which many are likely elites.

The only IT issue that I have had since the integration is that reservations nor folios are not e-mailed to me, but all have appeared online.

I spend a lot of time in HI EXPs also, but unless you are staying in a CP or greater, loyalty to IHG means nothing to me as lounges, upgrades, etc. are simply not offered. Many of my Marriott stays are in FIs, but it is nice having lounges available, late checkouts, etc. when I stay in FS Marriotts, etc. And having a greater choice of properties will likely move to all Marriott properties vs. IHG properties.

No, I'm not going to stay in sub-optimal properties or pay more money because CS takes a long time to get back to me or navigating the web site is wonky.

Did I say give up loyalty altogether? Or did I say give up Marriott on PAID stays until they fix IT if you are lifetime and only after re-qualifying for plat for others.

For whatever reason, my account is heavily affected by the IT issues. I've spent countless hours trying to make reservations at properties that aren't shown available or error out, applying SNAs to existing reservations, chasing missing points, etc. 90% of the time, CS agents can't do anything and give me the runaround. You gotta call Marriott for that, oh no, call SPG. Your reservations are locked, you have to call the BRG team. We can't see these reservations, they're being migrated to Marriott. I'm exhausted!

I'm set with LT status and have qualified with 75+ nights for the year, and I'm mostly walking away until they've sorted it out. If your account is this messed up and you have options, you'd have to be insane to stick with Marriott, IMO. I had around 50 SPG nights booked for Sept-Nov, and will probably end up with less than 20. I'll max out the Hyatt Sept-Nov promo with 40 nights, had a bunch of HH and IHG stays, plus even some (gasp) non-chains. I wouldn't call it a boycott, and I have no intentions to leave for good, but for now, I will actively avoid Starriott when viable alternatives exist.