CCIE_Flyer

I'm quite frankly just outright nonplussed that Marriott would have the gall to ask for my votes for the following Freddie categories (e-mail received today):

✓ Program of the Year

✓ Best Elite Program

✓ Best Promotion

✓ Best Redemption Ability

✓ Best Customer Service

✓ Best Loyalty Credit Card

Given that Marriott's de facto award blackout "standard room" scam recently completely ruined a Christmas gift/summer vacation for the Mrs. and I (scumbags @ Maria Cristina) that not even my Ambassador could override in spite of their listing literally dozens of rooms as available during our target timeframe, how in the WORLD could they come along and ask this of me? Or anyone??

Marriott, your promos have been a yawn fest, your highly offensive redemption (un)availability will either be fixed ASAP or I will be considerably demoting you in my hierarchy of loyalty choices, and your so-called customer service is notoriously laughable since the merger.

WHAT A JOKE!!!! What a bunch of sad, sorry losers to come groveling after votes following such a fantastically poor performance in 2018 and now into 2019.

We need a Razzies of travel.

Antarius

Eh.. I mean, the IT has been a giant mess, but Bonvoy still beats the snot out of HHonors.

I'm still pretty happy with the program. *shrug*

Newman

I proudly voted for Marriott Bonvoy in all categories.
I wish I could've voted for them more than once.

CCIE_Flyer

Your tune may well change the first time you go to book and award stay and while there're ~2-dozen room types available beginning with "Garden Queen" and ranging up from there but yet you are refused because apparently they've designated a maintenance closet or a single Garden Twin as their "standard" room and even your Ambassador says "so sorry, can't help - they said 'no'."

And this brings me to the crux of my point with this thread - I'm not looking to open yet another Marriott vs. XYZ type of dialog (no shortage of those to go around in this forum). I just find it truly offensive that Marriott could allow this sort of ongoing behavior from their properties and yet grovel for a "best" vote. Really in any category - but especially this one.

But this is the sort of thing one should likely expect when tone deafness emanates from the very top on down.

CCIE_Flyer

No doubt where there's a will there's a way - and therein lies Marriott's only hope at the Freddies this year...

Antarius

I've stayed 50 nights in Marriott hotels in 2019 so far, so I'm well aware of how it works. You're unhappy, I'm not. Doesn't make you unilaterally right.

CCIE_Flyer

I too have stayed 50 nights at Marriott/SPG properties by the end of Feb over the years. And I personally expect more in return for that level of loyalty.

In no way have I claimed to be unilaterally correct, nor do I expect that my position will be universally held; I'm merely expressing outrage at what I view to be the sheer gall of it all. Welcome to FT.

And happy travels!

EuropeanPete

The Marriott scheme as designed clearly deserves to win in many of these categories. The Marriott scheme as delivered to many people really deserves to be shot and put out of its misery.

I am giving Marriott some 2019 loyalty (no more than is strictly useful to me), but they're going to need to stop wasting my time and begin reliably delivering their service for me to stay through another year. Such an unbelievable waste of customer loyalty built up by SPG over years and years.

craigthemif

Unfortunately you should start bracing yourself for Marriott to win.

People tend to vote for the programmes they use, and don't have enough breadth of experience to have a clue about "best". So now that Marriott is the biggest, they will get the most votes...

Besides that, a bad, glitchy Marriott roll-out is still better value, especially in-hotel, than IHG, Accor, etc. for a lot of people...

Antarius

bingo. Add Hilton to the list too. Hyatt is better, but their footprint is akin to exclusively flying Virgin Atlantic (not big enough).

I've been plenty critical of the rollout and the embarrassing IT failures, but benefit wise and scale still makes me a pretty happy Marriott customer.

CCIE_Flyer

So true.

Perhaps - and not totally disagreed - but given my druthers I'd prefer that this thread not be about that since we have so many already (and they weren't nominated for such a category, apparently). But obviously a thread once released into the wild becomes community property...

Antarius

I guess I don't understand. The whole point of an award system is to pick who gets it. If you don't compare Marriott to anyone else, then how can they either be worthy of winning.. or not winning?

CCIE_Flyer

In the first place you've cherry-picked - that particular comment was in relation to a category for which Marriott has not claimed in their e-mail to be nominated for (essentially in-hotel experience - which I didn't necessarily dispute). In the second place, we have sufficient ongoing threads where folks contrast and compare their various affinities - to further that here would simply be redundant and tiresome. But most importantly, I believe, where you're evidently quite confused is in your inability to comprehend that it's absolutely ludicrous for Marriott to be groveling after votes for categories such as best award availability, when in fact they've reduced the system to one whereby any property can designate a maintenance closet as their "standard room" and otherwise go into full blackout mode. But hey, "NO blackouts," eh? Even if by some stretch of the imagination that were the best currently on offer by industry, is that acceptable? Do you want to encourage that sort of nonsense and embolden further shenanigans by voting them "best?"

I also think it's a significant stretch that they chase after best customer service votes given the well-chronicled nonsense that members here are daily exposed to. Incompetence reigns supreme, and shows no signs of abating.

Ultimately I see no use in further Marriott vs. HH/WOH/Etc dialog (yes, one or the other has good/bad this/that/or the other, but with excellent/limited footprint), but I do see value in calling out the extreme tone deafness of this sort of campaign; clearly Marriott staff reads this stuff, because obviously they post in these threads (including this one already).

But as has already been so astutely noted, the masses of sheep will no doubt be led to slaughter, and so I suppose it was only natural that Marriott would nudge them in the direction of the pen in which they so deservedly belong.

Sam P. Goodman

I'll confess that I went to the site to try to vote for SPG, but when I saw it wasn't an option, I left. Yeah, I'm that guy...

mahasamatman

Isn't that what the Freddies are?