KRSW

You say that, but we have a similar situation with Amazon.com. Yes, Amazon themselves sells a lot of products directly from their site. Marriott also has some corporately-owned properties. Amazon has Amazon Marketplace sellers; Marriott has franchised hotels owned by 3rd parties. If I have an issue with something I've bought via Amazon.com, Amazon will handle it and make it right. The end-user for Amazon doesn't pay Amazon directly, rather the sellers do. Amazon expects the sellers to adhere to their standards. In the case of Amazon Marketplace, Amazon acts just as the middle-man. I don't see why Marriott can't do the same, especially when it comes to customer service.

SkiAdcock

I can understand the frustration, but again speaking only for myself I wouldn't go to the BBB. Different strokes, different folks.

MBCS = Marriott Bonvoy Customer Service

wendySFO

Isn't all major hotel chains operate like that? They don't own majority of the hotels but recruit individual hotel to join the brand. The chains have their selection criteria for individual hotel to join and have certain standards for the hotels to maintain.

It was not obvious to me that end customers who stay at hotels are not considered as their(the chain) customers. That could be very true, especially when there is no short supply of end customers to serve. But the end result for the brand eventually will be similar like Tommy Hilfiger for lack of policy enforcement to maintain the brand's standards.

Old Hickory

They hitch a ride via Room Service.

HNLbasedFlyer

Cockroaches,especially the ones in Hawaii, have no problems climbing up walls - I had one higher than the 25th floor at the Sheraton Waikiki - A lot of people do not close the Lanai/Balcony doors especially in Hawaii, hence - surprise, a cockroach makes an unwanted visit. They also don't have to walk up the entire building - they can fly, take a break on a balcony - fly again, etc....

PointWeasel

I nearly spit out my iced latte reading this.

They are very crafty to be sure.

PointWeasel

I see MBCS as different from MCS.

I don't want program-related concerns mixed up with stay specific concerns.

There needs to be a dedicated Marriott office like Starwood CCS that deals with properties who drop the ball, etc. Otherwise, what's the point of a global hotel group of hotels?

Oxon Flyer

Just for info, is there any evidence here on the forum that emails to the top are acted upon and achieve a more favourable outcome for the complainant ?

PointWeasel

First hand evidence.

Only because the regular agents have been useless did I need to escalate.

SkiAdcock

I think we all need to acknowledge there are times when MAR CS drops the ball & should be roasted on a spitfire (not defending them at that point & willing to throw a log on the fire!), but there are also times when elites are in the wrong & blame CS when they don't get what they want. It's not an either/or.

I have a friend (who shall remain unnamed & property as well). He's told me (never mentioning guests names) stories about elites that make me ashamed they're in the same category as the rest of us!

Examples:

* Platinum 'self-walking' to another property (vs. being walked by the property, which would have tossed a Priceline guest aside to make room for the Plat) & then demanding Plat comp of $200/90Kpoints/paid room....

* Wife of Ambassador (Ambassador not staying at property) throwing her weight around based on hubby's status & demanding upgrades & other bennies ....

* Titanium member who booked the cheapest room during a high occupancy time (festival where 100K people came to town) & not only demanded an upgrade (which ironically were booked by non-elite guests who were willing to pay for the upgraded rooms!), but demanded a crib (they had them but other guests who had requested them had already gotten them) & then said if she had to buy a crib she would charge the property, etc.

* A Platinum who literally shook the GM's hand as he was leaving & said in a very hearty voice that he/his fiancee had a great stay & then gave the property a 1-star review (WTheck) after a 24-hour stay because he didn't get an upgrade during the aforementioned festival. My friend said they had 15 Plats checking in & not enough suites. But seriously - a 1-star review just because one didn't get a suite - and to be a d*ck about it by shaking the GM's hand & saying how great everything was.

Again, MCS can be screwed up, but elites can be as well. It's not an either/or.

FWIW - the only time I complained to Bill Marriott was after a stay at County Hall in London & it had jack all to do w/ elite status, but the way the property handled a fire alarm where the staff totally ignored the alarm until guests brought it up & then evacuated onto the sidewalk for a long time & never told the guests when they could come back in (you know it's bad when the hotel piano player says to a guest, is it ok to go back into the building).

I didn't ask for nor did I expect any type of compensation. My point was to get the hotel to sort out their evacuation process better. I know others would have asked for lots. That's not my thing. To each their own.

I will also say that I write hotel GMs, Bill M (and now Arne) when I have exceptional service & if it's a particular employee, I ask that my email/letter be put in their personnel file.

Cheers.

h2rdw1r3d

Well I can't top a fire alarm, however, there was only one working elevator in a bank of six for a eight story property. I waited 45 minutes to get an elevator to get to my room (I had a broken ankle at the time so stairs were not an option), the hotel was completely booked that weekend so they could not offer me a room on any other floor than the top floor (conveniently?) until finally the front desk clerk took me up in the service elevator. I didn't want to leave the room for fear I would never be able to get back up.

It's gotten bad, you guys. I know it was bad before, but this is apocalyptic bad. I would make the leap to any other decent hotel chain (you guys, I'm ripe for poaching just give me a decent challenge... I know you're reading these boards watching us all line up with pitchforks and bayonets, save us from ourselves!).

hockeyinsider

I think this is one of those situations where important context is missing. I completely understand if someone booked the suite. But if a suite is showing up online, as it often does, it's a less believable explanation. Lately, it seems like a memorandum has gone out because properties all use the same convenient excuse, "Marriott's inventory isn't accurate. Our suite [suites] are booked."

But regardless, even if the guest with titanium elite status booked the cheapest room I'm sure there is a standard room on a high floor or a corner room available that someone with lower or no elite status didn't specifically book. That's a common complaint on here when room managers or front office managers don't put elites who booked standard rooms in the better standard rooms over non-elites.

I'm not defending their complaint about the upgrade or lack thereof, but some people are conflict averse and may have felt cornered by the general manager.

It's like when someone greets you in passing and asks, "How are you?" They really don't want to know. It's a superficial answer. The same when front desks at checkout ask -- if they even ask -- right after giving you your folio, "How was your stay?"

In these circumstances, it may not be appropriate to raise issues. When I have an issue and it hasn't been resolved -- especially over the weekend, when managers are typically out-of-the-office until Monday -- I'll answer, "Actually, I had [an issue or a few issues] with my stay. Could you have your general manager or operations director contact me by telephone?"

hockeyinsider

I'm more likely to complain to corporate about something egregious because so many properties -- the vast majority of Marriott's properties in North America -- are managed by third-party management companies, not Marriott. So, I doubt corporate ever hears about the real bad incidents unless someone contacts corporate. I can't imagine a third-party operator shares complaints about them being bad managers to corporate.

Interestingly enough, I had a similar fire alarm issue with the Marriott London County Hall in May 2014. It went off at about 9 p.m.

I've had it happen at other hotels -- both drills and an actual fire -- which resulted in robo calls to each guest room telling them to evacuate the property immediately and even hotel staff running down the hallways yelling evacuate.

At the Marriott London County Hall, nothing. Occupancy was low when I was there so maybe 100 of us were standing outside. Some in bathrobes and slippers. No staff. Nothing. After about 45 minutes when the fire trucks started to leave we reckoned it was safe to re-enter the hotel, though there was no staff guiding us.

I had a very long conversation with the hotel's front office manager, who apologized and offered 10,000 points. I insisted I didn't want the points but proper procedures put into place. He insisted on the points and I accepted. The points never posted. I complained to corporate and showed the email correspondence. Corporate ended up giving me 50,000 points for the experience.

This was (and may still be a) a Marriott-managed property so it was important, in my mind, that corporate Marriott know about the epic failure of this property to have basic emergency procedures in place.

Another instance when I contacted corporate and escalated was last August or September at the Chicago Marriott Southwest at Burr Ridge. Basically, to make a long story short, the property lost power much earlier in the day but never notified Marriott so incoming guests could be notified and rebooked elsewhere. When I arrived late at night they walked me but refused to make suitable arrangements for walking in compliance with Marriott's terms and conditions. So, I called Marriott and the agent immediately took this property offline so nobody could making bookings. When a property tells me to pound sand, this is also when I escalate to corporate.

hockeyinsider

It's worked for me.

karenkay

off topic, but...pillow guy? seems i missed a good thread. (i remember mr pillows from the old UA days, but don't know this one.)