Originally Posted by MSYtoJFKagain

You can google any of those in about 10 seconds. They are public-facing emails.

Originally Posted by moondog

True, but reposting their email addresses in public forums is simply bad manners.

Originally Posted by jrpallante

Was somebody under the mistaken impression that Marriott (or any hotel chain) actually respects or values its customers? I have long forsaken loyalty to any hotel brand. My new policy regarding lodging is to look for the best value in each market I visit, regardless of corporate flag. In many cases, this now leads me to B&Bs, who love to have business travelers filling their beds on the weekdays. At most B&Bs, the cancellation policy is "if we cannot rebook the room, we will charge you one night's stay," which is totally reasonable. They are not trying to screw me out of a huge penalty and then still resell the room, but simply ensuring that they do not suffer needless opportunity costs. By eschewing brand loyalty, I no longer have elite status with anybody. This means that I might miss out on an occasional upgrade or a free bottle of water, but I more than make up for that by obtaining the best price on each paid night. Of course, since I own my company, every dollar spent comes out of my pocket. If I were spending OPM, my policy might change.

Originally Posted by moondog

No matter how much we despise any given company, posting actual email addresses in public forums should be out of bounds.

Originally Posted by MD/DC Flyer

Then:

1. The system is stupid and need to be reprogrammed (remember the "system" has no will apart from what it was told to do). Everyone who had ever had to check in after a night audit know how problematic that can be - but it is a bad system design, not the ultimate answer to the problem.

2. In this case the hotel has been malicious - they knew the customer would arrive late and could have checked him in to avoid the "system" problem.

Originally Posted by GrayAnderson

The possibility of automatically flagging, refunding, and charging raises a real problem if it is happening on the night audit. Over the years, I've probably arrived at a hotel later than midnight at least a dozen times. The reasons varied (several were a function of travel delays while others were a function of preferring to travel at night...I-95 is a lot faster in the middle of the night...and being able to milk a late checkout so 0400-1200 or 0500-1300 qualify as workable sleeping hours; several have been functions of having dinner in one city and then heading to another and dinner ran long). I think there were only two cases where I was "swept out" in the night audit (I was promptly reinstated in both cases). Usually a phone call prevented being swept out.

But that possibility is deeply concerning. Let's presume that the OP had arrived deep in the middle of the night (say, 0300 or 0400) but after the night audit had been run. Would they have been "dinged" even with a call-ahead? If so, that is a big problem (particularly if it can't be reversed).

Originally Posted by aCavalierInCoach

The charges weren't in the fine print, and on an on-going basis they STILL are not. They are being communicating in after-the-fact emails. I will start sending marriott hotels emails informing them I will be charging them $1,000/nt if anything falls short of my expectations during my upcoming stays. I am sure the "owners forum" will not be celebrating these charges.

Also, caveat emptor has nothing to do with fine print. Maybe learn the facts of the situation and stick to words you are able to comprehend before you start spouting off about "smearing".

Originally Posted by AbyssalLoris

Surely, the FA on your flight doesn't know if you redeemed miles or paid cash. Why should it be different with hotels?

Originally Posted by calguy77

I have to say I really wish guest like this could get banned from Marriott. It's clear your retaliating because you didn't get your way. This entitlement of reward members and guests is what is driving rates sky high. You can try to justify your review by trying to say you didn't pass judgement based on getting charged for a no show, but, it's too late to do that. You probably got status because of a credit card and aren't a true rewards member that earned it. It's so easy to see real BonVoy members vs. the fake credit card entitled rewards members. I was recently in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, clearly the city was sold out, hotels were packed and I knew upgrades wouldn't be an option. As an Ambassador i'm grateful when I do get an upgrade. While I was checking in a "Gold" member with a Amex platinum was throwing a tantrum because the agent said they had no rooms to upgrade at this time. The part that pissed me off is when she told the agent, you better give me an upgrade or I'll write a bad review on social media about this. The agent held firm and finished checking the guest in. I wanted to say something but I couldn't. When she checked me in, she mentioned she didn't have upgrades. I said that's fine, completely understand, busy weekend. She seemed relieved that I didn't act like the previous lady. People need to remember this program isn't about entitlement, read the terms. Based on availability. Just like the OP, they are tyring to change the terms to better fit their needs. BS.

Originally Posted by moondog

No matter how much we despise any given company, posting actual email addresses in public forums should be out of bounds.

Originally Posted by ethernal

I think that there is consensus that as long as you arrive before the check-out time the next day then there is no way the property can charge the cancellation fee (even if night-audit swept you). It is if you arrive after the check-out time the next day that there is ambiguity. Regardless, the fact we're even having to hypothesize on this when the OP did call ahead is tragic.