Time for me to move on - charged a cancellation fee after being told I wouldn't
#31
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As for the agent telling him there would be no penalty, agents don't have the right to change the T&C's of the reservation, which is between the OP and property, not OP and Marriott.
#32
Join Date: May 2003
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We actually called the hotel specifically and called to double check and got a different answer and called again and got a third answer. (11:59pm day before check-in, 11:59pm second day before and 4pm day before). In the end the first answer prevailed after a fourth call. Ridiculous though. SPG had it right and it varied by hotel as well.
Surely Marriott can still give the hotels the right to set their own cancellation policy and time, yet at the very least record that time in the system somewhere, even if members cant see it, so customer service can. Oh hang on, that might be asking a bit much of their IT.
Surely Marriott can still give the hotels the right to set their own cancellation policy and time, yet at the very least record that time in the system somewhere, even if members cant see it, so customer service can. Oh hang on, that might be asking a bit much of their IT.
#33
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#34
Join Date: Dec 2014
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My reservations and contracts are booked through Marriott. The hotels use a Marriott platform to manage room inventory, billing, and invoicing. I book my rooms through a central Marriott system. All of the hotel webpages are hosted on a standard Marriott page. From my perspective, my primary contract is with Marriott and not the hotel. The hotel is the channel that Marriott uses to fulfill its contract with me. Of course the hotel operates within a framework and has significant independence within that framework - they set the specifics of a cancellation policy for example. Perhaps that is not the actual legal construct of the hotel reservation, but that is what it feels like to me. If Marriott does not want to set that expectation, perhaps they should not set up their booking structure to make it seem that way.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel like this is the fundamental difference between Starwood and Marriott. With Starwood, corporate would have closed with the hotel to make sure this issue is resolved. With Marriott, you're probably right - I am forced to go through the hotel. Marriott takes no ownership of protecting the guest. But of course, I can't even contact the hotel via e-mail anymore. So I guess let me call and have no audit trail of our discussion and just hope they do the right thing.
I am not okay with that, especially when Marriott is the one who told me that I would not be charged a cancellation fee. In my eyes, the hotel didn't do anything wrong. Marriott is at fault here, and they should fix the mess that they created.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel like this is the fundamental difference between Starwood and Marriott. With Starwood, corporate would have closed with the hotel to make sure this issue is resolved. With Marriott, you're probably right - I am forced to go through the hotel. Marriott takes no ownership of protecting the guest. But of course, I can't even contact the hotel via e-mail anymore. So I guess let me call and have no audit trail of our discussion and just hope they do the right thing.
I am not okay with that, especially when Marriott is the one who told me that I would not be charged a cancellation fee. In my eyes, the hotel didn't do anything wrong. Marriott is at fault here, and they should fix the mess that they created.
#35
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That is absolutely false. Marriott is the only major chain that does not clearly state the time of day by which a reservation must be canceled to avoid charge.
#36
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Montral, Canada
Posts: 1,610
I also spend more time in hotels than in my own home ~225 nights annually. As I mainly stay with the major players, I would be interested to learn from your experience. Do you stay in boutique hotels, Airbnb, smaller chains? I'm not being facetious, I really am curious. Do you find that you get a better ROI?
#37
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Montral, Canada
Posts: 1,610
And that is why I would interpret their ambiguity to the most lucrative definition and then challenge them should their version of the T & C differ from mine. If they cannot precisely define 2 days before date of arrival, I'm sure there would be a small claims court somewhere that could assist. OK, now I am being facetious, sort of
#38
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I think we are all owed a screenshot of what the confirmation email stated as the cancellation policy.
The OP has not been clear or convincing that he cancelled within the allowable timeframe. We are only fed a bunch of what was and what might have. been.
Be forthcoming OP.
The OP has not been clear or convincing that he cancelled within the allowable timeframe. We are only fed a bunch of what was and what might have. been.
Be forthcoming OP.
Seriously? I assume you're trolling. The language I'm citing is common to all reservations.
Maybe I'm feeding the troll, but here's the full walk. I have censored out rate details / pricing and the hotel because it is a non-published rate.
You could of course claim I am lying about the fact that Reservations promised that I would not be cancelled as I do not have a recording of that call. But I promise you that the agent reiterated multiple times I would not be charged a cancellation fee. Marriott has the call recording, so they know the facts there.
The original reservation email:
The rate details from the app::
The call to Marriott at 5:43 PM (the calls the next day were to try to fix the issue):
The cancellation email (note it took place during the same time as the call):
And finally... the invoice with the cancellation fee:
Happy?
#39
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Yes it seems deliberately ambiguous. Is it check-in time, 11:59 p.m., or some other time? I've not been bitten yet, but the lack of clarity as to the precise cancel deadline has always made me nervous (and likely caused me to cancel some reservations earlier than I had to).
Originally Posted by freed0m
If the decision is up to individual property, Marriott can’t provide a precise time, just like cancellation penalty. It is not up to Marriott to decide without change of contract between Marriott and properties
#40
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Haven't read any other responses to your post yet but I had to chime in. I get your frustration I really do, but the thing you are against doing imo will resolve this for you. You have an Ambassador, you are the highest level of customer. Call the hotel, ask for a manager and explain it to them. I'm willing to bet that they will understand and refund you the cancellation fee. Calling random untrained(sadly) reservation agents imo will get you nowhere and high blood pressure to boot.
On a quick different note - I think your ambassador was terrible in the response and I would ask to speak to their supervisor and change ambassadors after complaining about the lack of assistance. I wouldn't want an ambassador like that.
On a quick different note - I think your ambassador was terrible in the response and I would ask to speak to their supervisor and change ambassadors after complaining about the lack of assistance. I wouldn't want an ambassador like that.
Perhaps she could have tried to push this further, but I have a feeling that Ambassadors are no longer empowered to actually fix customer problems - either because of workload or because of lack of overall corporate care. Even back when it was Starwood, they couldn't really truly "make" anything happen on their own. That said, whenever I had an issue like this (never had a cancellation fee, but I had a hotel accidentally charge me an extra day after a late checkout), it was promptly taken care of with no issues. I feel like this should be an equally "no-brainer" type fix.
#41
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Yes, clearly customer service does not know the actual cancellation time - at least not consistently - as evidenced by the fact I was told that I could cancel any time that day and not be charged a cancellation fee.
#42
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I noted the ambiguity in a post months ago and said somebody needed to sue. I got criticized for being lawsuit crazy. Now we can see if the OP has the stuff to go through with it or just came here to vent.
As for the agent telling him there would be no penalty, agents don't have the right to change the T&C's of the reservation, which is between the OP and property, not OP and Marriott.
As for the agent telling him there would be no penalty, agents don't have the right to change the T&C's of the reservation, which is between the OP and property, not OP and Marriott.
Of course, as soon as I take them to court, my account will be cancelled. I still have points that I would like to burn through before that happens (although I could of course do an airline transfer).
#43
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Now, if it doesn't list a specific time, I assume it means by 11:59 pm the day listed hotel local time.
This has never done me wrong.
If the app gives me the warning that they MAY charge a fee, it means they definitely will. When that happens, I either call the hotel directly to cancel, or if later at night and I don't want to risk an error with the overnight crew, I call and have the phone line do it themselves.
They have a waiver code to put in there to assure no fee will be charged. That's the best bet if it's an hour or less to cancel deadline expiring
#44
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If the app gives me the warning that they MAY charge a fee, it means they definitely will. When that happens, I either call the hotel directly to cancel, or if later at night and I don't want to risk an error with the overnight crew, I call and have the phone line do it themselves.
They have a waiver code to put in there to assure no fee will be charged. That's the best bet if it's an hour or less to cancel deadline expiring
They have a waiver code to put in there to assure no fee will be charged. That's the best bet if it's an hour or less to cancel deadline expiring
The fact that they have to use a waiver fee to deal with their own ambiguity on cancellation times blows my mind.
#45
Join Date: Dec 2006
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I agree with the OP. It is DEFINITELY time for him to move on.
He will soon find out that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the septic tank.
Nevertheless, the more elite members (especially Platinums) that leave the program, then there is that much greater opportunity for the 99.9% of us who are satisfied with Marriott Bonvoy to get upgrades. As a bonus, there will be a lot less drama here on this Board.
Best of luck....
Newman
He will soon find out that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the septic tank.
Nevertheless, the more elite members (especially Platinums) that leave the program, then there is that much greater opportunity for the 99.9% of us who are satisfied with Marriott Bonvoy to get upgrades. As a bonus, there will be a lot less drama here on this Board.
Best of luck....
Newman