So for all the folks in this forum who decry Marriott/Bonvoy as the worst affliction to be visited on the earth since the 1300s, how many of you still stay at Marriott/Bonvoy properties?

This is the best way. Missing stay requests using the on-line form are generally handled quickly and easily with no need to talk to anyone. I agree that talking to call centers can be frustrating and personally find that written communication almost always works better.

Hold on there, Comcast would like a word with you.


The problem has nothing to do with race. It's about company cultures and whether or not they've decided that call centers are a value-add customer service touchpoint or just a dumping ground for unhappy customers that they don't care about anyway. I've worked with companies where a phone call is picked up immediately by a knowledgeable person empowered to solve problems. That person could be anywhere in the Anglophone world, but wherever they are they're being paid more than an entry-level script-reader, they've had lots of training about the products/services invested in them, and they're treated well enough on the job that they have a positive attitude towards their clients, the callers. Call centers can be a huge toxic workplace if there isn't a positive culture, so add that in as well: the company invests in making the environment worth working in. It's a little bit more expensive to run a good call center, staffed correctly to handle the volume of inbound calls, but some companies actually do it in India, Iowa/Nebraska (where a lot of U.S. call centers are), the UK, or elsewhere.

In fact, years ago, Marriott was one of these companies. So was Starwood. I never had a bad experience with Starwood, and didn't start having bad experiences with Marriott until the past couple of years. I was never Ambassador or anything higher than a low-end Platinum, but you didn't need 100+ nights to receive humane treatment on the phone.

FWIW both of my recent requests for missing nights/ points etc were handled by this email ( who replied when I used the old Research email address).

[email protected]


In each of my last 2 cases they were resolved within an hour of the email ( 20-30 minutes for the last one), with email confirmation of the resolution. Easy, stress free and reliable. No frustration involved.

The bonvoy lurker sorted me out. As expected it was a very simple issue made complicated by incompetent call center staff. Thank you so much Bonvoy Lurker!

Can a mod change the bigoted thread title? Clearly the OP did not have trouble getting an agent who spoke english.

For companies that use Iowa call centers to handle their English-language traffic, do the call center reps take on nicknames when the inbound call is from India or elsewhere in English-speaking Asia?

It would be kind of amusing if there's a real-life Mark who is occasionally Jaspreet on the phone. :D

feigning outrage to appear politically correct is such an obvious tactic and frankly the use of the term "racism" is getting out of hand. can one not talk about the differences in cultures across the world without being called racist? every society has its quirks and idiosyncrasies including mine or ours or whoevers. talking about them is not being racist. denying someone a job or a house because of the color of their skin is racist.

Perhaps quotation marks because he was quoting from a written communication?

What language did you speak on these calls?

You may say that you're not part of some left-wing "no platform brigade", but you certainly sound like it.
Throwing the word "racism" around and accusing people of being racists for expressing frustration in dealing with overseas call centers makes you arrogant. Also intolerant of the opinions of others.
Stop the name-calling antics.
Learn to express yourself without harping on what you perceive as someone else's non-existent ulterior motive.
This is a travel website. Not a political one. Members here should be free to express their opinions respectfully, and unhindered by crossing your imaginary line of political correctness.

PS. There was nothing abhorrent, racist, or ignorant about anything in the OP's post.

Newman

I agree with European Pete here.

I detest the casual, and seemingly incessant, use of the word "racist" lately. I have a unnaturally strong aversion to the worldview of those who engage in that behaviour, having grown up in a place where their ideological comrades destroyed many lives on both sides of my family. Nothing European Pete has written so far falls under that category IMHO.

I also have a heightened sensitivity to actual racist attitudes. My wife is non-white, and our children are mixed-race. A couple of years ago she fell and slid clumsily into someone at an ice skating rink, upon which she was told to "get some North-American manners". I've never been so mad in my entire life, and it's a miracle that I somehow managed to keep it PG-13 in an arena packed with children. I wish I could say that nothing OP has written brought back memories of that.

It's hard to read OP's post charitably, which one must always try to do, given the title OP himself chose for the thread. This isn't some NYT editor slapping the callous "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" title on Mitt Romney's informed and reasoned op-ed about a decade ago.

Victim he ain't.