missing pts after i canceled room
Jul 27, 2019, 5:30 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: aeroplan, amex, priority club
Posts: 115
missing pts after i canceled room
if u book a room online urself do the pts come out of ur account right away before u stay at hotel ? reason i ask is i dont use my account alot , booked a room for 17,500 pts , showed the booking with how many pts it cost , see what pts i have in my account after booking , i cancel the room and said 17,500 pts back to my account , my account pts is still the same before i canceled, phoned marriott , they said pts were not put back in my account they will let hotel know , waited 2 weeks phone marriott again they tell me pts were put back when i canceled room on july 8 so am i still missing my pts , marriott gives me 2 diff stories so far
Jul 28, 2019, 7:04 am
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,404
For a recent award stay, I had points deducted at the time I made the reservation and again just before arrival, for the same stay. You need to watch this carefully.
Jul 28, 2019, 9:20 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
Marriott invites such problems with their stellar IT. Here is how a canceled 140K pt reservation shows in my Activity list:
Yet the points were returned to me.
OP, do you have such a line item in your account? Do you keep a spreadsheet so you know what your account balance is at all times, or do you go from memory?
Yet the points were returned to me.
OP, do you have such a line item in your account? Do you keep a spreadsheet so you know what your account balance is at all times, or do you go from memory?
Jul 28, 2019, 11:57 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
We have heard very few such incidents the past few months versus it was very common last year the first few months after merger.
More often than not, the incidents were false alarms due to the Marriott site is not intuitive and customers are confused / not knowing how the system works (not in a good user friendly way that is for sure.)
You need to keep track of the TOTAL BALANCE to actually know whether the points are refunded or not.
Personally I take snap shot of my account activity every now and then, esp if I have a lot of redemption / cancellation in preparation of a trip. I dont keep a spread sheet which is reserved for HH due to their confusing double entries at booking and at staying, makes it look like they deducted the points twice but in reality, the deduction is only performed at booking, not at staying despite the account activity shows otherwise.
Marriott does not have this issue but the refund entry format is much less than desired.
Marriott site does NOT do in and out entries on canceled award stay. It would just make the initial booking cost becomes ZERO versus the deduction. You do NOT see a "put back" entry of your points, but essentially it is "put back" because the original deduction is ERASED.
This is how it looks like in my account on a 5th night free of 70K pts award stay -
My total balance went up by 70K when I looked at the side bar, before I logged out of my account, before the cancellation email hit my inbox.
An earlier example that involved 140K pts, same thing.
Go back to find the original redemption entry and see how it displays the points - should be a 0.
High probability your points have already been refunded. Check the original deduction line, and see what is the number shown next to that line entry - is it now Zero, or still show a -17,500? If it is Zero, your points have been put back to your account.
FWIW, Chase Ultimate Reward Point Bookings employ the SAME mechanism of Marriott site - you do not see a "put back" entry, but rather the original deduction is erased. The point balance goes up within the same session but you may need to move around the site a bit in order for the screen to update.
I have found Marriott site behaves very similarily.
More often than not, the incidents were false alarms due to the Marriott site is not intuitive and customers are confused / not knowing how the system works (not in a good user friendly way that is for sure.)
You need to keep track of the TOTAL BALANCE to actually know whether the points are refunded or not.
Personally I take snap shot of my account activity every now and then, esp if I have a lot of redemption / cancellation in preparation of a trip. I dont keep a spread sheet which is reserved for HH due to their confusing double entries at booking and at staying, makes it look like they deducted the points twice but in reality, the deduction is only performed at booking, not at staying despite the account activity shows otherwise.
Marriott does not have this issue but the refund entry format is much less than desired.
Marriott site does NOT do in and out entries on canceled award stay. It would just make the initial booking cost becomes ZERO versus the deduction. You do NOT see a "put back" entry of your points, but essentially it is "put back" because the original deduction is ERASED.
This is how it looks like in my account on a 5th night free of 70K pts award stay -
06/06/2019 Rewards Standard Redemption Rate
The 70K deduction was erased and 0 Points shown.06/06/2019, Cancelled 0 Rewards +0 Points
My total balance went up by 70K when I looked at the side bar, before I logged out of my account, before the cancellation email hit my inbox.
An earlier example that involved 140K pts, same thing.
03/28/2019 Rewards Standard Redemption Rate
Your total balance should have gone UP to incl the refund of the points. But if you keep looking the account activity without thinking about your account total balance, you would have thought that your pts were not refunded.03/28/2019, Cancelled 0 Rewards +0 Points
Go back to find the original redemption entry and see how it displays the points - should be a 0.
High probability your points have already been refunded. Check the original deduction line, and see what is the number shown next to that line entry - is it now Zero, or still show a -17,500? If it is Zero, your points have been put back to your account.
FWIW, Chase Ultimate Reward Point Bookings employ the SAME mechanism of Marriott site - you do not see a "put back" entry, but rather the original deduction is erased. The point balance goes up within the same session but you may need to move around the site a bit in order for the screen to update.
I have found Marriott site behaves very similarily.
Last edited by Happy; Jul 28, 2019 at 12:15 pm
Jul 28, 2019, 12:58 pm
#5
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 902
Actually, on the app at least, the information is provided in an extremely straightforward manner. On the activity log the same line item where the points were deducted is pushed forward to the cancellation date with a reference of “Cancelled. 0 points deducted”. If one taps that line it will open a new window with the property name and an indication of both the date the certificate was ordered and the amount points deducted and the date the certificate was cancelled and the amount of points credited back to the account.
Jul 30, 2019, 11:40 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: aeroplan, amex, priority club
Posts: 115
i phoned marriott again , got a diff case number , they said they would look into my account , , got an email 2 days ago , saying (I have located your account and was able to return your points. You should see them in your account within the next 24 hours.) checked my account , pts still same from when i canceled room ,, phone marriott again , there trying to tell me email was sent out by mistake ,thats pts were put back in my account back on july 8 , i know for a fact my pts in my account did not change when i had room booked and then canceled room no pts went back.4 times i phoned marriott 2 reps said my pts were missing , 2 said there were given back , then the email ,and they say that was sent by mistake ,anyone else had a prob like this with marriott.
Jul 30, 2019, 1:46 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: 42.1% in PDX , 49.9% in PVG & 8% in the air somewhere
Programs: Marriott Ambassador Elite, UA 1K, AS MVP GLD 75K, DL Pt
Posts: 1,086
My observations
When you book with rewards, regardless of the stay being tomorrow or months out, they go out of my point balance at booking.
When I've canceled, it used to take at least a day or more before the points came back, the reservation cancel was realtime and if I looked on the Ap, the reservation was gone and appeared in my canceled bucket on the Ap. When I looked on the points activity part of the Ap it was confusing. As noted a few months ago it would take days or longer, now it seem to appear right away, but on the various tabs to filter your points it is totally confusing. I chalk it up to either dumb implementation by an IT guy, or poor direction to IT or both.
As another poster suggest, watch and calculate this yourself. In the past on two occasions I asked my Ambassador to look into it, she quickly responded she would, and it would ( the points ) come back. Never could figure out if it was the Ambassador or the IT slug action that got the points back.
I'd like to believe there isn't some devious hidden thing to steal my points, but who knows about those guys, LOL
When you book with rewards, regardless of the stay being tomorrow or months out, they go out of my point balance at booking.
When I've canceled, it used to take at least a day or more before the points came back, the reservation cancel was realtime and if I looked on the Ap, the reservation was gone and appeared in my canceled bucket on the Ap. When I looked on the points activity part of the Ap it was confusing. As noted a few months ago it would take days or longer, now it seem to appear right away, but on the various tabs to filter your points it is totally confusing. I chalk it up to either dumb implementation by an IT guy, or poor direction to IT or both.
As another poster suggest, watch and calculate this yourself. In the past on two occasions I asked my Ambassador to look into it, she quickly responded she would, and it would ( the points ) come back. Never could figure out if it was the Ambassador or the IT slug action that got the points back.
I'd like to believe there isn't some devious hidden thing to steal my points, but who knows about those guys, LOL
Jul 30, 2019, 2:13 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: aeroplan, amex, priority club
Posts: 115
why would my pt balance stay the same , i looked at my account more than a few times after i booked room , held room for over 2 weeks before i canceled , my pt balance is same now as it was when i had room booked , wouldnt my account change in pts ? like in getting my pts back from canceled room , why would i get an email from Case Resolution Specialist telling me my pts be back in my account that was 2 days ago, then lady on phone today says email was mistake , just strange that the 2 persons i talked to on phone that said i was missing my pts and the email sayying im getting my pts back , the lady today said they all made a mistake .
Jul 30, 2019, 4:10 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
why would my pt balance stay the same , i looked at my account more than a few times after i booked room , held room for over 2 weeks before i canceled , my pt balance is same now as it was when i had room booked , wouldnt my account change in pts ? like in getting my pts back from canceled room , why would i get an email from Case Resolution Specialist telling me my pts be back in my account that was 2 days ago, then lady on phone today says email was mistake , just strange that the 2 persons i talked to on phone that said i was missing my pts and the email sayying im getting my pts back , the lady today said they all made a mistake .