anteater

I'll quote the T&C's again..



You had a stay. You did not pay for the room. The company directly paid for the room. Pursuant to Section 21(d), this does not meet the requirements to be a "Qualifying Stay". As much as I abhor Marriott these days, they are in the right here.

cricketer

I don't get it. The section you quoted clearly states that it qualifies! Here's the excerpt, but it's in what you quoted above. They literally have a criteria set (i) OR a criteria set (ii) and it is the latter that applies to my stay.

" (ii) for the guest room direct billed to the company who has arranged payment for the Member’s stay that is not associated with a convention or group meeting"

cricketer

Got another reply back from Marriott. The apparent (laziness or incompetence, take your pick) is remarkable

1. The line they quote is actually in section 2.1.b not 2.1.a
2. It is applicable to the "Qualifying Charges" for points earning, which I have not been requesting.

Totally ignored my pointing out of 2.1.d and apparently they don't understand the difference between the qualifying charges and the qualifying stay - as if they don't recognize that one can potentially earn both nights and points!

I've replied again (and PM'ed the Lurker as advised by DELee ) but at this point I really don't see that anything's going to happen. I'll spend the rest of my life with 3 fewer stays recorded. Won't matter to me, but maybe someone else somewhere is being denied a status bump because of a similar error.

Kacee

Do we have to choose one or the other?

Kind of emblematic of what's happened to the program overall post-merger.

writerguyfl

In this situation, it's important to note that "Marriott" is just the messenger of the information. No one in Customer Service at Marriott Corporate/Central Reservations has access to the hotel system. That fact means that they can not read the contract that your company signed with the hotel.

In disputes like this one, Marriott takes your complaint and forwards it to the hotel. The hotel reviews it, decides the outcome, and alerts Marriott. Marriott will then forward that decision back to you.

I'll quote myself from earlier in this thread:

littlevoices

Will be interesting to see how this ends up, I always thought direct payments from the company never counted, which seems to be the T&Cs as this could be a group event, even if you've received in the past it is luck, but probably shouldn't have been credited. The best example I can think of is airline rates: Hugely generous discounts, but the staff get no perks even if they practically live in a Marriott 200 nights a year as it just gets billed directly to the company and paid for centrally - this isn't a group rate or an event but I thought they got 0 nights. Now I've got to admit, it seems like the T&Cs have changed (or were never like that?) and should that mean all airline staff should be getting perks?

I think you'll have more luck with the lurker than the general email responses to be clear, as it seems like there is nuance here, potentially as writerguyfl said, as it was negotiated that way.

MSPeconomist

Could this have been a master bill instead of just being direct billed to the company? There might be a convention <no pun intended> that when there's a master bill, it counts as an event.

cricketer

Fair point, and thanks for re-iterating. Again, I don't mind (or even care) if I don't get the credit, I just want to understand the reason for it. If as a company we are just forfeiting points and stay credit for people with no meaningful cost savings, then it makes no sense to keep going this way.

Yeah - I'd be okay with them telling me that, though it would mean that they probably should write their T's&C's a lot better. Just want to know the reality!

This is entirely plausible - I will check internally. If so, probably something Marriott should explicitly add in to the terms.

Kacee

If the property is denying credit based on the contract, then that's what the response should be, i.e., "We're sorry, but your employer's contract with the property excludes Bonvoy benefits and stay credit." As it is, the reason given for denial is simply wrong. This is not defensible.

Pretzelsandpeanuts

You didn’t pay the bill, it was paid as part of a “master bill” That is the defining factor as to why you will not get credit. If it’s that big of a deal to you, in the future ask your company to allow you to pay the bill with your corporate CC and expense it. You will get credit then.

Kacee

Suggest you read the Bonvoy T&C (which have been quoted several times in this thread) more carefully, because your current reading is wrong.

cricketer

This is exactly what my problem was - but read below as I'm now more confused than ever.

As I've said a ton of times, it's not a big deal. The stay credit is quite literally irrelevant to me. I'm Titanium, and will be Lifetime Plat anyway with one further night. There's no higher tier to aspire to, so it makes no difference. But it might to someone else, and at least for me, I like to understand the legitimate reasons behind things.

I received a reply from Marriott today. They indicated that all that matters is that I did not pay for the stay myself, and they quoted that at the top of section 2.1.d it saysThis is a really shoddy piece of work.

1. It should say "personally pays FOR"
2. If it's required that the member personally pays, then how is (ii) even an option? The sentence should then end at the words "Participating Property".
3. Section 2.1.d.ii - quoted earlier in the thread, again re-emphasises that second exception.

I'd be really embarrassed to be on the legal team that drafted this!

Also begs the question -- if I use my business credit card, have I personally paid for it? What if I use my spouse's credit card?

margarita girl

The answer is if you use spouse's card (even if you have same last name), you are not eligible for points or elite nights. The real question is "what if you pay with cash?". Who gets the points? The Treasury Department I would presume.

PTahCha

Was the rate paid the as part of a room block, or was it a negotiated rate that can be used anytime? If it was a room block, it's considered an event, even though there's no event/meeting taking place at the hotel. If it's a negotiated rate that can be used anytime, then it's not an event, and you get points/benefits. This is the reason why when we reserved a room block, we specify that the invitees pay for their own room and incidentals, so they get the points and benefits.

Unless the member stole the cash from someone, that person "paid" for the room with said bank notes (or bags of coins).

DELee

For a change.

David