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Compensation for problem at a Sheraton?

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Compensation for problem at a Sheraton?

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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:02 pm
  #31  
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So the first person walk in the door should have noticed the room wasn’t cleaned, communication ? You were working your spouse apparently went to the room first ? I’m confused, one of the two of you should have figured it out ? You appeared to talk to everyone you could about it, had you executed when it happened you would have likely been changed to another room. Not naming the hotel is a cop out, Sheraton hotels host conventions every week, trust me yours isn’t special. Move on
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:25 pm
  #32  
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Originally Posted by 4getofn
So the first person walk in the door should have noticed the room wasnt cleaned, communication ? You were working your spouse apparently went to the room first ? Im confused, one of the two of you should have figured it out ? You appeared to talk to everyone you could about it, had you executed when it happened you would have likely been changed to another room. Not naming the hotel is a cop out, Sheraton hotels host conventions every week, trust me yours isnt special. Move on
Never said our convention was special. I simply do not feel that it would be appropriate - as a representative of our organization - to bring the organization into any internet fuss. Had I been there as a solo traveler, I would not hesitate.

We didn't figure out what had happened because the things that were disheveled were things we could've reasonably expected the other to have been responsible for doing. Making coffee. Ironing a shirt. Relaxing in the bed. It was right and normal for both of us to assume the hotel had checked us into a clean room. We were both very busy during the afternoon and evening, and not keeping tabs on each other's whereabouts and who was going up to the room and when. The problem was not us. The problem was that the hotel did not provide us with a clean room. It was no doubt an unintentional mistake on their part, but good customer service would dictate that they assume responsibility for it.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:34 pm
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Like I said .. Let’s move on.. You talk a good story .. 😂
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:37 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by BCOS
The problem was not us.
The property was in the wrong, not you. Pay no mind to the trolls.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:42 pm
  #35  
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Originally Posted by 4getofn (Post # 33)
Like I said .. Lets move on.. You talk a good story .. 😂
If this thread has lost its interest to you, you are the person welcome to move on.

The rest of us may want to learn how Marriott BONVY or the property, or both, will address this situation.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 6:44 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by 4getofn
Like I said .. Lets move on.. You talk a good story .. 😂
lol.
Clearly, engaging in this discussion has been my pastime for today, and it probably appears that I'm feeling more dramatic about it than I am. Still... they should make it right.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 7:03 pm
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 7:50 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by BCOS
I shouldn't have been made to feel like I was expecting too much for being grossed out at the thought of spending the night in dirty sheets, etc.
Agreed. But you should have understood that sometimes people make mistakes. The hotel wasn't out to get you. Someone made a mistake and assigned a room that hadn't been cleaned yet. That's all. It's not a war crime, it was an honest mistake, and a relatively minor one at that. Have you ever made a mistake at work? Did you offer your salary for the day to your employer as compensation for your error? The hotel believes that it owes you nothing more. It was a minor transgression which you didn't notice initially. If you found it sufficiently offensive or disgusting, you would take your business elsewhere. Apparently that's not the case, and the hotel's many years of good service have engendered loyalty in you and your organization. Maybe it's time to let that be enough.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 8:19 pm
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I could totally use this happening to me. We'd have both been super grossed out by it and safe to say my wife would be 10x madder at me than the hotel. No amount of compensation would make up for that one.
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Old Apr 2, 2024 | 11:11 pm
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Originally Posted by KRSW
Name and shame the property... Any good hotelier would have at least refunded a portion of the stay or some equivalent compensation, either points, F&B credit, or both.

I just stayed at a Springhill where the soap dispenser fell off the wall in the middle of the night waking me up with quite a scare. A full bottle of bodywash makes a heck of a noise hitting the tub at 4am. The hotel couldn't do enough for us to make it right, including trying to throw points at us, but I politely declined. It disrupted my sleep by a whole 15 minutes as I looked around for the source of the noise and I (fortunately) fell back asleep easily and had a great sleep otherwise.

Re coffee, I travel with this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJ5Z8MJM and a heater. Life's too short for bad coffee.
So, you start with an exhortation to "name and shame," then resort to a story about an anonymous Springhill property.

Nice.
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Old Apr 3, 2024 | 8:10 am
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
Agreed. But you should have understood that sometimes people make mistakes. The hotel wasn't out to get you. Someone made a mistake and assigned a room that hadn't been cleaned yet. That's all. It's not a war crime, it was an honest mistake, and a relatively minor one at that. Have you ever made a mistake at work? Did you offer your salary for the day to your employer as compensation for your error? The hotel believes that it owes you nothing more. It was a minor transgression which you didn't notice initially. If you found it sufficiently offensive or disgusting, you would take your business elsewhere. Apparently that's not the case, and the hotel's many years of good service have engendered loyalty in you and your organization. Maybe it's time to let that be enough.
Did I imply that I thought the hotel was out to get me? I acknowledged several times that I understand it was a simple mistake on their part. Also, sometimes simple mistakes can cause results that leave others in really negative situations.

Analogy: You order a to-go beverage from a restaurant. It is handed to you in a disposable cup with a lid and a straw. You drink it dry, and then remove the lid so you can eat the ice. You then see that the cup also contains roaches. The restaurant didn't do it intentionally and didn't even realize it had occurred. You drank the beverage unaware. But once you knew...you just couldn't shake the ick. You tell the restaurant manager and they offer you heartfelt gratitude for alerting them. No replacement beverage, and you didn't even get to enjoy the ice you paid for. And you're left with the impression that they kind of think it's your fault for not taking the lid off and checking for roaches before you started drinking it.

I was left with the ick factor. Didn't get a shower that morning because *yuck* + no clean towels. Was kind of guilted to feel like it was my fault because I didn't figure it out earlier. In reality? They were paid for a clean room with clean towels, etc., and should've said, "We are so sorry. Mistake on our part! You didn't get what you paid for. We will make this right." I wasn't looking for a free week at an all-inclusive as compensation. Just fairness.

Back to work today, so minding this thread will not be on my plate. Thanks much for the guidance and laughs!
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Last edited by BCOS; Apr 3, 2024 at 8:25 am
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Old Apr 3, 2024 | 5:30 pm
  #42  
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Originally Posted by hotturnip
So, you start with an exhortation to "name and shame," then resort to a story about an anonymous Springhill property.
Fine, SpringHill Suites, North Orlando/Sanford. We had a great stay otherwise. The furniture's definitely worn, but not worn out. Front desk staff were great, one of them could teach some of the full-service Bonvoy properties a thing or two about service. They said the property is supposed to receive a full renovation in the next 2 or so months.
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Old Apr 3, 2024 | 7:15 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by BCOS
Did I imply that I thought the hotel was out to get me? I acknowledged several times that I understand it was a simple mistake on their part. Also, sometimes simple mistakes can cause results that leave others in really negative situations.

Analogy: You order a to-go beverage from a restaurant. It is handed to you in a disposable cup with a lid and a straw. You drink it dry, and then remove the lid so you can eat the ice. You then see that the cup also contains roaches. The restaurant didn't do it intentionally and didn't even realize it had occurred. You drank the beverage unaware. But once you knew...you just couldn't shake the ick. You tell the restaurant manager and they offer you heartfelt gratitude for alerting them. No replacement beverage, and you didn't even get to enjoy the ice you paid for. And you're left with the impression that they kind of think it's your fault for not taking the lid off and checking for roaches before you started drinking it.

I was left with the ick factor.
I get that. Of course it's not your fault for not opening the drink. But it's not the restaurant's fault that you didn't realize it before you drank the drink. Neither is it the hotel's fault that you didn't bring the problem to its attention earlier. If you had, they undoubtedly would have sent someone to your room to clean it. You and your husband both made assumptions which turned out to be incorrect. And, let's be honest. Unlike roaches in the drink, which I would agree are inherently disgusting, there was nothing inherently disgusting about the condition of the room that caused you to experience the ick factor until you learned what had happened. You and your husband didn't talk about this until the next morning. Your husband was surprised that you left the towels on the floor, apparently something that you don't normally do, but he said nothing to you that night.

You experienced the ick factor. Unfortunate, but there was nothing that the hotel could do at that point to remedy the situation. Sure, it can give you some points, and I think that that would be appropriate. But there's nothing that the hotel can do to remove that particular ick factor from your life's experience. It can't be undone.

As I said earlier, the hotel's superior service over years has made you and your group loyal customers. Lots of things in life don't go exactly as planned or anticipated. I remember some air conditioning pipes in the ceiling leaking water onto the marble floor once when I was staying at an LC property where I stay regularly. I slipped, fell, and pulled a muscle in the process. Called the front desk from my cell phone and a team came right up to the room. After they picked me up off the floor, engineering set about finding and correcting the problem. No compensation offered other than a sincere apology, none expected. I've been going to that hotel for nearly two decades, now, and its excellent service over the years made it easy for me to overlook something like this. Like your unfortunate experience, no permanent injury, only some temporary discomfort. I try to save my outrage and compensation demands for serious problems, of which yours, IMO, was not.
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Last edited by Dr. HFH; Apr 3, 2024 at 7:22 pm
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Old Apr 7, 2024 | 11:31 am
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
I get that. Of course it's not your fault for not opening the drink. But it's not the restaurant's fault that you didn't realize it before you drank the drink. Neither is it the hotel's fault that you didn't bring the problem to its attention earlier.
It's the restaurant's responsibility to provide us with a sanitary eating experience. The key word - I believe - is responsibility. In the analogy, the restaurant didn't give the customer the value of what was paid for, and the restaurant kept all the customer's money. The customer was right to assume that under the lid was sanitary ice and beverage. Regardless of when they discovered the grossness, the negligent one was the restaurant. Regardless of whether it was intentional, the right thing to do would've been to either return the customer's money or give them a fresh replacement beverage sans roaches in the cup.

Anyway, I do have an update. One of the hotel-connected specialist accounts here connected with the hotel a couple of times for me, and also provided me with an email address for the hotel. I reached out to them early last week, and last night - Saturday - received an email from them indicating that I was to receive Bonvoy points within the next few days. The amount they said I will receive is just a little less than what a typical night at that hotel would cost. It will easily cover a stay at different hotels in the Marriott family, so I do plan to use the points rather than transferring them elsewhere (which we'd have done had the number been so small as to not cover a night anywhere).

I'm happy with this resolution. I emailed them thanking them and reiterating that we appreciated the help of the excellent conference staff who made everything else run so smoothly. All's well that ends well!
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Old Apr 7, 2024 | 11:55 am
  #45  
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Angry

Originally Posted by BCOS
She returned later with this message: "What we are able to offer you is our sincerest gratitude for taking the time to share your experience with us so that we can improve our processes."
You have been staying there for 20 years, so they aren’t exactly new to the whole hotel and hospitality business. What process do they need to improve now? Are they saying that for 20+ years they haven’t had a good enough process that ensures only clean rooms get assigned to arriving guests?

Perhaps you should ask for a detailed written explanation of how this happened and what exactly they are going to do to prevent this from happening again. Because, frankly, I think they will not investigate and not change anything, so the answer you got is just BS. Mistakes can happen, but how you recover from them is what really shows how you run your business.

If you are on the board of that organization, I would lobby for moving next year’s event elsewhere and let the property know why.
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