+1

I wouldn't do this because I value my time too much to sit around waiting and protesting. I leave the GC info and politely request they charge it when they figure it out or feel like it. This has worked every time but once, when they charged my CC on file instead. A quick call to customer service resolved that. You *never* have to worry about the cops because you've paid... you've given your credit card at check-in. Now if you yell and create a disturbance, you risk it, but no one can accuse you of not paying when your card is on file.

That's not what I suggested. I'm saying that if Marriott hotel staff caused someone to get arrested by lying that they haven't paid when they had a CC on file by rule from the start, *that* would get some press if the customer made it known. Airlines and hotels have made news for much more trivial treatment.

Agreed, though my experience (at least in the US) over the past 3 months or so has been extremely quick and easy processing. Not sure if they updated the system or training, or if I've just been lucky, but it's been extremely easy as of late.

This.

Cheers.

(emphasis mine)

I agree, it is lack of training, not an intention to cause trouble for guests. While I do place some blame on MI HQ, I place most of the blame on the property managers not seeing to it that the employees on their teams are fully and properly trained.

Is it possible to receive Marriott points when using a gift card purchased at a store (Lowe's).

Example:
If I buy a $100 gift card at Lowes, and use it to pay for my $150 stay at a Courtyard, will I receive Marriott points on the $150 total, or just the remainder ($50)?

Thanks!

You should get full credit. Where some properties have failed is to report a gift certificate/card as a rate reduction, which is wrong. Unless it's a coupon, or the such, it should be reported as payment and credit due.

Suspected unauthorized e-gift card transaction, anyway to get the statement?
 

Hi all,

I checked my e-gift cards account from month to month...Just now, I realized that 2 of my gift cards is showing the balance which is different from what I have recorded. Well, I'm not sure whether it's my mistake on recording or someone else used my gift card.

Is there any way to check the transaction of the gift cards?

Please help.

Thanks a lot.

[email protected] can get you a transaction record

Thanks a lot, will send them an email...

Yikes, just yesterday I got a call from BoA for an inactive credit card I haven't used in 2+ years which had an unauthorized $1,900 charge appear from an online merchant.

I checked my two Marriott GCs for good measure just now after reading this and luckily their balances still check ed.

Glad I'll be depleting my Marriott GCs in the next two weeks so I don't need to worry!

OK - having literally read this entire thread, I am numb. That said, one question I didn't see directly addressed is whether Marriott will convert and eGC to a physical one. Despite the fact that the e-certs "should" work just like a card, I have heard many cases where there are issues. Just to avoid the PIA factor, I'd rather have a card. Anyone have experience here? Thanks.

Using marriott gift cards to pay for stay
 

I am considering buying a bunch of marriott gift cards to get the united bonus of 7500 miles, since I have a number of stays coming up. I was told on the forum that even if I pay for my stays with gift cards I will get my MRs for each stay and my understanding is that these stays would count during my plat challenge. My question is would I also get the bonus points for being plat elite on my stays. In the terms of service is this language: "Bonus points earned only on cash/credit card stays; redemption stays excluded."

Would using a gift card count as a cash or credit stay? It seems like it should, but I was wondering if anyone has direct experience with this since I was thinking about buying $1500 worth of gift cards and then using them on all my upcoming stays.

GCs count as cash. Personal experience within the past month...

Ok thanks. I didn't want to get caught in some catch-22. I notice if I go through the Chase UR portal I can get 2 points for each dollar spent on marriott. For the plat challenge I know I am not allowed to use third party websites to book the rooms, but the UR portal sends me to the marriott website. Would the UR portal count as a third party site? When I spoke to someone at marriott they didn't seem to know the answer.

Nope, as long as you ended up in marriott.com you are fine.

Also you can use GC and probably score MR points if the rate is a pay at hotel rate.

Caution: Be careful while using Marriot GC. Ripped off by Marriott/Chase
 

Long story short: I had paid at a Marriott hotel with a Marriott GC while checking out. The rooms were charged to my credit card while checking-in. Marriott apparently refunded of all my credit card charges on payment with GC. However, one year on, I have still not got refunds on 2 of the 5 charges. What is my recourse?

Longer version:

I had booked a 6 night mattress hop about an year ago at a marriott hotel

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...ed-advice.html

I used Marriott GC to pay for it. I and my SO alternatively checked out and checked in every night.

After the first night, the check out desk told me they would charge my credit card initially and then refund the amount in the end and charge the whole amount for the rest of the 5 nights to my GC. I did not want to do it; but the repeated insistence of the agents led me to accept it. They kept true to their word and on the final day, charged my GC and handed me folios showing that the amounts had been refunded to my and my SO's credit cards. Little did I know that my nightmare had just begun.

I returned home and waited for 15 days. No refunds appeared. I called marriott to ensure that the amounts had actually been refunded. They said yes and asked me to wait a bit more. After one month, we disputed the charges on the credit cards (with copies of the folios showing the refunds). Chase initially declined all claims; apparently Marriott had told them that the charges were valid!!

We challenged the claim again, called Marriott and finally 3 charges on my SO's card were refunded; but the charges on mine weren't. For the last one year, we have been calling Chase and Marriott, to no avail. A week ago, Chase sent a letter essentially saying that they don't want to hear from me in this regard.

Am I out of $150 for no fault of mine? Do I have any recourse? How Chase can deny the claims despite seeing the folios is beyond my powers of comprehension!

Thanks a lot for your expert insight