Last month I redeemed 205,000 points for a T2i Camera and have recieved 5 different notifications that the camera is backordered from Skymall due to "unexpected demand". There was no mention of backorder when I placed the order. When I inquired to Marriott rewards customer service I was told they (Marriott) have no control over the issue and Skymall needs to be contacted. Marriott has obviously ceded control of merchandise redemption to Skymall.
To make matters worse, you can order and pay cash from Skymall and get the same camera overnight if you want to pay an extra thirty dollars for shipping. I called Skymall and pretended to be interested in buying the exact same camera. I got a verbal confirmation that the camera was available and ready to ship the next day !!! Next day i recieved yet another notification that the rewards camera was yet again delayed.

I have written Mr. Marriott at Corporate, but am not holding my breath that they will respond.

a lot of companies outsource their programs, at least in part. If you had exchanged points for miles with DL and you couldn't get a ticket due to blackout dates, but you could buy a ticket... that wouldn't be Marriott's issue at that point.

I understand the outsourcing. the surprise is that Marriott has excused themselves from the process and allows SkyMall to manage the program without any apparent oversight. Ordering with points = backorder, order with credit card = camera shipped. Bad practice IMHO.

That's different. Marriott is offering you Delta miles in exchange for Marriott points, and they delivered. They're not offering you a Delta flight.

When Marriott offers you a camera in exchange for points and doesn't deliver, the appropriate analogy would be if the Delta miles never showed up in your account. If they didn't, I would fully expect Marriott to follow up.
Still, it's not a perfect analogy, because the order has been acknowledged by SkyMall and backordered (not outright undelivered...yet).

But I agree that Marriott should ensure that its members are treated appropriately at SkyMall - and I don't think backordering an item that is in stock for a cash purchase is being treated appropriately.

Heck I would have gotten you the camera for 205,000 points Good luck with this, I will definately think twice from now on when redeeming for items.

MR hasn't outsourced the program to SkyMall, they are simply the merchant from where the purchase was made, while I do think you should give MI feedback on your issues I doubt there's much they can do other than make a complain to SkyMall much as you've done

My original concerns in the matter were directed to Marriott, and they responded they had no control in the matter (stated twice to me in emails) . In my book thats outsourcing and no oversight. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Marriott fan, and have been a member since 1988 and will continue to be. In my business (manufacturing) we too outsource, but we also set standards by which our partners must adhere to, and hold them accountable. When Marriott responded to me that they could not intervene and have no control of the situation ("contact them directly") means they have no outsource standards in this case, or otherwise hold Skymall accountable to the Marriott customer experience. That just doesn't seem like a good business practice IMHO.

your statement that Marriott "Rewards Program not run by Marriott" isn't correct - to be specific it is run by Marriott however as noted in the program rules some awards are provided by 3rd party vendors. MI, its affiliates and subsidiaries make no warranty, express or implied, as to the condition, capacity, performance or any other aspect blah blah blah...again with that said I would encourage you to contact Mr. Marriott's office of Consumer Affairs to see if they can assist in this matter...it's shameful that Sky Mall is selling the same exact item to their direct customers (either way Sky Mall is collecting $$$ for the product, in your case MI is cutting them a check)....I would equally suggest you contact the executive offices of Sky Mall to let them know of their shameful customer service practices....unfortunately there isn't too much MI can do since it's a 3rd party vendor but perhaps executive office to executive office will help

I would respectfully disagree with the first sentence ( but love the exchange ) while technically a Marriott program, the administration of the program is completely in Skymall's court. If Marriott was truly managing the merchandise portion of the program, there would have been transparency when i expressed my concerns to the Marriott customer service and not direct me to Skymall. Granted the non merchandise part of the program, i.e., hotel rewards, may be directly administered by Marriott, they clearly are not managing the customer experience in the merchandise portion in this instance. They turned the entire process over to Skymall.

The 3rd party vendor relationship is granted and defined by Marriott, not Skymall. My loyalty is rewarded by Marriott, not Skymall. My thought then is Skymall in turn would most likely not have the same level of concern if addressed by me, rather than addressed to them by Marriott and I was surprised they indicated they would not do in the email responses to me. However, I did write ( snail mail ) to Mr. Marriott in Bethesda. No doubt it will be handled by a staff member hopefully in position to address the issue going forward. Hopefully they see it as good feedback and it helps them.

Marriott has spoiled me. The brand and the experience has been exceptional over the years. They have built a wonderful brand based on quality and customer service that has kept me loyal since 1988. Thats why I was surprised at their email responses to me. The five delays surprised me. It is not a Marriott experience. I may be beating this to death, but not intended.

Cheers and happy travels.

I see two problems here:

1) you are expecting a CSR at MR to know what can be done when SkyMall does not deliver. Personally, I think that is asking a bit much. Most CSR's, especially those answering eMails, have limited ability and when presented with a problem that is not addressed in their documentation freely point you elsewhere.

2) you are presuming the CSR at SkyMall actually telling you the truth. I'm sure their system may be telling them they can sell the camera and even offer overnight delivery, but until they actually do it, I wouldn't believe it. Rarely online systems will impede the ability to sell (translation - collect money) until the very last point, shipping, and even then billing may still occur.

I don't want to deminish your issue, but it needs to be taken up with the proper parties. Given we are not privy to all the corporate assignments in either organization, the only recourse is to start at the top and work your way down from there. If it was me, I'd compose a message to both Mr. Marriott's office and Mr. SkyMall's and let them identify the problem and decide if they wish to implement a solution. There is a chance the original response is correct and SkyMall is snowballing their customers.

Good luck moving forward, remember to keep the emotion out of it and stick to the facts.

I bought a TV last fall and I was lucky

It arrived early, in great condition and I have had zero issues with it

but once I ordered it; i had second thoughts like

what if it doesn't arrive
what if it doesn't work
what if it dies soon

I knew MR wouldn't be able to help me

I was lucky this time but I don't think I'm doing that anymore

1. Correct, I expect the first line of support to have some knowledge and guidance as they are the first line ambassadors (Level 1 support) , or direct me to a MR supervisor as a Level II effort. Telling me they can't do anything is counter intuitive to me when it is their program.

2. I did a double effort. First I was one step away from ordering on line before making the call to Skymall. As well i checked a nationally known seller(s) and to a one, if the camera was a back order status it was duly noted with approximate time frames to ship. You could proceed to buy but after disclosure. Not the case from skymall. And, if this were the case, it would, if I'm Marriott, concern me regarding the execution of their merchandising rewards aspect of the program.

I did write Marriott, keeping to facts. The emotion is surprise and dissapointment that a great brand like Marriott is claiming they have no oversight in the merchandise portion of the program. This is probably more time with this than i planned on spending. the dialogue is very addictive.

Again, conversing with an uninformed CSR is not the same as writing to Mr. Marriott's office, admittedly the CSR should have done better, but they just don't know. Go to the top and work your way down from there. I'm pretty sure you will get someone's attention that will champion your cause inside the MR organization.

Everybody loves a Happy Ending right ( maybe not scrooge ) and i must admit that the ending is exactly the opposite as the start. Me thinkith that the good fairy must have been aware.

I won't recount again the start, but I think the ending deserves the same treatment however, probably more.

To my very pleased surprise, a box shipped OVERNIGHT service arrived at my doorstep today. Wife signed for it etc. Got home, opened said box and WOW. Not only the camera that I had been ordered, but the same good service fairy had sent addtional, significant goodies.

A very neat camera bag.
A very neat accessory kit
A very neat screen guard ( would not have occured to have one- smart idea)
A very neat Micro fiber cleaning cloth
A very neat EXTRA battery ( i hate it when they puke and I don't have extra)
And last but not least - a Transcend Class 6 8Gig of memory. For the uninitiated, class does matter and Class 6 is what the doctor orders for this camera.

You could knock me over with a feather if I were about 50 pounds lighter.
Seriously though, this was not expected, nor anticapated. I tip my hat to someone(s) that may have glanced at Flyertalk. I tip my hat further that the message resonated if so. I am really at a loss to say much more, not like me.

If you are M.R. ( your name is on the receipt, but I only use your initials ), nice touch, I see you went to some trouble. On the extremely rare occassion in my 22 years as a loyal Marriott customer that there may have been an issue, Marriott and / or Franchisee's always made things right. This reflects the committment that is part of the brand Marriott.

By the way, if I could make a wish to the service fairy, would you please buy the Garmisch-Partenkirschen property back ? My wife and I miss it !.

Well there it is boys and girls, the happy ending. there is now a smiley face.

Cheers and Happy travels !

NOTE: i also posted this further down the thread but it occurrs to me that in fairness to Marriott and SkyMall it is appropriate to also place it adjacent to the origianl post. As well, for clarity, the camera did arrive ahead of the last date of July 13th.

Happy Ending

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everybody loves a Happy Ending right ( maybe not scrooge ) and i must admit that the ending is exactly the opposite as the start. Me thinkith that the good fairy must have been aware.

I won't recount again the start, but I think the ending deserves the same treatment however, probably more.

To my very pleased surprise, a box shipped OVERNIGHT service arrived at my doorstep today. Wife signed for it etc. Got home, opened said box and WOW. Not only the camera that I had been ordered, but the same good service fairy had sent addtional, significant goodies.

A very neat camera bag.
A very neat accessory kit
A very neat screen guard ( would not have occured to have one- smart idea)
A very neat Micro fiber cleaning cloth
A very neat EXTRA battery ( i hate it when they puke and I don't have extra)
And last but not least - a Transcend Class 6 8Gig of memory. For the uninitiated, class does matter and Class 6 is what the doctor orders for this camera.

You could knock me over with a feather if I were about 50 pounds lighter.
Seriously though, this was not expected, nor anticapated. I tip my hat to someone(s) that may have glanced at Flyertalk. I tip my hat further that the message resonated if so. I am really at a loss to say much more, not like me.

If you are M.R. ( your name is on the receipt, but I only use your initials ), nice touch, I see you went to some trouble. On the extremely rare occassion in my 22 years as a loyal Marriott customer that there may have been an issue, Marriott and / or Franchisee's always made things right. This reflects the committment that is part of the brand Marriott.

By the way, if I could make a wish to the service fairy, would you please buy the Garmisch-Partenkirschen property back ? My wife and I miss it !.

Well there it is boys and girls, the happy ending. there is now a smiley face.

Cheers and Happy travels !