CJKatl

As I remember it, many people posted and the changes started pretty quickly. The missing stays link returned within days, and within a few weeks, the floating boxes were gone. For a large company, that was pretty quick.

I was the first person to post that issue both here and on Insiders and was impressed that they listened, but from the start, they posted that they heard the complaints and were taking them seriously. Specific details were given pretty quickly, as was a timeframe for completion. We haven't heard anything like that on either of this week's fiascos. All we have been told is to trust them, that boy oh boy, something great is coming.

SkiAdcock

I was just thinking. Michelle on Insiders mentioned she blew it/learned her lesson when she kept posting just a few days more (for several months) re: the new BOGO scheme & she'd never put a timeline on something again.

It occurred to me that Marriott shot itself in the foot re: doing the 'pre-announcement' of the new cash+points program. Granted, if it's like we're guessing, it's a lame program & they deserve to get the negative comments. But to do the pre-announcement in advance was silly.

Methinks Marriott should just announce things & not try to build excitement.

Cheers.

GrizShel

Understood, but there's also the problem with whatever customer survey / focus group testing they do before they roll out such things failing miserably to give them an accurate read on what their customers want. If what was leaked truly is what they were planning to implement, at least now they may be able to save themselves the embarrassment of rolling out something that has the opposite of the intended effect - forcing them to then either retract / greatly change / discontinue the already implemented program. This is what happen with the website changes - but I do very much agree, to Marriott's credit, they did listen very well to most of our concerns about the website changes and actually do now have a better website than last year. (although I personally still want them to bring back the ability to customize the hotel search radius - something they took away a few years ago without any good reason. It is just not a good assumption that customers are always looking for any hotel within a 50 mile radius and only within a 50 mile radius. )

But Marriott is not the only company that has for some reason a lot of trouble
predicting customer behavior and response.

dfe

I beg to differ. It boggles the mind to even think that Marriott had focus groups of their very best customers (Plat & PP) that would suggest the inane and thoughless changes that they made in the web site last year. It is more likely that the web site "improvements" were made up in cubicles or over few beers on a Friday evening by IT staff that does not travel like most of us. Suggesting that they "listened to us" and made all of these non-improvements is just not believable. Look at what they have had to do in back-tracking over the last year and still have not got back all of the functionality they flushed down the toilet. How much $ did mgt. and IT waste with these ill conceived ideas and the corrections?


Now we we another fiasco with the cash and points "improvement" where they don't have a clue. Why give them credit for listening after making huge mistakes when they have to back-track and retrench. Get it right the fisrt time, and it would save a lot of bandwidth and our time! On the other hand, maybe if they got it right, we would still use the bandwidth and time to sing their praises.

NJUPINTHEAIR

I doubt the beers if the It staff is located in SLC.

BKKLEE

+1[QUOTE=dfe;19054914]

whether the IT staff is located in SLC or in the NY-graveyard, they are not helping with their innovated ideas that no one asked for nor wants.........

SkiAdcock

My thread on Insiders got shut down & split up. I understand the splitting of the thread, as some people sidetracked it with questions re: the fall megabonus program. I don't understand the shutting down of the original thread though, as it was about their announcement re: cash+points.

Cheers.

aaupgrade

Seems clear to me. They want your thread and their announcement to go away as quietly as possible. In their forum they can do that, in this forum they can't.

But they could come back and fess up and admit they screwed up. A little humble pie might be good for them. That and firing the team that have been in place the past couple years FUBARing everything in sight. I really think that upper management, including Bill, must be drinking the Ed French Kool-Aid and be clueless as to what is really going on with their web site and frequent stay program. Although increasing REVPAR (due to an improving economy) makes them care less. I'm sure the Ed French Kool-Aid is claiming full credit though.

johnbaby

So I agree with the others about this being a terrible benefit and I've actually moved from Marriott Platinum to Hyatt Diamond this year because of the lack of benefits.

However, that being said, one benefit that might be of use here is staying in an upgraded room if booking a paid night followed by reward nights. Let's say I booked 2 nights in an oceanfront room and added on 2 award nights. Could I not then be guaranteed an oceanfront room for a standard rewards redemption? Maybe I'm off, but that seems halfway decent with this change.

Also, anything new on the supposedly big Facebook announcement?

BKKLEE

and, if you haven't noticed, the "big news" has been deleted from MRs home page
https://www.marriott.com/rewards/rewards-program.mi

djohannw

I almost don't dare to say this, but it really seems that someone at MR has indeed misunderstood the meaning of "Cash&Points" as it was frequently requested by members and now, after taking the fire here (and probably elsewhere after the announcement), rescinded the offer and is back to the drawing board...

If that really is the case this would shed some very saddening light on the folks working on this program.

Greetings - Dirk

username

So, this is like advertising a hybrid car but actually selling you a gasoline car and an electric car.

Do you get the 5th night free?

It is pretty disturbing that SPG has improved a lot and MR is only getting worse. I was hoping all the silence on BOGO means they are working on some big positive changes...

BKKLEE

since one brand is copying the other (not referring to Apple v. Samsung!) if Marriott really wants to start a "true" C&P program, then just do what SPG and HH (and perhaps others which I'm not aware of) already do as there's no copyright infringement problem here (unless the C&P program title has itself been copyrighted - then just term it something similar, but not misleading like Marriott's Personal C&P Program - to distinguished it from others)

SkiAdcock

Agree.

Agree.

Cheers.

username

It almost seems to me some high school math kid who does not know how people use their points in these programs decided that this is the way to go.

For example, stay Mon-Sat nights, Mon-Thu paid business $200/night and Fri-Sat using points 25,000/night. Mathematically, we basically had $800+tax and 50,000 points for 6 nights. So, cash and point

In practice, why would any business traveller want to mix personal and business trips this way - it might create accounting/reimbursement challenges with no benefit to the traveller.

Either there is something beneficial to us that we don't see yet or this thing is simply unnecessary. I am still hoping it is the former.