Snuggs

Seriously? Marriott is not at fault and maybe BIL misunderstood? I'm not a subscriber to "Excuse Mongering" Thankfully he didn't decide to stay for a week.

Perhaps it is true, maybe my relatives are worse than the average... because this is EXACTLY what I would expect from any of my relatives.

1) I would call Marriott for an explanation. When that doesn't work, write them a letter.
2) Wait for hell to freeze over before you make a similar gesture.

"No good deed goes unpunished". "No act of kindness goes unresented"

FlyinDutchman

I could imagine that the staff would have thought that the actual person asking for the extended stay was the owner of the account. While this would normally be alright, I guess there is no alert when this is not the case. And, this is definitely a point worth mentioning to the Marriott in general, in order for them to improve their product.

As far as your brother-in-law, IMHO it was much more his fault more than the Marriott's. Inappropriate behaviour. Or maybe he thought you were all just one big happy family, sharing life's richnesses?? Well, now, definitely not anymore, I guess.

Good luck with resolving the issue....

Often1

If OP thinks the BIL committed a fraud, report it to the police and let them pursue it. If he doesn't, move on and don't do this again.

pinniped

When a Flyertalk thread opens with this line, you know it's gonna be good!!

Definitely a lesson learned for you...hopefully you are successful shaking some form of compensation out of the deadbeat, but assuming his name was on the reservation I don't think the hotel did anything wrong.

clbish

Even if it were my own brother, or my husbands, I would be asking about what happened and tell them to pay for the last night. If that didn't happen, there would NEVER be another point used for that clown!

I would also call and remind Marriott that this transaction was not authorized, but that you are taking care of it on your end. Just to make sure it does not happen again.

However, if the hotel was under the assumption that the BIL was OP, then all bet are off. Live and learn.

sendbillmoney

My impression of this is that you lost X points, so someone has X points worth of butt-chewing coming to them. Your desire seems to be to 1) direct that butt-chewing to Marriott, 2) to keep the discussion between you and them, and 3) to ensure Marriott doesn't bill the BIL and cause familial blowback to you. That's fair. A more formal version of "Hey, Marriott. I authorized a guest to stay two nights on my points, he stayed a third and you debited my points account without clearing it with me. Not cool." Then tell them what you want them to do to make it right and where you don't want it to go.

As for the familial politics, I don't think you were asking our suggestions on that piece. Good luck.

janetdoe

I agree that is the correct solution if the reservation was made in BIL's name.

If the reservation was made in OP's name with BIL added, I think Marriott is in the clear. They assumed you were staying in the room and fully aware that it was being extended an additional night. By the same token they assumed you were in the room and granted BIL your elite benefits... and this is an assumption that many FTers take FULL advantage of.

I think if you cause a big fuss about this and it becomes policy to demand to see the ID of the account holder when an additional guest checks in, it will be a net negative for elites who like to give rooms to friends and family. I'm sorry your BIL is a deadbeat, but don't upset the applecart for everyone.

If your name was on the reservation, asking BIL to replenish the replacement points on points.com is the appropriate solution. He should reimburse you for what he "borrowed" in excess of your gift to him.

VickiSoCal

Adding the guest's name to the reservation is exactly what the MR operators tell you to do when you call to make a rewards reservatin for someone else.

kah

So, dave-b, what happened? Will you share with us "the rest of the story"? ... TIA!

CafeNervosa

Thinking of the original posting, what is to prevent someone that knows you are staying on points walk up to the front desk on your last day and ask for an additional day? You would be completely unaware unless the front desk asked for ID.

VickiSoCal

Why would they do that? How woudl they get in your room to use the extra day? When you checked out wouldn't they know the truth?

k_jupiter

Divorce. Get out of that family. Works for me.

tarheelnj

Call the hotel billing department. Tell them there was a mistake and they should have charged the last night to the CC on file at check-in (BIL's). Woudn't they rather have cash than the points? Ask them to redeposit the points. Then act surprised when BIL yells about a charge to his card, with you saying "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were planning to use my points without asking me. I assumed the hotel messed up."

shoreline

+1^^
This is great! I love this one.

I think the OP must be feeling sorry for the dude since not wanting to have a chat with him, though this dude really deserves a lesson is showing a little respect.




+1

I really hope the OP returns to tell us how this turned out.
Curious minds wanna know.

janetdoe

#winning

And if they happen to charge rack rate... who are you to complain?