CJKatl

I will admit to having done this, too. When the corporate rate will not show up online or if I need a special request, but we are talking once or twice year. We are not talking always for every reservation which is unnecessary. And it is a very far cry from the statement that a guest is more protected by calling directly or it makes a difference on whether a reservation is honored, which is completely wrong and contrary to well established agency laws that neither Marriott nor the hotel can waive as far as the guest's rights are concerned.

One hotel in particular when I checked in one night the hotel manager was there and asked why I was not using the corporate rate. When he learned it was not showing up online he told me to just call and, if need be, drop his name and they would correct the rate. He did not tell me to always call for a reservation, but to call if the corporate rate did not show up after making the reservation online.

RogerD408

Keep in mind just because one property has implemented the process does not mean that all of them have. The better places empower their staff to deal with issues as required. The lesser places restrict any flexibility and you MIGHT find an enterprising staff member able to work some things out when needed. I have run into many that only want to do the minimum require and are quite accomplished at that.

For the sake of this thread, in simple terms the property failed the guest and should be on the hook for compensation. They can work out what they can with Marriott regarding over booking and no one available to shut it down. Finger pointing is typical whenever there are two or more parties involved but should be avoiding in front of the customer.

jjmoore

Well stated.... and this pretty well sums up what needs to be discussed in this thread.

I will post anything else I learn about this particular hotel, as I stay there every week right now until December.

catocony

He's also talking about IHG properties, not Marriott. While the systems and processes are most likely quite similar, they are completely different companies. How a Holiday Inn or Crowne Plaza does things isn't exactly the same as a Courtyard or a Renaissance.

OpenSky

its the Bay Area. 100000 is fair.
I would have asked for 100000 and a return comp stay

RogerD408

Please, it's Tracy...

SkiAdcock

A quick google search shows Tracy as being 62.9 miles from San Francisco & closer to Modesto & Stockton. Hey, the OP said that the nearest hotel was 60 miles away. Maybe that meant there were rooms available IN San Francisco

Cheers.

bldr1k

A bit late to this discussion but I had a situation a few months ago where about 20 of us were attending a meeting in the Bay Area and staying at the Marriott Santa Clara. The Hotel apparently has two reservations systems - one for conferences and one for individuals and they were out of sync. They overbooked the hotel and 9 reservations in our party were not honored. There were no hotels within 30-40 miles and it was pretty bad.

I talked to the GM of the hotel and he said "sorry - we screwed up". I guess everyone makes mistakes but in this case the Marriott Santa Clara was horrible. Most people ended up finding their own hotels far away and the hotel was COMPLETELY USELESS in helping. In a few cases they actually charged the people for not showing up and they had to fight this after the fact.

This happens a lot more often than people here seem to realize. It has nothing to do with the hotel chain and a lot to do with how well managed the hotel is.

FlyerTalker70

I have no doubts that all hotels nearby were either sold out or far away. In a previous life when I was booking corporate travel to SF for a startup it was quite common either to see entire areas sold out (i.e. Palo Alto/SJ region) or be priced at an insane rate like $1,000/night. In particular, I recall having to book a hotel for SF during the Super Bowl weekend and the best option was the Motel 6 Oakland airport which was still very expensive (I believe around $200 USD/night). Depending on the training the FD agents got they may have been under the impression that they had a fixed budget to re-accommodate the traveller (i.e. $300) which in the valley will get you next to nothing during a conference at the last minute.



It may very well be true that a particular Marriott I'm staying at is a franchise not owned by the SPMarriott company. However, it shouldn't matter! When I go to a McDonalds I don't think to myself I wonder what this particular McDonalds offers! I know exactly what to expect I could have a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, etc, even if the McDonalds I'm at is half way round the world. That's the whole point of chains like the Hiltons and Marriotts is you expect to get consistent service and treatment regardless of where you are staying. At a very minimum I would expect that if I book directly with Marriott that reservation will be honoured since I booked directly with the hotel, not with a third party like Expedia where the inventory could be messed up. Marriott's website holds the most accurate view of inventory and if there are any discrepancies that should be on SPMarriott or the hotel in question not doing their job. Folks, this is 2018, not 1997 data consistency has been solved!

If I was in the situation where a hotel was unable to walk me with my confirmed reservation, I would pulled up Expedia found whatever room was available and booked that. Then send the bill to the hotel/chain in question.

Seems especially light given the fact that you held a confirmed reservation, they did not re-accommodate you (the guarantee for the Platinums assumes they did re-accomodate) and they contacted Mr.Marriott directly. If that's what Mr. Marriott actually suggested for one of their most loyal customers then I need to seriously rethink my hotel choices down the road. And I would certainly hope that the hotel would refund (or not charge) you for the night you never got from them!

Safe Travels,

James

RogerD408

Actually, it is the property's system that holds the most accurate view of inventory with Marriott.com being updated after the fact and maybe not completely. Properties are allowed to load more than they have physically available to accommodate last minute cancellations and no-shows. And when the property pulls a room for maintenance, it may not show online immediately, if at all. Too many times I hear of guests being DYKWIA types and bully an FDC into making a room or upgrade available based upon what the website says. I'd bet all they accomplished is pushing their misfortune onto someone else that was already blocked into the room they got.Things happen in life that may not be in the original plan. How someone handles those issues is very important. In this case, both the property and MR failed miserably. Having stayed at several properties in Tracy, I can understand this happening. The OP made the best of his situation, but I really hope MR will step up and apologize in a very generous way with proper training for the hotel should this situation happen again (and being as close to SF as they are, it very likely will).

jjmoore

100K is a TON of points.... you have to spend around $7000 to earn that many points, and those points are worth a lot of comp nights... this is more than enough for a once night inconvenience.... regardless of where it happened.

TravelLawyer

90k points is the mandatory compensation by policy. They are trying now to convince OP to take an 10k additional points in lieu of $100. TPG values marriott points at $0.009 (less than a penny) each, so OP would be closer to getting the entire comp if it was raised closer to 11k-12k pts.

lexdevil

Sure, but the "guarantee" is 90K + a free night in other accommodations. When the latter half of the deal is not met, I'm not sure 10K points is adequate compensation for that.

GoPhils

I agree that 10K points was a weak offer. If there's no cash involved, I would think at least 35K or so would be a reasonable request. Maybe 10K replaces the $100, but there should be another at least 25K as the reimbursement for the night that they should have paid for to begin with.

jjmoore

I would argue that the initial 90,000 MR points is a pretty healthy compensation for the inconvenience. And an additional 10,000 is comparable to more like $600 in spend (for a platinum / PP)... I am still in the camp that this is great compensation, and I would take it in an instant, especially for being booted out of a lousy, overpriced property like the FI in Tracy, CA.