Issues with Marriott Rewards Program
 

I respect people opinions here so I am looking for some advice. When I stay in a certain area of the US my company pre pays my hotel for me. I always used my Marriott number on check-in and I noticed I was not getting credit for my night stays. I called Marriott and they told me this was because my bill showed a 0 balance. I explained I don't care about the points I just want credit for my night stays. They told pretty much told me too bad and they don't care. I have stayed at 2 particular Marriott's well over 50 nights since July and I am not getting any credit for these stays. I emailed the rewards program telling them I am no longer staying at Marriott's because they won't credit my night stays. I hoped for a response that was alittle more understanding then the one I got. Is this good customer service? Start at the bottom work your way up and let me know what you think. I wish I could find an email from someone at Marriott that will listen.

Dear Mr. Bennett,

Thank you for your reply.

I apologize for my confusion. I will keep your account open.

Sincerely,

Arlene Stephens
Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards




On December 21, 2006 at 9:25 AM, "Shawn" wrote:

>I didn't say I wanted my account closed I said I will no longer be staying
>at Marriott's. This is how you treat a customer who has spent
>thousands of dollars with you this year? You would
>think your customer service would do alittle better job at keeping a valued
>customer but I guess not.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <[email protected]>
>To:
>Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 8:39 AM
>Subject: RE: Goodbye Marriott [T20061221009VS010Z2668605]
>
>
>> Dear Mr. Bennett,
>>
>> Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards.
>>
>> Your account has now been closed as per your request. Should you desire to
>> reactive your membership in the future please contact our office and we
>> will be glad to assist you.
>>
>> Thanks for choosing Marriott brands for your business and travel.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Arlene Stephens
>> Correspondence Specialist
>> Marriott Rewards




email:
subject:Goodbye Marriott
comments: I just wanted to say that I will not be staying at Marriott's
any longer. I was very upset to see I was not credited for my stays
because my company sometimes paid the bill. I guess you don't realize I DO
have a choice of where I stay. Whether my company pays the bills or not
shouldn't matter. I don't care about the points I just wanted the night
stays so I could become Gold and I bet I would have been close to
Platinum. I have a team that traveled all over the US and I made everyone
stay at Marriotts last year. This year we are traveling all over the globe
and since I have issues with getting my night stays I am going to have to
move to Hilton or another program. I am sorry I am taking my business away
from Marriott it is not by choice it's because I cannot get my nights stay
credits. If you noticed I have already canceled the stays I booked for the
end of this year.

I am not sure what your initial contact was with them, so there could be some additional history, but maybe a different approach would be useful.

Your email could have been arranged to be a bit clearer (however from the initial response -- not sure that clarify would have done any good).

Possibly more facts, such as identifying the specific stays / reservation numbers, or even providing your folio for them to review.

If you had paid stays, and the stays were not excluded from earning status and points (some companies seemed to have negotiated this accrual away from travellers), then it seems to me that you should have at minimum... nights credit. I do recall the basic disclaimer that the person earning credit needs to also be the person paying for the room, but not sure if that is the issue here.

I'd try another phone call, or just go through the process of missing credit -- fill out the forms and send in that with your folios.

Good luck

Well there are quite a few issues going on here.

First, you tell us that your company prepays your hotel, but your email to them states they sometimes pay your hotel. On the stays where you are paying for the room you should be getting the points and the stay credit.

Regarding the times when your company pays for the hotel on a direct bill, then by MR T&C they are not obligated to give you points or stay credits.

Have you spoken to your company about this? If you are traveling this much then your company should at least be able to set you up with status through their corporate contract with Marriott. You may also want to discuss with them the fact that it is your butt that is on the road all the time and that you would like the benefits that come with that sacrifice (points AND stay credit).

As an outsider looking in, I see your issue being more with your employer than with Marriott as Marriott is just honoring their own T&C the the terms they negotiated with your employer. Now if your company is paying you a salary well in excess of the norm, which would make up for this loss of this benefit, then no harm no foul. However, if they are not, then I would start looking for employment elsewhere if you can't come to some understanding with them or can't accept the situation the way it is.

First, I do understand your frustration as you paid the dues by staying at the hotel instead of at home.

Unfortunately for you, a lot of the time when a room is prepaid, the rate has been negotiated between the company and Marriott. And that negotiated rate takes into acount that no Rewards points will be awarded. IOW, the company gets a little bit better rate for no Rewards points.

There are a couple of options.

1. Talk with your company and see if it is possible for you to pay the bill and then expense it back to them. This way you will get all the points and night credits.

2. You might check other Marriott hotels in the area for cheaper rates and if you find one and your company lets you (as it will let your company save money) pay for that hotel stay. This would require you to do a little leg work checking rates, possibly weekly or even daily. You may not be able to find any cheaper rates, or only on certain days. As such, you would only get points/night credit periodically.

2. If you have any control over where you stay, you might look at the other hotel rewards programs and see if any of them will allow the accrual of points and/or night credits on prepaid rooms. While you won't earn Marriott points, you might be able to earn Hilton, SPG, or Hyatt points.

3. Some posters here have stated that when they have charged incidentals to the room, they have been lucky enough to get points for the incidentals and then night credit showed up. But I don't think that this is the "official" policy, so it may or may not work.

Good luck with this. Others may have more ideas as well. So keep looking.

Thanks for the reply. I have sent them all my records and folios and that is when they said they wont credit me because my comapny paid for the rooms. I agree my first contact with them could have been better but I was so angry. All's I want is my credits for the night stays.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have also had nights credited to me on pre-paid when I had charged things to my room. So my last trip I stayed 2 weeks and made sure and charged things to my room thinking I will get the nights stay credit and it didn't happen. So your right I dont think it is a rule but it does happen. The main reason for my anger is I will be traveling 75% of the time next year and I was diamond with Hilton prior. I stayed at Marriotts this year because I heard they were better and wanted to give them a try. Now I will have no status next year because of this choice.

Are you sure your employer does not have an agreement with Marriott to retain the incentives in lieu of you receiving credit as an individual? I don't know the details of how it works, but I've heard it mentioned here before that some companies arrange discount rates that are not "qualifying rates" for individual MR benefits. The fact that your employer is pre-paying your stay may be a clue since it does not follow the normal method of an individual paying with a corporate/personal credit card in their name and getting reimbursed by the employer later. You may be directing your ire at the wrong entity... Do you receive credit for your stays in other programs (HHonors, Priority Club, etc.)?

Yes I do get credit from other programs and I asked my company and they have no deals as far as reward programs go.

I think if Marriott was a bit more clear about why exactly you do not get your credit (i.e. your companies contract states that no points for prepaid stays....) then you would have better direction.

With 75% of your time on the road -- it would surely be a hastle and a lot of $ from your pocket to book and pay yourself, but if you really want the benefits and credit (and hell yes... I would want the points for personal travel in your case) -- you may need to take it up with your company (as others have said).

If you company pays for your stays at all the major chains -- might be out of luck. Otherwise -- get yourself a Marriott Visa and go crazy!

That is what I was expecting from Marriott was for them to explain to me why I don't get the nights credit. Don't worry the pre-paid hotels are only in a certain area for my company and that just happened to be the area I spent a ton of time this year. Next year I will be global and paying using my Corporate Card so I can get points. :)

Ah so this will not be an ongoing issue. That actually makes a big difference in the recommendations. A couple of suggestions:

1. Contact Marriott Concierge (Chris Janecek) at [email protected] and explain the situation to him and how many nights you have stayed at Marriott Properties this year. Be prepared to fax in proof of those stays. Chris is a good guy and shodul be able to help in some manner. Let him know that we steered you his way as he posts here often, is well recieved in this forum and has been very helpful and informative in the past. What's the harm in them extending status to someone who stays at their property and wants to continue doing so.

2. Contact your employer's HR/travel people to see if there is some provision in their contract with Marriott to get you status. I have heard isolated reports of this happening.

Good luck.

Thanks I sent an email to Chris!