waltinsocal

Okay, I seldom do this, but after reading and posting in the XML thread, and because of what happened this morning at a Courtyard, the BigGuyinPasadena (and I mean no disrespect) in me is going to come out. Before I rant, I want to say that I don't want to hear that such and such could happen at any other hotel chain. That is never the point, and in my opinion, is a lame response to a rant. I stay at Marriott properties because of many factors, and that's just the way it is. Sometimes it's like a bad marriage that would cost too much money to get out of. But it is what it is.

My annoyance comes from today's Courtyard, the one in Fountain Valley, Ca. at Brookhurst and the 405. I, like many of us, carry only my laptop on trips, and do not lug along a printer. For that reason, sometimes I will use the lobby computer (as opposed to my laptop) to compose and then print a document. This morning, after I had composed a lengthy something, I tried to print. All that came out were blank pages. I asked the front desk clerk to come over, and he ascertained that the toner cartridge was empty. No problem, I think. I asked him to replace it. He comes back and says the hotel has none, and that they will have to go and buy one. I ask when, he doesn't know. I had a CD to save the doc to, but the CD rom did not work. I don't use floppies, so that was a no go. Amazing. Is there not a checklist for these properties? It may seem minor to some of you, but I needed to print this doc and his suggestion was to send me to a Kinkos 6 miles away where I could recompose the doc (that I could not save )and use the Kinkos printer. (Yes, I learned my lesson. Compose on my laptop, save the doc, and try then to use their printer if they have the drivers to give me to make the printer work, or type a short something and test the printer) Enough of that, but you get my point. When I suggested to the clerk, that they buy 2 cartridges this time, he said, "Gee, yeah it might be a good idea to have a spare." I don't blame the staff for these screw ups, and no matter what I am unfailingly polite to the staff members. But many of these problems should be laid squarely in the lap of the managers which Marriott hires.

Or how about the Friday BEFORE a 3 day weekend when I checked in, and at 2300 I wanted a soda from a machine. I went to all seven machines on the property and save for 2 slots in one machine, all slots in all machines were empty. The 2 slots had water. This was prior to a 3 day holiday weekend and occupancy was high. Did anyone have the sense to restock prior to the 3 day wekend? No. The machines were not restocked until after the holiday. Once again, no check list for the property staff to go through?

Or how about the Promos? Marriott will tell you that the good news is there is a new Promo (you may not qualify but I am the first to admit that those are the breaks and such is life). The bad news is, there may not be anybody at the front desk that has been properly trained on how to apply the promo. The one that comes to mind most is the Bonus Bucks one, which I referred to in the XML thread and with which I had a huge hassle in Guatemala City, and at a FS Marriott in Anaheim.

In most, if not all cases, discussion with a Manager, or a call to customer service will resolve the issue. But when you have to start going to the lengths some of us do, at checkin, to make sure there is not a screw up, something is wrong. Like most of us, I want a simple checkout before I go to catch my plane.

The next issue is of unrequested access to the C Lounge. That is a no brainer. All appropriate members should receive, without asking, access at checkin. Does that happen? You can provide the answer and we know what it is.

Upgrades..once again, should be given without request. It seems like at some properties it's like a game to give you as few of your benefits as possible.

A minor one, but recently at the Polat Renaissance Istanbul, for the first time ever, I was asked to show my Platinum Premier card to, I guess, prove I am a Platinum Premier. Do I have the only card, that after a couple of months of use, has the silver lettering showing your status rub off, leaving only your embossed name, and date of expiration at the bottom? I thought the reservation on the computer properly identified one's status. I have twice requested a replacement card and none has ever arrived.

And lastly, I must respond to someone else's comment in the XML thread about the staff not being expected to know all of the policies and procedures. That is horse. I am expected to know policies and procedures within the scope of my authority at my job or I don't have a job. I don't expect the front desk staff to know about food procurement for the Courtyard Restaurant, but Management should make sure they know about Bonus Bucks, upgrades, Concierge Access, etc, all of which are with in their job descriptions.

In conclusion, I am not one of the Premier's who walks in a hotel, whips out my card, and tries to impress anyone there with my status. But, you know, if I, as a Platinum Premier get treated the way I do sometimes, something is wrong. Marriott should pay attention to us, because those of us with status (and many, many more without status) provide a steady revenue stream for the corporation. I personally, have given Marriott thousands of dollars, and many of you on this board have given Marriott much more revenue than have I. Something is simply amiss nowadays. Any property can provide hot water, a/c and a toilet. A Motel 6 does that. Can Marriott ever consistently competently do the other numerous things we are always discussing on this board? Does Marriott really care, or is it happy to get fat off of the higher rates being charged these days and ignore the problems? My only wish is that this thread would make it into Mr. Marriott's office. Happy Holidays.

socrates

I completely agree with your frustration and would strongly encourage you to contact either customer service of guest relations to express your frustrations - it is through honest feedback such as yours that hotels and their management teams are able to improve (I too had a frustrating situation last week where I wanted to print from my laptop only to find that this SpringHill Suites did have a business center but that you couldn't hook your laptop up to the printer to print, and yes I myself am guilty of not following back up with the general manager but I'm shooting them a note right now)

jrsinpdx

For what it's worth, I print all my documents to a PDF file and load it on a thumb drive. Programs like CutePDF are free and will work with most all programs.

When the business center printer is not working the front desk people have always been more than happy to print it from one of their computers.

USirritated

Just one small suggestion Walt, to help YOU. Get one of those jump drives with a slide on one end, and a key ring on the other end, to protect you in the future. That way you can just stick it in the USB port on whatever computer you are sitting at and save it to that jump drive, slide the cover over it and slip it back into your pocket and have it safely on your person until you find a good printer. They also make a jump drive that is the opposite end of a pen that clips on to your pocket, but that is a bit too geeky for some people.

FWIW, I agree with all of your rantings. You should call it in. I did about two big problems that I had at the Las Vegas Ren in November, and got a call from the Manager there yesterday, and we talked it through in detail for about 45 minutes. I felt better, and I am sure it helped the hotel, they are going to change their provider for one of the services that we discussed.

deac83

I'd say about 80% of the time I get the sense that the front desk has no clue that you are a PP or what it means. When a hotel is on the ball there is a noticeable difference. Checked into the Brussels Marriott last month on vacation and and when we arrived that had us booked into the largest suite in the hotel (Royal Suite) and that was on an award stay. Add to that we checked in at 9am as well. There was no doubt in my mind that this hotel understood what a PP was.

As discussed here and with many a GM, if Marriott is serious about providing the 'best service' for it's PP's then they need to change the name from PP to a clearly identifiable name and provide cards that are not essentially the same as a plat card with 'premier' written on it.


IMO, that would end 90% of the issues.

On the c-lounge, never have a problem as PP or as Plat.

TN_traveler

You're right about it sometimes being like a bad marriage. I am extremely brand-loyal to Marriott, simply because the Platinum bonus (30%) and the Marriott Visa bump (50%) means I can pile up the points, and turn 'em into nice places to stay on vacations.

Having all the points in one place, instead of spread over 2-3 hotel groups, means I'll usually put up with more small problems instead of changing hotels. Marriott properties are usually problem-free, but even when there is a problem I'll let management know, and try to find a work-around. I've got co-workers that will storm out of a hotel and move to another brand if the clerk looks at them sideways. On the other hand, once I've unpacked for the week, it takes quite a bit to cause me to move rooms, much less switch hotels. When checking into a room I give it the perfunctory check for clean sheets & working lights, but past that my needs are simple.

I like booking all my hotels through one web site (marriott.com), calling one phone number to make changes, and having all my points in one place. I considered staying at more expensive hotels, but I'm pretty sure to find some type of Marriott, from the lowly Fairfield up to the full service properties, no matter where I'm working that week.

I give Marriott all my business, and they reward me with points, properties in many locations, and a special phone number to call. We're stuck with each other, but most of the time, that isn't a bad thing.

USirritated

Even when I am unhappy, I stop and realize that no chain has more buildings, in more cities and countries, than the Marriott family, and when it gets right down to it, they treat me pretty well, and when they don't, there is usually someone to talk with about it, and if it is really bad, they compensate me for it even if I need to escalate.

I am like you TN_traveler, when I get there, I like to check out my room, if I don't like something about it (like it being right next to the ice machine!), then I ask to move before I get settled, but once I get settled, I don't really like to move much, it does not seem worth the trouble. I do make an exception on occasion, such as when I am on a long stay (10 days or more), and a suite opens up, say half way through as a Plat upgrade, I will usually move for that, I like light and space. I have to compliment the Las Vegas Ren for moving me to a suite half way through a ten day stay in November, it was a SWEET SUITE!

freeupgrade

To the OP, please PM me, and I will give you an email address to use. I used it last week, and I can assure you, it dd get to the top,

Seasons Greetings.

SNA1K

HA HA HA.... the FS Marriott Perimeter Center in Atlanta hasn't been able to provide that since last Sunday! One whole week!

waltinsocal

I'd like to think you are kidding, but somehow I think you are serious. Wow. Are you serious, a week without hot water? In all fairness, this is rare, but if you are staying there, the "rareness" doesn't matter.

SNA1K

Yes! It started Sunday morning from what I was told (I checked in Sunday night). I finally was fed up by Wednesday and moved to the Sheraton down the road, but several of my colleagues toughed it out through Friday in order to accumulate more "apology" points. When they left on Friday, the water was still cold. It appears that there were a couple of the boilers that did work, but they ran out quite early in the morning.

blue47

I never compose lengthy documents on the shared lobby computers. Someone else may be waiting to use it.

waltinsocal

I am always keenly aware of anyone nearby who may even look like they need the computer. Many have signs requesting that you use it for a maximum of 30 minutes, and I have NEVER exceeded that limit. I have only rarely even come close, and even more rarely do I use the hotel computer for any purpose. Please be aware that I am extremely annoyed right now because of the factors in my post. I don't even begin to expect everyone to even agree with my original post, but I don't need a comment about "computer etiquette". In light of the etiquette I always maintain regarding the computer, that makes your comment irrelevant. (If you thought I was hogging the computer to the exclusion of others for over 30 mintues, I can understand your comment, but that is never the case. I can type very fast and I can assure you I can crank out a pretty substantial document in a short period of time, within 30 minutes. Perhaps our definitions of "lengthy" differ, and I will leave it at that)

keeton

In addition to a jump drive, you can use one of the web-based e-mail services (e.g. hotmail, or your own company may provide one) and simply e-mail to yourself with the documents as attachments. They can be retrieved from any Internet-connected computer.

The drink machines are usually stocked by an outside vendor, but I understand your frustration.

Your problems once again show how Marriott is lacking in the limited-service market sector.

mikey1003

Same here...also email it to yourself and then go to Kinkos