Marriott charging for 800 calls??
 

On my stay last week at EWR airport Marriott I was charged for 800 calls @$1.06 per call. I was told that this started in June. I called Marriott customer service and was told that this started "about 1 year ago" systemwide. I am a Platinum member for many years and have never heard of this. Has anyone had this happen?
This is the usual corporate arrogance trying to extract more money from frequent travelers, on top of the high hotel rates.
Time to look for another Hotel program and cash in my miles with Marriott.

I don't think this is systemwide. Some Marriotts do and some don't regardless of status. Stayed at one of the San Diego Marriotts last week -- no charge for 1-800

I have been staying at the Marriott in Long Beach, CA. for the last 15 months. They charge Platinum guests for ALL phone calls. Local starts with a flat fee and increases by duration. The management says they don't follow the Marriott Platinum Policy and Marriott Corporate said not all hotels participate.

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we stayed at Marriott (Royal Rihga) in New York City last wknd, yes, not only they charged $1.00 for 800 number call, they also added $5.00 per room per night energy surchage!
and local call is $1.00 per 3-minute http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

The best and smartest thing to do is at check-in to ask if there is a charge and if so, the amount for 800 and local telephone calls. I've done this for years and saved a lot of pain (in the wallet) at check-out.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

The Renaissance branch seems to be standardizing on $1 for local and 20 minutes free on 800 followed by 10c per. Yet another reason my business is drifting toward the Springhill flag....

Generally speaking, status at Marriott has no bearing on one's telephone charges (although it can help get them off the bill when you complain about them!)

I think you'll find that most similar chains (Hilton, Hyatt, et al) will charge the same connection fee for an 800 call as a local one.

In the past, elite members always got free local calls at Courtyard properties. Not sure if that is changing now.

Bruce

Only for Gold and Platinum. Which is bad, because you could have had enough stays to be Courtyard Gold in the past (not that that was needed--even Courtyard Club basic got free local calls) and still only end up Marriott Silver new-style.

Since we got mobile phones, I've paid no attention to charges for local calls - one more reason I love my mobile. But if the 800-call charge is back in force, we are NOT amused. I don't mind hotels covering the costs of new equipement, etc., but I do resent having them turn such things into profit centers.

In our experience, Hiltons give you 800 access free for the first hour at least. I can understand why they felt they needed to try to limit the amount of time people were tying up their phone lines surfing the Net. So far, we've manage to get on-line, check what we need, and have never gotten a charge at a Hilton. But 20 minutes? That's ridiculous.

Marriott used to be the best hotel chain in the Frequent Travel game, but they're hardly even keeping up these days.

That's odd. I didn't know that. I've never gotten free calls at Courtyards since they started charging for them, and I've been plat. 7 years running. Then again, I mostly stay at full-service Marriotts so I've never bothered to wonder about (or question) my Courtyard phone bills. I'll have to ask next time I stay at one.

[This message has been edited by SuperSlug (edited 06-19-2001).]

From www.motel6.com , Motel 6:

800, 888, 877 and 866 calls are also Free at Motel 6!
And, they'll even ".....leave the light on for you©." Thank you Tom Bodett.

Perhaps the Major League hotels could learn something from the Minor League motels!


[This message has been edited by MRLIMO (edited 06-19-2001).]

It's hit and miss. I stayed at the following three hotels this weekend:

Wyndham Phoenix Airport -- $1.75 charge for 800 calls -- waived for members of their ByRequest program -- which is free. This was all posted by the phone. (PS $4 energy surcharge per night!)

Hilton Sedona Resort -- no charge for 800 calls, but I couldn't connect to my ISP anyway, so it didn't really matter. There was nothing posted by the phone so I called the front desk and asked them. (PS no energy surcharge)

Marriott Camelback Resort -- no charge for 800 calls, and I was able to connect at high speed, so that means that have updated phone lines. This was posted by the phone. (PS no energy surcharge)

First thing I check when I arrive is the telephone policy. Sad but true these days.

Not wanting to always bring in the legal aspect, but ...

If you are not informed when you make a reservation about the extra fees AND you are not told about them when you check in, are they considered standard amenities that you would expect covered in the room charge ?

I guess that the note on the phone or in the hotel 'guestbook' covers them, doesn't it ?

Maybe, we should all make inquiries of the reservation staff and at check-in - are the local calls covered, is the safe included, is there an energy charge, is there a fee for changing towels each day, etc. etc.

No 800 charges at various Hiltons I've stayed at. 60 minute limit per call