sjuhawk_jd

I have been a Plat for over 10 years now, and increasingly getting frustrated with Poorly trained Reps who do not even know the basic rules or how to best advise the guest on solving a problem. Each issue takes several calls, being on hold for 10-15 minutes intervals for 2-3 times within the same call to get an answer, etc. This seems to happen more on the weekends. Have others faced similar issues or drop in the level of Rep training with SPG program?

btan887

Last week I had a rep tell me over the phone that you could only get the Amex sign up bonus once for either the SPG Personal or SPG Business cards even if you applied for both. I tried to explain things politely but she was very insistent. Eventually I just agreed to disagree.

uanj

I use click to chat during office hours a lot. I have noticed a drop in the quality of answers there as well. I have gotten answers to other people questions and some non-helpful answers. They seem to have a timer for three minutes exactly. If you do not respond within that timeframe they close the window so you must start again. Never mind it took them over 20 minutes to get back to you.

And I have also had absolutely terrific responses as well. Just seeing an increase this year in the marginal ones.

PayItForward

Maybe they are cross training the Marriott CS team to handle SPG stuff.

sjuhawk_jd

I had a missing stay and missing bonus point issue. After 50 minutes on phone, a supervisor advised me to send my folio for both nights to [email protected]. I had a same night, same property, two suites, booked under "Sweat suite promotion" or something like that where you get 3000 bonus points for booking and paying for the suite. I confirmed with the property before the stay that "3000" SPG bonus will be given for each suite.

I only received one stay credit and one "3000" bonus.

Email reply from [email protected] is:

"Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your missing stay.
We've confirmed that your account has already been credited for your stay at The Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa, including any and all eligible charges made during that time"

Research department did not bother to check that I emailed them two folios and the entire scenario was described in my email to them (that I booked and paid for two rooms, so I should get two stays and two 3000 bonus).

Am I missing something or SPG is totally clueless now?

PayItForward

I would use their reply and flag it out that you booked two rooms. Worse case scenario, the 3,000 points is a misunderstanding but you should definitely get 2 stay credits.

supatight80

You should get 3K points for each suite. It's like booking 2 rooms with breakfast or a free drink and you only got 1 free breakfast for both rooms.

Suggest contacting lurkers

MSPeconomist

This can't be the explanation as Marriott hasn't yet purchased Starwood, but today is supposed to be the day it happens.

IMO Plat Concierge has been getting worse since Amb was created.

PointWeasel

Oh god no.

The Marriott service is usually good when you finally call the correct number. However, there are some truly unhelpful agents, IMHO.

The Marriott email replies are utterly ridiculous as though no one bothered to even read the words actually in the email.

SkiAdcock

Today was the expected day for EU approval (which was given). Deal is supposed to close in July, per the press release today (see the main sticky thread for link).

Re: the OP commenting service seems to be worse on the weekends. Generic question - is it because the main reps are Mon-Fri?

Cheers.

RogerD408

But when you get the same poor service from an Ambassador, there's nowhere to turn except to the Lurkers. How long until that becomes a status benefit?

MSPeconomist

A level above Amb? How many night's would be required? In a sense, owners do 365/366 night's per year, and they're prioritized for upgrades above Amb.

okrogius

I've noticed similar decline of service. In the past a single email to research@ got everything fixed, on the first try (a week or two for the reply, but that's ok). At this point, most things require multiple contact points and even then sometimes are a lost cause.

Had a multiple-room stay a couple of months ago. As usual, hotel didn't post it correctly. Research fixed up the elite-qualifying nights/stays, but somehow posted one stay such that it incorrectly didn't increment the lifetime counter. After a few emails, I was getting responses along the lines of "I work for a specialty desk that doesn't talk to customers. Please call the general CSR line" (naturally the phone agents told me to email research@ as they're not empowered to fix this). I gave up as it's not worth the time cost to get things fixed.

Alas, even with 90% accurate posting and occasional bad service, SPG is still one of the better loyalty programs. Then again, I also requalified for Hyatt Diamond this year too.

FSU

My personal favorite was a rep who insisted that 4pm late checkout ONLY applied to resorts and conference centers. All other hotels were not eligible. He said he had worked at Starwood for a long time and was absolutely positive he was right.

3Cforme

Before I declared reps (the OP's plural) poorly trained I think I would try to segregate the things:

- that should be asked of SPG phone reps

- that should be asked of front desk agents

- that should be asked of hotel concierges

- and the things that are so trivial, foolish, or unreasonable that they shouldn't be asked at all.