Warning: Gov't Grant Phone Scam  by spooke    Posted 2007-07-24

Restored: Marriott and its Affiliates

Recently I posted a rather detailed complaint about the customer service provided by Marriott International, Inc. To recap, I had receivde mis-information from an reservations agent that resulted in my making an online reservation that could not be paid for using Marriott gift cards. My attempts at rectifying the situation over the phone were less than successfull, so I responded by spamming a customer compliant email to every service department listed on Marriott.com - including one in the U.K.

Before the day had passed, I recieved about 6 automated responses and one personal response from the Marriott UK, co-addressed to Marriott Customer Care. The following morning I received a call from Saba, a manager at the Fairfield Inn holding our reservations. She was polite and reassuring, and told me that in the service industry you get swifter and more personal results by taking an issue to the local manager rather than franchise HQ. It makes sense.

Initially, she refunded the reservation. But then that meant our reservation was no longer guaranteed, so she charged the rooms to my credit card again. She also put a note on the reservation to have the staff call her personally when we arrived for check in, where she could reverse the charges to allow us to use the gift cards.

We spoke with Saba on our arrival. Our charges were settled and she genuinely wished us a good stay. And we had a great time.

 

With that said, here is a brief review of the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Jamaica, NY...

As seen on Marriott.com

Location: Adjacent to highway entrance. Small lot requiring some elevated parking (they basically lift your car up to park another beneath), but parking was free. In fact, the valet attendant seemed surprised that I tipped him. Fairfield also offerred free taxi service to NYC Subway, where it was 20-30 minutes to Manhattan. Jones Beach is 20 minutes southeast.

Rooms: Clean and pleasant. Bathrooms were large but it left the rooms a bit snug. There was room for a king size bed and a small lounge chair. Desk was adequate - outlets and wired internet easily accessible. Wireless internet signal was a bit weak on the 4th floor.

Service: Staff was friendly and curtious. As I mentioned, the valet attendant was surprised that I tipped him. Included was an extended continental breakfast - always a good perk. We had Jimmy Dean pre-packaged breakfast sandwiches, fresh bagels/muffins/croissants, make-your-own Belgian waffles, hard boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, juices and coffee. For a continental breakfast, Fairfield aims for top honors.

Cost: $149.99/night, incl free parking, shutle to airport, shuttle to subway/train, and continental breakfast.

-spooke

 

Blacklist: Marriott and its Affiliates

I have always thought of Marriott as a higher-end chain hotel - way too expensive for a pit stop, but a strong contender for value when work foots the bill. And so, I am a rewards member, or at least was until today.

Their customer service spoke volumes about Marriott's impression of Joe Customer over Joe Corporate this afternoon. Not only were my concerns dismissed, they were done so without any sense of empathy or even courtesy, at times. Allow me to set the stage...

TurboTax offerred a portion of your tax return in gift cards this year. Knowing I would use them and liking the 20% Sponsor match, I elected to accept $600.00 in Mariott gift cards. Of course, the S/H and processing fees ate up $80 of my $100 savings, but that's TurboTax and it'll be a separate article.

I believe the contents of the letter below will sum up the rest of the situation, but I will add that the quotes were taken in direct context to our conversations. I have submitted the letter to internet.customer.care@marriott.com and will await their generic and unconcerned response..

The above confirmation number is one of two confirmations (88844938 and 88845774) for the same upcoming weekend. Two separate reservations were made at a Fairfield. Prior to making these, I called online reservations to confirm that payment could be made using Marriott gift cards because the online reservation said "credit card deposits only, and I have $600.00 in gift cards to spend. I was told by the representative that the charge to my credit card holds the reservation and that the gift cards could be applied upon arrival. She remained on the line and walked me through the online reservation process. I still added in the comments that the rooms would be paid for via Marriott gift cards.

Today I have learned that the reservations are advanced purchase and that gift cards cannot be applied, even though my confirmation email mentions the "credit card DEPOSIT" explicitly. I also learned that there is no Quality Review done by Marriott.com or the individual hotels receiving the reservation.

I have called online reservations, guest services, and gift card services to voice a complaint. Their response was cold and at times, rude. I have been told each of the following:

"There is no way to track a call unless you make a reservation."

"You can't always believe the online reservations people - you should have read the fine print."

"You should apply the $600 towards incidentals on your stay."

"The giftcards are transferable - you can sell them."

"There really isn't a quality review for online reservations. The hotel receives the comments but they really don't read them."

I was shocked at the responses which came from three different people in three different departments. Obviously they have not been trained on valuing their brand.

Unfortunately, I already expect this will also fall on deaf ears, but I will continue to request a full cancellation/refund for my reservation and my Marriott gift cards.

Until today, I had nothing but compliments regarding Marriott Hotels and their service. I am sad to say that I may be recommending my IT organization to remove Marriott and its affiliates from their approved corporate travel list.

Their Automated reply:

Dear [my name],

Thank you for contacting Marriott Customer Care. We value your loyalty. Marriott associates take personal responsibility for maintaining the level of service with which Marriott guests have become familiar.

We will research your inquiry and respond in a timely manner.

Again, thank you for choosing Marriott, and we are eager to welcome you back during your next trip.

Regards,
Andrew S.
Marriott Internet Customer Care

I received the same form response mailing from the following Customer Care specialists (I suppose I submitted my complaint a few times, including one Contact Us in the UK):

Regards,
Danielle J. [removed]
Marriott Internet Customer Care

Regards,
Jamie D. [removed]
Marriott Internet Customer Care

Regards,
Keith F. [removed]
Marriott Internet Customer Care

We'll see who has the weakest response! So far, the Online Reservations rep who suggested I committ $600.00 worth of "incidentals" is our front runner.

spooke is a weekly columnist for ChasingTowers. He can be reached by emailing spooke@ChasingTowers.com.

Comments? Suggestions? Spew? Send your opinions to Page6@ChasingTowers.com

No spam, please. We're already wealthy from allowing foreign widows to cash their husbands' offshore accounts using our US bank account, we've already subscribed to every possible work-at-home signup, Bill Gates has already paid us for forwarding his emails, and we don't have any friends to forward good luck wishes to... but thanks for thinking of us :-)