Marriott is threatening to shut down the account of a top-tier Bonvoy Ambassador for the high crime of complaining about legitimate service issues he has encountered during recent stays.

Marriott Threatens To Ban Guest For Complaining About Service Failures

Some people are just incorrigible. I once traveled with someone, who shall remain nameless but he certainly matched what he left in the toilet bowl, who entered our hotel room, made a beeline for the toilet, defecated in it, then called downstairs complaining that there was feces in the toilet. What a piece of s….

This case is different. I happen to know this traveler, can vouch for his integrity, and recognize that he is a loyal Marriott Bonvoy customer (to his great detriment…). He’s not the occasional traveler who has unreasonable expectations. He does not exaggerate or make a mountain out of a molehill. Rather, he travels for work and leisure, is (or at least was…) fiercely loyal to Marriott, and spends a ton of money at Marriott hotels around the world.

Marriott has done a terrible job of holding some of its franchises to brand standards, both when it comes to cleanliness and upkeep and when it comes to elite recognition. A handful of issues he has brought up include:

1. A valet dinged his car and the hotel only offered 10,000 points
2. Hair from a previous guest(s) all over the bathroom and bed in his room
3. Hotel claimed it was not a resort and therefore did not have to offer elite breakfast, but had “resort” in its name and imposed a resort fee
4. Downgraded from a king bed room to a room with two double beds, even though Marriott has a bed-type guarantee and both rooms were still for sale during check-in
5. Found a dildo beside his bed upon arrival in hotel room
6. Mold in hotel rooms

There’s more, but you get the picture, I hope…these are not just trivial matters and bringing them up should be welcomed, right?

But instead, after a recent complaint to his Ambassador Services agent, his account was flagged for chronic complaining. The Loyalty Program Risk department reached out, noted that his complaints represented 9% of his total lifetime nights with Marriott, then threatened to close his account for complaining too much.

Yes, that’s right: hotels failed, but the customer is to blame. The correspondence from Marriott essentially accused him of fraud…does this sound like fraud to you?

Sorry, but no one should have to just grin and bear these service lapses, especially when Marriott properties charge a premium specifically because they know they can draw from a wider and more loyal customer base under the Marriott brand. As View From The Wing reasoned, “Marriott consistently underdelivers. And when an Ambassador member complains, they do try to offer compensation – but do very little to rectify the underlying problems at their hotels. So a frequent guest encounters frequent problems. That’s on the chain, which has been degrading its brand.”

CONCLUSION

Apparently, spending $200K on Marriott is not enough…the true customers are the hotels. This traveler has now shifted to Hyatt and cancelled his Marriott co-branded credit cards, which is a good first step, but Marriott owes him an apology…and Marriott owes all of us a duty to hold its hotels accountable. That’s the deeper issue here.

image: Marriott