Contact Info for Bonvoy higher-ups

[sea&ski]

My daughter was accused of smoking in a Marriott hotel. After checking out, as I understand it, they sent her photos of cigarette burned holes in sheets and a beer can with cigarettes in it. Needless to say, she did no such thing. She contacted the GM and asked for a call back, with no results as yet. I am assuming this is the GM of that particular location. She asked for photographic proof that the offending materials were from the room number she stayed in and of course none was offered. She found at least one past review that mentioned the same occurrence in which the GM posted that there is nothing he could do about the charges. Who would be a good person within the Bonvoy hierarchy to contact? She is Silver Elite.

[She believes this happened because she did not leave a tip for the cleaning people. She did not have tidy service during her stay, her choice.]

 

[WBP]

If it were me, I’d immediately dispute the lodging charge, and any associated charges by the hotel, with the credit card that was used for payment. If the surcharges/penalty have not yet been charged to that credit card, I’d cancel the credit card, immediately.

I’d call the hotel from my cellphone, ask to speak with the GM, and then take a screen shot of the calls, on my cellphone, and save the screen shots.

I’d call the hotel and get the name of the Management Company (for the hotel), and the name of the owners of the hotel. I’d send a Certified Letter to the GM of the hotel, with a copy to the Principal of the Management Company, and the hotel owners.

If your daughter believes that a charge by the hotel is “fraudulent,” I’d report the “fraud” to the police department in the city/town where the hotel is located.

Finally, if your daughter has the tenacity, she could share the information of her case, with:

Christopher Elliott

Home

Elliott Report (Elliott.org) is a consumer news site dedicated to resolving problems between businesses and their customers.

www.elliott.org

and

Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer Rescue - Fiascos and Fixes!

Consumer Rescue protects, educates and defends consumers. Our advocacy team mediates problems between consumers and companies (free of charge).

consumerrescue.org

Chris and Michelle get these cases all of the time, at increasing number, involving hotels and car rental companies.

 

[sea&ski]

If it were me, I’d immediately dispute the lodging charge, and any associated charges by the hotel, with the credit card that was used for payment. If the surcharges/penalty have not yet been charged to that credit card, I’d cancel the credit card, immediately.

I’d call the hotel from my cellphone, ask to speak with the GM, and then take a screen shot of the calls, on my cellphone, and save the screen shots.

I’d call the hotel and get the name of the Management Company (for the hotel), and the name of the owners of the hotel. I’d send a Certified Letter to the GM of the hotel, with a copy to the Principal of the Management Company, and the hotel owners.

If your daughter believes that a charge by the hotel is “fraudulent,” I’d report the “fraud” to the police department in the city/town where the hotel is located.

Finally, if your daughter has the tenacity, she could share the information of her case, with:

Christopher Elliott

Home

Elliott Report (Elliott.org) is a consumer news site dedicated to resolving problems between businesses and their customers.

www.elliott.org

and

Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer Rescue - Fiascos and Fixes!

Consumer Rescue protects, educates and defends consumers. Our advocacy team mediates problems between consumers and companies (free of charge).

consumerrescue.org

Chris and Michelle get these cases all of the time, at increasing number, involving hotels and car rental companies.

I want to update the result of my daughter's issue with the incorrect charge for smoking. She did use Michelle Couch-Friedman and was successful in getting the charges reversed. She received an apology letter from the General Manager of the Courtyard. What a scam.
My husband and I were charged by Budget for a windshield that absolutely did not suffer a rock chip while in our possession. I wish I had known to escalate it. My insurance company would not cover it and was disinterested in hearing that a car rental company offered on the insurance website as an option was charging probably everyone for a windshield, over and over. While I had photos of the car body and a video, it was late at night when we picked it up and the windshield damage did not show up. Now I am much more thorough and obsessively careful.
Since this happened to my daughter, I have considered taking exit photos of hotel rooms - but have yet to do it.

Thank you, thank you WPB! Lisa

 

[WBP]

I want to update the result of my daughter's issue with the incorrect charge for smoking. She did use Michelle Couch-Friedman and was successful in getting the charges reversed. She received an apology letter from the General Manager of the Courtyard. What a scam.
My husband and I were charged by Budget for a windshield that absolutely did not suffer a rock chip while in our possession. I wish I had known to escalate it. My insurance company would not cover it and was disinterested in hearing that a car rental company offered on the insurance website as an option was charging probably everyone for a windshield, over and over. While I had photos of the car body and a video, it was late at night when we picked it up and the windshield damage did not show up. Now I am much more thorough and obsessively careful.
Since this happened to my daughter, I have considered taking exit photos of hotel rooms - but have yet to do it.

Thank you, thank you WPB! Lisa

Scam, yes, scandalous, yes. In my opinion, that hotel's General Manager is preying on naive guests, who do not know how to effectively advocate against a bully, and extortionist. If it were me, I’d write the President of Marriott International, and let him/Marriott know about the extortion by this hotel, and their General Manager. This hotel should be put on Marriott’s “Watch List."

I’d bet the General Manager of the hotel in question has discovered a new “revenue source,” extorting guests for illegitimate charges. Quite the way to appear to look good to a hotel’s owners.

I hope your daughter posts a review for that hotel on TripAdvisor. Future guests of that hotel should be warned/cautioned.

 

[shirl_acs]

@sea&ski - which Courtyard location is this in?

 

[sea&ski]

@sea&ski - which Courtyard location is this in?

Newark, Ohio

 

[dioxide45]

Scam, yes, scandalous, yes. In my opinion, that hotel's General Manager is preying on naive guests, who do not know how to effectively advocate against a bully, and extortionist. If it were me, I’d write the President of Marriott International, and let him/Marriott know about the extortion by this hotel, and their General Manager. This hotel should be put on Marriott’s “Watch List."

I’d bet the General Manager of the hotel in question has discovered a new “revenue source,” extorting guests for illegitimate charges. Quite the way to appear to look good to a hotel’s owners.

I hope your daughter posts a review for that hotel on TripAdvisor. Future guests of that hotel should be warned/cautioned.

It could be a number of different factors. Sure, it could be the property running some type of scam to increase revenue by taking money from more quests. It could also be a clerical error where they input the wrong room number that someone was smoking in. A cursory review of TripAdvisor reviews doesn't point to some serial issue of them charging guests smoking penalty fees.

 

[sea&ski]

It could be a number of different factors. Sure, it could be the property running some type of scam to increase revenue by taking money from more quests. It could also be a clerical error where they input the wrong room number that someone was smoking in. A cursory review of TripAdvisor reviews doesn't point to some serial issue of them charging guests smoking penalty fees.

If you look only at the 1 star reviews (not trip advisor), someone reported exactly this occurrence 2 years ago. The digital photos that were recently presented as evidence were quite obviously not from the same source and were closeups without any identifying factors. There were no timestamps on the photos etc etc. How many times has this happened and not been reported?

 

[dioxide45]

If you look only at the 1 star reviews (not trip advisor), someone reported exactly this occurrence 2 years ago. The digital photos that were recently presented as evidence were quite obviously not from the same source and were closeups without any identifying factors. There were no timestamps on the photos etc etc. How many times has this happened and not been reported?

I would think if it was an ongoing “scandalous scam” the number of reviews mentioning it would be more prolific. Based on the pattern, or non pattern, of reviews it could very well have been a clerical error. Charging a few smoking penalty fees isn’t going to move the needle on the bottom line of a large hotel. Not every errant charge is something sinister

 

[rickandcindy23]

This is why you always leave a tip for housekeeping. This may sound silly, but a room left in a "bigger- than-usual" mess might get the GM's attention enough for them to want to charge the occupant for extra fees. But even so, lying about cigarette holes is a stretch. I am happy to see your daughter came out on the right side of this.

 

[tamu_bu]

Does your daughter even smoke?

 

[JIMinNC]

I would think if it was an ongoing “scandalous scam” the number of reviews mentioning it would be more prolific. Based on the pattern, or non pattern, of reviews it could very well have been a clerical error. Charging a few smoking penalty fees isn’t going to move the needle on the bottom line of a large hotel. Not every errant charge is something sinister

Amen! Words like “scam” and “fraud” get thrown around way too freely nowadays. Particularly when talking about major international brands/companies, if something can be explained by carelessness or incompetence, that is usually a more likely explanation than fraud or scamming.