Has anyone ever received the compensation for not receiving an arrival gift (points/amenity)? I assume the $100 compensation is meant to give managers of a hotel an incentive to ensure that their front desk staff treat Marriott's frequent travelers in a consistently high regard. But the terms of this "guarantee" only guarantee it does not need to be paid, and the managers quote the rules to escape it. Here is what the Marriott Rewards site says:
https://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-benefits/guarantee.mi
Guaranteed Platinum Arrival Gift
Get more when you check in. As a Platinum member, you’ll receive a special gift upon arrival at all participating hotels, offering you a choice of an amenity gift or bonus points. (Amenity gift not available at The Ritz-Carlton, EDITION and Marriott Vacation Club locations.) If guarantee is not met, guest compensation applies.
However, the specific terms and conditions page phrases it differently and has two conflicting statements that amount to this: A guest must ask for compensation regarding the arrival gift before they leave, but will not know if they were credited for the arrival gift points until after they leave.
- ...
- If an Elite Member believes that compensation is due with respect to any aspect of the Elite Benefits Guarantee, he/she must request payment of the compensation while still a guest at the hotel, prior to checking out. Failure to request such payment prior to check out will result in a complete waiver of any right to receive such compensation.
- Guaranteed Platinum Arrival Gift: Platinum Elite Members will receive a welcome amenity of 1000 bonus Points or 500 bonus Miles, depending upon their earning preference, once the qualifying stay has posted to the Platinum Elite Member’s account. Contact guest services if the benefit does not post on your account statement within two weeks of your stay.
With those terms, I don't see how any guest can ever receive cash compensation for a missed arrival gift. This situation has now happened to me twice this year; both times the manager of the hotel has claimed 1) the front desk recognized my Rewards status and simply "forgot" to credit the points or 2) the points had to be manually entered because it was an MVC property. But the guarantee is that I will get the gift points (or amenity if applicable) upon arrival--that did not happen. But they quoted rule 2 to say I wasn't eligible.
So has anyone ever gotten the "guarantee" compensation, or is it simply there to puff up the program?