I was just reading an article that stated Marriott would be canceling their old and tired policy on black outs dates, as of January 2009. This is fabulous news and a longtime coming.
This is quite timely, as my wife and I are taking our holiday these next weeks, and it was like pulling teeth trying to use our Marriott Reward points. Actually there were no teeth pulled, because we were told there were no options. If a time or location was blacked out, it was blacked out and not available.
It has baffled me that many service industry operations do not cater to the golden rule of listening to their customers. People want to take their trips or simply redeem their well earned points (in any genre) on their own terms, and not be unfairly constrained by black out dates or extra charges (think airlines).
A dear friend of mine gave me my new business mantra: "don't make it hard for people to give you $$$."
It looks like Marriott has finally bought into that philosophy. As of January 15, 2009 Marriott Rewards members will be able to redeem points for free nights at 2,900 hotels any night of the week. No more stipulations.
Hopefully, this thinking will spill over into other service companies. One can only dream...
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