Hotel cancallation after 6 PM - Marriott did the right thing
 

DH booked yesterday Chicago-Washington-Savannah. Some sort of weather issue in Washington, so he sat on plane on ground in Chicago for 3 hours, finally got to DC, well after connection to SAV (which was cancelled after all that).

Had hotel in Savannah booked - usual 6 PM cancellation policy - but since he was on plane could not cancel and did not even know if he would be in Savannah or DC for the night, it was well after 7 PM when he knew he could not use this hotel room. He had to find and pay for room in Washington since it was weather-related delay and not airline's responsibility.

He called Marriott and they waived the no-cancellation after 6 PM rule - and booked him in hotel near IAD for internet rate. (cheapest - he checked). Seems some companies are reasonable.

While I have never had to cancel thst close, it's good to keep the name of a company in mind that treats you well.

It appears Marriott has gained some good PR.

Well, he certainly backed up his excuse, by booking with them in the other city! They still got a night's stay from him, so everybody won on that one. I wonder if they re-sold his room to somebody who had been stranded in Savannah.

Marriott does an excellent job with customer relations and this is one of the reasons that I stick with them in my business travels

Marriott has great customer service and is the chain my husband uses for all his business travel.

Actually, Priceline refunded my money on a non-refundable hotel a year ago at the holidays when my plane was canceled and I obviously could not get to my airport hotel. I was surprised that they gave me a full refund without any hassle.

Just curious??

What was the weather related issue in Washington on Sat nite?

I've had the cancellation fee waived often at a variety of hotels. I've called to explain the problem and I've never had a hotel to charge me. If you wait until after midnight when they close their books for the day, THAT'S another story.

I was in PA Saturday night and there were violent thunderstorms. I know it was a band, so it may have stretched down to DC.

The only chain I had an issue with is Hyatt. They had a 72 hour policy and I called 48 hours before - they were pretty non-budging. I asked if I could change the date then instead of canceling and they said that was fine.

I changed the date and then canceled online.

Marriott has always been wonderful in our experience as well.

How nice to hear that others have had positive experiences - I must be so used to dealing with customer non-service people with airlines that I expected he would have a problem.

And I doubt they were able to re-sell the Savannah room. It was in a lower end Marriott brand and was in Midtown area of Savannah, not Historic District (he was going to be in town for about 12 hours just to see our son)

gail - I think they really strive to be flexible with their customers and train their ee in a many which reflects that.