Timeless customer service lessons from an epic Marriott fail

What a lousy experience I had with Marriott last week. I don’t normally (ever?) point stuff like this out, but this systemic Marriott Fail was so epic, so complete, that it provides a useful case study and a teachable moment. Here is the story:

I just want a room

I was driving to Atlanta through a torrential rain storm. I had already been on the road 12 hours and still had a long night ahead of me. There was going to be a massive package of pre-reading waiting for me at the front desk of the Marriott hotel, which I would need to plow through late into the night in preparation for a morning meeting with my customer.

But halfway through my drive I realized that the package had been left at the wrong Marriott. My reservation was at an another Marriott property 10 miles away. I decided that to save precious time, I would change my reservation to the place where my package was waiting.

I called the hotel to verify that my package was there (it was) and thankfully, there was an available room. I asked them if I could simply switch my reservation from one property to another. The lady on the other end said “yes” she would be happy to help me but needed to put me on hold.