Walking Away From the Book Tour (10/9/14)

I almost packed things up on this book tour before I ever left the house, and if I hadn’t already lined up 30 speaking engagements I probably would have done just that.

Three weeks before I was supposed to head north I had a minor gastrointestinal issue that left me basically bedridden for the better part of two weeks. I think I just happened to eat something that didn’t agree with me, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. All I can say is that I was in severe pain and as a result I was averaging around two hours of sleep per night. Then I had my first complication with Marriott Hotels’ online reservation system, and got to experience their ANTI Customer Service Department. Lastly, five days before I was set to leave the family dog came down with something serious. I had to wait a day and a half to get her into the vet’s office. Luckily when her blood work came back negative. The vet said she probably hurt her back, he gave her some pain killers and steroids, and sent us on our way.

With the way things started off I will be the first to admit that I have become a little insensitive with certain people on this trip. I can’t stand being on the road with drivers who are so self absorbed that they don’t consider the welfare of anyone around them. Believe me I experienced my fair share as I made my way up to New England. And I despise dealing with corporate drones who have such disregard for their customers that they completely dismiss them.

Complete dismissal was my reception from Marriott Hotel’s Corporate Customer Service Department. Now I understand that the corporate philosophy honestly is we don’t care until we have something to lose, and that corporate worker bees wouldn’t dare actually question the company line. However, there are times in life where you actually have to consider revising your position, even if you are a multibillion dollar corporation and you are dealing with some Average Joe. There are times as an employee where the handbook doesn’t apply, and you have to consider thinking for yourself.

Even if I was calling about my bed being too uncomfortable I couldn’t rationalize someone saying, “I’m sorry there isn’t anything I can do for you.” You can send them a discount coupon. If they were really that unhappy they would never use in the first place, and if they weren’t you would have bought some goodwill. However, when you are talking about flaws in your booking system that affect your corporate partners you might want to rethink that position of sorry you are S.O.L..

I’m spending $45,000.00 at Marriott Hotels for over 300 nights this year. The problem I have comes down to being able to actually reserve a room with a credit card and use the $45,000.00 worth of rewards that I’m redeeming from American Express. “We’re sorry, but even though those gift cards say good as cash we are going to make your life hell and force you to use your credit card to pay anyway.”

So I lost my cool while dealing with Marriott Corporate Drone and here’s what I’m going to do now. I’m no longer going to call customer service and complain or try and remedy the situation. I have reached out to find the appropriate department at American Express and I will be voicing my complaints to them. If American Express can’t resolve the issue with their corporate partner then I will be using TV as my forum. I was looking for a new TV script to use to get booked in LA, and now I think I’ve found it, Corporate Culture Couldn’t Care less. That isn’t perfect yet, but I have a month to tweak it.