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IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW REWARD BOOKINGS WORK BEFORE YOU TRANSACT.

1.   Marriott certificates can be used for any reservation that can be booked with points. To search for reward availability simply go to marriott.com and check the box to search "using points".
Marriott hotels are divided into categories. (Cheapest being category one)

What room types can you book?
You can book any STANDARD room that's available at marriott.com using reward points with no cap on the number of points. (standard room means it not an upgraded room. Every hotel lists their rooms differently, In some hotels, the standard room may even include suites)
To check, go to marriott.com and search for rooms. Make sure to check the option "Use Points/Certificates".

If it says:
Redemption - You can book that room no matter how many points it is
Redemption with Cash Upgrade - You can book however, the cert will cover the basic portion you will need to pay the additional cash upgrade fee.
Redemption with Points Upgrade - You cannot book using a certificate

2.   There are a few different types of certificates. Seven/five night certificates are the hotel portion of "Marriott travel packages" that the owner does not want or need anymore (google Marriott packages to learn more about them). Individuals many times buy these packages just to receive the airline miles and don’t end up using the hotel portion of the package. There are also single night certs given to account holders for holding a Marriott brand credit card

3.   A 7/5night-night certificate must be used for 7 consecutive nights. The reservation cannot be split up.

4.   In order to hold the room, you need a credit card. Your card will be kept for incidentals and you won't be charged for the room.

5.   MUST be booked BOOK 30 Days in Advance. THIS IS A TECHNICAL GLITCH WHICH MARRIOTT CLAIMS TO BE FIXING, HOWEVER, ITS MORE THAN A YEAR THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE. In order to book with a certificate, reps must create the reservation as a points advance and then attach the cert. Marriott recently made a new rule that reservations made within 30 days aren’t eligible for points advance. If the account, you are booking with has enough points to cover the reservation you can book it as regular points and have the rep detach the points and attach the certificate.

6.   Travel package certs must be booked over the phone. Single night certs can be booked online

7.   The certificate sits on the account holders account and the elite night credits are officially credited to them. There is no way to transfer those stays to your account.

8.   If you are the traveler do not call Marriott reservations. This reservation is in someone else's account and calling may result in his/her account getting audited and the reservation canceled.

9.   The certificate covers the cost of the reservation including tax but does NOT include any resort fees, parking, and incidentals (for example food charged to the room)

10.   It's not possible to entirely remove the certificate owner from the reservation but your name is added as a secondary guest and a special code is added (M8 code) to inform the hotel that this reservation is in fact gifted to you. The hotels are very much aware of this.

You should be able to check-in as you would to a regular reservation with your own ID. You will need to provide a credit card to cover any incidentals, resort fees, and parking fees if there are any.

11.   You cannot add your Marriott account number to the reservation and generally, the hotel will go by the status on our account (which may be silver or gold at the time of check-in) however, it depends very much on the front desk rep at the time of check-in

12. Certs cannot be combined - e.g. you can't combine two 35k certificates to book a 60k room.

13. The "free fifth night" only applies to points bookings, not certificates.

See post #5805 for a history of bid/ask on these 1/5/7 night certificates of different levels
« Last edited by David61 on November 16, 2022, 12:09:46 PM »

Author Topic: Marriott Certs Sale  (Read 1649248 times)

Offline marble1980

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6420 on: December 12, 2020, 09:43:44 AM »
WARNING: Bad experience with leeboy

I booked a certificate back in June for a stay in January 2021. All was well until this week. This week I got an email stating the certificate was cancelled and they were unable to get Marriott to reinstate it.

Details about why the certificate was cancelled are not clear, but it appears to my that Marriott caught on to these certificates being bought/sold and cancelled them all. Note: I did not contact Marriott or the resort or do anything to bring this on.

Leeboy is not offering a refund. I am in the process of disputing the transaction with Amex.

NOTE: This really has nothing to do with COVID. I did not request any changes to my certificate after booking. I was ready to take the January trip regardless of COVID.

Buyer beware!

Offline Danlover111

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6421 on: December 12, 2020, 01:52:03 PM »
WARNING: Bad experience with leeboy

I booked a certificate back in June for a stay in January 2021. All was well until this week. This week I got an email stating the certificate was cancelled and they were unable to get Marriott to reinstate it.

Details about why the certificate was cancelled are not clear, but it appears to my that Marriott caught on to these certificates being bought/sold and cancelled them all. Note: I did not contact Marriott or the resort or do anything to bring this on.

Leeboy is not offering a refund. I am in the process of disputing the transaction with Amex.

NOTE: This really has nothing to do with COVID. I did not request any changes to my certificate after booking. I was ready to take the January trip regardless of COVID.

Buyer beware!
You paid him with Amex?

Offline g8trgr8t

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6422 on: December 12, 2020, 08:42:54 PM »
WARNING: Bad experience with leeboy

I booked a certificate back in June for a stay in January 2021. All was well until this week. This week I got an email stating the certificate was cancelled and they were unable to get Marriott to reinstate it.

Details about why the certificate was cancelled are not clear, but it appears to my that Marriott caught on to these certificates being bought/sold and cancelled them all. Note: I did not contact Marriott or the resort or do anything to bring this on.

Leeboy is not offering a refund. I am in the process of disputing the transaction with Amex.

NOTE: This really has nothing to do with COVID. I did not request any changes to my certificate after booking. I was ready to take the January trip regardless of COVID.

Buyer beware!

maybe that is why they refused to try and get cert returned I bought. Tried to cancel 1 week before travel and they told me too bad so lost $1100. something has changed with his operation

Offline leeboy

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6423 on: December 13, 2020, 02:13:32 AM »
WARNING: Bad experience with leeboy

I booked a certificate back in June for a stay in January 2021. All was well until this week. This week I got an email stating the certificate was cancelled and they were unable to get Marriott to reinstate it.

Details about why the certificate was cancelled are not clear, but it appears to my that Marriott caught on to these certificates being bought/sold and cancelled them all. Note: I did not contact Marriott or the resort or do anything to bring this on.

Leeboy is not offering a refund. I am in the process of disputing the transaction with Amex.

NOTE: This really has nothing to do with COVID. I did not request any changes to my certificate after booking. I was ready to take the January trip regardless of COVID.

Buyer beware!

maybe that is why they refused to try and get cert returned I bought. Tried to cancel 1 week before travel and they told me too bad so lost $1100. something has changed with his operation


I am really sorry for the trouble you are going through and you can message me privately with your name and booking details and I will do my best to clarify the issue you are dealing with.

As general information for others to keep in mind when purchasing or dealing with Marriott certs.
Does purchasing a certificate have a risk? yes!

The risk is basically you show up to the hotel and the hotel, for whatever reason the hotel cannot or will not accept the certificate and will charge you the rack rate.

I will list just a few issues to give you an idea of why they can be risky.

1. Some hotels will automatically change the room to a cash plus points reservation when attaching the cert. Recently more and more locations are having the same issue and NO ONE, not even the hotel can fix it. Its a bug in the Marriott system
In other words, the reservation upgrades for an additional fee without asking. For eg., Ritz Bal Habour upgrades to the ocean front for an additional $100 a day.

The only way around this issue is to attach the certificate Manually to the reservation. What that means is that the reservation doesn't actually show as paid with a certificate but the rep will go into the old system and put a note with the certificate number which hopefully the hotel will see and then use the certificate to get paid by Marriott.
This can be a huge problem because if the reservation is more than a month or so out Marriotts system sees this reservation as a points advance without any points attached to the reservation and send dozens of emails to the account holder saying that he doesn't have enough points for the stay and the reservation will either be canceled or changed into a cash booking. Many times it does actually get canceled a week or two before the stay, and being within 30 days we can't even rebook it

2. Certs won't attach. Plain and simple. No matter how many times we call the cert just won't attach. The only option is to once again attach manually which as I said in the first point has many issues.

3. Reps and some hotels are saying you are not allowed to gift certificates and the account holder must be at the hotel.
I have multiple emails from elite services stating you can gift but there is a list of hotels that are than happy to charge you the rack rate instead of the small compensation they get for rewards

4. Reps deleting certificates when trying to attach or detach. Every time we book or cancel or a reservation we lose a certain percentage of certificates. This is fine before you purchase but if you need to cancel and I am holding your certificate for a couple of months and then a certificate is lost who should we blame?

5. Clients calling into Marriott or the hotel. When the hotel asks to verify the email address or credit card they cannot and the account is put into audit and sometimes the reservation is canceled

6. The hotel will take the certificate and redeem it a couple of weeks prior to arrival. When this happens we cannot change the dates or cancel the stay or we risk losing the certificate.

7. Certificates get lost when canceling a booking. Yup, they just get lost/deleted. And even though we keep track of the certificate numbers the reps can't find them.

8. You book a hotel and then a few months later the category changes. Any changes we make to the reservation the certificate falls off and then we cannot rebook at the same hotel anymore

This isn't just us. Anyone using certificates will eventually come across the same issues

About 90% of the time we manage to get a reservation booked properly and there are no issues.
It's in my best interest to offer the best service I possibly can. If you can't understand that I am just the middle man and you are purchasing a deeply discounted stay, then buying certificates maybe isn't for you.

Over the years clients have stayed at resorts that would retail for $20k plus and paid the $1800. When it works (as it does 90% of the time) everyone was happy but when the next vacation there is an issue they are quick to call me out as a fraud and demand their money back.

I am simply buying and selling certificates from one individual to another and making a small cut.
Yes, there is some risk, rules change, hotels go up in category, Marriott cancels certificates. When an account gets audited or canceled for buying and selling the buyer takes the risk. Not the broker.

As a broker, I guarantee the seller isn't a fraudster and make sure the reservation gets done 100% correctly. We even check on the reservation periodically and call the hotel an hour before you arrive to request an upgrade and check you in remotely.


I do not work for Marriott, I don't make their rules and I cant even fix the dumb bugs they have in their system for years at a time.
When a reservation gets canceled we try our best to fix it. When a certificate gets lost we work hard on your behalf to get it back. As a last resort, once we don't see any other way of salvaging a reservation we offer to refund our commission on the certificate.

Since March it's been really tough for many, especially for the travel industry. We offered to waive our change fees for almost 6 months until individuals were just booking and canceling all day and we had to start charging a fee again. In the beginning of March, we had loads of cancellations and many individuals canceled their stay and just dispute their charge on us even though we already paid the account holder for his certificate.

We had other individuals that would call Marriott to tell them they bought the certificate to get the account in audit and then tell us the account is messed up and they need their money back.
Marriott May cancel a reservation or a certificate for a number of reason but ultimately, the rule stays the same. Unless the seller is a fraudster and just canceled your stay the risk of purchasing rewards is on the buyer.


You paid him with Amex?

I understand that many people may come on here and may not realize what they are buying we, therefore, have a booking request form that spells it all out clearly before you purchase.
It's sad that in times like these when the travel industry and travel agents are working extra hard with little pay there are those that would just dispute the charge and steal from the middle man...

I know this isn't the answer some of you are looking for but I hope this clarifies things just a bit. For anyone else that has any questions feel free to reach out.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2020, 02:21:46 AM by leeboy »

Offline KSMH

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6424 on: December 13, 2020, 09:02:26 AM »

I am really sorry for the trouble you are going through and you can message me privately with your name and booking details and I will do my best to clarify the issue you are dealing with.

As general information for others to keep in mind when purchasing or dealing with Marriott certs.
Does purchasing a certificate have a risk? yes!

The risk is basically you show up to the hotel and the hotel, for whatever reason the hotel cannot or will not accept the certificate and will charge you the rack rate.

I will list just a few issues to give you an idea of why they can be risky.

1. Some hotels will automatically change the room to a cash plus points reservation when attaching the cert. Recently more and more locations are having the same issue and NO ONE, not even the hotel can fix it. Its a bug in the Marriott system
In other words, the reservation upgrades for an additional fee without asking. For eg., Ritz Bal Habour upgrades to the ocean front for an additional $100 a day.

The only way around this issue is to attach the certificate Manually to the reservation. What that means is that the reservation doesn't actually show as paid with a certificate but the rep will go into the old system and put a note with the certificate number which hopefully the hotel will see and then use the certificate to get paid by Marriott.
This can be a huge problem because if the reservation is more than a month or so out Marriotts system sees this reservation as a points advance without any points attached to the reservation and send dozens of emails to the account holder saying that he doesn't have enough points for the stay and the reservation will either be canceled or changed into a cash booking. Many times it does actually get canceled a week or two before the stay, and being within 30 days we can't even rebook it

2. Certs won't attach. Plain and simple. No matter how many times we call the cert just won't attach. The only option is to once again attach manually which as I said in the first point has many issues.

3. Reps and some hotels are saying you are not allowed to gift certificates and the account holder must be at the hotel.
I have multiple emails from elite services stating you can gift but there is a list of hotels that are than happy to charge you the rack rate instead of the small compensation they get for rewards

4. Reps deleting certificates when trying to attach or detach. Every time we book or cancel or a reservation we lose a certain percentage of certificates. This is fine before you purchase but if you need to cancel and I am holding your certificate for a couple of months and then a certificate is lost who should we blame?

5. Clients calling into Marriott or the hotel. When the hotel asks to verify the email address or credit card they cannot and the account is put into audit and sometimes the reservation is canceled

6. The hotel will take the certificate and redeem it a couple of weeks prior to arrival. When this happens we cannot change the dates or cancel the stay or we risk losing the certificate.

7. Certificates get lost when canceling a booking. Yup, they just get lost/deleted. And even though we keep track of the certificate numbers the reps can't find them.

8. You book a hotel and then a few months later the category changes. Any changes we make to the reservation the certificate falls off and then we cannot rebook at the same hotel anymore

This isn't just us. Anyone using certificates will eventually come across the same issues

About 90% of the time we manage to get a reservation booked properly and there are no issues.
It's in my best interest to offer the best service I possibly can. If you can't understand that I am just the middle man and you are purchasing a deeply discounted stay, then buying certificates maybe isn't for you.

Over the years clients have stayed at resorts that would retail for $20k plus and paid the $1800. When it works (as it does 90% of the time) everyone was happy but when the next vacation there is an issue they are quick to call me out as a fraud and demand their money back.

I am simply buying and selling certificates from one individual to another and making a small cut.
Yes, there is some risk, rules change, hotels go up in category, Marriott cancels certificates. When an account gets audited or canceled for buying and selling the buyer takes the risk. Not the broker.

As a broker, I guarantee the seller isn't a fraudster and make sure the reservation gets done 100% correctly. We even check on the reservation periodically and call the hotel an hour before you arrive to request an upgrade and check you in remotely.


I do not work for Marriott, I don't make their rules and I cant even fix the dumb bugs they have in their system for years at a time.
When a reservation gets canceled we try our best to fix it. When a certificate gets lost we work hard on your behalf to get it back. As a last resort, once we don't see any other way of salvaging a reservation we offer to refund our commission on the certificate.

Since March it's been really tough for many, especially for the travel industry. We offered to waive our change fees for almost 6 months until individuals were just booking and canceling all day and we had to start charging a fee again. In the beginning of March, we had loads of cancellations and many individuals canceled their stay and just dispute their charge on us even though we already paid the account holder for his certificate.

We had other individuals that would call Marriott to tell them they bought the certificate to get the account in audit and then tell us the account is messed up and they need their money back.
Marriott May cancel a reservation or a certificate for a number of reason but ultimately, the rule stays the same. Unless the seller is a fraudster and just canceled your stay the risk of purchasing rewards is on the buyer.


I understand that many people may come on here and may not realize what they are buying we, therefore, have a booking request form that spells it all out clearly before you purchase.
It's sad that in times like these when the travel industry and travel agents are working extra hard with little pay there are those that would just dispute the charge and steal from the middle man...

I know this isn't the answer some of you are looking for but I hope this clarifies things just a bit. For anyone else that has any questions feel free to reach out.
Did you disclose all this at the time of purchase?
Always praying for delayed baggage.

Offline yitzgar

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6425 on: December 13, 2020, 09:23:26 AM »
Did you disclose all this at the time of purchase?
He says that it is says this on the booking request form

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6426 on: December 13, 2020, 09:26:19 AM »
He says that it is says this on the booking request form
Can we all see a draft copy of this form?
Always praying for delayed baggage.

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6427 on: December 13, 2020, 10:48:42 AM »

I am really sorry for the trouble you are going through and you can message me privately with your name and booking details and I will do my best to clarify the issue you are dealing with.

As general information for others to keep in mind when purchasing or dealing with Marriott certs.
Does purchasing a certificate have a risk? yes!

The risk is basically you show up to the hotel and the hotel, for whatever reason the hotel cannot or will not accept the certificate and will charge you the rack rate.

I will list just a few issues to give you an idea of why they can be risky.

1. Some hotels will automatically change the room to a cash plus points reservation when attaching the cert. Recently more and more locations are having the same issue and NO ONE, not even the hotel can fix it. Its a bug in the Marriott system
In other words, the reservation upgrades for an additional fee without asking. For eg., Ritz Bal Habour upgrades to the ocean front for an additional $100 a day.

The only way around this issue is to attach the certificate Manually to the reservation. What that means is that the reservation doesn't actually show as paid with a certificate but the rep will go into the old system and put a note with the certificate number which hopefully the hotel will see and then use the certificate to get paid by Marriott.
This can be a huge problem because if the reservation is more than a month or so out Marriotts system sees this reservation as a points advance without any points attached to the reservation and send dozens of emails to the account holder saying that he doesn't have enough points for the stay and the reservation will either be canceled or changed into a cash booking. Many times it does actually get canceled a week or two before the stay, and being within 30 days we can't even rebook it

2. Certs won't attach. Plain and simple. No matter how many times we call the cert just won't attach. The only option is to once again attach manually which as I said in the first point has many issues.

3. Reps and some hotels are saying you are not allowed to gift certificates and the account holder must be at the hotel.
I have multiple emails from elite services stating you can gift but there is a list of hotels that are than happy to charge you the rack rate instead of the small compensation they get for rewards

4. Reps deleting certificates when trying to attach or detach. Every time we book or cancel or a reservation we lose a certain percentage of certificates. This is fine before you purchase but if you need to cancel and I am holding your certificate for a couple of months and then a certificate is lost who should we blame?

5. Clients calling into Marriott or the hotel. When the hotel asks to verify the email address or credit card they cannot and the account is put into audit and sometimes the reservation is canceled

6. The hotel will take the certificate and redeem it a couple of weeks prior to arrival. When this happens we cannot change the dates or cancel the stay or we risk losing the certificate.

7. Certificates get lost when canceling a booking. Yup, they just get lost/deleted. And even though we keep track of the certificate numbers the reps can't find them.

8. You book a hotel and then a few months later the category changes. Any changes we make to the reservation the certificate falls off and then we cannot rebook at the same hotel anymore

This isn't just us. Anyone using certificates will eventually come across the same issues

About 90% of the time we manage to get a reservation booked properly and there are no issues.
It's in my best interest to offer the best service I possibly can. If you can't understand that I am just the middle man and you are purchasing a deeply discounted stay, then buying certificates maybe isn't for you.

Over the years clients have stayed at resorts that would retail for $20k plus and paid the $1800. When it works (as it does 90% of the time) everyone was happy but when the next vacation there is an issue they are quick to call me out as a fraud and demand their money back.

I am simply buying and selling certificates from one individual to another and making a small cut.
Yes, there is some risk, rules change, hotels go up in category, Marriott cancels certificates. When an account gets audited or canceled for buying and selling the buyer takes the risk. Not the broker.

As a broker, I guarantee the seller isn't a fraudster and make sure the reservation gets done 100% correctly. We even check on the reservation periodically and call the hotel an hour before you arrive to request an upgrade and check you in remotely.


I do not work for Marriott, I don't make their rules and I cant even fix the dumb bugs they have in their system for years at a time.
When a reservation gets canceled we try our best to fix it. When a certificate gets lost we work hard on your behalf to get it back. As a last resort, once we don't see any other way of salvaging a reservation we offer to refund our commission on the certificate.

Since March it's been really tough for many, especially for the travel industry. We offered to waive our change fees for almost 6 months until individuals were just booking and canceling all day and we had to start charging a fee again. In the beginning of March, we had loads of cancellations and many individuals canceled their stay and just dispute their charge on us even though we already paid the account holder for his certificate.

We had other individuals that would call Marriott to tell them they bought the certificate to get the account in audit and then tell us the account is messed up and they need their money back.
Marriott May cancel a reservation or a certificate for a number of reason but ultimately, the rule stays the same. Unless the seller is a fraudster and just canceled your stay the risk of purchasing rewards is on the buyer.


I understand that many people may come on here and may not realize what they are buying we, therefore, have a booking request form that spells it all out clearly before you purchase.
It's sad that in times like these when the travel industry and travel agents are working extra hard with little pay there are those that would just dispute the charge and steal from the middle man...

I know this isn't the answer some of you are looking for but I hope this clarifies things just a bit. For anyone else that has any questions feel free to reach out.
Oh yes, buying/selling certificates definitely have risks.
But those risks that you outlined, are risks that the seller should bear IMO.

The buyer paid, and did not receive the goods he paid for.

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6428 on: December 13, 2020, 11:00:47 AM »
Oh yes, buying/selling certificates definitely have risks.
But those risks that you outlined, are risks that the seller should bear IMO.

The buyer paid, and did not receive the goods he paid for.

I mean you can always open a business that operates like that and see how it works for you but in the broker world once a seller provides a certificate/points and acts in goodwill providing whatever info is needed, he expects to get paid. The risk is on the buyer.

I should clarify that we do not charge the seller until the reservation is made correctly 100%. We book before we get paid or pay the seller. If a certificate is attached manually or there is an upgrade fee for example we have the discussion with the buyer and see of they still want to purchase the certificate.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2020, 11:05:32 AM by leeboy »

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6429 on: December 13, 2020, 11:05:34 AM »
I mean you can always open a business that operates like that and see how it works for you but in the broker world once a seller provides a certificate/points and acts in goodwill providing whatever info is needed, he expects to get paid. The risk is on the buyer.
I disagree.

Anyhow, you should post this warning in huge bold letters every time you post anything for sale.


 

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6430 on: December 13, 2020, 11:22:50 AM »
I disagree.

Anyhow, you should post this warning in huge bold letters every time you post anything for sale.


 

Until you are the seller and want to get paid for a cert lol.
Everyone knows there is a risk here...  Though 90% of the time there is no issue  and the risk is the same no matter who purchase from. We also clearly spelled out when you submit a booking request.

Buyer is staying at hotels for 10% the listed rate, the broker (myself) makes 10%, the major markup is on the buyer side therefore he takes the risk.
Once again, you may disagree and you are entitle to start a business where you will take the money back from sellers 8 months after you paid them and see how that goes.

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6431 on: December 13, 2020, 11:37:31 AM »
Until you are the seller and want to get paid for a cert lol.
Everyone knows there is a risk here... 
I (and safely assume most buyers) never knew and let alone agree, that through no fault of the buyer, you can lose everything.

As you said it in your own words: "Until you are the seller and want to get paid for a cert lol."
If "everyone knows there is a risk here" , why would that stop you from getting paid?

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6432 on: December 13, 2020, 11:40:21 AM »
Until you are the seller and want to get paid for a cert lol.
Everyone knows there is a risk here...  Though 90% of the time there is no issue  and the risk is the same no matter who purchase from. We also clearly spelled out when you submit a booking request.

Buyer is staying at hotels for 10% the listed rate, the broker (myself) makes 10%, the major markup is on the buyer side therefore he takes the risk.
Once again, you may disagree and you are entitle to start a business where you will take the money back from sellers 8 months after you paid them and see how that goes.
If the buyers are saving 90%, the risk is on them. That would only be fair. 90% savings with a 10% risk. No where else can you get numbers like that.

Offline leeboy

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6433 on: December 13, 2020, 11:43:45 AM »
I (and safely assume most buyers) never knew and let alone agree, that through no fault of the buyer, you can lose everything.

As you said it in your own words: "Until you are the seller and want to get paid for a cert lol."
If "everyone knows there is a risk here" , why would that stop you from getting paid?

When this happens its a sucky situation. I feel really sorry and See my previous post that we do offer to give back our commission. Aside from that if we side with the buyer the seller is upset. If we side with the seller the buyer is upset. Sometimes we do come to an agreement but otherwise we go by the same rules all the time. The same rules that all other brokers use

Offline LoLo

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6434 on: December 13, 2020, 12:00:08 PM »
The buyer paid, and did not receive the goods he paid for.
The buyer paid for a cert, and got it.

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6435 on: December 13, 2020, 12:03:13 PM »
The buyer paid for a cert, and got it.
The buyer paid for a cert that would get him into his hotel room, and did not get it.

Online martyconlonontheru

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6436 on: December 13, 2020, 12:19:17 PM »
Bump this. Pls PM.
Smooth transaction with Skaya so far.  Very clear on booking process and requirements for check in. Sent confirmation right away.

Thanks!

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6437 on: December 13, 2020, 12:26:56 PM »

While I understand that this puts you I'm a hard spot, I think one point that you may have missed is that this is DDF, not a points/miles buying/selling whatsapp group. If you were dealing with a fellow broker or a TA that deals with this stuff then you're correct that you can expect your buyers to know all the industry norms, but many (most?) buyers and sellers here are just travellers hoping to get a one-off deal on a hotel stay or people that got a cert from their cc and don't have a use for it, and certainly can't be expected to know the norms of the industry that you work in. (In fact, many might not even know that your industry exists.)

IMHO, I think that unless your terms and conditions are very clearly stated (that even if the reservation gets cancelled through mo fault of the buyer-no changes, cancellations etc) then the rules of your transactions shoudl should probably follow the accepted rules of anything else sold here on DDF- gift certificates, vouchers, physical items, etc where (CMIIW) the rule is always that if the item is not delivered due to no fault of the buyer then the seller takes the risk.

Offline leeboy

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6438 on: December 13, 2020, 12:42:53 PM »
While I understand that this puts you I'm a hard spot, I think one point that you may have missed is that this is DDF, not a points/miles buying/selling whatsapp group. If you were dealing with a fellow broker or a TA that deals with this stuff then you're correct that you can expect your buyers to know all the industry norms, but many (most?) buyers and sellers here are just travellers hoping to get a one-off deal on a hotel stay or people that got a cert from their cc and don't have a use for it, and certainly can't be expected to know the norms of the industry that you work in. (In fact, many might not even know that your industry exists.)

IMHO, I think that unless your terms and conditions are very clearly stated (that even if the reservation gets cancelled through mo fault of the buyer-no changes, cancellations etc) then the rules of your transactions shoudl should probably follow the accepted rules of anything else sold here on DDF- gift certificates, vouchers, physical items, etc where (CMIIW) the rule is always that if the item is not delivered due to no fault of the buyer then the seller takes the risk.

The buyer did in fact receive the reservation and the reservation was all set for weeks and sometimes months. These scenarios are few and far in between and they range from clients wanting things that is just not possible within Marriott's program.
When marriott extended everyone's certs in early March buyers were happy to hold onto the certs for another 8 months.
When Marriott expired certs early its easy to throw the blame on the broker.
Other examples. Buyer wants to change dates after hotel went up in category, buyer wants to cancel cancel a stay within cancelation period. Buyer calls in to change dates on his own.  All these scenarios fall under the category of this not controlled by us and is ultimately the buyers risk.
Reality once again is that the buyer did receive his certificate booking and our booking request form clearly outlines the details.
This logic applies mostly to travel agents booking revenue tickets.

With your logic if a buyer calls up and cancels a stay or just cant travel because of Covid-19 he should get a full refund or just dispute the charge on the travel agent/broker
« Last Edit: December 13, 2020, 12:46:18 PM by leeboy »

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: Marriott Certs Sale
« Reply #6439 on: December 13, 2020, 12:53:07 PM »
The buyer did in fact receive the reservation
Receiving a reservation does not mean that he received the goods that he paid for. He paid for a hotel stay, not a reservation email.

With your logic if a buyer calls up and cancels a stay or just cant travel because of Covid-19 he should get a full refund or just dispute the charge on the travel agent/broker
Absolutely not. I said clearly that I was talking about where the goods purchased are not delivered due to no fault of the buyer. If he cancels and then something happens then it could certainly be argued that it's his fault.

Are you trying to compare a case of a buyer cancelling to a case of a hotel cancelling?

ETA: Did you spell out all your t&c's at the time of the sale?