The woman who took the call at the hotel canceled the reservation and gave us a contact number for the customer care department to confirm the cancellation. But after two months, the credit did not appear on our Visa card, so I called the hotel.
This started a very long process of several phone calls and hours on the telephone, until I spoke to someone directly in the Marriott corporate accounting department. They informed me that a credit had been issued to Marriott Vacations' travel agency, and that I needed to contact the agency. I did, but I haven't heard back from them. Can you help us get our money back?
- K.S., Ames, Iowa
Answer: If Marriott promised you a refund, then you should have received one. I'm not convinced it ever offered one, though.
When you called the hotel to cancel, and it passed you along to Marriott Vacations, someone should have advised you that your hotel room was nonrefundable. So were your airline tickets. Here are Marriott's terms and conditions: www.gomarriottvacations.com/GeneralInformation/default.aspx?GenInfoCode=TermsConditions.
It's possible that someone decided to make an exception because of your son's health, but simply referring you to the refunds department at Marriott Vacations doesn't mean your refund is a sure thing. (I'm not going to get into the politics of whether this was a Marriott booking or a Marriott Vacations booking, which technically is handled by a third party. As far as you're concerned, the buck stops with Marriott; and I would agree.)
