Why was it quietly cleared to zero? How to solve the controversy caused by frequent consumption points? A 120000 Marriott points account purchased for 7000 yuan | points | flowers
"Why are all the 120000 points gone?" In June 2023, Ms. Wu, a citizen, only realized the changes in her account when she wanted to use the points to book a "Marriott" hotel.
Recently, with the arrival of the peak summer travel season, the issue of using points has become a hot topic of concern for many citizens. Among them, a similar experience as Ms. Wu has occurred frequently: how can points be quietly cleared to zero even if they were purchased with money?
Zero reset due to being inactive for 24 consecutive months
When it comes to purchasing points, Ms. Wu admitted that "it can still be traced back to 2019.". During a trip, she and her husband participated in a promotional event organized by the Marriott Hotel Resort Club. Taking advantage of the promotional benefits, they spent more than 7000 yuan to purchase 121111 points, which can be used for booking accommodation, upgrading rooms, and other expenses. "At that time, the staff did not inform me that there was a validity period limit for this point, which would expire." Ms. Wu recalled that shortly after purchasing the points, there was an epidemic. For safety reasons, she had not arranged a travel plan for about two years. It was not until June this year that Ms. Wu finally wanted to arrange another trip, but when she opened the app, she found that 120000 points had become a "0" at some point.
What's going on? Ms. Wu discovered that the points had evaporated out of thin air. She carefully checked her personal points page and only then noticed a small line of text below the points: "Valid until March 1, 2023.". In a state of anxiety as she watched her points disappear, Ms. Wu called the Marriott Hotel customer service hotline. After receiving a call, the staff informed her that due to Ms. Wu not staying or making any purchases in the past two years, her account was inactive. According to the updated "Frequent Guest Plan Rules and Conditions" of "Marriott Travel Home" in July this year, if a member's account is inactive for 24 consecutive months, all accumulated points in that account will be invalidated.
The regulations on the validity period in Marriott's Frequent Visitor Program Rules and Conditions.
"But this is the points I paid for, isn't it equivalent to directly confiscating funds?" According to Ms. Wu, in addition to cash purchases, Marriott hotel points can also be obtained through accumulated stays or gifts from others. However, she believes that points purchased directly through cash are more special, and long-term non consumption is also limited by special reasons such as the epidemic. Hotels should provide a solution to restore points. "During the communication process, the customer service representative also informed me that they had notified me 30 days in advance via email that my points were about to be invalidated, but I later checked the email and did not receive any relevant notification," Ms. Wu added.
Around March, Ms. Wu did not receive any prompt emails in her email.
Ms. Wu's experience is not an isolated case. The reporter found on various social media platforms that with the peak of travel after the epidemic, the situation of zero points frequently surfaced. For example, Ms. Li, a netizen, reported through social media that in addition to the 56000 points in her Marriott account, the over 10000 points in her "Youyuehui" account have also been cleared to zero. "I have called customer service multiple times, but it has no effect. I just told me that this is a 'mandatory rule' of the hotel."
Both "cumulative" and "purchase" will be reset to zero
The "Youyue Club" points mentioned by Ms. Li come from Intercontinental Hotel Group. According to the prompt provided by the hotline customer service, if there is no activity in the IHG Youyue Club member account within 12 months, the points will become invalid. To maintain the point balance, members need to make at least one in store consumption or point redemption every year.
The reporter called multiple hotels to learn that keeping accounts active for a certain period of time is almost the only way for all hotels to maintain account points. In addition to Marriott and Intercontinental, Hilton Honors Club also stipulates that if a member's account does not generate activities recognized in the terms for 15 consecutive months, the account may be frozen and all points will be invalidated; Shangri La Hotel requires that if a member's account does not have any activity records for 36 consecutive months, and within the following 12 months, the member has not generated any consumption records in any of its hotels, the member's account will be closed.
It is worth mentioning that there is no difference in the hotel's disposal of the validity period of points, whether it is through accumulated consumption to earn points or directly paying cash to purchase points like Ms. Wu. In early July of this year, Ms. Su, a netizen, discovered that her accumulated 160000 points from booking accommodations since 2012 have been reset to zero due to her lack of consumption records for two consecutive years. In addition to feeling heartbroken, Ms. Su expressed that she cannot accept it. "Accumulating points requires actual consumption, and recharging points directly costs cash. The hotel self proclaimed to clear the points without prior notice, which has caused financial losses to consumers."
However, when browsing the membership regulations of multiple hotels, the reporter also noticed that hotels have different interpretations of the value of points. For example, in Article 1.7. b of Marriott's Frequent Guest Program Rules and Conditions, it is clear that points belong to the exclusive property of the hotel, not the property of members. Based on this, points also have no cash value, and the hotel will not compensate or pay cash for any invalid or unused points. Regarding this, Liu Xueni, a lawyer at Shanghai Pushi Wanlian Law Firm, told reporters that from a legal perspective, points as gifts or as goods obtained by consumers after reaching a sales contract with the hotel are indeed different in nature from cash. It is understandable that in normal years when the hotel has made clear the validity period of points and there are no special circumstances, the use of points should be determined according to the member's articles of association. However, considering the impact of the epidemic on travel, it should have constituted a change in the contract situation. Therefore, the inability to use the points normally should not be attributed to either party, and there should be room for negotiation regarding the extension matter.
However, when reporters called to inquire about the extension policy, most hotels stated that there is currently no extension method specifically for the epidemic.
Both parties should negotiate on the matter of extension
On the afternoon of July 17th, the reporter also called the Marriott customer service hotline to inquire about the handling of expired points. According to the staff, considering the large number of consumers who have not traveled for a long time due to the epidemic, the hotel has launched a "points recovery activity" starting from June 30. For Marriott Travel Home members whose points expired between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023, after meeting certain conditions and completing a paid accommodation before September 27, 2023, after being reviewed by the staff, it is possible to restore all previously expired points.
"Isn't this mandatory consumption?" Despite receiving the notification, Ms. Wu is clearly not very satisfied with this handling method. She said that this is because the hotel intentionally added additional consumption conditions to activate points, and the requirements are not reasonable. During an interview with reporters, Liu Xueni also stated that hotels and consumers should negotiate on a fair basis regarding the method of extending points. "For example, extending the validity period of points based on the actual impact of the epidemic is a measure that can be considered." However, Liu Xueni also felt that the current policy launched by the hotel is "somewhat harsh." "Consumers have already paid the corresponding consideration when purchasing points, and whether it is necessary to extend points through repeat consumption is debatable."
In fact, this is not the first time that "points being reset" has sparked controversy: previously, airlines' actions such as resetting mileage points have sparked considerable discussion. Some consumers believe that points are originally a preferential consumption method provided by businesses, and should be used as a benefit based on the usage rules formulated by businesses; However, some consumers also believe that many merchants engage in behavior of expiration of points without prior notice, and the ultimate right of interpretation belongs to the merchants, which essentially damages the rights and interests of consumers.
Regarding this, Liu Xueni reminded that merchants should promptly inform consumers of the usage status of their points through various means such as email, SMS, and phone, and fulfill their obligation to inform them fully; When formulating relevant articles of association and extension handling rules, objective reality should also be taken into account, taking into account the reasonable rights and interests of consumers. At the same time, for important matters such as the validity period of points, consumers should also pay attention to regular inquiries and be careful to avoid unnecessary trouble.
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