A New York couple discovered their hotel bill from a recent Marriott stay emblazoned with an anti-Asian slur. The couple only shared their experience after receiving a lackluster response from the company.
Brooklyn residents Jamie Chung, age 37, and his 35-year-old girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer were shocked to find an anti-Asian slur typewritten on their bill after a stay at a York, Pennslyvania Courtyard Marriott.
Chung shared their story with NextShark, “My girlfriend and I were checking out of the Marriott, and the front desk clerk said my last name, ‘Chung,’ with a strange emphasis, like she was mocking an Asian accent. We clocked it, but decided not to make an issue of it.â€
However, when the couple returned to New York they opened their emailed invoice and immediately noticed the company had typewritten the racial slur “Ching and Chong” on the invoice.
“Pretty bold and brazen,” Chung said.
The couple noted that the front desk clerk was a person of color themselves, and the couple was willing to forgive the front desk clerk and even asked that they not be fired.
Chung contacted Marriott and the person they spoke with apologized and reportedly offered hotel points. However, they were unwilling, according to Chung, to answer questions about the sensitivity training the firm claimed to have implemented. Furthermore, they suggested the issue was a result of a typo or clerical issue leaving the couple feeling that Marriott didn’t take the issue seriously.
“The response that we received from Marriott executives was disappointing,†Chung and Oberhammer said to NextShark. “They tried to shift blame and give excuses rather than take responsibility for what happened on their watch, under their roof. They have tried to distance themselves from the incident by pointing out that it occurred at a Marriott franchise.”
In a statement submitted to NextShark the couple stated, “Marriott is a big, powerful company that employs and provides services to a lot of people. What they do and say matters. They need to do better. This is about company culture, training, accountability, basic human decency, and the hypocrisy of Marriott’s inadequate response to racism within their organization, especially given their stated company values.â€
9 comments
These people are ridiculous. So basically, don’t fire the racist minority who did it, but blame Marriott execs that have nothing to do with the specific property.
Agreed.
Marriott has been painfully clear that they don’t care what their franchisees do to customers. This was just one small illustration of that corporate culture.
How would they react if it were a White employee and not a racial minority. Would they ask he or she not be fired? It’s to the point where everyone can be racist toward White people and deny Whites the same rights to pride/living space/countries that there is no point in not being racist. If we will be accused of racism, we should actually be racist and not let others dictate our lives.
That is easily the dumbest thing I have seen written down all day. You suck, Jake.
Your Klan hood got in the way of you coherently reading the article.
Jake, that’s exactly what Adolf Hitler said about the Jews.
The fact is that it doesn’t matter what the employee’s race is. It was an individual who committed the act. Insult a customer for any reason, lose your job. The employee should be fired. And, if the franchisee does not fire the employee, Marriott should terminate the franchisee. If Marriott doesn’t terminate the franchisee, people should not patronize Marriott. It’s that simple.
Everyone wants to be the vicitm.
I so miss the old ; pre Starwood’s Marriott. Recently Iv had to say to the impotent ‘customer care’ phone clerk, “ I don’t care it’s a franchise problem’â€. It says Marriott in a giant sign over the door. Tragedy is there’s not a lot of competition that offers what I need to travel. I’d at least file the online line discrimination complaint form w/ the DOJ.