need emergency information - Caesar's 7 Stars

[Dan Druff]

Well I gave her a way to contact me, so we will see.

I have offered the exact same help to men many times before, so I'm not trying to get laid or start a poker romance. I'm happy with my current relationship.

I am confused as to why Kilgore didn't put down a cash deposit (this is allowed) when her CC was dead.

I have verified from the IP that she is really posting from Vegas, but beyond that, who knows?

[Dan Druff]

I also earned my 7 Stars 100% legit, playing VP at 3 different Harrahs.

[redietz]

I've put down cash deposits many times in lieu of using my credit cards. The hold amounts have gotten so ridiculous that between multiple properties and car rentals, they can lock up your card pretty quickly. Plus the holds don't get cleared as fast as 10-15 years ago. Those holds can be 30 days or more.

[Alan Mendelson]

7 Stars cash deposit is only $200.

[pkspins]

I'm surprised that with that level of play in Cleveland that the only host she has is someone at Central Booking. They do have hosts at Horseshoe, which is the only CET location in Cleveland that has table games so I'm assuming that's where she plays. There's not much to get comped - they just have a food court and a buffet, all edible but nothing to go out of your way for - that she couldn't get if she wanted to from whoever's working the floor when she's playing. But I'm just surprised no local based host got attached to her.

[Dan Druff]

I tried calling her but nobody answered.

It was a Cleveland area phone number.

[Caligal]

I recently moved to vegas from southern ca
Maybe go to the credit union? You could get cash, straighten out the cc and debit card issues?

[Dan Druff]

Okay, so I talked for awhile on the phone with "Kilgore" (maybe 25 min), and I gave her some advice.

I didn't bother to ask about the manicure.

Basically, I told her to stop worrying about hosts and/or corporate, and to find the hotel manager of Planet Hollywood, and explain everything to him. At the very least, she should get the $100 laundry comped. Perhaps she can also get her entire stay comped, especially because she recently made Seven Stars anyway.

From what I can tell, the problem mainly lies in the fact that she's trying to get hosts to fix a hotel problem, and that never ends well.

Hosts only care about a few things:

- Your theoretical loss for this trip and recent trips to this particular property
- Your likelihood to return to this property to play in the future
- The value of comps you have used, and whether you are currently overcomped or still have comps you can claim

They do NOT care about your issues with the hotel (even if justified), unless these issues are likely to prevent you from returning and making them future commission.

Since "Kilgore" is from Cleveland, she is unlikely to be coming to Vegas very often, and therefore the hosts at PH couldn't give two shits about her issues.

So amazingly I'm going to agree with Rob Singer: You should not go to hosts with problems like this.

Corporate is also the wrong route, as they get thousands of complaints about customer service issues at CET (some valid, some not so valid), and they basically just tune them all out and give you a form letter after skimming your letter. And even if you get through to someone on the phone, barring something really outrageous, they aren't likely to get involved, and will likely just refer it back to someone local.

Something to understand about CET is that they are VERY compartmentalized. Each department operates almost as a separate entity, which leads to lots of comical fail when these departments don't interact or communicate well. CET is the ultimate example of a body where the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.

This is exacerbated more by the fact that the various CET properties don't cooperate much with each other, especially across markets.

It feels weird to be a big player at a CET property in Atlantic City and to be treated like a peon in Las Vegas, but that's kind of how it works. Of course, the whales get treated well everywhere because their reputation follows them (that is, when a whale visits another market, the new property is alerted), but for the rest of us, status at one casino doesn't translate well to other CET entities, even though it should. That's what Total Rewards was supposed to accomplish, but in reality, it doesn't go nearly far enough.

So back to this situation. Sometimes you just need to break it down to "Who/what caused the problem?" and then the simple answer is, "Okay, then that's who has to fix it."

So the HOTEL at Planet Hollywood caused the problems.

They should fix it.

I advised "Kilgore" to find the PH hotel manager (or someone working directly under the hotel manager) during the day, and calmly and clearly explain everything. Then ask for the $100 laundry charge to be waived. Then ask for any hotel room charges to be waived. Then ask for the food to be comped (or at least partially comped), but be willing to take "no" for an answer on that one. After all, she didn't have to continue staying at Paris when all of this went down. She could have easily checked out and gone elsewhere, or simply gone home. So she can't expect days and days of free food, but it's worth a shot anyway.

This is where she's most likely to succeed, as hotel managers have a lot of power to comp hotel related items. A hotel manager cannot give you casino freeplay or other casino-related promotions, but they can give you anything (within reason) associated with the hotel.

So that's the solution.

A host is not going to care about her situation. The host will look, see that she stayed in a suite and has become "overcomped" for the amount of play she's done, and that's when he will stop caring about the situation, especially because she lives thousands of miles away. That's the sad reality of the situation.

So it has to be handled at the hotel.

Before I could complete the conversation, I had to go because I hadn't seen my son in 12 days and just got home, but I think she got my point, and hopefully she will follow my advice.

[Alan Mendelson]

Dan it was very nice of you to talk with her and to give her your advice based on your perspective.

I am still not clear on what she wants from the hotel? I'm not sure she is entitled to anything being comped -- but it never hurts to ask.

I do know this: comps are given out by "marketing" and not by the hotel and not by the casino. I learned this the hard way -- back when I couldn't get my room made up for three days during a NYE eve weekend about 8 years ago.

I had to go to the head of housekeeping for the hotel and all this VP could do was get my room made up -- no comps, no promotions, no offers, nothing. The head of the Caesars casino, also a VP, could not give me any comps or free play as consideration for the problem -- they all said it was up to marketing. And nothing came from marketing.

Guess who gave me something for the trouble? The housekeeper who actually came to my room and finally made it up. She had found a bottle of Dom in the room of a guest who checked out -- and she gave it to us.

I still think a lot of the blame falls on her credit union and for that the hotel is not responsible.

[Dan Druff]

The hotel has to take a share of the blame for hitting her credit card for $6400 in authorizations. Even if the card hadn't been canceled, that would have busted many people's limits for at least a few days. That was a pretty big blunder, as was losing the replacement sent to the hotel.

You are correct that freeplay and offers have to come from marketing, but they CAN give you RCs for your trouble. I had it done for me before (I got $80) and I had a friend who got $250 in RCs. But both of these were casino-related mistakes. It is true that you will never get RCs for hotel problems.

However, the hotel CAN give you food comps (in the form of a food and beverage credit), and they CAN give you as many free nights as they want (or reduce your bill whatever they want). They can also comp off services such as the spa or laundry.

I think "Kilgore" should shoot for all free nights (she's 7 Stars anyway) plus the $100 laundry comp, and then see if she can get some food comps (but not push too hard if they say no to that one).

[Alan Mendelson]

I have to say this: those $6400 in "holds" by the hotel should have been noticed and blocked by the credit union. The CU should have fixed that problem before Kilgore was ever bothered. The CU certainly should have contacted her. BofA contacts me all the time for unusual charges -- especially if I fail to notify them in advance that I will be in Vegas.

[Dan Druff]

Sometimes things just go wrong, though.

In Alaska, my Chase card (which I had for a long time) was flagged because I was in a new state and charged to two different gas stations on the same day.

So it was suspended until I answered their text message regarding those charges.

Of course, I answered that the charges were fine, and I got an automated message telling me everything had been restored.

BUT IT HADN'T!

I tried to use the card again a few days later. DECLINED!

Called up Chase, they said somehow it auto-flagged again, and they would both re-enable it and make sure that this auto-flagging for gas stations stopped happening.

I tried again a few days later. DECLINED!

Then they had the nerve to blame this on the indivdiual gas station. Yeah right!

I finally told them that clearly something "broke" with my card, and they conceded this was possible, but "it will take 2-3 weeks to investigate".

I asked if they could just issue a new card with a new number, and they agreed to do so. That fixed it.

[Alan Mendelson]

I understand your Alaska incidents, Dan. But Chase didn't flat-out close your accounts and make you wait for a new card.

I would hate to think that credit unions are so protective that they would actually cancel cards without regard to their members.

[Luckylisa]

I have to disagree with Dan in that I find Corporate to be very helpful. A VP of Operations for Las Vegas was extremely helpful in resolving a issue in Atlantic City. I knew that he was previously the GM at Caesars AC. He contacted Caesars AC and 100% resolved my issue. I have also contacted Davis Hoenemeyer are a couple of occasions. Once he responded very quickly to my email and the second time, referred my email to marketing where my issue was resolved. There have been several other occasions where I found that CET execs have gone out of their way to provide exceptional service when any issues have come up.

[Rob.Singer]

The whole thing smells fishy from beginning to end. Time for a growler.

[FABismonte]

The whole thing smells fishy from beginning to end. Time for a growler.

Rob, I believe it is almost always time for a growler!

FAB

[regnis]

OK--I looked up "growler" in the urban dictionary and I assume that is not where Rob was going. Anyone want to enlighten me on what a growler is.

[FABismonte]

Hi Regnis:

The way I used "growler" refers to craft beers sold in refillable jugs typically "to-go." Here is one place: http://www.thegrowlerguys.com/

FAB

[regnis]

Thanks--big difference from the urban dictionary definition, especially after Rob said something smells fishy!!

[FABismonte]

Thanks--big difference from the urban dictionary definition, especially after Rob said something smells fishy!!

Hi Regnis:

I looked up the Urban dictionary. I agree with you, very different meaning!

FAB