Casablanca Express and The Plaza deal PART TWO

[Alan Mendelson]

I want you all to know that over the past couple of days the management of Casablanca Express and I have been trying to salvage their promotion and deal plus the advertising they won in the charity auction.

They concede that there were several errors made in the preparation of their first advertising video and I admit that I did not properly investigate their offer which would have prevented the misunderstandings.

We've gone over the "fine print" again and I expect that we will have a corrected TV advertisement on my TV show in late September.

Here are some of the important changes:

1. The price that we will advertise will now be $30. We are dropping the $29 price because the $30 price is listed throughout their computer systems. The special $29 price that they wanted to offer through my TV show creates a conflict with other pricing in their system and this is why our forum member Dan ran into a problem when he called to book the $29 offer. When we shot the video they came up with a special $29 price which was not in their computer system -- and they admitted to me that they ran into problems trying to change it because the $30 price is listed in so many different offers and advertisements.

2. Yes, there is a $25 refundable deposit. I questioned them on this and here's why they have the fee: too many people had booked the trips, made reservations, and then failed to show up or cancel. It seems that when $30 (the price of the offer) is involved people don't care about making reservations and not showing up -- but when you ask them to also pay a $25 refundable deposit then the customers get serious about showing up or cancelling.

Some of you might remember back in the 1970s and early 1980s when you could make as many plane reservations as you wanted at no cost and without a reservation fee. That practice stopped because the airlines were hit with too many "no shows." Now, many airlines have no-refund tickets. Casablanca has the $25 refundable deposit for a similar reason -- it wants to eliminate "no shows."

Why does it care about "no shows" who paid for their rooms? Well, while the room might be sold for $30 a "no show" does not gamble, does not eat in restaurants, does not go to the gift shop and does not add to any other hotel/casino revenue.

Let's be real here: hotels give low prices on rooms to induce visits and casino play. Many casino companies do this, and as we know Caesars is probably the industry leader for offering cheap hotel rooms to get people to play in its casinos.

Yes, you can cancel or change your reservation and the $25 refundable deposit will be refunded. They assured me of that. But they need something to cut down on the "no show" problem.

3. We are going to make it clear that the $30 price applies to TWO PEOPLE in one room for TWO NIGHTS. There was some question that the price was per person. Again, $30 covers two people in one room for two nights.

4. Yes, the deal applies to Sunday through Thursday nights but there are blackout dates for holidays. For an additional fee there are rooms available on weekends and during the "blackout dates."

5. Yes, you will still have to check-in with a credit card for normal room charges, or make a cash deposit at check-in. This was not mentioned in our original video.

6. Yes, you have to make your room reservation 30 days in advance and for most people that's normal. I realize that the forum members here probably visit Vegas more often and often on short notice -- but this promotion is not geared to Vegas regulars who get comped rooms. This promotion is to bring "new visitors" to Vegas.

About their Yelp reviews.

I had a long conversation with Casablanca about the Yelp reviews. Casablanca says several of the damaging reviews on Yelp were posted by people who do not show up in their data base as true customers. and there are various online reports that 25% of the reviews on sites like Yelp are bogus.

Let me say this: I know of several companies who said they have been unfairly treated by Yelp because they told me that they refused to buy advertising on Yelp.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS about the promotion, I would appreciate if you would ask them so that I can get clarification before I edit the new TV video -- and that will be done in about a week. Thanks.

[Rob.Singer]

If they take the $30 up front and you lose it by no-showing, then there is no viable reason for the additional $25 "refundable" deposit. That weak reason of it helping to cut down on no-shows is truly pathetic. All it'll end up doing is hurt those who have to legitimately cancel at the last minute. $30 is a windfall for a dump like the Plaza. Another $25 is simply FAT.

[Alan Mendelson]

Rob, you can cancel at the last minute if it's legitimate. You can also cancel with a few days notice or change your dates with a few days notice.

As long as the discloure is made I have no problem with them asking for an additional $25 refundable deposit. What I didn't like before was that the $25 deposit was not disclosed.
The new ad will also disclose The Plaza's resort fee ($15) and the credit card at check-in.
Again, as long as it is disclosed I don't have a problem with it.

Now everyone who sees the ad will know about the additional $25 deposit and the other fine print so they can freely choose whether or not to take the offer.

When was the last time you stayed at The Plaza, Rob? When was the last time you were even inside it?

[Dan Druff]

Yes, there is a $25 refundable deposit. I questioned them on this and here's why they have the fee: too many people had booked the trips, made reservations, and then failed to show up or cancel. It seems that when $30 (the price of the offer) is involved people don't care about making reservations and not showing up -- but when you ask them to also pay a $25 refundable deposit then the customers get serious about showing up or cancelling.

Some of you might remember back in the 1970s and early 1980s when you could make as many plane reservations as you wanted at no cost and without a reservation fee. That practice stopped because the airlines were hit with too many "no shows." Now, many airlines have no-refund tickets. Casablanca has the $25 refundable deposit for a similar reason -- it wants to eliminate "no shows."

Why does it care about "no shows" who paid for their rooms? Well, while the room might be sold for $30 a "no show" does not gamble, does not eat in restaurants, does not go to the gift shop and does not add to any other hotel/casino revenue.

Let's be real here: hotels give low prices on rooms to induce visits and casino play. Many casino companies do this, and as we know Caesars is probably the industry leader for offering cheap hotel rooms to get people to play in its casinos.

Yes, you can cancel or change your reservation and the $25 refundable deposit will be refunded. They assured me of that. But they need something to cut down on the "no show" problem.

Sorry, but this makes no sense.

The hotel profits big time if someone spends $30 but never shows up. This is because they don't have to spend any money on water, electricity, linen/towel washing, maid service, etc.

Furthermore, hotels actually have the legal right to re-sell rooms of no-shows by a certain hour, unless the person calls to state they will be really late. So they can't even say that they lose money by the room not being occupied by a physical customer.

Also, as these are only available for Sunday-Thursday in non-holiday, non-blackout periods, it is highly unlikely that the hotel would be sold out, anyway. So by buying a $30 2-night stay and not showing, the Plaza simply gets free money. They don't need to charge an additional "deposit" to prevent that.

So why does Casablanca charge that extra $25? Because the Plaza likely gives them a kickback when the person actually shows up, so they want to penalize anyone who buys a room and no-shows.

In any case, this is VERY non-standard in the travel industry nowadays. You are NEVER penalized for no-showing beyond the full cost of the room.

Yes, the deal applies to Sunday through Thursday nights but there are blackout dates for holidays. For an additional fee there are rooms available on weekends and during the "blackout dates."

There are reports on Yelp that there are additional blackout dates -- basically anything popular, such as a week where there's a big event in town. Some complained that every date they wanted was "full" or "blacked out". You should get a list of blackout dates in 2015/2016 and post them with the ad.

Yes, you can cancel or change your reservation and the $25 refundable deposit will be refunded. They assured me of that. But they need something to cut down on the "no show" problem.

I don't see anything on their website about a cancellation policy. Again, this needs to be verified and clearly stated.

About their Yelp reviews.

I had a long conversation with Casablanca about the Yelp reviews. Casablanca says several of the damaging reviews on Yelp were posted by people who do not show up in their data base as true customers. and there are various online reports that 25% of the reviews on sites like Yelp are bogus.

Let me say this: I know of several companies who said they have been unfairly treated by Yelp because they told me that they refused to buy advertising on Yelp.

Yelp is not perfect. Yes, there are "negative shill" reviews posted to some businesses, written by the competition.

However, when there is an OVERWHELMING NUMBER of negative reviews, many of which are posted by Yelpers with mostly positive reviews on other things (and a long history on the site), the bad reviews are almost always true. It's one of those, "Where there's smoke, there's fire" sort of things.

In fact, the bad reviews there seem pretty legit. I don't see any suspect accounts there, and the reviews all seem to be with different writing styles and with believable stories. The good reviews for this business are the suspect ones, as most of them mention "Jose", and in fact one 5-star review accidentally reveals that Jose asked them to post it!

Please don't tell me that you think they were targeted by Yelp trolls. Why is this happening to Casablanca and no other legitimate travel agency? The "these are fake reviews" thing is a standard excuse given by a misbehaving business.


Again, I suggest that you refuse to run their ad, and simply tell them to get a refund from the charity. You ran an ad already, they misled you, and they should now forfeit the prize. You aren't obligated to produce a second ad with the truth after they're caught lying.

[Alan Mendelson]

I've never had to make a "refundable deposit" to reserve a hotel room, even when the hotel room was also pre paid. But after talking with the managers I understand their reasons for having the "refundable deposit" and there are several as I mentioned.

What is important to me is that this refundable deposit is fully visible in their offer so that the consumer can decide if they want the offer or not.

The same thing goes for resort fees and having a credit card at check in. People don't like that stuff but as long as it is in the open it is up to the consumer to decide what to do about it.

I've been in the 7 Stars check in at Caesars Palace when 7 Stars players have argued about the need to present a credit card, and they yelled and demanded a manager intervene. And even those 7 Stars players were told to put up a credit card for a $200 hold or come up with cash.

One particular 7 Stars player stands out in my memory. There was a loud argument at the check in. He said under no circumstances would he give a deposit or a credit card. So management went to his room and REMOVED the convenience bar and blocked the room from ordering in-room dining.

By the way, since I don't fly much these days: is there any airline that today will let you reserve a seat without buying a ticket first?

[Dan Druff]

I've never had to make a "refundable deposit" to reserve a hotel room, even when the hotel room was also pre paid. But after talking with the managers I understand their reasons for having the "refundable deposit" and there are several as I mentioned.

What is important to me is that this refundable deposit is fully visible in their offer so that the consumer can decide if they want the offer or not.

The same thing goes for resort fees and having a credit card at check in. People don't like that stuff but as long as it is in the open it is up to the consumer to decide what to do about it.

I've been in the 7 Stars check in at Caesars Palace when 7 Stars players have argued about the need to present a credit card, and they yelled and demanded a manager intervene. And even those 7 Stars players were told to put up a credit card for a $200 hold or come up with cash.

One particular 7 Stars player stands out in my memory. There was a loud argument at the check in. He said under no circumstances would he give a deposit or a credit card. So management went to his room and REMOVED the convenience bar and blocked the room from ordering in-room dining.

By the way, since I don't fly much these days: is there any airline that today will let you reserve a seat without buying a ticket first?

American Airlines lets you reserve a seat for free for 24 hours.

But that's a different topic.

Anyway, this $25 "refundable deposit" is TOTALLY non-standard, and the fact that they tried to sneak it by you in the initial advertisement is shaaaaaaaaaaaady. And for them to tell you, "We thought everyone knew about this" is especially dishonest, because nobody would ever guess this would exist until told.

But that's not really the main argument against running another ad for them. As you said, if it's clearly disclosed, then the consumer can decide if they want to do it.

However, I feel like you might be letting them snow you about the awful Yelp reviews. This company has definitely screwed people, and those Yelp reviews -- or at least the vast majority of them -- are highly likely to be genuine. Some of the bad reviews even involve this particular offer, where people get upsold to the more expensive packages, and then don't get what they're promised.

Furthermore, before you run ANY ad for them, you should get them to provide you with a concrete list of blackout dates. They were all over the place with that one when I called them, and the Yelp reviews complain that far more dates are blacked out than just the major holidays.

Finally, once again, you need to get it in writing in some way that this can be fully canceled and fully refunded at any time. I am not getting that impression at all from their website. It looks like you are paying $54 up front, and if you decide you want to cancel and back out, you're stuck with zero refund.

[Rob.Singer]

Alan, it's a tough crowd, but this offer and how you've allowed Casablanca to shake & bake you deserves it. What sense does it make to charge a customer more than the price of the room for no-showing? That alone should red flag everything about this advertiser. And a resort fee equal to the room cost? C'MON MAN!

5 years ago. That was my last time there, and by last I mean LAST.

[redietz]

I was in the Plaza today, and I will go to bat for them (not the discounter).

Rob, five years ago it was a different ownership with a different experience. My God, the smell of the carpet five years ago was a local in joke. You walked into the main Plaza doors back then and wondered if you'd stepped into King Kong's urinal.

Not today. They have really spiffed up the place. It's not Wynn or Caesars Palace, of course, but it's not bad. The elevators and hallway carpeting have been redone, but have issues. The rooms themselves, however, are more than adequate and have nice furnishings and wall décor. The lobby is attractive. There are plenty of restaurants, including an unusual bratwurst place in the food court. The sports book is obviously redecorated and has become the William Hill flagship, more or less. It is completely different from five years ago. It fits in alright with the Golden Nugget and Main Street, which are a short walk away.

[Rob.Singer]

I will break down my standards and check it out on my next trip to town.

[Alan Mendelson]

There is another reason for the deposit, I found out last night. The deposit by credit card proves the room was booked by an individual and not a travel agency or bulk buyer. This is required by the deal with the Plaza.

[dalawa]

I was in the Plaza today, and I will go to bat for them (not the discounter).

Rob, five years ago it was a different ownership with a different experience. My God, the smell of the carpet five years ago was a local in joke. You walked into the main Plaza doors back then and wondered if you'd stepped into King Kong's urinal.

Not today. They have really spiffed up the place. It's not Wynn or Caesars Palace, of course, but it's not bad. The elevators and hallway carpeting have been redone, but have issues. The rooms themselves, however, are more than adequate and have nice furnishings and wall décor. The lobby is attractive. There are plenty of restaurants, including an unusual bratwurst place in the food court. The sports book is obviously redecorated and has become the William Hill flagship, more or less. It is completely different from five years ago. It fits in alright with the Golden Nugget and Main Street, which are a short walk away.

Red,
I stayed at the Plaza a couple of months ago and it is STILL a sh!thole. The main thing I found despicable was the furniture in the rooms. It was all marked up with graffiti as well as being chipped or broken. This is mainly due to the clientele that they seem to attract. The casino was DEAD and that was ALL weekend. The food choices are NON-EXISTENT. The busiest food outlet I saw all weekend was McDonald's. The pool was horrific.

There is nothing to see or do at this relic.

[Dan Druff]

There is another reason for the deposit, I found out last night. The deposit by credit card proves the room was booked by an individual and not a travel agency or bulk buyer. This is required by the deal with the Plaza.

What??

They are lying to you yet again.

You are giving the $25 to Casablanca, not the Plaza!

So this deposit doesn't "prove" anything to the Plaza. They won't even have access to the credit card data you use to purchase it.

Furthermore, the Plaza could easily VERIFY this wasn't a "bulk purchase" by simply requiring the person purchasing it to be the one checking in (which is almost always the standard policy of all hotels, anyway!)

Here is the truth, Alan.

The Plaza, which by all accounts has been renovated but is still somewhat of a shithole (with a bad location and reputaiton, as well), is desperate for customers.

They struck a deal with Casablanca where they allow them to book certain blocks of rooms on slow days for dirt cheap. I am guessing Casablanca is making almost nothing on the room sale itself, as the $15/night is mostly being passed directly to the Plaza.

However, Casablanca gets an additional $25 from the Plaza if the person actually shows up to their reservation (because the Plaza assumes they will make more than that via gambling and food sales).

If the person doesn't show up, then Casablanca probably doesn't get paid the $25, and they will have made almost no profit (or perhaps no profit at all) on the whole transaction.

To protect themselves from this, they charge the customer the $25 instead, and then give it back to them if they show and subsequently collect that $25 from the Plaza.

This by itself isn't all that bad, IF FULLY DISCLOSED. However, Casablanca covered this up and lied about it to you when you were creating their ad, because it sounds much better to advertise "$15/night" than "$42/night after resort fees, but we send you $25 back after you complete your trip".

Also, I think there's a high chance that there are a lot of blackout dates and/or dates that get "sold out", as the Plaza has no incentive to do this for busy weeks (such as where there are conventions or big concerts in town), so this is basically something Plaza only allows on slow weeknights.

Why the 30 day delay before booking? I'm assuming that the Plaza is doing this in order to prevent people who want to take last-minute trips to Vegas (or even semi-last-minute) from using agencies like Casablanca instead of booking at full price.

Anyway, the bottom line is that they still aren't being straight with you, and that by itself should be a reason to cancel the whole thing after they already caused you to run an inaccurate ad.

[Dan Druff]

And what about the upselling?

Alan, you've been talking to Casablanca about THIS PARTICULAR DEAL, but what about the one they immediately try to upsell you to?

That one has TONS of complaints on Yelp. And given the pressure people are put under to switch to the upsold deal, that's a problem right there, even if this particular deal is carefully laid out and fully disclosed.

Whole thing is really bad news.

[jbjb]

I'll stick with just booking rooms from the casinos websites even if it costs a tad more.

[Alan Mendelson]

Every business tries to upsell Dan.

If the hotel rooms are booked by a travel agency Casablanca could lose its deal.

Dan Casablanca has to protect its business.

They made a mistake when we did the original TV spot. The disclosures are now being added.

You don't like their deal but it's not meant for 7 Stars players.

[Dan Druff]

Every business tries to upsell Dan.

If the hotel rooms are booked by a travel agency Casablanca could lose its deal.

Dan Casablanca has to protect its business.

They made a mistake when we did the original TV spot. The disclosures are now being added.

You don't like their deal but it's not meant for 7 Stars players.

I don't think you're understanding my complaint.

The complaint isn't about the upselling.

It's the fact that they're upselling people into a package with a lot of believable negative reviews on Yelp.

Do you really think they "made a mistake" with the initial TV spot, or were intentionally lying to you?

This has nothing to do with my personal taste in hotels. I don't criticize other (legitimate) deals to stay in fleabag motels/hotels for cheap. I realize everyone has a different budget.

My problem is that they are shady. I heard this for myself when I called them.

[Alan Mendelson]

After their offer is on my TV show I will let you know how many complaints I receive.

By the way it won't be on until October.