First off, please do not troll Alan in this thread because he returned to assist this member with his CET issue. I am gong to delete the troll messages in this thread, and I will kick anyone who continues to troll here.

Anyway, you should DEFINITELY fight this (which I know you've been trying), but I'll give you some suggestions where to go from here.

It's important to know where you should NOT go. Your host is a good example. Hosts are required to pretend to care about you and your experience, but in reality, you're just a cold number to them. Basically, what is your ADT, and what commission are you earning them? They don't give a shit about making this right for you, unless you're a huge whale, where basically they have the discretion to eat the $1500 out of their own department. But that's clearly not the case here.

You also shouldn't give up after being "given the runaround" at Harrah's, though I know it's maddening attempting to reach people there.

You should focus upon the following individuals at the property, and see if you can get satisfaction with any of them:

1) The hotel general manager. Attempt to reach him/her first. Make sure it's the actual general manager of the whole property, and not just some lackey who works as an assistant.

2) The front desk manager. I don't mean the acting supervisor at the front desk. I mean the manager of the entire front desk. Try this person if you can't reach the general manager.

3) The VIP check-in room manager. Again, make sure it's the manager of the VIP check-in room, not just the acting manager. I have this person's contact info, if you need it.

These three people have some authority, and if they cannot get the $1500 waived, they can go to their bosses who can.

I see exactly what happened here. You were erroneously blamed for trashing the room (whether intentionally or unintentionally), and by the contract you signed, they are correct that you're responsible if that's what happened.

However, that's not what happened. You can't prove it, but the lack of anything else damaged, along with your immediate report to security, should be on your side.

How should you approach it?

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Tell them that this was a pretty bad injury to your hand, requiring ongoing medical care. Tell them that your friends, including a personal injury attorney you know, were pushing you to sue them, but you valued your relationship with Harrah's and didn't want to create trouble, nor did you want to waste the time and energy to do so.

Tell them that you were shocked to get this bill, since you felt that you were being the nice one in this situation by not suing them or even asking them to file a claim against their insurance. You just wanted to drop it and deal with it on your own.

Tell them that their own reports from security should indicate that you were coherent, not drunk, and not agitated. This was really due to a faulty door.

Tell them that this is your final offer -- to remove the $1500 charge, or you will indeed file suit.

This is tricky, because the second you mention "lawsuit", they panic and want to shove you to their attorneys.

However, reiterate that you are talking them because you DON'T want to file suit, and simply want both sides to walk away from this. Offer to sign a document to where both sides hold each other harmless over this incident.

If you need further assistance, let me know.

Good luck.