I justed talked to Nikki at Greektown about some issues I had on a bus trip back in February. I organized a bus trip for 48 people and we arrived at Greektown about 2:15. The last people on the bus finally got their freeplay paperwork done about 2:45. Then they had to wait in line at the booth for almost 90 minutes to get the freeplay actually loaded on their card. So, it's now after 4 PM and the group is tired and hungry. After grabbing a bite to eat and relaxing a little, it is after 5 PM. The people played a little bit and then boarded the bus around 6:45.
That makes for a pretty short gambling day and a bunch of frustrated potential customers. Nikki said they had some call ins so the line at the slot club booth was long. She didn't address why they don't take the information ahead of time. This would eliminate all of the waiting. Even Harrah's does this for their bus trips and has been doing so for 15 years.
I made a modest request on behalf of my group. I asked for an increase in the freeplay offer and a buffet for each of the people who had to wait almost 2 hours for their freeplay to be loaded. Nikki said she cannot acccomodate my suggestion. Basically, Greektown said that they don't care about 47 potential customers and will gladly alienate them from ever coming into their casino again over a few bucks in freeplay and a buffet.
Thinking like this is why Greektown is in financial trouble. The attitude of " Here's our product, take it and like it or leave" only works for Comcast in my area ( no competition) and Delta ( 800 lb. gorilla in the Detroit airfare market). Motor City, MGM and to a lesser extent, Caesar's Windsor already give Greektown more competition than they can handle. With Toledo opening up, I see Greektown revenues declining even more. From Belleville, it's 30 miles to Greektown and 50 miles to Toledo. Where do you think the people who were on my bus trip will go next time they want to casino hop?
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