I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to reservation.
I say nevermind, I will come check in, but do not need the room and ask if I should just check in and then check out so that they can have the room back....and she says.. No, if you do that, you will get charged $100 for an early checkout!
So I say OK, I'll just check in. Good grief!
Palms...How stupid can you get?
Change the reservation 2 weeks into the future.
I've never had a problem with this even on the same day as the reservation.
Call back in 1 week to cancel.
Casinos want your money...so cancels are BAD. Go figure!
P.S. If you really want to keep your reservation. I don't have a room on Sunday. E-mail me. 
Due to a change in plans, I'm only in Las Vegas for one day, and I was just going to stay up all night.
I changed my 3-day Excalibur reservation (2/28-3/1) to 3/12-3/15 WITHOUT the 48 hrs advance notice.
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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "annie" <annieadlin@...> wrote:
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Yep, it's a pain but you have to think about how the hotels are run and how
the departments are compensated. Casino marketing is on the hook for the
room. Front desk/rooms wants the revenue and numbers. You checking in and
out doesn't affect the front desk. It would only affect Casino Marketing's
report if you don't play to the their expected level of play for the room
for that weekend's value.
So yeah, definitely silly because it all comes to the same bottom line, but
with how big and corporate the mega resorts are each department is like
their own country in the United Nations and their motivations for metrics
makes for some silly customer service decisions.
Though in these situations, I find that you having to stop there and play
for maybe a $300 shot at a $1 single line machine and inevitably you hit a
royal or G-2 generating quad and walk away. It's like a corporate karma
stupid tax. Sure, your long run EV runs to ~even +/-, but for that location
it's nice to know you're a decent distance up on them.
···
-----
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with
her at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours
prior to reservation.
It's stated right in the fine print on all of my Palms offers (and something similar on most other casino offers):
"Guest must cancel at least 72 hours prior to arrival date or pay one night room and tax."
As a business owner, I charge my customers a $50 non-cancellation fee if they don't cancel within 24 hours. I can't replace the money lost on that short notice, so some compensation is only fair.
Your room might be comped, but the hotel is still getting paid by the casino for your stay. They also expect you to spend money in the resort and to gamble, so your comped room is still potentially a money-maker for them. Therefore, it's not a stupid policy.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "annie" <annieadlin@...> wrote:
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to reservation.
I say nevermind, I will come check in, but do not need the room and ask if I should just check in and then check out so that they can have the room back....and she says.. No, if you do that, you will get charged $100 for an early checkout!
So I say OK, I'll just check in. Good grief!
Mitch - Thats pure genius !
Queen of comps - how come I never read this trick in any of your books ?
···
----- Original Message ----- >>
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Change the reservation 2 weeks into the future.
I've never had a problem with this even on the same day as the reservation.Call back in 1 week to cancel.
Casinos want your money...so cancels are BAD. Go figure!
Somebody please forward this to George Maloof ASAP...... I would but don't know his email address.
B.
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----- Original Message -----
From: annie
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 9:25 AM
Subject: [vpFREE] Palms...How stupid can you get?
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to reservation.
I say nevermind, I will come check in, but do not need the room and ask if I should just check in and then check out so that they can have the room back....and she says.. No, if you do that, you will get charged $100 for an early checkout!
So I say OK, I'll just check in. Good grief!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
How can they charge you for a room that's comped? Comped means FREE!
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "annie" <annieadlin@...> wrote:
I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to reservation.
"Comped means FREE!"
Actually, Comped is an abbreviated form of Compensated. It derives from Casino's compensating gamblers for their losses by providing rooms, meals etc. Nuttin for Nuttin.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "stuckinvegas" <stuckinvegas@...> wrote:
How can they charge you for a room that's comped? Comped means FREE!
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "annie" <annieadlin@> wrote:
>
> I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
> Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her at Wynn.
> They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to reservation.
>
Tom,
I'd rather NOT have this tactic published in any book because airlines/hotels/etc... might change the way their software is written (or how they train their clerks). Excalibur already mentions a $10 change fee on their phone line (which apparently doesn't apply to award reservations).
A related variation works with airline award tickets where there is a $50-100 fee for booking within 21 days, but you have free changes. Make an award ticket for 2 months in the future. Then call back & change the flight to tomorrow (or within the 21 days).
If you have restricted free days at casinos (like me, since I don't always play the $6,000-24,000 daily coin-in for unrestricted room camps), sometimes you can book unrestricted days & call later to change to the days you want. If the casino rate for your desired days drops, then a change will work. Sometimes making a reservation for 1 day off of your desired days is helpful - because a last minute change of 24 hrs sometimes is easy to get.
The Orleans gave me an offer for 2 free days up to Jan 2010. Well I booked for the last 2 days in Jan, and then asked about changing it to Feb 1. The clerk was nice enough to make my reservation in Feb by doing it without the offer code (an open reservation), which then allowed me to shift it to an expensive weekend in Mar. If I don't play enough, my account will still be charged for the more expensive days...
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "tomflush" <tomflush@...> wrote:
Mitch - Thats pure genius !
Queen of comps - how come I never read this trick in any of your books ?----- Original Message ----- >>
>> I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
>
> Change the reservation 2 weeks into the future.
> I've never had a problem with this even on the same day as the
> reservation.
I got an email from an exec host letting me know to call her and she would try to help out with my situation. She was wonderful and solved the problem right away. She was able to waive the short notice fee and I am now a happy camper who won't need to waste a room. I have been a pretty loyal Palms customer for many years and love staying there.
BTW: If anyone forwards emails to Palms owners, they should also forward the follow-up so they know what an exceptional job of customer service Mickie provided. Fast and personal.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "tomflush" <tomflush@...> wrote:
Mitch - Thats pure genius !
Queen of comps - how come I never read this trick in any of your books ?----- Original Message ----- >>
>> I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
>
> Change the reservation 2 weeks into the future.
> I've never had a problem with this even on the same day as the
> reservation.
>
> Call back in 1 week to cancel.
>
> Casinos want your money...so cancels are BAD. Go figure!
>
>
The early checkout fee is the only thing I question here.
I have never been charged a fee when checking out early (although in all cases I stayed at least one night).
Their cancellation policy is their cancellation policy.
Have Fun,
Mark