I origianally posted the following back in April:
My question here goes out to anyone that eanred DIAMOND IN A DAY at
a Harrah*s property in 2005.
Of course when you reached the number of points needed you were
upgraded right away to diamond. My question is now that we're past
the renewal period in 2006 I'm wondering if any of you that eanred
diamond in this way were renewed as diamond players even if you DID
NOT earn 10,000 base points during the rest of 2005.
I know if you earned 10,000 you of course would be. My question is
specifically for those that earned diamond in a day in 2005 and did
not earn 10,000 points for the year.
Were you renewed to diamond for 2006 or were you downgraded?
···
-------------
Sorry for the delay in updating this situation. I sent the following
letter to Harrah's Corporate Offices on April 13.
[i]My name is James xxxxxxxxxx and my Total Rewards Account number
is 157xxxxxxxx. I'm writing you this letter to let you know of some
recent experiences I've encountered with your company and some of
your employees. First I'd like to say I'm a big fan of Harrah's and
have been for many years, even dating back to childhood when my
grandparents used to take me to Atlantic City with them. Harrah's
had the best video arcade in town! I was able to watch my
grandmother play slots from the public area outside the casino. It
was also the first casino I gambled in once I became 21.
I also like your Total Rewards Card and the perks and benefits
involved with it. I especially like the fact it's linked to all of
your properties and the fact I can earn an upgraded status
(platinum/diamond) in one day of heavy play as opposed to over the
course of the year with a series of lighter play and the perks that
come with it. It's also the reason I'm writing to you at this time.
On January 12, 2005 I visited Harrah's Atlantic City. I had a day
with quite a bit of play and earned over 2000 tier/base points in
that one day. According to your website this amount of play entitled
me to become a diamond card holder under your "diamond in a day"
rules. After about a week I saw I was still listed as a gold card
holder on your website so I e-mailed customer service. I was replied
to in a timely manner and cheerfully upgraded to a diamond card.
According to the rules on your website if you earn an upgraded level
of card you get it for the remainder of the calendar year, all of
the following year and through March 31 of the year after. In my
case I would be diamond until March 31, 2007. However, in April of
this year I logged into my account on your website and saw I was
showing as only a gold player. Not only was I a gold player, my
renewal offers were weak compared to the offers renewed diamond
players got and I wasn't offered a renewal gift as diamond players
were given. I was puzzled by this and assumed it was just a mistake.
On April 3 I e-mailed customer service asking if this was an error.
A return e-mail was promptly sent stating they couldn't discuss
detailed account information via e-mail and was instructed to call 1-
800-HARRAHS for help which I did.
I spoke to a rep (unfortunately I didn't get her name) and explained
the situation. She looked up my account and commented I didn't earn
10,000 tier/base credits in 2005 and therefore wouldn't be diamond
in 2006. I was aware of the fact I didn't earn 10,000 points in 2005
and explained I was upgraded to diamond by earning 2000 points in
one day back in January of 2005 and based on the rules of the club
if I am upgraded in 2005 I am supposed to keep that status for the
remainder of the year it was earned, as well as all of the following
year. She placed me on hold and spoke to a supervisor. When she
returned she said the supervisor agreed with her and since I didn't
earn 10,000 points in 2005 I wasn't going to be diamond in 2006. She
asked me if I'd like to speak to her supervisor which I did. We
concluded our conversation and she told me her supervisor was now
ready to take my call. I was transferred and the phone rang
repeatedly for approximately 2 minutes without being answered. I
finally gave up on speaking with this supervisor.
I again e-mailed customer service explain this situation as well as
my original problem of being downgraded. Over the course of the next
few days I had repeated e-mails with a rep who I feel did not
understand my questions and/or understand fully how the program
works. Her responses seemed to be copy and pasted or generic answers
to my questions and it also seemed as if she didn't have any
knowledge of the diamond in a day program. Repeatedly in our e-mails
she would comment on the fact I only earned 3600 base points for the
year of 2005 and needed 10,000 to be diamond for 2006, again going
against what I was told and read on your website. I'm including a
print out of all of our e-mails so you can see our discussions.
During all of this I contacted a few of my friends who also earned
diamond cards in the same way I earned mine as well as posting the
question on a number of Las Vegas/Gambling discussion boards. Every
response on these boards indicated that I should have continued to
be diamond through March of 2007 as many of the responders also
earned their diamond status in one day as opposed to over the entire
year and did indeed keep their diamond status without earning 10,000
points in 2005. I'm also including a print out of these posts and
responses as well.
I know this whole situation about whether or not I'm entitled to a
diamond card through 2006 may sound petty but it's important to me.
I find the perks that a diamond card offers me better than any other
premium club in the gaming world and this comes to you from someone
that has higher level cards at a number of properties in Las Vegas
and Atlantic City and considered a VIP at not only the Hard Rock
Hotel in Las Vegas, but the former Mandalay Resort Group properties
as well. Without a diamond card in hand it will be very difficult
to return to a Harrah's property without the added perks it offers.
I also don't feel that I'm asking for something I'm not entitled to.
I feel that based on the rules of the program, what's written on
your website and what other players are telling me I should be a
diamond card holder at this point. I also feel your customer service
reps need more training and need to have more knowledge about the
areas they handle customer relations in as the reps I spoke with and
e-mailed seemed very uninformed about what I was even discussing
with them. Other than the basic guidelines of the program that are
available in print they seemed to know less about the program than
many players do.[/i]
After sending the letter to Harrah's Corporate Offices I got a phone
call from a lady in Harrah's channel marketing. She apologized for
the confusion and conflicting answers I was getting from various
employees and the poor service over the phone I got. She also
verified that I was 100% correct in saying that if I earned diamond
in 2005 (which I did) that I should have been diamond through March
of 2007. She also stated that obviously NONE of the employees that
handled my situation knew what they were talking about and it was a
serious training issue to her. She was going to request that all of
the Atlantic City employees be re-trained.
She noted that my account now was showing diamond and though things
were fixed for me in Atlantic City. I informed her that they weren't
fixed but I did however earn diamond in a day at Bally's Atlantic
City a few weeks ago and got the run around there too. Initially
being told that DIAD was for new sign ups only, to being told
repeatedly you need 10,000 points for diamond to Total Rewards
people knowing nothing about diamond in a day. I eventually got a
supervisor in Bally's that was aware of the policy and issued me a
diamond card on the spot.
We also discussed some of the problems many of you are having
regarding transitions from the Caesars properties and she was going
to pass it on to the appropriate people.
So, to clarify the situation for those of you that may or may not
have had problems, if you earn diamond status in 2006, whether it be
by doing DIAD or by earning 10,000 points you become diamond right
at that moment you reach that point requirement. You get diamond
status for the remainder of the year you earned it in. You also get
it for the entire following year of 2007, and up through March 31,
2008. It doesn't matter if you earned DIAD and didn't earn 10,000
points that year. You STILL are diamond for the entire time. Doing
DIAD is no different than earning it the long way by earning 10,000
points in a year and DIAD players are no different than 10,000
points in a year players. If you want to be diamond beyond 2008
you'd have to requalify either by doing DIAD again or earning 10,000
points.
I hope this clears thing up about diamond status and what is
required to earn it, maintain it and the length of time it is good
for. Any other questions can be posted or e-mailed to me.