There’s a story by Liz Benson in the Las Vegas Sun about Joy Kane an avid gambler who routinely spent thousands of dollars in Palazzo and her reward for her patronage was a slap in the face. Joy had previously enjoyed comped rooms as frequent gamblers do, but suddenly had that service ripped away.
As the story goes in the Las Vegas Sun, two days before her scheduled arrival for a birthday getaway, her casino host called and said the resort wouldn’t honour the comped three-night stay she had reserved two months earlier. Instead, she could pay the regular hotel rate of $750 for those nights, the host said.
How’s that for a kick in the teeth?
But it’s all part of a new business model being employed by parent company Las Vegas Sands. The company recently scrapped the promotional offers mailed to gamblers inviting them for comped stays at their properties. And add-on promotions such as free hotel stays, gambling tournaments for prizes and discounts at restaurants and shows have shutdown.
Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson briefed Wall Street analysts about his strategy of “No more comped rooms. No food and beverage. No showroom credits. We’re selling rooms,” Adelson said.
Keep in mind, Las Vegas Sands is not the only casino scaling back extra fringe benefits for gamblers due unfavorable business conditions, but they are certainly being quite brash in the way they are going about it. It’s almost like they don’t give a, you know what about the gamblers who have helped build their empire.
But I digress. Adelson will do what Adelson wants to do that will never change. But it’s becoming an unfortunate situation for gamblers who previously enjoyed these comps as a token of appreciation for their business.
As reported by the LV Sun, Randy Fine of casino consultants Fine Point Group in Las Vegas said about Adelson’s strategy “Could have done this quietly, without discussing it publicly… They basically gave the middle finger to their customer base.”
Whatever happened to being romanced and flattered before you get bent over?
