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CET Reneged my Free Play on a reservation

Discussion in 'Comps' started by Grid, Jan 27, 2015.

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  1. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    I just got back from LV and I eluded to this on these boards before I left. Here is the full story and a warning to all!

    Others have posted that CET pulled offers from them after booking and most assumed it was something the player did wrong.

    Myself, and many others, have reported that their free play has been cut in half since the bankruptcy. While on board host Hunter says offers taper off during the busier months I just dont believe thats true for so many people. Last March/April my Free Play was $450. In fact its been $450 every month for 2014. Since the Jan/Feb offers came out in Dec I still had my $450. Starting in March I'm at exactly $225 with no drop off in coin-in. Well until this trip. Here is the story.

    Back in Dec I landed a great deal on a flight in January. I used a CET Casino Executive, Scott, to book my offer. To get the free play it takes 2 nights stay. So he booked me at Caesars Palace using my offer code. At 1st it showed just 1 night comped and like $180 on the 2nd. Scott told me not to worry and it will show comped soon.

    I booked this stay 72 hours after getting the free play email. Later I called to make sure it was showing comped. The desk clerk confirmed it now was and confirmed my Free Play.

    Flash forward to a week before my stay and I get a generic email with Blah Blah Blah e look forward to seeing you please let us know if there is anything you need during your stay. I tell them my room should be Nonsmoking and just triple check that my free play is waiting for me. With my fellow gamblers having problems with CET lately I just HAD to make sure. That reply is below.

    On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 8:47 PM CST VIP Registration wrote:

    >Good Evening Dr XXX,
    >
    >We really appreciate your response. Unfortunately the promotion that you requested is now sold out.


    I reply back that I have a confirmation from a month ago showing I was booked and it included the exact code tied to the free play and ask how it can now be "Sold Out"? I get a "Sorry" email after that so I turn my attention to the Casino Ex Scott. For the next post you'll have to read from the bottom up.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2015
  2. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    My back and forth, the day before I was leaving. Scott never returned my phone calls on this and when i called VIP services they said this has been happening a lot the past few weeks. Here is confirmation from someone at CET saying just that. They are withdrawing booked offers. All Along they told me I can keep the room. But they would NOT honor my free play.

    From: Scott
    To: Dr.
    Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 10:34 AM
    Subject: RE: Your Vegas Getaway Is Here!



    Unfortunately they’re all sold out……… I do get your frustration, I feel it too. It’s only been happening the past month or so.







    From: Dr.
    Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 8:21 AM
    To: Scott
    Subject: Re: Your Vegas Getaway Is Here!



    So what's our next play here? I cant give up $450. Do we cancel this reservation and book me at Planet Hollywood or something using the below code that that was just emailed to me? Its actually the same one you booked me under last month. I'll move hotels if that means I can keep my free play. Again that money covered my airfare and thats why I booked this trip.



    I'll be there in 24 hours so I'd like to get this taken care of.



    From: Scott
    To: Dr.
    Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 10:01 AM
    Subject: RE: Your Vegas Getaway Is Here!



    Unfortunately, lately, some of the offers are having a “status” change…….. sorry about that. There’s no way for me to know at the time of booking it.
     
  3. captainron62

    captainron62 VIP Whale

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    Way too much of this going on. We all can't be victims of "sell outs" etc. I have my email just as you had yours and I was notified that anything had changed until I attempted to confirm things before my trip. This does not look good, its too bad.
     
  4. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    So the offer I booked in Dec, and was confirmed 3 times that all was well. Is now Sold Out after I booked. 24 hours after them telling me its Sold Out I get an email with the EXACT same offer and code that I was booked under. How stupid is that!

    I eventually get a hold of someone named Jamie after calling a few numbers trying to get this taken care of and he admits it was shitty and I feel bad for him since a bunch of people were calling in to complain. He tells me that since I already "used" that code, even though they pulled it it still was "used", that he will book me for my next offer that starts on my checkout day for another $450 and he assures me this will be good.

    So I trust him, I check in and they confirm the $450 pickup on my check out day. I go to the Total Rewards desk and tell them what happened and ask if THEY can switch me so I dont have to log another gambling day when I was checking out. I dont want to hurt my ADT. They said sure but I would have to have a host do that for me.

    Off to the hosts office and I tell a nice woman named Holly what happened and she says "Oh no not you too" and tells another host what happened to me and she just shakes her head. Holly said she would have been able to make the switch a few week ago but "Policy change in January wont allow it"

    Good thing I did go in though cause she tells me if I would have checked out at 11 I wouldnt have been able to pickup the Free Play at noon! I had no idea. I'm diamond so I get a 2PM checkout time but someone else would have gotten dicked.
     
  5. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Sorry for the long read gang. Others on here just dont want to believe that this is going on with CET post bankruptcy so here is my story. I'm Diamond. My Coin In stays pretty much on par. I had confirmation, in writing, on this offer and that was STILL not honored. I was never told my Free Play was being pulled until I triple checked before my stay. They were never going to tell me. I'd be pissed at checkin.

    Yes I did end up getting my free play. It took 3 days of emails and lots of phone calls before I found someone that gave a shit to help me. Yes I know its just $450. But would you leave $450 in chips sitting on the table? Neither would I. I'm diamond and this was how I was treated. I got to that level mostly on my Vegas play over 3 trips last year.

    In 10+ years of being comped in town I have NEVER had this happen to me. I'm not a low roller that was over comped and they caught it. When I stay with MGM I was Platinum. Last year I stayed with CET so I became Diamond. There is no reason they should be doing this other then being broke. Even if I was a low roller and was sent an offer above my level of play they should have still honored it AFTER it was booked. I'm just pointing out my card level so people know all the facts.

    Just a warning to all.
     
  6. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Interesting...i have a $400 "reel rewards" voucher right now, and in the offer, it comes with $300 resort credit + 3 nights (Harrahs Lake Tahoe)
    Wife and I have it booked for valentines day...now, I know with the Reel Rewards, they can't "take it away", because it's already printed...but at least this gives me a heads up (we were going to use that $400 to add to the bankroll to do another DIAD)
    with this kind of bullshit going on, im glad we've gotten all we have from CET...but like Hunter said, now that they're bankrupt, their changing their offers "to reflect the competition" (which basically is no offers unless you're a big player)

    Thanks Grid!
     
  7. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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    Grid,

    I really appreciate your posting your experience. This is 1000000% BS. And you don't have to explain to anyone that it's "just $450." It doesn't matter whether it is $45, $450 or $4500. It's breaking an agreement and frankly, even if someone else thinks $450 is not a big deal, clearly CET does, otherwise it wouldn't have broken a commitment. This leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. Wow. Thanks for sharing. As Jean Scott and others said many years ago, "never marry a casino." I have to confess I have been a CET gal many years but that's changing.
     
  8. Tellafriend

    Tellafriend MIA

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    Loveman took a big Caesars and flushed your offer down the toilet.
     
  9. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Yup, if you are holding a reel rewards coupon in hand you are find. But if its a "pickup when you get here offer" you might not. It just makes me sad I spent so much time, and money, invested in this slot club just to be kicked to the curb. I'm pretty sure the slots at CET are the tightest in town but they make up for it with decent free play to get you in. If the slots are that bad, and trust me my last few years playing there compared to other casinos in LV they are, no way I would chose them if they gave me the same free play at Venetian where my gambling dollar goes twice as far.
     
  10. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Thanx Flowers, I was just stating as much fact as I could in case someone posted something saying "You were probably over comped anyway" or the like. The VIP hosts told me that an offer is just that. An offer, not a guarantee. I said that was a shitty way of putting it but I guess thats their out.

    - - - Updated - - -


    I think my free play was part of the division that they bankrupted. Thats why they dont have to make good on their commitment LOL
     
  11. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Yeah, it's a TITO basically...
    and I TOTALLY agree with you! I know how that goes (putting in a TON of play; then a casino basically goes belly up and you're SOL) We just got really lucky that we did DIAD and it only cost us $1000, and we ended up getting $3000 FreePlay for it, PLUS we got lucky and hit a $1000 royal later on...
    If we were upside down in the DIAD venture, I'd be as pissed as you...LUCKILY you're posting this now, because, since this is the beginning of 2015, I was about to go whole-hog on CET and go for 7*...so, thanks man!
     
  12. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    As an aside...
    I think with the bankruptcy, they're trying to plug as many "leaks" as they can...and they've finally realized they're giving away a lot more for less than competitors in Vegas (Namely, MLife), so they said "Eff it, if MLife is packed and giving away less, why should we give away more?"
    I'd say, give them a year, and offers MAY come back...
    But personally, I'll just enjoy my Diamond status until 3/2016 and be done with them.
     
  13. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    Ouch, I left CET a while ago, it sucks to see this happen.
    I am waiting for the shoe to drop at Cosmo.

    It seems like V/P are loosening up again. At least we still have viable options. But the coin in/theo required for comps from mid level CET to mid level Mlife seems quite large.
     
  14. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Meh, for a Bally's Jubilee it takes $225 ADT
     
  15. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    I think you are spot on. I talked to a CET host I know at a local chicagoland location and she told me pretty much that they give away so much in free play since they only order slot machines with the highest hold possible. Get em in the doors she said and the casino will take care of the rest. We both laughed cause I pretty much knew it was true.

    I play slots so here is my take on things. Slot makers make the latest games with paybacks from 83-95%. A Casino can select slots based on anything in that range. Most places will take the machine with the lowest payback since gamblers will "try it since its new" Once they get bitten enough by the shitty payback its off the floor within 6 months.

    Sadly this is standard now. All of the hot slots last year and all gone now. No more Ferris Bueller, Phantom o the Opera or Back to the Future. Once players learned they werent all that beatable they stopped playing them. No more players no more games. Slots such as Top Dollar, Pinball, Double Diamond or Flaming 7's have been in casinos for decades. The payback is fair and people still play them.

    So you get all that Free Play up front that you cant really turn into real money unless you play the old stuff.

    And thats why CET HAS to gve away more free play and goodies. Real gamblers know their slots are tight. Other casinos in town know they can lose you to the guy next door if they dont offer up a decent gamble. CET always kept you cause they gave back the most in comps.

    So I would guess MGM would order their slots at 90% compared to CET putting in their order for 86%. MGM doesnt want you to walk over to Wynn and play. CET knows you'll be back for the easy rooms or big free play so they order machines the same way they do for their local casinos without competition.

    That just doesnt work in vegas unless you give away the upfront comps
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2015
  16. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    To go with what Tim was saying on how CET wants to give away the same as MGM does... They just dont offer the same paybacks. Sadly in Vegas they only report by area so there is no way to prove what I assume. But i run a blog and I track all of my trips to town. I've been doing it for years. With the same seed money I get nearly twice the play at every other joint.

    Mind you when you talk about 88% payback on their machines compared to 92% at MGM that might just look like 4% but that 4% is nearly twice as many spins and therefor twice as much coin in.

    This trip I just had I spent 2 nights with CET only playing their slots. I got crushed like I almost always do. I lost about $1K per day and I only got 700 tier credits each day (roughly) so thats just $3500 coin in per day. $5 = 1 TC

    I moved over to TI and I play the same games the same way except there I lost $400 one day and $300 the next. I ended up with 7400 points.(1.50 = 1 point) so thats nearly $6K coin in per day. Almost twice as much play for less than 1/2 the loss.

    I then moved over to Luxor, Mlife, and I lost $500 and won $400. Total points those 2 days was 5800. Now most games I play are 2 bucks = 1 point others are $10 =1 so I'd say my coin in was around $7K per day there.

    If I ran the same numbers over the past 4 years and 20 trips I logged its nearly always the same. I get twice the action outside of a CET casino. But their bounce back comps always get me like a sucker!

    But if they comp the same as casinos where I dont lose they will just lose me and my money.

    I just went back and did some simple math. I take pictures of my slot hits whenever they are $100 or more. The last 3 years I have 116 pictures for said hits at MGM casinos. CET casinos I have 39. During the same spree I have hit for $1,000 or more at MGM casinos 9 times. The highest being over $10K. CET I hit for over $500 just once. Just one mans opinion but that's damning evidence. Your mileage may vary..
     
  17. Naturaleight

    Naturaleight MIA

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    This is exactly what happened to me yesterday except they reneged on the offer when I GOT THERE. This was after I cooked the reservation on the phone several times and at check-in.

    I, like others have had enough and I hope CET gets what's coming to them by lying to customers and being deceitful.
     
  18. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Thats pretty shitty but at least you know you arent alone. If I didnt confirm on my own right before I left for vacation I'd be in the same boat as you. I couldnt imagine wandering around the casino looking for someone to bitch at to make things right. At least from home I could sit and call a bunch of phone numbers.
     
  19. Naturaleight

    Naturaleight MIA

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    They're just alienating all of their customers- customers they desperately need at a time like this. Gary Loveman is an idiot and will run this company into the ground.
     
  20. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Don't doubt he's running it into the ground...only so someone ELSE can take his place, or even it can get bought out (Although keep the "Harrah" name)
    Same thing happened up in Reno, with JANugget...John's kids ran it into the ground, then sold out to GGH corp...just the nature of the casino business.
     
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