Boyd's Gold Card Bites my Brother -in-Law in the A$$.....

I have a story to share and I'm curious on you VMB'ers take on this. Share your experiences and let me know if my Brother-in-law (BIL) deserved what happened to him or if he was too naïve or not told what was expected of him from the casino host(s).

My BIL and SIL just got back from a trip to Vegas. They are loyal to Boyd and stay primarily Downtown at the Cal. Over the years he has gotten comped rooms, freeplay, and food vouchers. We were talking Vegas a while back and I mentioned the Gold Card, an exclusive perk given to deserving players that enables them to eat at all the Boyd owned restaurants for free. So this piques his interest and he contacts his host and lo and behold, he was told that he could have a Gold Card. Now my BIL is the type of person who believes if you don't ask, you don't get. Nothing wrong with that, but the only thing is he's the type of person that would milk a cow beef-jerky dry if he could. Give him an inch and brother, he will do his darndest to take a mile....

Anyway, not a day goes by where he would text me pictures from Vegas, showing me all the wonderful meals that he and his wife were having. On several occasions he would text pictures of himself, his wife, and other friends that he "treated" with his wonderful, magical, Gold Card.

Pictures of Courvoisier, fine wines, wonderful steaks, lobster, sushi, sashimi, whatever. He indulged, treated people to all the finest the Boyd restaurants could offer, boasting to me about the $400 to $800 dollar tabs that he would run up almost on a daily basis. Living high on the Hog!

I just shook my head, smiled to myself, and thought, "Hope you know what you're doing, pal...."

You see, I know how much my BIL gambles. I consider myself a low roller red and green chip player but I gamble way more than him. I also know that there is no such thing as a free lunch.....

Sure enough, he calls me from Vegas sniffling, wailing, and sobbing that the Cal wants him to fork over $600 for "abusing" his Gold Card. "Abusing his Gold Card" were the exact words his host used to explain the charge. Trying not to laugh on the phone I did the usual sympathy drill to appease his hurt feelings.

Okay, so what do you all think? Did he deserve to be treated this way? Was he too greedy and unrealistic so they whacked him for being stupid?

Or do you feel they should have advised him that the Gold Card was given to him in good faith and that he should justify it in expected play? I asked him about this and he claimed they did not put any restrictions on him nor warned him that if he short-plays there will be ramifications. If this is indeed true then I think Boyd is in the wrong.

Personally, I'm laughing inside because I think he was greedy. That's what he gets for acting like a High Roller when he's not. If he had just used the Gold Card for himself and his wife I think they would've been OK.

 

Technically, there's probably fine-print somewhere..but I don't know, as I've never gotten a "Gold Card".
If you say your BIL plays LESS than you, then I have NO IDEA how he got a Gold Card (or even a SILVER card, for that matter)
But what he did WAS stupid...those Gold Cards, are realistically for a specific limit per meal (I've actually been told, they include for 2: Appetizer, Entree, Dessert, Drink; PER MEAL) So if you ordered WAAY more than that PER MEAL, I'm sure they'd hit even JOE for it.

 

Sounds like he was not thinking. I am not a high roller, but I know a casino is not going to give me unlimited food for me and my friends. Sounds like champagne taste on a beer budget.

 

"He's the type of person that would milk a cow beef-jerky dry if he could. Give him an inch and brother, he will do his darndest to take a mile...."
Hello Electroguy563---
If your BIL is a very low roller, but he still charged "$400 to $800 dollar tabs that he would run up almost on a daily basis" and they only hit him for $600, they gave him a huge gift.
It sounds as though they could have sought that for each day, versus the full stay.
He acted like a pig, and he should have been slaughtered.
SteveAC01

 

Welllll...TECHNICALLY, let's just say:
To have a "full course" meal at Redwood Grille is $300, then it's about right...believe me, if they were going to "hit him" they weren't going to go easy...

 

Ok, if you are a "red and green chip player" but you gamble "way more" than your BIL, who qualified for a gold card, then I must say I'm very interested in learning what the play requirements are for this gold card...

 

Any offers and comps come at a price, the gold card even moreso. he should have realized that he needed to gamble to justify his gold card and he needed to put in a lot of gambling to ring up the tab that he had. As was mentioned, $400 to $800 tabs almost on a daily basis requires a lot of play, he was extremely lucky to only be charged $600 for abusing the card. I hope that they cancelled his card so he won't ring up more charges but IMHO he deserved what he got for abusing the card. He should have known better that the card was based on is play so he should have kept it down to a level comparable to what he played.

 

There's no way he didn't know he was abusing the comps (even if he didn't think there'd be any repercussions). He got what he had coming...no, he was let off easy.

 

Well, it seems so far that you guys feel the same way as me, more or less. I think he was greedy and thought the Gold Card was carte blanche(sp?).

From what he told me before leaving for Vegas, he had a BR of only $2500. He got whacked pretty bad the trip prior where I believe he told me he lost close to 6 grand. Frankly I was surprised the Cal granted him a Gold Card for this trip. Maybe they felt he was going to maintain the same type of play and took a chance on him.

I dunno, I'm the type of guy who takes whatever comps Boyd gives me because I play with BR's that I'm comfortable with, so I take whatever they offer. I'm not the "asking" type of guy like my BIL and he say's I'm foolish for not asking and maybe he has a point there, but it's just the way I roll.

I know if they ever offered me that card I would surely ask what's expected and if I don't like it, they can keep it!

 

I agree, Tim. I can see if they offered him the Silver Card because I think he qualifies for that (maybe) but I was actually surprised they gave him the Gold Card.

He does lose a lot playing slots, which is his game of choice. We all know casinos love slot players.

 

Hi SteveAC01. I think they did go easy on him. When he discovered that they whacked him for $600 he made a huge scene, asking to meet with various dept. heads and it eventually reached some really high whip who made time to meet with him.

Not sure how he pulled it off but they finally waived all charges. Big "whew!" on his part. I can almost guarantee he will never see that card again unless there is some drastic change in the way he plays.

 

Not sure, but he loses about 4 to 5 grand per trip, playing slots.

 

After getting everything waved off, it's probably a safe bet he won't get anymore good room offers from them either

 

Sheesh - where is the fun in regularly losing $5000 a trip even if you do have the money! It ain't like the food at the Boyd properties is Michelin rated or anything either.. lol

 

On my last trip to the cal I complained that I didn't get a meal book with my super bowl offer. The nice lady at the bconnected booth phoned up and got me a gold card. I used it twice for less than 50 bucks per meal at the 777. I always ask the server what my options are and stay under the limit. I'm sure I get more but I loathe food and alcohol waste. The cal gold card had me listed as one person whereas the Sam's town one is always for 2 people.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

Electroguy, I'm not doubting you are relaying what was told to you, but I'm skeptical about this tale. We do get the Gold Card every trip and have for the last dozen years or so, but there are limits as to what can go on the card. Once over those limits, you are presented a bill for the balance. For instance, lets say we did go whole hog on a meal. Couple of bottles of wine etc. The servers know what can be put on the card and if they can't do it they would present a bill at the end of the meal.

We often treat family members at Redwood and Second St and even an occsional VMB member and the servers are terrific at massaging the bill to get much as possible onto our Gold Cards. But, we are always presented a bill with a balance due at the end because they are not putting more than alowwed on the card. I don't know how your BIL was able to put those kinds of numbers on the card. This isn't passing the smell test.

Last point, we don't abuse the card. Between the two of us, I don't think we have ever charged more than $150 for a meal. Well maybe once or twice if we each had lobster. Sometimes I'll even walk in with my wine from playing VP, so I only charge one glass at dinner. It's a wonderful perk that I would hate to lose, so we don't abuse.

 

I'd say losing $5k per trip at the Cal, he certainly isn't a low roller (to them).

I think they should have explained the "rules" of the Gold Card to him (maybe they did?) but he clearly took advantage of it. Like others have said, I'm sure there is fine print they can reference to justify their cost to him.

 

"On several occasions he would text pictures of himself, his wife, and other friends that he "treated" with his wonderful, magical, Gold Card.''

just that quote alone makes me skeptical about this whole tale, too.

we get gold cards from sam's town (another boyd property) and they specifically state on the back:
"Upon presentation of this card the ABOVE NAMED PERSON is entitled to charge all food and beverage for (blank) in the restaurants. This card is not valid for gratuities."

Upon check-in, Sam's Town will fill in the name on the reservation, dates the card is valid for, AND "two" (husband and wife) or ""one" if we desire separate cards in the blank space mentioned. By god, it's never "unlimited." Be sensible.

We too, never abuse the card. And like stated earlier, it's not exactly Michelin-rated restaurants, either.

 

Do they explain the limits of the gold card when they hand it out? I know a lot of you know the rules and comp systems better then the casino employees do, but to the average person do they make it clear that there are limits?

It seems odd to me that they would have a card for free food, but put a limit on it. That just seems strange to me. If MGM did something like this, I think the reactions would be a lot different.

 

damn...how have I never gotten a gold card at Sam's? haha