Hard Rock: Brain-Meltingly Bad Customer Service

Totally agree with this. I had a dispute with my bill at NYNY last time (they over-charged me on my resort fees) and after sending 2 ignored emails to their "customer service" department (good luck getting a hold of them on the phone) I finally took my case to Twitter. Within a couple hours I had the social media person asking me to PM them so they could get involved. Long story short after taking that route the VP of Customer Relations personally handled the issue.

It's amazing how powerful social media is these days.

 

This is the ONE accepted process in Vegas that I think is absolutely terrible...the double standard on room cancellation.

Ok, if you comp my room and bump me down, it's a freebie, so I might be disapointed, but I get it----no harm no foul.

If someone is PAYING to reserve a room, and you sell it from underneath them? And you think this is ok? Yet you charge someone one night if THEY cancel the room?

Total, absolute double-standard, which is one of my "nails on the chalkboard."

If you pay a deposit on a room, it should be guarenteed. If they DO sell it from underneath you, they should give you a "fee" comp as RC as a self-imposed fine, just like they fine people for cancelling outside of 3 days. I just don't think it's fair to lock it in from one side, but not the other. I know it is what it is, I still think it's a cruddy policy, accepted or not.

I can deal with drink vouchers. I can deal with resort fees. I can deal with pretty much anything....except this. It's not fair, and it's not right, to charge their guests when tables are flipped, yet get away scot free if they do it TO a guest. I'm sorry.


P.S. An accident/mix up is different, but I've read a ton of stories where it happens deliberately, with no more than a "too bad, so sad" on their end.

Ughhh, I'm mad FOR you!

 

I have to agree with several others on here that have already pointed out that room types are absolutely never guaranteed. At any hotel. Ever.

I'm pretty sure this is how the order of getting a room works, in Vegas anyway. First, the whales and high priority comped customers. Then lower tiered comped customers. Then finally paying customers and even those are multi-level. Those people who book thru the hotels own website have a much higher priority than those using a third party booking agent. I've been given a room with one Murphy bed when I had a reservation for two adults and two children booked thru hotwire, at a 4 star hotel. In very small print it did state that I was guaranteed a room and it had to sleep a minimum of two people. It simply didn't matter that I even paid an up charge for the kids.

Also realize that every time you complain it's marked down. So if you've repeatedly called about the do not disturb sign, assigned room, noisy neighbors etc., no one, even managers will assist you at checkout.

Also, it's really quite rude to call someone condescending when in reality, they were actually correct in what they were saying. I would bet you gave this same attitude to the employees you spoke with. Which will get you nowhere.

 

Certainly. And we know that. No one ever said otherwise. But most every other hotel will try to do something to accommodate a guest in that scenario.

Wouldn't it be better to ask what I did instead of making assumptions? I only asked once about a do not disturb sign by going down to the desk in person on the first night. Never called after that for anything, not even the noisy neighbors. You may notice that I actually wrote I didn't call security on the noise.

Sorry, but you and the other replier are trying to tell me something that I already know and acknowledge, and was not the point of the thread. That's condescending and unnecessarily argumentative. The complaint isn't about hotel policy. It's about a lack of service. The thread title should make that clear.

I'm sorry you think that. I could tell you again I was very polite, but I can't make you believe that. The whole point of relating the check-out conversation was more for the humor of it's circular logic. It was amusing. There was no yelling, nothing approaching firm words. The whole point is, I have lots of other wonderful choices in Vegas, and HRH is a no go for me ever again. No big deal. But maybe some folks making future Vegas trip plans will read this and be helped to make a decision on where to stay, or at least set their expectations.

 

Yeah, it's shocking to me that any hotel would have the "go stuff yourself" attitude when this happens. Even the airlines will give you a sizeable voucher to make it worth your while.

In the handful of cases on business travel where this has happened to me, the desk agent would make some effort. One time I remember arriving late and the hotel only had an ADA/accessible room available. Agent offered to call the hotel across the street, but I didn't mind the accessible room. I appreciated the agent offering.

Many years ago before most business hotels went non-smoking, I would occasionally end up getting a smoking room on a business trip. Every time...and I do mean, EVERY TIME, the agent would offer either 1) to call the hotels nearby to see if they had anything, or 2) give me a break on the rate. And if it was a multi-day stay, every time the agent would say they'll make sure I only have to stay one night in the smoking room and they would switch me the next day.

If HRH would have offered to do just one of those things, it would have made me a lot more happy.

 

Except you said that. In your original post. Which I've quoted above. In bold.

 

Do you tell the car dealer that the vehicle you're negotiating over is *exactly* the color you wanted?

I don't.

 

Sorry to all for this thread becoming contentious, I didn't intend to make this into a message board battle.

Might be worth sharing some more detail I forgot to include in original post that might help some people who have never stayed at HRH on what to expect...

Make the reservation Sept 21. Total price it showed me on screen before completing the reservation was about $434 (2 nights, fees/taxes included).

Didn't notice until a couple days layer that the email confirmation had no pricing. I thought that was odd. Never seen that before. Login to website, there's no way to view/retrieve/cancel the reservation.

Checked website for current rate on same room/dates, now showing $484 total. That put me on guard.

Checked website after cancellation deadline has passed (day before arrival), same room/dates now $374. Since I didn't have proof of my original rate, I printed a screen shot of that, just in case I need it. (Yes, I know Hard Rock doesn't quite have the same best rate guarantee that CET/Mlife properties have. HRH limits their match to 24 hours after original booking.)

So what rate did I see on my print out at check-out? You got it, $486 total. It seems HRH has a Best Rate Guarantee for the first 24 hours, but it becomes a Worst Rate Guarantee after that.

Not looking for any arguments folks, if you feel the need to take HRH's side on this, that's fine, we'll just have to respectfully disagree.

And I don't mean to bash HRH here either, the bartenders, dealers and housekeeping staff were fantastic and I enjoy a lot of things about their property. Nor do I need to have them do anything (the dollar amount is not worth any more hassle, and there's nothing they can do to make it so I ever stay there again). Just hoping to add to the knowledge base here for the folks thinking about staying there in the future.

 

Ok. So don't ever stay at hrh and if anyone does. Caution. The back and forth is determining nothing. Bad experience.

 

I can understand you being upset over the price. Worst case should have been the $434 rate. Guess that's why I always keep a copy of my booking and the rates to ensure that they don't overcharge me. I think it also clears up a little confusion on your bill. I would be pissed if I was charged more than when I made the reservation. It would be unacceptable for me to pay more than the price I booked it for.

But then I always make sure I have my reservation and the correct amount so I know exactly how much I have to pay. I do the same thing with my car rental bill so I know if they are adding on "extras" when I get my rental car bill.

 

Wow. That sucks with the pricing! What did you end having to pay?

 

A Monday morning quarterback here, but one of the things you have to do is contact the manager on duty or the front desk manager. Second, never say "I will never come back again" to anyone you're negotiating with. Why would I give in to your requests when I won't have an opportunity to gain your future business?

You're logic about having a guaranteed reservation is spot on! If you cancelled, you would be charged one night's room and tax. But you stayed and ended up in a smoking room. I guess your only recourse would be to look for a room at another property nearby and ask HRH to cancel without penalty. Not something I would do after a day of travel, though.

I reserved a 2 bedroom suite at a non-Vegas hotel, a Residence Inn. Upon check in the clerk explained the hotel was sold out (Graduation Weekend) and my suite was occupied by the previous guests. She was going to send me to the Courtyard in a single room with two beds and charge me for the room. I demanded to see a manager on duty, calmly explained her responsibility as the innkeeper to put me up in similar accommodations. I got her to comp me two rooms for two nights at the adjacent Courtyard because I was "walked" due to their inability to provide me the 2 BR suite I reserved.

I would also like to know if you fit the target demographic of HRH patrons? I'm over 50 with a beer belly with a 4" part on my dome. I tried skinny jeans once, but they made my ass and crotch look like sausage casings. I still fit into my Lycra swim team speedo, but for my wife's eyes only. Clearly, I'm not in their demo. Were you expedient in their eyes?

 

HA! Great lines Hammie! I'm not sure what the marketing department considers their demo or target clientele and I do know the property's "stereotype", primarily from the ReHab TV show, is that of a swarm or drunk sluts and bros... but, I've always been pleasantly surprised when I look around at the Hard Rock's age diversity out on the floor. I'm speaking of customers. There's no question that the staff skews younger, much younger. Though I frequently see men (and women) in their 50's and sometimes 60's, I don't see a geriatric congregation either. I went out to the South Point once a few years ago and thought I was a an Arizona Senior Center! I genuinely feel like the Hard Rock's rep as an out of control frat house (having belonged to one at Chico State, I know what one looks like), is for the most part undeserved.

 

Hotels really hold the complainer of loud partiers as the problem creator over the loud partiers? One time I called downstairs because my toilet didn't work. They did fix it, but I would have hated for them to give me negative mark for calling about it. I have also called for a DND sign before. Next time I'll take one from somebody else's door, and let them take the blame if they want one.

 

when they move u or down grade u ,its standard practice to get ur nite comped or even food credit especialy and if its a nice hotel even more if u have a long standing with them or a long stay booked with them and your spend a large amount of money with them.

 

Well wherever you decide to stay next, I hope the customer service goes from brain-meltingly bad to groin-grabbingly good!

 

Wow, that is crazy. I stayed at one of the hard rock hotels and I never had a problem like that before. I can't believe that they were that terrible to you though. I would also be mad.

 

What you'll find from hanging around here -- and welcome aboard, btw -- is that EVERY hotel/restaurant/spa/golf course/hooker/rental car agency/whatever has done something like this. Doesn't matter if 99.999% of the experiences are positives, every service provider in Vegas has screwed up at least once.

 

Say it ain't so Ken!!! Even the hookers?

 

If you choose between the lesser of two evils you will always be offered this