Ballys: In-room safes questions (the FEE, etc.)

So, I'm staying at Ballys soon on an upcoming visit. Love the location (mid-Strip) and the rooms are just fine for me. I've stayed there twice before.

Questions about the in-room safes. I've never used them at Ballys (only at other properties), but I know that the property charges $3/day for use of these safes. They're strange-looking weird big metal things shaped vertically and I haven't really figured them out. But maybe someone can answer some or all of these questions:

1) $3/day fee... Anyone have any luck getting out of this? (Besides not using the safes at all.) $20 trick at check-in and getting the fees waived in advance, maybe? I plan on tipping $20 at check in anyway to try and make my stay more comfortable. Should I even bother asking if it's possible to waive these fees in advance?

2) If I don't use the safe some days (early in my trip) but win huge in the middle (hopefully this is the case) and end up using it to hold my winnings, do I get charged for the days I actually use it, or for all the days of my trip?

3) Usually when I check into a CET property and I'm comped up front, they ask if I want to use a credit card for incidentals (to charge things to the room)-- and usually I say no. If I don't have a credit card on file (i.e. no room-charging privileges), will this affect the fees and use of the safe?

4) Last time I was staying at Ballys, I looked at the safes and noticed that they have this weird phone-line cord attached to them. It seems possible to unplug this. So, I'm not saying that I would actually do this... but... if I unplugged this in the beginning of my stay, and didn't plug it in until the end of my stay, would they somehow NOT know that I used the safe? In other words, is this a way to make it free? But if I did this and got caught (housekeeping? Ballys uniformed "safe police special agents?") what's the worst that could happen to me? Would I be sent to, oh, I dunno... some kind of safe fraud prison?

Thanks for your responses.

(Yes, I am the kind of guy that likes to save $3/day to spend elsewhere.)

 

IF you were charged, it would only be for the days used but...we have used them at Bally's in the past & the fee was never mentioned and was not on our bill at check out. Hubby usually does all the "safe chores" but never noticed a cord...ummmm?

 

There is definetely a safe fee. It is waived for Diamond and above. Some clerks will waive it. I don't think I left a CC card with them last trip but was able to use the safe.

 

They usually waive it when you check out. Ask when you check in and see what they say.

 

I'm thinking about booking a night at bally's comped to get the coupon book. Any downside to this? According to TR I can waive the resort fee.

 

Ballys

A year ago I stayed at Ballys and I noticed on the t.v. account that I was being charged $3. per day for using the safe.

I went to the registrations and I said to one of their clerks to tell the Manager that I thought Ballys was really cheap in charging for the use of the safe.

The clerk said he would take it off my account and he did.lol.

I did recently stayed at the Flamingo and I did notice some type of loose wire on the side of the safe. I wondered what that was. Maybe it's the wire that connects to the safe. I don't really know and I didn't ask the cleaning lady. LucyR.

 

I never use the safe at Bally's or anywhere else. All you have to do is unplug it (there was a thread a few months ago). I would use the Hotel safe, just to be safe....LOL.

 

I have said this in another post about Ballys safes, but here is it again.
Reach around to the back bottom of the safe and unplug the phone jack that is connected to the safe before you use it. You will not be charged and the safe will work no problem. I have done this many times as this is something that is left over from when Park Place Inc owned the Ballys.

 

I just got home from a stay at Ballys. There is a notice on the safe itself about the 3 dollar per night charge. I believe it was there the first time we stayed in 2002. I looked underneath and in back of the safe for a wire, but did not find one and we were charged for 3 nights. The line to check out was very long, and it wasn't worth our time to argue over a 9 dollar charge. I think its kind of cheap tactic on top of now charging resort fees now.

 

Hate to say it, but the safe fee predates resort fees and even CET ownership. However, I don't see a good reason why it wasn't rolled into Bally's resort fee. But I don't think most people pay that fee and I don't think that they need to fight with the clerk to get it waived.