Would you expect compensation?

Hey Guys,

I recently stayed at the Fremont and our A/C went out at 4:30 in the morning. Once the A/C kicked out the heat kicked in and the room rocketed to over 90 degrees. We called the front dest and told them about the issue and they promised to send a repairman right away. Twenty minutes later the repairman arrived and after another hour and a half he had the A/C working again. During the repair we requested to be moved to another non smoking room but were told all of the NS rooms were full, so we stayed. In the morning I went down to the front desk to see if they could do anything for us to make up for the inconvenience. The front desk agents response was that they could now switch us rooms and that is all. I was not very impressed.

Am I wrong to think the hotel should have offered us some sort of compensation for our unpleasant experience?

Would you have expected some sort of comp?

 

yeah they probably should have taken that night off the bill since it interrupted your sleep.

 

It was an hour and a half. It wasn't the whole night.

At around $35 a night, that equals $2.19.

 

I would have taken the interruption as a sign and I would have gone down to the casino and hit a big jackpot.

In reality, they should have comped that night.

 

At around $35 a night, they definitely should have comped it, and possibly offered them breakfast. I hope your $2.19 was a joke. Goodwill (or avoiding "negative goodwill") is worth much more than a $35 comped night.

OP, I am a mild mannered person, but if you mess with my sleep, I become irrational. Perhaps you should have been more forceful and asked to speak to someone "higher up" to get what you sought. Sorry about your experience

 

Should have comped the night, equating being awoken to value, it is def not unreasonable to get the night for free.

 

Yes, I definately could have been more assertive in expressing my dissatisfaction. However for only $30 bucks a night I wasn't expecting the Venetian. A free buffet would have been nice though and it wouldn't have cost the hotel much to save some bad press.

 

I was mostly joking.

However, I know that things go wrong from time to time. I don't expect to be compensated for every little thing that does go wrong. Maybe I'm in the minority.

I guess what I am saying is that for an hour and a half inconvenience, it is not worth my time to spend my vacation time trying to reach someone to whom I can complain. Life is short and time is precious.

I probably also would have taken that as a sign to go downstairs where there is air con and have an early breakfast or play a little.. LOL

 

I don't make management decisions that being said I would have given you the night free, breakfast free and your next visit a free night. Then you would tell everybody how well you were treated and look at the great PR the casino would get. I want you back at my casino.

 

I would have gone back down stairs, except I was just getting back to my room! Let me tell you 90 degree heat in the room sure jumpstarts a mean hangover. LOL

 

Not worth a free night.

"Let us pay for an early breakfast while we fix this. Or take it at your leisure later this morning. Sorry we don't have a room to move you to. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Take another example. "We were awakened at 4 am by some people that were running in the hall and having a party in the next room. Give us our room for free." You know that wouldn't happen.

Sure you might brag on them if they gave a free room for that. You would really brag on them if they gave you a free room AND a crisp hundred dollar bill. But the business is trying to turn a profit. That's what business does. They have to balance P.R. with the need to make a buck.

Sorry, but I am just tired of the American mindset of, "I was slightly wronged. Whoopee! Now I get free stuff because I deserve it."

I might feel differently about this problem if it happened at a $150+/night place.

But it's not like there wasn't anything to do at that time of day either.

 

Being kept awake for 2 hours at 4:30 in the morning is more than a minor inconvenience. I probably would talk to the hotel manager and maybe write a follow up letter detailing the incident, but not asking for anything. Asking for "compensation" usually flips the "they just want a freebie" switch in the minds of most customer service people. If they don't offer you anything, leave a review on TripAdvisor.

 

90 mins of no air conditioning and 90 degree temps at 4.30am is in most cases much more disruptive than if it occurred at 2.30pm. A linear pro rata calculation of $2.19 doesn't seem defensible. Similarly if the fire alarm erroneously went off for 90 mins at 2am I would expect the night comped whereas if it was 2pm I might perhaps think a drink at the bar would be adequate if anything.
Except of course that this being a discussion about Vegas - maybe more people are sleeping at 2pm and awake and out and about at 2am. Maybe my thinking needs to be upended.

 

It would have been nice if they offered you something, but I dont think you can expect it. Did they have a offer you a smoking room since they said no non smoking ones were available? It sounds like they responded pretty quick.

 

To be fair, that wouldn't be the hotel's fault. A problem with the room is absolutely the hotel's fault.

 

I agree...

 

It is definitely more than an inconvenience. I probably would have comp'd the night, bought you breakfast, and made sure you got a follow up call from management. I am guessing it took quite a while to cool the room back down as well....

I don't think that "I was slightly wronged. Whoopee! Now I get free stuff because I deserve it." mindset is appropriate, but more like you did not get what you paid for, so you should not have to pay for it.

 

You have to understand that the fremont isn't a 5 or 4 (or even 3?) star hotel. maybe the higher star hotels will comp you for your inconvenience (since you would be paying big bucks for your stay) but many lower end hotels probably won't. Not sure if any other downtown hotel (other than the GN) would have given you much for your situation IMHO, other than a comped meal. With the heat the a/c's must be running 24/7, plus must have been cranked up high when the temps went up to 115, since many of them aren't new it is logical that some would give out from all the strain eventually, unfortunately yours was the one that did break down.

probably if you were more awake you could have asked for a comp buffet for 2 or comped dinner for your trouble at the time, or even asked for a manager and asked for a comp when you were fully awake, hopefully management would have at least given you that much.

Yes, young gun's suggestion of writing a letter would be best since you still are upset over the incident (at least you should get a formal apology). If you are still upset as Young gun mentioned you could post your situation on tripadvisor althought I doubt that the Fremont would do much to correct it. Anything is possible though so if you still feel you deserve something you should write to them.

With the lower end hotels it is hard to expect good service or to be comped for your inconvenience IMHO.

 

Actually, this exact scenario happened to us once, but not in Las Vegas. Loud drunken party in the room across the hall that spilled out into the hallway. We complained and they sent security up. Eventually, with a lot of banging and f-bombs, they threw the party crowd out and took a night off of our bill.

 

Star ratings reflect the type and scope of amenities offered. Since a 1-star motel and a 5-star resort both offer A/C, the expectation that it works are the same at both properties. I also don't believe how much you pay for the room should have anything to with it, and a refund of a night's stay would be scaled appropriately in any event.