Horrible customer service and no follow through at Mandalay Bay!

I wanted to give a trip report of a very unpleasant stay at Mandalay Bay recently after having stayed at both MB and Delano many times for many years up until this episode of horrible customer service and service in general, I had loved this property. Then to pour salt in the wound I was contacted on Trip Advisor publically by MB guest services, with a profuse apology and asked to contact customer relations, which I did 2 weeks ago, and to date, they have not bothered to respond me in any way.

This actually made me angrier that they acted all apologetic, invited me to contact them, which I did, but not responding, it showed me they don't really want my business and they really didn't care. That site does not allow one to respond to a comment which is equally frustrating!

Here's my review:


“Long Time Mandalay Bay/Delano Gold MLife Player LET DOWN by poor service and subpar rooms”
Reviewed 2 weeks ago
Last week, I stayed at Mandalay Bay on a 3 day stay. When I made my reservation months ago and at check in I requested a medical fridge for my insulin which I always get quickly upon check in as well as an upgrade to Delano and/or an Elite King at MB which is what I usually stay in. This time it took several phone calls over the course of 5 hours to get a fridge delivered. I am MGM Gold status player which entitles me to room upgrades and I almost always stay at the Delano, my preferred property. When I made the reservation months ago and as recently as 3 days prior to my arrival, I was told the Delano was available. When I got there, I was told by the invited guest check in person (who seems very inept) that Delano was sold out, yet he could offer it to me for an additional $70 a night. Which is it? If you are sold out, how can you offer the room at an increased cost? I believe this was a scam on his part!! So I told him to forget it. They put me in a standard room which as an adjoining room and I could hear EVERYTHING going on next door. Bad enough, but they were trying to open the door in between us and I became concerned for my safety so I requested a room change. I was told they could not change me that night but in the morning I could move to Delano and they would call me. I ended up sleeping a couple hours that night due to the noise next door. The next day the front desk never called me so at 9AM I called and was told they would call me between 11 and 12 with my new room number... again, that call never came. It took me 3 more calls and it was not until 5 pm I was finally told my new room and they moved me 2 floors down to a regular standard room that did not have an adjoining room, once again, told Delano was not available.. It probably was available earlier in the morning when they were supposed to call me!! Better but still very below the standard of what I am used to at Mandalay Bay/Delano.

I also must mention that each time I called the front desk or guest services it was a 10-20 minute hold time ... I frankly have NEVER experienced this poor customer service on this property and I hope to never again, if I stay there again.
I spent so much time on hold and calling the front desk for things that should not take hours and there was absolutely NO follow up on Mandalay Bay's part!!

My frustrations continued. On my last day I put the DO NOT DISTURB on my door and left my bags on the bed and all my belongings open because I was packing and was leaving around 6:30 pm that evening for an evening flight. When I returned around 5:30 pm to pack up and start the check out process, I saw my DO NOT DISTURB on the floor in front of the door and house keeping had come in my room to clean and moved my unpacked belongings against my wishes.

I mentioned these events on the survey they sent me after my stay and I was offered a letter for an upgrade to a suite (which of course is not guaranteed). That's nice and all but I told them I am already entitled to the same upgrades since I am a Gold MLife member. I had a horrible stay and horrible service and they need to offer me a free weekend to make up for this and make me come back.. I have stayed at Mandalay Bay and Delano 2-3 times a year for the past 5-6 years, so one would think I would get better treatment. I am hoping this is an aberration but I can only compare it with my fantastic stay at the Cosmopolitan and how well they treat their invited guests!

Room Tip: Stay away from adjoining rooms


HERE IS MANADALAY BAY'S RESPONSE TO ME ON TRIP ADVISOR


MGM_Resorts, Manager at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, responded to this review, 2 weeks ago
Dear 2tweetz:

Please allow us to extend our multiple apologies for the service shortfalls and room assignment complications you encountered during your recent visit to Mandalay Bay. As your review is not attached to your reservation, we encourage you to contact our Guest Relations staff at the email address provided below. We value your patronage and hope for the chance to provide you with the exceptional experiences you have become accustomed to enjoying here at our resort.

Sincerely,


Seth L.

Guest Relations Specialist
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
MGM Resorts International
[email protected]

 

What a nightmare! I'm normally a person tends to give second chances in situations like this but with that many separate cases of bad customer service, They would definitely have to give me a free weekend (and treat me like a king) for me to return. Makes it all the worse that you are a Gold MLife member.

 

Sorry to hear about your crappy experience. I would be very frustrated too.

 

Think you mean connecting room.... Definition of adjoining rooms: Hotel rooms which are next to each other but, unlike connecting rooms, have no common doors or passages

 

I'm curious if you're there on a comp or do you normally book a standard room and then expect an upgrade? I'm MLife platinum and I believe I've been upgraded once - maybe I'm not being proactive enough and asking for one...

The fridge and noise/DND issues do suck and I'm sorry to hear that. The upgrades, though...the MLife wording is "...subject to availability" which gives them a lot of cover. I certainly don't feel entitled to an upgrade because of my status.

It sounds like Cosmo was good to you and might be your best bet for the next few trips; let MB try to win you back with some offers.

 

Yes it was a comp.. like I said, we stay at MB or Delano 2-3 times a year and spend a fair amount gambling and dining, so we are often there on a comp. I don't know that that's the issue. I've stayed many times on a comp and have always been treated well. I just feel like everything went wrong on this leg of my stay and I'm sorry I moved to Mandalay at all! My Cosmo stay was also a comp... I have stayed at Cosmo 3 times now and have always been comped and upgraded! They treat their customers great!! This is ONE bad experience after many positive, but at this point, I'm not going to stay at Mandalay Bay unless they do comp me again. I feel I completely wasted my comp and wish I could have it back!

I'm not sure what the technical definition of the first room at MB was, but there was a door between the rooms, so maybe it was a connecting room? All I know is the people on the other side kept trying to open it by jiggling the door knob (which scared me in the wee hours of the night) plus they were very loud... I could HEAR everything... and I'd really rather not hear some things... (if you know what I mean!!).

Just curious what you all thought of the lame apology from MB guest services? Inviting me to contact guest services and then not even responding to me? I gave them my email and phone number. Sorry not impressed at all and I find it very phony.

 

I hate to be "that guy" but just because you are gold doesn't mean you're automatically going to get upgraded. You should never go in expecting a free upgrade - you should just expect to get what you have booked.

I'm gold and I rarely get upgraded. They always say upgrades are "based on availability" - which means if they're even *kinda* busy you're not going to get squat at most hotels.

But yeah - connecting rooms suck. When I check in I always ask for a non-connecting room. That's more important than an upgrade for me.

 

Honestly, I think your biggest gripe is about the insulin fridge - that's serious stuff and should have been taken care of. The rest is almost just bad luck; I've stayed in Ritz Carlton's and heard noise next door, had kids playing with connecting room knobs, maid issues... It just sounds like a perfect storm of minor issues that have pushed you over the edge.

Was it a lame apology? Eh, maybe. Of course they should have followed up - they should have done better while you were there, too. These are very good reasons to leave and never look back - but you've stated you usually are treated quite well there, too, so have they earned enough goodwill from previous visits? I'm afraid you might be looking for a Penthouse comp and they're seeing your issues as 2 nights in standard room worthy.

I questioned earlier whether you were on a comp just because I found your wording "Entitled to an upgrade" to be interesting.

To be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong to feel how you do but if I was this fired-up / offended I wouldn't give any business - hotel / restaurant / retail store - my money again. See you at Cosmo!

 

I think that's the worst part of all. I go by the rule that mistakes will happen ...but it's how they are handled when they do that shows the true character of those involved. In my opinion MDB dropped the ball in every way possible here.
I would be patronizing the Cosmo until they win you back.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience!

If that's how a Gold repeat-stay member was/is treated, I'm hesitant to try them out as a first-timer!

Sounds like Cosmo had better customer service for you!

RICHARD

 

1 - Fridge is a legit issue.
2 - Not getting a call for room change by 9am is not an issue. A wish maybe, but not an issue in my mind.
3 - Connecting rooms do often have noise issues. Since you have a dead bolt on your side, you are safe. Sorry there were jerks in that room.
4 - Moving your unpacked items. Sort of an issue. Did not notice if you were a late checkout, or were booked for another night. That would have some impact on their servicing of your room. We always leave the DND sign out, and gets lost sometimes - bugs me. Sometimes I actually turn it so the end is wedged into the door making it hard to "disappear".
5 - Upgrade? As mentioned, if you have been getting them, consider yourself lucky. As a plat I did not get an upgrade a few times.
6 - Getting an apology. Yea, that seems to be the norm these days. We want to apologize but maybe we will not get around to it. And, sometimes the complaints are such that they opt to just not deal with it.

 

I think that's the worst part of all. I go by the rule that mistakes will happen ...but it's how they are handled when they do that shows the true character of those involved. In my opinion MDB dropped the ball in every way possible here.
I would be patronizing the Cosmo until they win you back.[/QUOTE]

I think the lack of follow up after the "apology" email is the worst part along with the fridge.
I get a survey after every stay at Aria which includes any positive and negative comments.
Received prompt phone calls from customer service regarding complaints after I submit it.
Also got thank you from multiple dealers and dealers and pit bosses for any compliments.Apparently the casino management contacted them after receiving the survey.
Does not sound like MB has the same standard.

 

In general, a comped room or suite at Mlife very rarely gets upgraded.
As people said many times, if your play deserves the upgrade, you should already have the better offer.
Gold level doesn't really mean anything in Mlife, so many Platinum and Noir out there.
Even a Noir doesn't have much bragging right to demand a free upgrade.

 

Sounds like much too do about nothing. IMO

 

Gold card- Room Upgrades (view, corner or suite subject to availability)

 

And that availability is... well....

And, as another person mentioned, if you are on a comp, you would already get whatever upgrade you would probably get.

 

If a Gold card gets you an upgrade if available, what does a platinum card get you? Now I'm curious. I mean, I always book with a host and if this had happened to me you better believe my host would have been on it. My suggestion is to acquire one since you keep getting offers, you must be a player! I hope they surprise you and contact you back at least. Nothing worse than feeling like you wasted your vacation time!

 

MB guest services contacted me yesterday and gave another lame apology in my opinion. They offered me a suite upgrade (if available) for my next stay.. LOL!
Again, I'm not a prima donna and this was a snowball effect of many things that went wrong.

To clarify... As soon as I checked in, I asked for a room change due to the connecting room issue. They told me they would call me back in a short while.. That NEVER happened. I called back within a few times over the next couple of hours... They told me they could move me to Delano in the morning but could not move me that night. No call again in the morning, so I called... repeatedly.. I will add that each time I called there was a 10-15 minute hold time too. They said they would call me back between 11 and 12 noon with my room change. Again, that never happened. I called 3-4 times throughout the day and was assured I would be called when my room was ready, but now it would be on a lower floor at MB. I was ok with that since at that point I just wanted to be away from the conneting room. Again THAT call NEVER came and finally between 5 and 5:30 pm, I called AGAIN, and was told my room WAS ready and had been for some time and didn't someone call me? There was no call, and no message... so yes, that ticked me off too... I will say this.. I moved myself 2 floors below to my new standard room which was fine and my mini fridge arrived within 20 minutes, so at that point they were trying to make it right.

To be honest had it been left at that, I would have chalked this up to a series of mix-ups and I don't know if I would have complained but then the next day when housekeeping came in when I had the DND on my doorknob ... that was the straw that broke my back!

I booked through VIP services, so maybe I should talk to them too? I do not have a host at MB, but we do "gamble" a fair amount!! ... but since I am primarily a slot player, I didn't think I could get a host?

Thanks for letting me vent!! I'll be at the COSMO next time for sure!

 

IMHO, Gold and Platinum at mLife are "worthless" since mLife went on their "austerity" (i.e. cut back on perks to increase profits) program.

The only things that (seem to) matter to them is play at a specific casino in Las Vegas. Have you see how they "penalize" players at other properties throughout the United States?

It's the reason that I left mLife as my primary and went to CET. However, now that CET is lowering the comps being awarded, I may have to find a new "hobby".

 

Try Cosmopolitan. I have stayed there 3 times and been comped every time!