Mishap at Luxor, is there anything I can do?

Last month we stayed at Luxor for first time... not sure I will stay there again. I'll try to make a long story short, but rooms were not ready when we arrived at 2pm although we were told we could check in at 12 noon. I had previously made arrangments for a refrigerator since I am type 1 diabetic and always request a fridge in my room for insulin and food in any city I stay in. I was told months early and a few days (when I checked) prior to arrival that would be no problem. When the room was not ready I asked for my meds to be refrigerated anyhow since it was over 98 outside. The Luxor told me they could not do that. I was very unhappy. Other hotels have gladly refrigerated my meds and held them for hours while I have waited for my room to be ready, so I was a bit stunned they refused to this. A few hours later, when we checked in, they still could not find us proper rooms so they upgraded us to Jr. Suites, which were very nice and had refrigerators in the wet bar, however they were on smoking floors and my room reeked of marijuana, but I kept the room, I was so tired, and aside from the smell, it was very lovely.

The next day my wallet went missing in the casino and within a 2-3 minutes I had security looking for it. I lost all my money, cash, traveler's checks, credit card, debit card, ID and doctor's note for traveling. I canceled my card, of course but now had no means to pay for anything until I could get some cash. The Luxor would not allow me to charge a meal to my room (since I had canceled my card), nor would they comp me a meal, which I found very odd since they comp meals all the time. I told them I would pay them back when I could get some cash and/or when my folks returned from Hoover Dam. But they just didn't get it that type 1 diabetics absolutely need to have access to food. Luckily I had half a sandwich in my fridge in my room and fruit so I was ok for a few hours. Anyhow, the bank I check with agreed to give me cash since I knew my account number, but they were over 2 miles away and I knew I couldn't walk it in the heat. I asked the Luxor to give me a ride, again, they said they could not do it, which was very frustrating, I assured them I would pay them once I got to my bank.

Anyhow, not to make this story even longer, but my folks returned in time to make a dash to the bank, I got cash, with minutes to spare (they closed at 6pm... we got there about 5:50) and when I got back to the Luxor and checked with security, my wallet had been turned in, but no one had called me. So the whole situation was resolved. The wallet was found placed on the underside of the chair I had been sitting in earlier No one could figure out how it could get there unless someone placed it there, however, nothing was missing, so I was lucky. Security speculated that a pick pocket placed it there and left when they saw I had police with me within minutes.

I wrote a letter thanking the security officer who did help me and thanking the woman who upgraded our rooms, however I blasted their customer service department that I was forced to deal with. They were the department that was supposed to help when my wallet went missing. Frankly, they could care less. When they comp meals, shows and rooms left and right, I would hardly think comping a meal or giving one person a ride to a bank would be a big deal. They basically said it was my problem. I sent the letter to the general address of the hotel, but was there a specific department I should have sent it to? I was expecting some sort of reply, but to date, no response. Is this typical?

BTW, the lesson I have learned from all this, is never to keep my ID, money and credit cards all together in future!

 

Wow, what a horrible way to spend valuable Vegas time. My guess for the lack of a comp meal is #1 - recently most hotels (especially strip properties) have become very strict on comps and #2 - whoever you spoke with was a complete arse who did not have the authority to issue a comp & didn't want to take the time to find the person who could. I'd keep on them with letters. One method that I found works well with getting a quick reply is to CC as many people in the company as possible (casino marketing, sales, customer service, etc...) plus CC a couple of local Las Vegas news agencies. Usually when someone sees who all your letter went out to, they are quick to resolve the matter .

 

What I don't understand is why they wouldn't let you charge a meal to your room. No matter if the card wax stolen or not, If they didn't think you would have the means to pay at the end of your stay, I am surprised they didn't kick you out of the room. Doesn't make sense to me and is bad PR.

 

lost letter

I actually called the Luxor today and although we confirmed I mailed my letter to the correct address, they didn't seem to have a record of it. I told them I was a bit stunned I never received a response and that's why I was calling. I retold my story and I was instructed to resend it via FAX this time, to the Director of Operations after I spoke with his assistant for some time. I now have a fax confirmation and the names of the Director and his assistant.

We'll see if they ever call me back and I'll keep you all posted. My feeling is that I can't possibly be the only patron who's a diabetic and they need to have training or be instructed on the seriousness of this disease. On the other hand, I wanted to make it perfectly clear that I take responsibility for taking care of myself, I travel well, I have cooling recepticles for my insulin and meds, I maintain excellent control of my glucose levels, and I plan ahead. My point in stating this is that by planning ahead and taking the necessary precautions, traveling with ice packs in insulin, with food and asking for fridge in room, I am just like anyone else and I have no limitations. What I don't need is someone not facilitating a request that puts my health at risk. I think this whole episode was a comedy of errors by the Luxor staff who simply did not know how to deal with the situation and didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. Luckily, it all worked out, but it may not have if my family didn't return when they did or I wasn't able to get cash at the bank, etc.

 

Man so sorry to hear about your bad time in Vegas!

I hope everything gets worked out - Hopefully those fools will give you something to make up for their bad services.

Keep us updated I would like to know what happens.

 

No response from Luxor ... again

After I called Luxor this week and told my story to 2 people, I was instructed to fax my letter to the Director of Operations and that someone would call me back. They didn't seem to know about my letter I had sent to the the hotel (address to customer complaints - corporate) but they located my reservation and my stay on the computer. The people I spoke to acted concerned about my complaints and assured me that someone would be calling me back.

Anyhow, this week came and went and no one from the Luxor called me, which is very disappointing, to say the least!

As a side note, I made a reservation for the Mandalay Bay for Labor Day Weekend and noticed that if I booked my flight and hotel on their reservation site I got a much better rate than had I booked the reservation for the room alone.

I booked it and it was about $125 a night for the hotel (x 3 nights) tax inclusive. I confirmed a few days later by phone and the reservation is good. I also requested a refrigerator (as I always do) and was told this would not be a problem. So we'll see if the Mandalay is better than the Luxor. In the past I have stayed at the Treasure Island (a few times) the Mirage and the Monte Carlo (twice). They have all accomodated my refrigerator needs, and in fact, Treasure Island has gone even further by offering me (without me requesting) line passes for the restaurants (because as a diabetic, sometimes I can't wait to eat!). I have always been impressed with the friendly staff at the Treasure Island in the past, and they have always exemplifed excellent customer service and relations. The Mirage does not try so hard (I guess they figure they don't have to) and the Monte Carlo has been excellent as well.

Back to the Luxor. I really will not stay there again if I don't even get a phone call after sending my letter twice and talking to two staff members about my complaints. I feel if they can't acknowledge my substandard experience they won't get any more of my hard earned cash!

To those who are interested, I'll let you know if I hear from the Luxor next week.

 

Hi 2tweetz,
Just to let you know, I too am now planning to email them and let them know that I have heard of you story and the dates I have booked there maybe cancelled dpending if they do or dont get back to you one way or another and that i might have to tell this tale to a few other people if it is handled badly.

 

when are you booked at the Luxor?

Tiny Gal... At this point, I wonder if they will do anything, but word of mouth should be a big deal to these people.. I mean if they treat their patrons poorly and word gets around, why should we give them our money.. there's other hotels that offer good deals too and perhaps they understand customer service.

 

Not that I'm a member of the 's defense team or anything, but understand that a 3000 room hotel with (IMO) budget rates is bound to slack on service. In the case of the original post, I don't think you can overstate the potential medical emergency of the situation when you write management, because I'm pretty sure they're going to ignore any inconvenience angle -- they're filling a lot of rooms just on pricing. Four Seasons this is not.

Again, not that I doubt the gravity of your situation; nor do I think it's "okay" to run a hotel this way; I just think that Luxor deserves (and earns) low service expectations. Long as you're okay with that, it's a good place to stay.

 

Tiny...what a great idea. Sometimes one voice and wallet don't seem to make a difference to big business. But when they find out that more people are re-thinking giving them their money, they consider the original complaint a little more closely. Kudos to you!

 

you get what you pay for...

I do agree up to a point that you do get what you pay for... but I did have a medical necessity and I've never had a hotel act like they could care less... where ever I travel when I have needed to eat. To be honest, other hotels that have treated me well may very well be annoyed with me (secretly) but they don't show it and they seem to understand the possible liability issues and poor publicity of denying me access to food. I've also stayed at the TI and MC and they tend to be on a comparable level with the Luxor (price wise) and I've always been treated very well.

Trust me at the time and in my letters and telephone calls, I did stress emphatically that this was a medical necessity... all I got was a "there's nothing I can do" attitude. Frustrating, but I will just take my business elsewhere!

 

We also had bad luck with the Luxor and they didn't seem to care a bit. We were in Vegas during the Bellagio power outage Easter weekend of 2004. We stayed in the Bellagio for 2 very dark nights with them promising every day that the power would be in in the next few hours. Finnally they had to close the hotel and the only place left to send us was the luxor. Other's had decided to relocate right after the power went out and they got to go to the Mirage, or the Paris or even the Venetian, but by the time we left we got the Luxor. We got there and the place was a zoo. We begged them to get us a room, they were obviously struggling to find open rooms. Finnally they gave us a first floor room right outside the loading dock. Oh well that's all the had left. We put our things in the room and took showers (we hadn't had a hot shower in two days). I found it a bit odd that there was a opened soap in the shower, but didn't think much of it. I just figured they were in a hurry cleaning to accomidate all their new guests. On our way out of the room the housekeeper came in with his key and a vaccum looking VERY surprised that someone was in the room, again didn't think much of it. After wandering around for the day in sort of a funk, for having to move on our last night in Vegas we came back and went to bed. When we pulled back the covers, there was hair in the bed. Then it became very ovbious to us that our room had not been cleaned!! OOOOhhh ICK!! We slept on top of the covers. The Next morning I was complaining right and left. They said they couldn't do anything for us because we hadn't paid for the room, the Bellagio had. Finnally after complaining to the shift manager about it all again and explaining that it was our first wedding anniversary she comped our breakfast buffets we'd charged to the room that AM.
Moral of the story, charge everything to your room JUST IN CASE...That's the only leverage you have, the after the fact taking off, rather than pre-meal comps.
Sorry about your insulin ordeal. That's very uncool!

 

Thread jack!

NurseLisa, I think I remember reading your story a long time ago, and I remember thinking: "Man, Bellagio should give her something pretty good for the inconvenience of the whole thing." If you don't mind my asking...did they?

 

The Bellagio did! They gave us two nights comped and when asked they upgraded us to a lake view room. Also our travel agent (Southwest
Airlines Vacations) refunded us for (hum??? It was like $750) so more than two nights stay. It was like nearly 50% of our total trip which included airfare and 4 nights stay. So this trip we are staying at the Bellagio for 4 nights for $300 (we got a web special for two of the days and are using our comped nights for the expensive two nights).
Bellagio has also been very accomidating with our reservation this time, everything has been taken care of by our personal customer service agent in Guest Relations. And we are to check in at the VIP check in. They also got us really great seats for the "O" Not comped but better seats than I could get online.
So Yeah Bellagio for making things right, Yeah Southwest Airlines vacations for making things right and BOoooooo Luxor for not caring about their guests. You do get what you pay for!

 

Resent letter to Luxor management 2 weeks ago.. no reply

I had been advised to resend my letter, this time by fax by the asst to the director of operations and address it to him. I did so 2 weeks ago, and still have not received a reply from the Luxor. I did stress the potential medical necessity of giving a type 1 diabetic access to food or denial of food, as the case may be. I stated I believed their staff required diabetic awareness training since i cannot possibly be the only patron with diabetes. Anyhow, I am thoroughly disgusted with the Luxor. We are now staying at the Mandalay Bay in September and I will make my "pre-arrangements", meaning requesting a refrigerator for the room. If I run into any problems at the Mandalay Bay, I will not hesitate to go to the manager, but I have a feeling since this has never happened at previous stays at the Monte Carlo, The Treasure Island and the Mirage, the Mandalay Bay will treat us well.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

That may not be a good comparison. The same people who operated Luxor (Mandalay Resort Group) operated Mandalay Bay, and there were reports of service at MB slipping recently as well. Mirage and TI were (and are) run by MGM (the new owner of MB and Luxor). It remains to be seen what the service at the former Mandalay properties will be like under MGM, but I thought you should get the heads-up.

 

Mandalay Bay

Thanks.. I know that they are all owned by the same property... I just will not accept substandard service without putting up a fight if this does occur at the Mandalay Bay. To be honest... the TI has actually had the best customer service of all the properties I have stayed at. The one time I stayed at the Mirage, I got food poisoning at the Buffet (therefore I totally avoid ANY buffet) and they reluctantly comped the hotel for that night since I was sick for a whole day. But they made me wait over an hour in the lobby to file a report and I was kind of ill. I felt they wanted me to give up and go away, but I stuck it out. However, the Mirage did provide a refrigerator and line passes at check in and I was satisfied with that aspect, plus I love that Casino!! My experience is the TI tries harder to please, perhaps the Mirage doesn't feel they have to. The Monte Carlo was also very attentive and provided excellent maid and room service in the past.

 

No word or return phone call from Luxor

To date, I have called twice and sent my 3 page, typed complaint letter to the Director of Operations at the Luxor twice and have not even received the courtesy of a phone call. I have stressed the potential medical necessity and possible medical emergency I could have faced due to the insensitivity of the Luxor staff and still, no one cares. I would appreciate your support by taking your business elsewhere in future since the Luxor staff and hotel does not care about their patrons in the least! thank you

 

I'm surprised they haven't at least given you a written apology. Legally speaking, they didn't do anything wrong, but it was no way to treat a customer. Have you written to MGM management? I've had horrible experiences with Mandalay Resort Group in the past, but MGM has always been very good. Now that they took over Mandalay Resorts things might be better. My aunt had a similar situation to yours (although she wasn't as lucky as you to get everything back, she had a stack of money taken out of her purse) and the MGM Grand comped her meals. Keep at it. You deserve at least an aknokledgement.

 

good idea

I may send the letter on to MGM managment as you suggest. What will be interesting is we are staying at the Mandalay bay in September and I am hopeful they will treat me a little better, but I'm not holding my breath and I will definately have a back up plan re: money sources and will definately have food in my room, although I always come prepared.

I am just hopefuly the Mandalay Bay has my room ready upon check in and has a refrigerator for me. I will take the necesary precautions to avoid having my wallet stolen and I most certainly will not keep all my money, ID, card, travelers check, etc in one place.

Thanks again for your suggestion!