Brad and I will be at Harrah’s New Orleans February 20th and 21st. From there, we will be sailing on the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship from February 22nd until March 1st. We do not play video poker on cruise ships, so you’ll need to look for us at a blackjack table there. If you ever spot us in a casino, please stop and introduce yourself — we don’t mind taking a rest from gambling to chat with old friends and make new ones.
While we are gone – and I’m away from my computer – I thought I would leave this bit of musing. Maybe some casino executives will read it and take it to heart!
It’s a cliché about walking in someone else’s shoes, but I wonder if some casino executives have become lost in their gigantic databases and forgotten that these are made up of individual human beings who are basically very much like themselves.
What are some of the basic likes and dislikes we all share, in some degree or another?
People like timely information. No one likes to miss an important or fun event because they didn’t get the invitation in time. Casino monthly mailers often arrive several days after the first, and players will miss the first bounce-back pickup. Many a time casino offers come too late for people who have to plan ahead to get off work and/or get reasonable airfares. Thus a promotion with an aim to make a customer happy turns him into a disgruntled critic.
No one likes to wait in long lines – at the bank, at the grocery store, at a concert venue. “Why don’t they hire more help?” “Why don’t they open more windows?” Casinos aren’t special. People are asking the same questions and making the same complaints. “Didn’t they know if they sent out this invitation for a free buffet to everyone in their database, they would need to have more help on duty at the buffet? Why wouldn’t they have divided up the invitations for different days?” “Don’t they know when people wait in line too long to eat that their blood sugar rate goes down and they get cranky? “I would think the casino would rather us spend all this time playing their games instead of waiting in line.”
People like to feel they are being treated fairly. They will leave a store, never to return, when they encounter a bait-and-switch sale. They will quickly change from one company to another if the first one socked them with fees that weren’t listed in the original contract. Casinos are not given a pass in this area; in fact, they must be extra careful because most people are naturally suspicious of any business that is reaching into their pockets! Advertising a promotion only for locals may seem unfair to the tourists who want the same advantage when they are playing at the same time. At a casino that targets tourists, local players may think it is unfair that out-of-town players are given more benefits and perks.
But probably the most important human trait is that we all like to feel important, that we matter. How do we get that feeling in a casino? When a pit boss remembers our name. When a floor supervisor who is overseeing a large slot payoff suggests that we call for a security walk-out to our car when we leave. When the bingo supervisor asks us about our grandchildren. It’s not the free-play coupons we get in the mail or the gift-of-the-week. Sure we like those – but it’s the person-to-person contact we need to make the casino a warm inviting home and not a cold sterile warehouse of games to take our money.
Do I hear an “Amen”?
Re CET properties, CET has always been one of the most skilled operators at figuring the actual net gain to the casino from a given player’s activity and/or from a given game and then making SURE that the return from such activity is NEVER positive for the player. Other casinos from time to time create exploitable or “leaky” promos, but CET never does; they obviously are very sophisticated at determining “true” EV.
Jean has far more experience than I do in battling CET (sounds like trying to fight off a possibly fatal disease, doesn’t it?), since I basically threw in the towel on play at ANY CET properties about five years ago. Jean is a Plutonium player there and gets perks that we ordinary mortals don’t ever see. I do wonder what the actual value of all those cruises and goomay dinners is for her and for other recipients. Obviously, according to the Frugal mantra, the value of those perks must exceed her theoretical losses (since NO CET property has ANY +EV games)–but that contradicts what CET must think. The only way to resolve this dichotomy would be if CET’s costs in providing these perks were far below retail. For instance (and I’m just speculating here), they may have a deal with a cruise line wherein the tickets are provided at little or no cost, with the cruise line thinking that anyone who is 93 Stars or Palladium or whatever has enough cash to blow that their presence onboard will prove to be highly profitable, even if they paid nothing for the ticket itself.
It does seem clear to me that for the less-than-5K-a-day player, CET is best avoided, if for no other reason than that you have to kick it up to $1 denoms or higher to find even halfway decent games at most CET properties. Playing .25 7/5 Double Double Bonus won’t cut it.
kevin always hits the nail on the head. i would like kevin to explain to everyone how a person can play at a cet property and what small disadvantage would he himself be playing at? i would like an explanation from him on what a 7 star at harrahs would cost him personally (approx.)
Amen! Amen!
Every issue you eluded to has happened to me at one time or another at various casinos. The result has always been the same. I took my business elsewhere. Package all of the above comments and send them to every casino exec you know. I will certainly do my part. Hopefully, they’ll get the message.
I agree with Jerry McEwen . We too go to Biloxi often and are Video Poker players . Once the Nugget took over the Isle , freeplay could no longer be played on Video Poker machines . We played at the Beau for many years , actually since it opened , until without warning some years ago all machines went from good schedules to 7/5 with the exception of a bank of progressives and some in the High Limit area . That was the last time we stayed and played there . Last time we stopped by the Beau nothing had changed , but as long as people play those machines and they do , I doubt they will ever go back to 9/7 . So you might want to think twice before saying Hello to Beau Rivage . We still play some at the Nugget , but almost all of our play is at the IP . The Beau might have good Black Jack . Not a game I play or know much about .
Kevin Lewis hit the nail on the head !!
Unfortunately many businesses have a corner of a market and don’t care how they treat customers ( including employees called internal customers)They have an attitude “if you don’t like it go elsewhere”.
We do have the power and the HOPE that we can keep the world a place with a positive attitude with people who can share communication to make that happen!
Amen… Thanks Jean for being one of those people!!
To second what Mo LA wrote, I also got a response to a survey answer from Foxwoods after complaining about a 45 minute wait for a jackpot payout which caused me to miss the first 30 minutes of a Harry Connick Jr. concert. This was clearly due to understaffing (only 2 attendants on duty in one of the 3 main casinos) on a night that would be reasonably expected to be pretty busy, which I clearly, but politely pointed out in my comments.
An assistant slot manager not only acknowledged my frustration and apologized, but also offered a dinner comp on my next trip as a peace offering, if you will.
I felt good to be recognized as something other than a faceless cog on the wheel of profit, and hopefully my comments will factor into future staffing decisions.
And I would note that the “politely” part of one’s voicing of a complaint cannot help but have it more favorably received. No one, not even ‘heartless, soulless’ casino managers like to be yelled at 😉
Amen, Jean! We go to Biloxi often. The Golden Nugget and the Palace send us mailers each month with free play comps. We play video poker (I also play BJ) but never slots. Would you believe the free play CANNOT be played on the video poker machines where we earned it! As a result, those two casinos are getting much less of our play. Why do they do that? Hello Beau Rivage and IP.
I can’t “amen.” To them, we are disposable, infinitely replaceable money generation units. Human beings? HA! If they gave a crap about how we felt, would they keep on reducing, reducing, reducing player benefits and comps; downgrading, downgrading, downgrading their games; and increasing, increasing, increasing the price of everything (especially with hidden fees and charges)? They KNOW that this sort of garbage drives away many players, never to return. They have obviously calculated that the gain from screwing the players that remain more than offsets the loss from driving US away. In other words, we are expendable–and we always will be as long as there exists a vast pool of idiots willing to pay resort fees, sit down at 6:5 blackjack games, and eat $55 buffets. The recession being over (or “over,” depending on your data), there is an ever-expanding sea of ploppies, wads of hundreds clutched in their sweaty palms, just waiting to fling their money at the casinos. In this context, do those of us who care about and seek out value matter? Not one tiny, tiny bit! In fact, they WANT to be shorn of us once and for all.
Harrah’s (Caesar’s) often sends me emails (Vegas) and mailers (New Orleans and Tahoe) that have fairly short time limits to take advantage, including free air. Even though I’m semi-retired, I can’t just jump on many of those offers unless I have enough time. It would also be nice if they sent mailers/emails that had multiple dates for the offers. They often do for free play offers (say, the month of February), but many of the other offers are for very specific dates only…and often less than a month away. Flying from Austin isn’t cheap, so the more time I have to book the better it is.
AMEN
I did actually receive a return email after filling out a “how are we doing” survey after a December trip to Foxwoods. (Overnite and Donny and Marie tickets)
It was great to see that someone was listening and I also sent back an additional email to tell him thanks for asking additional info to be used for his staffing purposes.
Have a great trip.
MO
This puts into words what we all think. Thanks.
Amen to all of that. If the casinos want more people spending more time gambling and spending money you just gave them the answers t0 help them meet those goals. Reducing comps, working with skeleton crews, having empty (laying off cleaning staff) rooms that could have been comped and occupied by players, making it difficult to take advantage of promotions and all the rest of the so called cost reducing measures are not working. Also, discouraging video poker players from coming to their casinos by reducing or eliminating comps and promotions that they qualify for and downgrading pay schedules is a mystery to me. Only a handful of players can win consistently at video poker and even they bring value by spending money on other things and by bringing people with them that play other games.
Amen!
Thanks. Nice reflections. Have a delightful cruise.
Amen to that!!!
A copy of this post should go to all marketing directors.
Very well said Jean. They do the same things at my local casino, Seneca Niagara Casino. We have gotten mailers with $50 food voucher that was for the day before we received it. It’s very aggravating.
I sometimes get a survey to complete after I have stayed at the hotel and casino but they never ask about this type of thing. I think the next time I will add these things to the comment section.
AMEN!
Amen, and thank you ! And one more thing. I went to Samstown on presidents day . They were giving a free dauber with bingo play. I didn’t have one. They had two people giving them out after the session started. I missed the first two games ! Why not give them when you pay for your package ?