Improved customer service

As a visitor to las vegas for over 25 years, there i have stayed in different hotes ranging from Vegas Club to the Wynn. During that time there were certain hotels I swear I would never return to. One of those was the Excalibur. I stayed there once in 1995 and again in 2004. The rooms and service were so bad I swore I would never return.
Then I received a mailer from them in October of 2013 and decided to try them again. It was like visiting a brand new place. The rooms were large and clean and the casino had all the latest slots, low limit blackjack and every employee I encountered seemed happy and eager to assist. I visisted again in February and had the same results.
I will not hesiate to return to the Excalibur again.
Has anyone else ever returned to a place where they experenced bad service and then returned to find things different?

Though determined I would never return, I wrote a letter to a Kroger store (I was really mad). Cluttered aisles and shelves, sullen employees, overall impression of messy. Soon I received a letter of apology and pledge to improve. Yeah, right.
Maybe 2-3 years later I needed something quick and was in the area. Dreaded going in, but they had done a 180. Clean look, shelves neat and well stocked, no boxes in aisle, and, most amazingly, the employees were friendly. I like to think my letter made a difference.

Whenever I communicate with "customer service" (or higher depending on the company and my level of frustration) I always incorporate a sentence along the lines of "it is far easier, and far less costly, to retain an established customer than to replace them."

That has, in general, yielded good results over the years. (excluding casino's)

My wife and I actually have a written list of stores we've vowed to never return to. A few of them have gone out of business so I guess we weren't the only ones to be dissatisfied with them.

Had some bad service at The Rio a couple years ago, did the Harrahs on-line survery offer we got e-mailed after the stay. Gave some low marks and comments. A few days later someone from the hotel called for more info. Asked us give them another chance to make it better on our next visit. We did, they did. Even followed up later to make sure everything was OK this time.

I felt the same way about my most recent visit to Circus Circus. I didn't stay in the rooms although I understand the tower has been refreshed nicely. The casino was lively with some really fun bars and plenty of good pit action. Many of the sections of the casino formerly in disrepair were brought back to life. The midway was packed. I had a blast. Thinking about staying there a couple nights next trip.


My biggest turnaround story is with Golden Nugget. I boycotted the entire property for 6 years after they refused to comp my drink at the VP bar. Not only did the other Fremont properties comp my drink at the bar...but they had better VP schedules too! I went back to GN shortly after they built the Rush Tower and spent the night. The rooms are hands down the best downtown. Everyone was nice and I managed to win a few bucks on the slots and craps table. I didn't try the VP =) Drink service was fully comped. I'm back to giving them a little business each trip.

Really poor customer service starts at the top . If you have higher ups treat employees like shit they in turn find their out is treating customers like shit. It use to be stores that pay lower wages got people who were unhappy and that was the excuse. Really not the case today even in stores that pay top dollar the morale is terrible. Sometimes I think it just depression setting (a feeling of not getting out of the hole) with the higher prices in all areas from gas, utilities, food, and entertainment. Walk through mall or a grocery store and see just how many people have smiles on their face. It not only in customer service but a lot of areas today. Someone above mentioned Kroger's (retired for 15 years) and I was the manager of a very large store and we were noted for being the most friendly store in our area. We were not really the cheapest in price but in satisfying customers we were ranked #1. I always believed in employees first then fell customers. If employees are happy they give good customer service and if not lookout. In our area the very same store has been through 4 manager in 15 years and they are not noted for good customer service. The ideal answer that customers hear is we are short on hours and do the best we can. Well that is a piss poor excuse. Sorry but that how it is.

Last time at Mandalay Bay, I had excellent service. They really appeared to go out of their way to be friendly and I noted it on their guest survey.

My worst service was with the Monte Carlo when we were there for my daughter's wedding. I wrote a letter when we got home detailing the poor service and the response was, "gee what a shame". No apology, no offer to rectify...nothing. They just didn't care. I've never returned for any reason. Won't set foot through their doors. k

Circus Circus has been on the high road for a few years, now. We stopped in a few years ago expecting the same old Circus Circus ghetto we saw 12 years ago but it was really nice. Well, really nice compared to what it was. Certainly as nice as the Flamingo or Harrah's casino.