… it's servicing its debt by issuing more debt. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it will save the company $100 million. "What is more curious, if not troubling, is the reference to retiring debt taking advantage of current market conditions," cautions analyst Barbara Cappaert (possibly a reference to the fact that Harrah's bonds are trading at an anemic 52 cents on the dollar).
Another satisfied customer: Add this Atlantic City regular's experience to growing volume of testimony that Harrah's Entertainment is turning into a big-ass Columbia Sussex …
Just a quick thought about Harrah's properties in Atlantic City. I visited there about once a month with my wife for a number of years. I play 25 dollar minimum blackjack and the horses. She likes the slots and always liked their bar-b-que restaurant in Bally's Wild West Casino.
However, everything changed a couple of years ago. It started in the buffet when I noticed that the omelette maker had disappeared. We then noticed that they had closed our favorite restaurant to make it a waiting area for the buffet. We had stopped going to the buffet when I asked for my steak medium rare. It was quite well done and they did give me another steak. Unfortuately for someone, they put my old steak back with the bite taken out on the fire.
We then started getting put in the Claridge for our free room. To put it mildly, it is about the level of a Rodeway Inn. I then found that we were getting about one third the comps that we used to get for my play. We also were being charged 2 dollars for a cup of ice (with a little bit of flat soda added) in the horse race room. The final straw was when they made most of the tables "hit on soft 17" for blackjack. We then started going to the Borgata instead and have not been back to any Harrah's property since that time.
Multiply us by hundreds, if not thousands of other customers who probably ran into the same problems over the past couple of years and you can see why they have trouble getting people inside to play their games. They can blame it on the no smoking laws, the economy, or the high price of gas, but the real reason is probably their penny pinching ways and their poor customer service.
I don't know what else to say but it seems that especially in the casino business, bigger isn't necessarily better. I have recently started getting better offers through the mail, but I won't set foot on any of their properties anymore.
