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StumbleWynn Las Vegas apologizes for overbooking hotel
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
Barry Sweet / Bloomberg News
The Wynn Las Vegas prior to its opening in November 2005.
Sun Coverage
South San Francisco resident Ralyn Lee and some of her friends have been looking forward to a Las Vegas getaway since February.
She and three girlfriends booked reservations at Wynn Las Vegas and planned a two-night stay and maybe a visit to the hotel’s spa.
On Feb. 8, she got a confirmation for her May 21 arrival and a receipt for the $445.76 charged to her credit card for the two nights.
But things went wrong when she and her friends were booted out of the Wynn before they even checked in.
On May 5, Lee said she and her friends received telephone calls from the Wynn telling her that the hotel was sold out May 22 and while they could stay on the night of May 21, there was nothing available for them the next day.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing from a five-star hotel,” Lee said. “We had everything reserved and then all of a sudden we get this phone call telling us it was full.”
In an e-mailed response to an inquiry, a Wynn spokeswoman said the property was accidentally oversold.
“While it is a rare occurrence, we unfortunately oversold the hotel on a few dates this week,” the e-mail said. “We proactively contacted those guests affected and extended one of two opportunities — to be relocated to a neighboring hotel at our expense or to enjoy a complimentary visit on a future date.”
Wynn officials did not respond to inquiries about how the overbooking occurred, how many guests were affected and how often overbooking the hotel occurs.
“I really don’t understand how something like this happens and on such short notice,” Lee said.
She said the person who called informing her of the early exit said she had to contact “hundreds of people.”
Wynn officials did try to make things right for guests who were displaced. Lee said she and her friends each were given two complimentary tickets to the “Le Reve” show on the property, a $100 dining credit and a complimentary night at the Trump, just down the block from Wynn.
Alyse Ellman, director of quality assurance at Wynn, e-mailed an apologetic letter to Lee.
“I want to personally thank you for being so understanding regarding our issue on the weekend of May 22,” the letter said. “We are embarrassed and truly regret our inability to fulfill your reservation as requested.”
After listing the comps Lee was going to get, Ellman’s letter said, “Ms. Lee, I know that sincere words of regret and apology cannot make up for this inconvenience. We do, however look forward to welcoming you to our resort.”
Lee and her friends decided they’d take the Wynn up on its offer, even though they’ll spend some of their getaway time moving from one hotel to another.
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I would have insisted on a FULL refund to my credit card AND the Wynn offer or else I would have called my credit card company to report fraudulent charges, get refunded by the credit card company while they do an "investigation" This kind of overbooking BS is the kind of crap the airlines pulls all the time and it should be outlawed..
I would gladly accept the refund plus a complimentary stay at the Venetian instead :)
As for the overbookings , yes, it's a nasty thing if the airlines follow this policy. They take advantage of that standard "no-show" situation and still being able to fill up their planes. In fact, they sell 5 or 10 per cent more seats than they actually have, thus generating more proift, and still get away with it.
I wonder if this happened in China if they would throw Wynn in Jail for fraud?
I saw a rental car company bring in 50 cars because of a computer glitch.
I've never had this problem at Imperial Palace.
I had always assumed that the Wynn/Encore Resorts lived by their solemn word by providing guest's with top-notch service. Evidently, something here has gone haywire over this past year.
I have always been tempted to take the resort up on one of their room offers to book a reservation at their resort, but now I'm not so sure. Thus far while visiting Vegas, I've elected to stay instead at one of the other resorts. It used to be whenever I visited inside the Wynn casino to play, I used to always depend on receiving quality-made (from scratch) Pina Coladas from the coctail waitresses. However over the past year, I think they began to resort to utilizing some sort of artificial bottled mixture...either that or they have an incompetent bartender(s) who use vodka or vermouth instead of rum. Because recently, their Pina Coladas that I've ordered have had like a sour-like, bitter taste to them.
Perhaps the Wynn/Encore's services are still great; I really cannot judge being that I never stayed there. It just appears that since the Encore opened it's doors, everything has lost that "special" personal touch and has since gotten way too overdone. They've made it far too ritzy with less attention to quality. When there was only the Wynn Resort, I felt extremely welcomed and comfortable whenever I stepped inside, and used to enjoy it a lot. Now, I feel everything there has lost that "personal touch."
I suspect South San Francisco resident Ralyn Lee and some of her friends will get over this incident better than most commentators here.
Glad to see the Wynn at 100%. Good for all of us in one way or another.
whats up with the xyn#############
selling items on this is not legal - should be removed - has nothing to do with the report.
Maybe Wynn should have given them 2 free nights at another hotel - they book each others...
Wynn would rather have the high rollers blowing $$$ at his tables, can't say that I blame him!
I'm surprised they didn't wait till the guest arrived, then tell them the bad news. How do they decide who gets to stay and who doesn't? At least they tried to be proactive. The Wynn hotels are quality products. The Encore Spa is amazing! I used the Aria Spa two weeks ago, it's amazing too, and has the MOST coed area's I've ever seen in Vegas.
I think they booked them at the Trump, so they would not be giving them to a gambling establishment. Please stay over there, but come back here to gamble.
It's kind of silly to judge the Wynn based on one incident like this. If you hear they overbook on a regular basis that is different. If some computer glitch caused them to overbook this one time and they did everything they could to acccomodate people, good customer service.
Wynn with all his so called class is nothing more than a bingo operator. The guy has no class even with his dyed hair and his implants. He even changed his name from Weinberg!
Bore-Us---Being the Vegas expert you are, you seem to have forgotten that Wynn and Adelson hate each other. No Wynn customer will be sent to an Adelson property.
See I told you, it's Obama's fault.
And another thing, at least the airlines ask for volunteers first, before throwing you off the flight.
In my opinion Wynn Hotel handled the unforeseen situation perfectly. They gave sufficient notice, made very generous alternatives available, and I expect that all of the overbooked guests will wind up having a more interesting and less expensive holiday because of the comps.
They sold the rooms for a lot more. It was no accidental over booking.
People here are horrible. Misstakes will happen at any establishments. The important thing is that Wynn tried proactively to correct it. Envirn, of course, they got their money back. Don't be so rediculous all the time.
Aaah, the Wynn made good to the satisfaction of the displaced guest. At leasat they tried to make it right!
navedd :
Don't even start in with me today....
I agree with environprotector this is really a shady practice done out of greed.
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High Rollers?
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Both Encore and Wynn haven't had many high rollers at all ... usually walking thru the two often I see none to one
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Somebody is not thinking or lets say not doing their homework
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The ladies were made whole, tho - that's good and Wynn most likely did not do it purposely
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I personally feel this was the doing of AWOLBush
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Thanks For Reading This
Eh...we have yet to have a good experience at a Wynn property, and the last one was disappointing enough that we probably won't give them another try.
Sh*t Happens! Think about the other properties reporting 60-70 percent capacity and Wynn is overbooked. I am sure every place on the strip would love to have this problem.
I would have asked to moved to circus circus so i could see free circus acts under the big top
...."a Wynn spokeswoman said the property was accidentally oversold"....
This was no accident. The hotel was intentionally oversold in an attempt to increase profits.
I have been waiting for the hotels ro start doing this. The airlines do it all the time, but they can get away with it because the federal government allows them to. The hotels have no such federal permission. They had better watch themselves. Once people have to start sleeping in their cars because there are no rooms, the lawsuits will start to flow, and the hotels will lose.
Ummmmm...In the DAYS of MANUAL reservations I would understand the issue.The situation here is they probably had a group looking for an extended stay so a few people popping in for only 2 nights...well they are exspendable.But with the reservations system in place with places like Wynn...there is no excuse.This was NOT an error...they clearly understood what they did.Hey, overbooking is natural.The no-show rate is factored in...guess everyone showed up...oops!!
At least they were warned in advance. Usually you find out about this when you check in. In the hotel biz this is known as "walking the guest." They usually "walk" you to a hotel they have arrangements with. Hopefully they were not sent down the street to Circus Circus or the Riviera.
Of course if the guest was named "Mr. Chen" high roller/whale from San Francisco, a room would have been magically located and none of this would have occured.
Check out my blog:
http://jimmyhoofa-lv.blogspot.com/
HA HA HA... Couldnt have happened to a nicer guy..
C'mon!
How does the Wynn overbook by HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE.
The story indicates an either/or offer of Accomodations @ another property, OR a future stay @ the Wynn. Should have been both.
Imagine YOU are looking forward to a planned vacation @ a luxurious property, 5-star rating,
and find out that you have been "bumped".
The TRUMP???
Fascinating LOCALE!!!
Gave the girls a whole new feel for "the Strip".
This doesn't even smell right.
This is good news, this means a lot of visitors are coming in to help our local economy recover. I admire the Wynn people for informing their customers way in advance and offering them choices. I don't think Wynn worries much about what most of us locals think, we don't contribute as much as the out-of-town visitors because we own our own homes and we tend to patronize the station casinos.
Hate to break the news to you all but the rooms where sold again at a much inflated price and the deal hunters got pushed aside. This is the new way to sell rooms. First offer deep incentives to get your rooms booked then try and sell those same rooms for more. If you sell them for more just bump the bargin hunters out of the way. Welcome to the reservation that is not really a reservation its more "we will sale you the room for x amount then we will try and see if we can get more for your room and move you out of the way" kind of like ebay for your reservation high bid won. They are lucky they were just not refunded and told to make other arrangements. The new model in Vegas ditch the deal hunters and go for the money.........
@davidwayneosedach is correct. The Wynn is not the only place to bump out of shear greed. Computerized booking makes overbooking impossible. They play the averages to ensure they are full. This kind of cr*p give Vegas a black eye.
navedd,
DUDE!!! When are you going to learn how to spell "ridiculous"....
It doesn't really explain if they were refunded their money for the TWO nights....so did they pay for two nights, stay one at Wynn, then have to move to the Chump tower? Did they get refunded for the one night, then have a free night at the Chump tower?
The other incentives were crap in my opinion!! Two tickets to Le Reve....pahhlease, that show sucks. 100 dollar dining credit? Guess they can eat at the buffet. If you are only staying two nights, having to move on one of them is a giant pain in the you know what!!
Did you see Wynn and Trump together oogling the young ladies at the Miss USA pageant?
How do they forget how many rooms are in the building? I realize that computers have a difficult time with basic addition and subtraction, but being off by hundreds just isn't conceivable.
Remember the suicide grenade attack in the "Godfather" movie? The Family pulled out of Cuba, as a result.
Can we see the future in Chinese knife attacks? Go ahead hitch your future to a rickshaw Mr. Wynn..
Maybe Steve could put them up in his villa... I understand he has some extra room....
BUSCH League. Full Refund and Comp at Trump plus tickets and food credit would suffice... along with the sincere apology. Switching hotels is the worst - unless you are in town for an extended period of time.
They must've had a computer issue, system failure, then maybe not picking up the previously scheduled reservations - something like that had to have happened...
Anyway, it's nice to see they tried to make the guests comfortable and sounds like they succeeded.
That's the hotel business! Think about how many people book and never show up. It's Las vegas there is always a room available - chill out and have fun!
Clearly, Obama is behind this. He's caused the economy to become overheated! Quick, Steve, move to China! Get in bed with the Commies and triads, and make things better by running off.
Not as big a deal as some of you are making it. There was a problem, the Wynn employees rectified it in a timely manner, and those actually impacted seem to be ok with the solution. So why are some of YOU getting worked up over it?
If anything, those of us that live here should be thrilled that there are enough people coming to Vegas and booked higher-end hotels for this kind of problem to come up.
Frankly, this is a non-story. S&it happens and it's not as if these girls had no place to stay. They had ample tie to get used to the idea of staying at Trump, too!
The whole thing is no big deal.
<This is good news, this means a lot of visitors are coming in to help our local economy recover>.
I doubt it. Do you really think the Wynn was booked 100%? Has that EVER happened at a Vegas hotel???
I agree with whoever said that some huge money spending groups decided to book for more than 2 nights, with these girls' nights as part of it, and the low roller gals got bumped.
Or the "right hand" messed up and it showed on the computer when the "left hand" came to work and started to book rooms and didn't catch the F-ck up.
Why is this even a story?
Mistakes happen. I think Wynn made this right.
They displaced the leisure traveler with a convention room that paid more and the ancilary revenue of a convention guest is greater than that of the leisure traveler that "may" go to the spa. It was a business decision.
And yes, Wynn wants to move his corporate offices to China - go ahead. The Chinese will throw you in jail faster than the sound of "cha ching" if you displace one of their comrades.
I agree with those who say that Wynn offered them a more than fair compensation for their inconvenience. A free room night and $100 dining credit, along with show tickets and a refund of the one night they paid for would make me feel that they really treated me right. Trump is not that far away. They have found a use for all of the unsold timeshares and condos. Someday I'll step up to the Wynn (mid-week, on a deal, of course).
Fortunately, CityCenter NEVER has this problem.
The Wynn made it right. That's what matters.
People get a life, all hotels overbook. 5 star or 2 star. They all do it.
This shouldn't even been a story. The Wynn messed up and did what they had to to make it right. Businesses should not be expected to be perfect, only to make things right when they make a mistake.
Informant23 - said best... Hotels do this ALL THE TIME - no big deal as long as they make it right... which Wynn indeed do
Case closed
Wynn should not have messed up in the first place. If they take a reservation-it should be honored-bottom line.
Although the story didn't say so, I have a sneaking suspicion that some undertrained reservations techie created a bad program telling the system that all kinds of rooms were available when they were not.
Well they could have been sent to the Riveria.
Th Wynn knows how to make a reservation but does not know how to keep a reservation.
Thank you Seinfeld!
Well, it goes kind of like this...
Sales Manager: Hmmm, I have a chance to book XYZ company with 300 rooms guaranteed for 4 nights, a dinner and 3 lunches for banquet department and can rent associated video and computer equipment for their presentations or I can turn them down because I lack approx 100 rooms on one of the two nights that I booked at a lower rate.
Business is business. I think the Wynn handled it well. Don't necessarily like it, but I understand it.
If it had happened to me, I would have looked at like it was a stroke of good fortune. Looks like adequate compensation to me. I would have been good with it.
Operating a successful business is not a practice of perfection, it is an organic process that must carefully balance the needs of all concerned parties: owners, employees and guests. Kudos to Wynn for directly addressing the issue, apologizing, and moving forward.
Most people are so brainwashed into thinking that money buys off errors. Wynn screwed up big time and ruined a vacation for someone. If they had been big spenders.....They would have thrown someone else out. Who ever created this mess should have been fired. Wynn should have done everything possible to ensure that these people would have have rooms at another beautiful property at their expense. Just because someone doesn't spend a fortune at a casino, their time, effort & money spent to get there should be treated with respect.
A similar situation happened to a friend that was diagnosed with a terminal disease. Her husband wanted to get her away while she could still walk. The hotel in this town treated the situation with complete disregard........Oh Well..was their response. There are toooooo many simple minded people running casino's and they all think they are masters of the universe.......which is why business suffers.
it happens.
People get over yourself. Life is not perfect. We live the life of Kings and Queens in this country, but heaven forbid we be inconvenienced just a bit... whine, whine, whine. Go see the daily living conditions of about 50% of the people on this globe, THEN write about how appalled you are that The Wynn made a mistake...
"I doubt it. Do you really think the Wynn was booked 100%? Has that EVER happened at a Vegas hotel???"
What benefit would the Wynn get from lying about this and getting the poor publicity? As well as comping the room, show tickets and giving them food credit?
Please, use a little common sense. And yes, it has happened before.
Get over yourselves. Wynn made a very good attempt to offer compensation for their mistake. What more can Wynn do? Mistakes happen!
Is the building really made of chocolate?
If it really IS chocolate, how do they keep it from melting in the heat? Man, Steve-O is one smart cookie!
Cookies... that's it. Maybe it isn't made of chocolate after all... it's a big cookie and just appears to be chocolate. It's just a big mirage. No wait, the Mirage is across the street. Hmmm.
lasvegas2009 is exactly right--they sold out the cheapo rates early on, then jacked the price up telling everyone they were nearly "sold out", then after selling all the expensive priced rooms, they kicked the bargain $99 room people to the curb. Nice job steve weinberg. Typical crap service from the wynn--I will never understand what people see with this guys service--i have been nothing but jerked off by wynn staff at all of his properties. I have more than 5-6 bad stories of being totally screwed around by staff at different properties over the years. Screw the wynn and encore--please leave and go to china!
"Most people are so brainwashed into thinking that money buys off errors. "
Nope. But an apology does.
She got a room at the trump? LOL!!! Clever Steve, that place is only 25% full, and you can those rooms for $65 a night!!!
She got gipped
Hmm, first the hidden 'resort fees', now there's the over booking of the rooms. Wonder what else Vegas property owners are going to resort to in order to keep their bottom line profitable?
Charge extra for clean towels, clean sheets, and cable television that used to be complimentary?
Mrlucky your completely WRONG. The article says she paid $445.76 when she booked the room. Hardly a bargin price, that's over $200 a night. Its a simple mistake that Wynn made up for as best the organization could.
This happens all the time, why is this news. Hotels have lists of all the working gals and when there is an overage at on hotel they move them over to another one.
What! these where not working gals! Well, now I am upset, how dare they have the right to turn away anyone, wake-up it is a private hotel not a government run hotel.
I reserve the right to not entertain any rebuttals on this comment.
gunslinger you are absolutely correct! This isn't a big deal!
Wynn has the P.T.Barnum attitude. Welcome to Vegas suckers, just bring the money.
I am one of the 9 girls traveling with Ralyn. The Wynn did good, they reinstated our room and we were able to keep all of our comps!
I will never spend a dime at the Wynn. Years ago, when my son was first born (he was about 5 months old) I had to go down there to pick up my sister. A group of Security officers came up to me and proceeded to tell me, in a very rude unprofessional manner, that strollers were not allowed on the property and that they could mark up the floor. First, I wasn't there to gamble: in fact I was in the lobby entrance and not near any of the games! I realize that Casinos are more for adults, but sometimes those adults will have children and they way those dumb officers handled the situation was very uncalled for. I was standing near the entrance. Second, you're going to tell me that strollers aren't allowed because they can mark up the floor? Well what about shoes, luggage and wheelchairs? Those all have the potential to "mark up the floors". I guess we should all go barefoot to the Wynn! And do you really need FOUR security officers to tell me this? I am big on principle. They could've handled it better and more professionally. LAME!