UPDATE on my Vegas nightmare: how do you find a CEO to write to?

[shilo]

ok, so i finally got a letter back from the Venetian. i edited my letter (from my diatribe in the bitching forum) down to a cover page in which i politely spelled out our issues and what i was asking for in response from them and an attachment page detailing our customer service and facilities concerns. my mom always said you catch more flys with sugar than with vinegar. i guess it worked, at least kinda.

the VP in charge of guest relations wrote back with a two page letter. part of it is, i'm sure, their normal form letter. but part actually speaks to the actual concerns with specific staff members, so i guess i got my point across. she actually states she was 'disconcerted by the difficulties" we experienced with specific staff members and that she would like to 'personally apologize for the unprofessional behavior you received'. she went on to say that they will be working directly with these team members to address these concerns. which actually makes me the most happy about their response. they comped us the night in question and also sent a certificate for an additional 'future' night in one of their concierge suites. she also gave me her personal direct line for if/when we decide to use it so that she can 'personally arrange the details' of our stay. so we'll see if i get up the courage to risk our next attempt at our girls weekend at their resort or not. it's kinda hard to look 'free' in the face and refuse it. we'll see. i do hope our stay was an aberration.

anyway, just wanted to update and let everyone who extended their empathy and help know that the venetian did at least attempt to make it right and seemed genuinely sorry that our experience was what it was.

thanks again, lori

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you all have been such a weath of information in the past when someone want to complain up the chain of command... well now it's my turn. i had the most _horrendous_ customer service nightmare of my whole life at the Venetian resort in vegas this past weekend and i want someone at the top to know about it.

(i posted the story over in bitching for anyone who wants to read an essay about how truly disappointing my stay at this 'luxury' resort was).

i gave myself 2 days to calm down and guage if i thought i was over-reacting, but nope, i'm still raging pi$$ed 48 hours later. since i can't seem to let this go, i want to do something about it. i'm not their personal door mat and i refuse to be spoken to/treated the way i was, by a _service_ provider, no less. so help me out ladies. i can't seem to figure out who owns the Venetian (the Sands???), who to write to, etc. anyone have a lead for me?

denna was nice enough to post the [email protected] link over in bitching, which i may still use, but i'm tired of getting lost in the shuffle with them. i want to go straight to the top!

TIA, lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[missym]

Well, if you want to go right to the top... ;)

http://www.venetian.com/corp/exec_bios.cfm
Sheldon G. Adelson is Chairman of the Board and principal owner of Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and Venetian Macao Limited in Macao, China.

ETA: I read your story and that is some appallingly bad CS. I hope you get a satisfactory response. I would plaster that story all over every travel review site you can find!


Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

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[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

I agree with the PP. I would mail a certified letter to the Sheldon guy c/o the hotels main address (if you can't find a better one) outlining your experience and requesting a prompt response. I would also include as much detail as possible. People's names, times, etc. I am sure they will get back to you then. I would not email them because too often that gets lost in all the other emails they receive. Sometimes the best you get from that is a generic sorry response.

I am so sorry about your weekend. That is horrible! I hope your next vacation goes a lot better and I hope they compensate you properly for the terrible experience.

[Puddy73]

Here's a sample letter of complaint to get you started:

http://clarkhoward.com/topics/complaint_letter.html

I used this form to complain to the babyuniverse CEO and he called me personally to apologize when he received it! I also got a free Recaro carseat from them.

Sorry your weekend was such a bust. I hope that they make things right for you.


Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/08/03 & Finn 10/31/05

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." - Jimmy Buffett

[Fairy]

100% agree, Lori, you send it certified mail to him personally. His secretary or "people" may still be the ones who sign for it, but that's the best way to do it is certified so that they are forced to acknowledge receipt. Absolutely do the following:

* Name names. Go back and try to get them if you didn't write them down. Difficult, I know, but it's worth a shot.

* Indicate exact times of all phone calls and conversations, like PP said, so that if you don't have names (or even if you do), it's checkable and/or authenticated.

* Be sure to tell them that in no uncertain terms, you were afforded the very worse customer service by the <Sands parent company name> in your life and that you can't wait to tell everyone you know, including but not limited to, hotel and travel website bloggers.

If you ever care to return, we were stuck in Vegas on 9/11, and the Mirage then, before, and after, was outstanding.

[miki]

And make sure to mention every effort you have taken and will take to tell as many people as possible to avoid the Venetian. I think a few people have already been warned away from them by your post in the Bitching Post.

[Fairy]

I know I was, hands down.

[shilo]

thanks so much for the responses. it's nice to know i'm not over-reacting. anyway, thanks to the link above, now i have to choose who to write to.

should i write to the chairman of the board (sheldon) or the VP (robert goldstein) whose bio/info blurb seems to imply that he's in charge of the day to day opperations at the hotel itself???

opinions welcome. thanks!
lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Actually I would send a letter to both (letting them both know that is what you did). I think it would show that you are quite serious about having this matter dealt with asap.

[Kungjo]

I would write to both.

Also, send them a link of your post in the Bitching Forum so they can see that your experience has tarnished the hotel in our eyes already. I saw a documentary on the Venetian and decided that that's the hotel I want to stay in when I go this year. Now that I read your post, I'm going to be looking for another hotel. Frankly, I wouldn't have put up with that crap if it was a $99/night hotel much less the amount you paid for your stay.

Good Luck and keep us updated.

[Fairy]

I'd write to the VP, and then CC: the big dude, and send it certified to them both.

ETA --> Do not email. It'll almost definitely get round filed. Real live paper and ink (well, laser jet, anyway ;-))

[shilo]

yep, it is as beautiful as i'm sure it looked in the documentary. but the service, well, nuff said on that i guess. the whole reason we chose the venetian was because of the bigger rooms for the same price as other 'resorts'. we took all of our scrapbooking stuff with us to 'catch up' on our baby albums, and while the extra space was nice, it obviously was drastically outweighed by the other issues. we had both been saving, planning and ferreting money away for this trip a few dollars a day for months - not always easy to do as a SAHM, you know? - i think that makes the 'crap' even more teeth gnashing. sigh. i updated over in bitching - i formated/edited that post into a proper letter and i'm sending it certified to both guys tomorrow. we'll see what happens.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[kransden]

I don't mean to be cynical, but I am. At TWA, certifed letters were signed for in the mail room, and sent on to the complaint dept. They were never seen by the CEO or even their admins. If the mailroom slipped up, the admins would catch it and raise heck. Phone calls were futile too. You were never allowed to speak with a live person except for the receptionist who directed you call. So don't expect a reply. Of course TWA is now a dead company, so maybe you'll get better customer service.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[gatorsmom]

Ok, I'll be the anecdote to this. At Fleetwood Enterprises, if you addressed a letter to a certain person, it went to them. Of course, they weren't the FIRST person to see it- usually it was the admin assistant, but it ended up with the addressee. So, have faith! And don't give up. I'd keep trying till you get a response you like. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil!"

[kozachka]

Lori,

I am glad to hear Venetian gave you a genuine response and comped you for the night in question. I hope you next visit to this resort would be a better one :).

[denna]

Thats great Lori, Im glad you got a decent response from them. It would be tempting to take that free offer, I mean free is free. Who knows it may be well worth the trip. If she is willing to make all arrangements for you and you have her personal line then it may be a great experience.

I defintely would be leary to PAY for another trip to the 'resort' but I may just take them up on their offer.

Thanks for the update,

[mommyoftwo]

I'm so glad that they have replied to your letter. I do hope they take care of the problem so that it never happens to anyone ever again. If you decide to take them up on their offer, I hope you have a wonderful trip and that everything goes smoothly this time around.