Coushatta Response to Concern

[Lucky Larry]

Many postings complain about broken machines, sticky buttons, and the lack of response to concerns. So I thought I'd share this wonderful response from our favorite casino Coushatta..

On Sunday night I decided to play one of the 4 All Star machines-my favorite 50/100 machines were kicking my b..... The All Stars have some really nice pay tables but one major drawback - lighting. The LED spot lights (located high in the metal beams ) over the machines create a horrible glare on the screens and players have to sit at odd angles to get a clear view of the screen.. I had previously contacted a Slot Manager about this concern and decided to express my concern a second time.

So as a Slot Attendant walked by I stopped her and requested to talk to the on duty Slot Director/Manager and explained my concern. Within a few minutes two Slot Supervisors/Managers showed up to hear my concern. They listened intently to my points, sat in the chairs to see first hand the glare. They then took my name, player # and expressed they would pass the concern on.

Monday night my phone rang and ID'd the call from Coushatta. The caller identified herself as Debra, the Slot Manager, I had talked to Sunday night. She was getting back to me re: my concerns about the lighting. She stated she had taken the concern up the chain of command and that the Director of Slots shared he was aware of the concern and they were still reviewing options since the lighting was needed for the cameras. I thanked her several times for the follow-up. I have to commend the response to my concern. We have found Coushatta to always be responsive to our concerns.

We are frequent players but we are not close the "Whales" who play at Coushatta. Several months ago we had expressed a concern about removing the coin trays on our favorite machines (which were killing our knees) and within two months they were removed. We also received an email from the Casino Director of Slots responding to our request and telling us the trays would be removed. Such responses whether the action is taken or not projects an incredible level of player respect and desire to improve the casino experience. It also leads to high player loyalty.

[alpax]

Thank you for sharing this story Larry, although the casinos are not your friend and are only after your money (I credit notes1 for that perspective), this casino should do well in retaining its players for respecting their concerns.

Through this Larry has shown us it never hurts to ask about something.

[notes1]

a number of years ago, i was playing at cherokee, got done with a machine and cashed out. forgot my ticket and walked away. i was gone 1-2 minutes, remembered, but the ticket was gone. i contacted security, they took my info and said they would get back to me, if there was anything they could do. about an hour later, a small group of casino personal found me at another machine and handed me my missing money. they explained that they had gone to the security cameras, found the person who took it and had cashed the ticket, got the money back from them, and barred them from the property. i was very impressed and expressed my gratitude. had the same thing happen one other time at CET in vegas, was told, tough luck. these are the only two times i forgot a ticket. two seperate events, two very different responses. i read an article about casinos a while back that explained a lot. one of the secrets to casino service is that no matter how small of a player you are, they try and make you feel special. their goal is supposed to be, making the person betting fifty cents feel as if they are as important as the person betting a grand.  i do not think of casinos as the enemy, i just do not think of them as my friends. they want to extract as much money from you as they can. we would all be wise to remember that.    

[Vman96]

Unfortunately slant tops in particular have this problem. Took me awhile to take a decent pic of my g/f's Royal earlier this year because it was a slanttop right below a light. And what are many of the new IGT games, especially at CET? Yep, you guessed it, slanttops. If possible, they need to test how good the lighting is if the machines are inbetween the lights.

[olds442jetaway]

I have no complaints about the maintenance on the machines at Mohegan Sun once you find someone to report the problem to and have the specifics like which hold button doesn't work etc. Otherwise, the maintenance people are so busy that most bad button machines just stay that way. I had almost the same lighting issue too concerning overhead spotlights and got the same answer. It did get elevated though to the higher ups. Eventually, they realized that people were just not playing those machines and they were moved to another area. Unfortunately, not in non smoking.

[OTABILL]

i read an article about casinos a while back that explained a lot. one of the secrets to casino service is that no matter how small of a player you are, they try and make you feel special. their goal is supposed to be, making the person betting fifty cents feel as if they are as important as the person betting a grand. 

Maybe that's why CET is bankrupt. With their caste system, CET certainly does not make a small player feel special. Several years ago late at night at Harrah's Ak-Chin my wife and I were waiting for about 10 minutes at the players club. We were tired and needed to leave and get home but had an issue we needed to resolve. There was only one staff on hand and we were the only ones on line. After solving a problem for another patron, we started to the window when we were waved off because a higher rated player appeared. This happened one more time before we were taken. Needless to say, after waiting over 10 additional minutes we were irritated.

[notes1]

[QUOTE=notes1]

i read an article about casinos a while back that explained a lot. one of the secrets to casino service is that no matter how small of a player you are, they try and make you feel special. their goal is supposed to be, making the person betting fifty cents feel as if they are as important as the person betting a grand. 

Maybe that's why CET is bankrupt. With their caste system, CET certainly does not make a small player feel special. Several years ago late at night at Harrah's Ak-Chin my wife and I were waiting for about 10 minutes at the players club. We were tired and needed to leave and get home but had an issue we needed to resolve. There was only one staff on hand and we were the only ones on line. After solving a problem for another patron, we started to the window when we were waved off because a higher rated player appeared. This happened one more time before we were taken. Needless to say, after waiting over 10 additional minutes we were irritated. [/QUOTE]
 understand your feelings. they should have 2 people working at all times. skipping in front of others is one of the few perks the 7* folks (i am not one) get, for losing so much money at CET. not much different than those who pay more for an airline ticket, get a better seat. every casino i have been to has a similar 'caste system'. i think as casinos make less money, one of the first places they cut are areas like players club. 

[OTABILL]

[QUOTE=OTABILL] [QUOTE=notes1]

i read an article about casinos a while back that explained a lot. one of the secrets to casino service is that no matter how small of a player you are, they try and make you feel special. their goal is supposed to be, making the person betting fifty cents feel as if they are as important as the person betting a grand. 

Maybe that's why CET is bankrupt. With their caste system, CET certainly does not make a small player feel special. Several years ago late at night at Harrah's Ak-Chin my wife and I were waiting for about 10 minutes at the players club. We were tired and needed to leave and get home but had an issue we needed to resolve. There was only one staff on hand and we were the only ones on line. After solving a problem for another patron, we started to the window when we were waved off because a higher rated player appeared. This happened one more time before we were taken. Needless to say, after waiting over 10 additional minutes we were irritated. [/QUOTE]
 understand your feelings. they should have 2 people working at all times. skipping in front of others is one of the few perks the 7* folks (i am not one) get, for losing so much money at CET. not much different than those who pay more for an airline ticket, get a better seat. every casino i have been to has a similar 'caste system'. i think as casinos make less money, one of the first places they cut are areas like players club. [/QUOTE]

At Casino Arizona everyone waits their turn regardless of level at the players club. Same regarding waiting in line for gift giveaways. There are perks for higher levels, i.e. tickets for concerts, discounts on food purchases (cash or points) and probably others for the biggest players. While there may be special lines at other local casinos, never have had an issue or any kind of significant wait. CET is most blatant. BTW, both of us were platinum at the time.

[alpax]

a number of years ago, i was playing at cherokee, got done with a machine and cashed out. forgot my ticket and walked away. i was gone 1-2 minutes, remembered, but the ticket was gone. i contacted security, they took my info and said they would get back to me, if there was anything they could do. about an hour later, a small group of casino personal found me at another machine and handed me my missing money. they explained that they had gone to the security cameras, found the person who took it and had cashed the ticket, got the money back from them, and barred them from the property. i was very impressed and expressed my gratitude. had the same thing happen one other time at CET in vegas, was told, tough luck.

Had something similar happen to me at Harrah's Rincon (now known as Southern California), I do not go there anymore but I went to check out a lady who was screaming from winning a ridiculous jackpot on a slot machine behind me. Even during a quick peek someone cashed out my credits and walked away. I was told tough luck and never got reimbursed.

Some people do leave a few cents behind on a slot machine if it is less than the minimum 50 cents a spin. I do cash it out and combine them to make a dollar. I will not do that now since it is not worth being 86'ed for doing that.


At Casino Arizona everyone waits their turn regardless of level at the players club. Same regarding waiting in line for gift giveaways. There are perks for higher levels, i.e. tickets for concerts, discounts on food purchases (cash or points) and probably others for the biggest players. While there may be special lines at other local casinos, never have had an issue or any kind of significant wait. CET is most blatant. BTW, both of us were platinum at the time.

I think CET might have started the multi-tier benefit perks. I remember when Diamond was the highest at Total Rewards, they've started to create shortcut lines everywhere as well as a separate lounge for them to check in the hotel. They had to create 7* because they had players who went well above and beyond the Diamond requirement. Right now Diamond card holders still get the benefits, but since they made it easier to get into Diamond (still not going back) with those tier boosters, I would not be surprised if they provide those benefits to 7* only.

[OTABILL]

[QUOTE=notes1]

a number of years ago, i was playing at cherokee, got done with a machine and cashed out. forgot my ticket and walked away. i was gone 1-2 minutes, remembered, but the ticket was gone. i contacted security, they took my info and said they would get back to me, if there was anything they could do. about an hour later, a small group of casino personal found me at another machine and handed me my missing money. they explained that they had gone to the security cameras, found the person who took it and had cashed the ticket, got the money back from them, and barred them from the property. i was very impressed and expressed my gratitude. had the same thing happen one other time at CET in vegas, was told, tough luck.

Had something similar happen to me at Harrah's Rincon (now known as Southern California), I do not go there anymore but I went to check out a lady who was screaming from winning a ridiculous jackpot on a slot machine behind me. Even during a quick peek someone cashed out my credits and walked away. I was told tough luck and never got reimbursed.

Some people do leave a few cents behind on a slot machine if it is less than the minimum 50 cents a spin. I do cash it out and combine them to make a dollar. I will not do that now since it is not worth being 86'ed for doing that.


At Casino Arizona everyone waits their turn regardless of level at the players club. Same regarding waiting in line for gift giveaways. There are perks for higher levels, i.e. tickets for concerts, discounts on food purchases (cash or points) and probably others for the biggest players. While there may be special lines at other local casinos, never have had an issue or any kind of significant wait. CET is most blatant. BTW, both of us were platinum at the time.

I think CET might have started the multi-tier benefit perks. I remember when Diamond was the highest at Total Rewards, they've started to create shortcut lines everywhere as well as a separate lounge for them to check in the hotel. They had to create 7* because they had players who went well above and beyond the Diamond requirement. Right now Diamond card holders still get the benefits, but since they made it easier to get into Diamond (still not going back) with those tier boosters, I would not be surprised if they provide those benefits to 7* only.[/QUOTE]

Most places that have tiers have only two and do not throw them in your face as does CET. Employee attitude is a contributory factor to making one feel not appreciated. How many times playing VP we would have employees cozy up to higher tier players next to us on the bank asking what they could do for them while completely ignoring us. A polite hello or how are you doing would suffice but treating us as invisible was a slap in the face. And let's not forget about capping machines. Other than CET, neither of us have come across that practice at other casinos. TCapping is especially galling when you travel a distance to get to the casino and can't play the bank of 10 machines you prefer because 2 or 3 are capped and the others occupied.