Harrah's Joliet : Check your mailbox

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Jackpot! 1,000 Joliet casino patrons sent $525 cash coupons in error [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

November 19, 2005

BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter




Going to the casino is all about luck, but hundreds of people on the mailing list for Harrah's Joliet casino got luckier than most when they were sent -- by accident -- coupons redeemable for $525 in cash.

On Wednesday, the casino mailed more than 1,000 coupons to customers through a third-party vendor. But instead of the usual $15 and $20 coupons regular patrons such as Lora Duncan, of Wilmington, are used to, single coupons good for $525 were sent out.

"There was an error with the vendor we use for our direct marketing program," the casino's vice president of marketing, Doug Lima, said. "We were learning of this error the same time many of our guests did."

Friday, Harrah's said it would honor the faulty coupons that were mailed out.

"At Harrah's, we place the utmost value in the loyalty of our guests, and the trust they've placed in us," Illinois regional president Joe Domenico said in a statement.

But that decision came hours after Duncan on Friday morning tried to redeem the coupon she received, said her husband, John Duncan.

"My mother-in-law [who also received a coupon] went to the casino and collected her cash, but when my wife went, they confiscated the ticket and said they didn't have to honor it," John Duncan said. "She left there crying."

John Duncan said he contacted the casino, only to be told a second time the coupon was no good.

When told about Harrah's change of heart, John Duncan said, "I have to see it first. If that's true, I'll have a different stance than the one I do now."