OK. I have been a dedicated fan/friend since I was 15 years old. What can I say.... Sign of the Times turned me out.

And over the years, I have defended Prince, I have ponied up serious cash for concerts, t-shirts, multiple copies of the same CD, music clubs, posters, key chains, tamborines, candles, you name it.

Having said that, I have never been to a Prince event where there wasnt some giant kink in the whole plan that messed it up for everyone. And usuaally I am the guy reminding everyone to be patient.

Tonight, I hit my limit.

Last week, I planned a trip to Vegas to see his latest outing - 3121 at the Rio Hotel. I booked dinner at the restaurant, concert tickets, private booth at the show - The Works.

Today was a good day - Saw the new Bond movie, ran a few errands around sin city, went home to get dressed...

My dinner reservation was for 8, but by 6:45, I could see there was no way I was going to be ontime, so I called the Rio to push my reservation out to 8:30. After a 35 minute wait on the phone, they told me no problem.

At 8:00, I hopped in the rental and headed to the Rio. Traffic was bad, but I still managed to get a ticket from the valet at 8:25. So far everything was going to plan.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, the host, after flipping through 5 or 6 pages said that he couldnt find my name. I pulled out my PDA to find the confirmation, and this guy has the nerve to get rude with me.

Now wait a second. I have been very polite here, and I am the customer. He then tells me that I am holding up the line and I should head over to the Box office.

Ok. Fine. Its now 8:45. Show starts at 10.

I walk over to the box office which is in the front of the hotel near guest registration and wait in another line. Finally, they tell me that with my problem, the supervisor needs to come and talk to me.

She arrives, and explains that I need to go to the Masquarade box office to get my tickets. Somehow, I have been left of the list. If I am willing to go there to get my tickets, I can have dinner and enjoy my evening.

FINE.

Ok, so I hoof it over to MASQUARADE BOX OFFICE, only to wait in another line. From there, they tell me that I need to wait in another line to get a wristband which entitles me to wait in another line to get my tickets.

FINE.

Ok.. after getting a yellow wristband, I stand in the line to get my tickets. They take my ID...and I am made to wait yet again.

Its now 9:25.

While I am waiting, my cellphone rings - its the manager from the original box office. She has found me in the computer and is sending a someone over to assist me.

So I waited.

And I waited.

Finally at 9:50, a woman comes out and tells me that I have been booked for the next night. I try to explain to her that I called earlier tonight and they confirmed and rescheduled my dinner.

And she was rude to me. Very Rude TO ME.

Finally, I explained that I had enough. I asked for a refund.

And without missing a beat, the granted my request.

No pushback. No apology. She simply said, 'fine. take my card. If your credit doesnt appear on your card in 30 days, call me.

And that was my 3121 experience.

Again. I have been completely in favor of this whole Vegas thing. Heck, I was one of the idiots dropping serious $$$ Memorial Day weekend to see The Time on Friday, and Prince on Saturday & Sunday. Remember all the drama on that weekend????

Welp. Im done.

If you got this far, thanks for listening.

Wow. You know, it is too bad there is no direct link for complaints because I'm sure Prince would not like to hear about your bad trip. I had a close to perfect experience there. I'm assuming you had the VIP package? I just bought a ticketmaster ticket, paid for dinner and then General Admission. Perhaps you need to either write a letter of sorts because that is just lame.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. You should write a letter of complaint. Don't know if you remember the names of those who were rude to you. That's unfortunate. My experience last weekend was very positive. The Rio staff was very friendly with us.

wonder505 said:

I have to agree with you wonder505. The Rio staff was very courteous towards us during the opening of the club, while we were waiting on line, inside the club and even at the 3121 boutique.

What I don't understand is why you waited 35 minutes on the phone to make a 30 minutes change in your reservation. I would have waited on the phone five minutes top then just arrive at the original time.

That said, changing a reservation shouldn't mean having to wait in several more lines and being delayed for hours. What's up with that? It almost sounds like they did it on purpose cuz you gave them the "I am the customer here" speech.

keep in mind the staff at the Rio was there before Prince came along....he has inherited a bunch of slacker casino employees....no offense but can you imagine working in a casino with all the tourists, smoke, lights and sounds?

2elijah said:

My experience was very positive aswell and the staff I encountered were very friendly both nights, but I agree with Wonder505 if that happened to me I would definately make a complaint.

mimiviz said:

I agree with Wonder505 as well, I'm sure the person(s) that gave him a hard time does not reflect the attitudes of all the Rio staff.

I guess the moral of the story is...plan your day so you can honor your reservation.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience Fri night. I don't understand why the 3121 restaraunt could not squeeze you in for dinner. I didn't even have a dinner reservation there that night. I tried to eat somewhere else which had too long of a wait and this restaraunt called over to 3121 who said they had openings and we just walked over and were seated for dinner within 15minutes. Things seemed somewhat disorganized at the club itself regarding which line pepole should be in but other than that I found everyting worked out well.

For those who don't know, let me clear some of this up. Prince has "four-walled" what used to be Club Rio. It should be known that 3121 is a CLUB. A Club that Prince will play at... There are no "showtimes" at a Club. He plays when he feels like playing, he quits when he feels like quitting. All comlaints should be directed to Prince and his management.
As for the person that wrote "keep in mind the staff at the Rio was there before Prince came along....he has inherited a bunch of slacker casino employees....no offense but can you imagine working in a casino with all the tourists, smoke, lights and sounds?" Do you think writing NO OFFENSE relieves you of calling the Rio employees "slackers?" That is like saying, "You're an A_Hole, no offense."
Yes the Rio employees were there BEFORE Prince and have built a exceptional reputation for being the best in the business. I have followed Prince since 1979 and have found him to be a "slacker" with regard to his fanbase. That is something you just have to come to expect for the "chance" of a once-in-a-lifetime show. I still belive Prince is as close to a "musical-God" as there can be on Earth, but the man is a royal pain in the ass that has no appriciation for the people who put him where he is now. Do not confuse how you are treated by this endlessly difficult human-being with the service/reputation of the Rio employees. There was great exitement at the Rio when Prince was coming. So far, his "CLUB" has been such a logistical disaster that it is damaging the reputaion the Rio has for superior customer service. I urge everyone to use caution when buying a ticket to the "CLUB", it is not a Concert, it is not a show, you are guaranteed nothing by PRINCE other than that he will pocket your money and most of the time leave you dissappointed. Thankfully, it is only a six-month deal.

Vegas3121 said:

I have defended the Rio in general, not just the club, to people who have called it 'garbage' or a 'dump' or that 'Prince's should have playes somewhere nicer' because I don't feel that way about the Rio. I don't know how fair or accurate to say that Prince is 'damaging the reputation of the Rio' because The Rio's reputation was not that good to begin with by people who frequent Las Vegas. I actually like the Rio, but the Rio is not ranked very high to Las Vegas regulars.
[Edited 11/20/06 14:21pm]

Vegas3121 said:

I was there last weekend. I experience NO LOGISTICAL DISASTER WHATSOVER. The Rio Staff was very very friendly to us. My experience was one of the few moments that I was very proud to be apart of the fanclub because they placed us first, we were cracking jokes, the whole experience was fun. What are you going to say. that all of us were having the same dream and it didn't occur?

Your overexaggeration is evident that you are just flaming some fire that only exist in your mind.

Look at those who posted reviews, maybe one or two came back negative and it seemed more like a mixup. I do fundraisers and parties all the time and there is not one event that goes by where there is a minor mixup or two.

What you want Prince to do. Stand up front and supervise the line?

And how is this bad for business. While we were waiting on line, people were hitting the blackjack table, running over to the bar, going shopping until it was time to go in. You call that bad business. $$$$$
[Edited 11/20/06 14:53pm]

does anyone see the irony in the name "Vegas3121" by someone who is bashing the whole club thing?

txladykat said:

Exactly! how about the irony of the author of the thread "itsmrhappy"...
very ironic.


Besides when I went to the opening of the club weekend, we were treated kindly by his staff and the Rio employees there. This Vegas3121 sounds like a disgruntled employee, As far as the lineup, what confusion? GA ticketholders were given a different wristband than club members and VIP members. Only confusion that could happen is people who don't pay attention when the Rio or Prince's staff come around with the wristbands.

They specifically tell you what line to stand in according to the type of ticket you purchased, so I don't see how there could be any confusion when they come around stating this. The only problem I did see, was a couple who bought GA tickets and were on one line with everyone else before they gave out the wristbands and separated the lines. That couple was not aware that they would have to stand in a GA line although they had been standing on line longer than most of us. The couple was angry because when they gave the club members wristbands and sent us on a separate line to enter first, this couple was not happy about that, because they felt they should have been given this info earlier.

I suggest they have ropes with signs stating "NPG club member lines, GA and VIP lines" in the areas they want these ticket holders to stand before entering the club.

Ticketmaster should also note that members of Prince's fan club will enter first, although they have this msg on their page already:

MEMBER TICKETS: Limit is 2 and if you dont purchase tickets with
a password it will not be viewed as a MEMBER purchase

But for casino guests who walk up to the ticket window to purchase tickets or just the general public (non-fan club members who didn't purchase through presale) who want to see the show, then ticketmaster needs to indicate that "fan club members will enter the club first." and will be given separate wristbands to enter the club, to avoid confusion the day of the show and at lineup. As far as how anyone will enjoy Prince's show is up to the fan, you already read the reviews and the majority of them were positive. He is not going to play everyone's favorite song, but when he plays it, he does it well. You have to make your Prince experience work for you because everyone's experience will be different.

As far as I could see, he was very courteous to the audience members and from what I have read from other reports, he did ask some of his fans at the last show what they would like to hear, and even came out to meet some fans. So if any of you are contemplating going, then go with an open mind and make the experience work for you because we are not all going to feel the same about everything Prince does or doesn't.

There will be positive and negative responses and that's just part of the package for any concert or show, you just have to make it work for you. Sorry, don't mean to preach, but I remember the days we waited for Prince to announce a tour and how some of you were disappointed that you may not have had a chance to see him perform anytime soon. Well, now he's giving many a chance to come and see him perform and if you can go, then go. Don't let someone else's bad experience deter you from going. So it's in Vegas...make a vacation out of it while you're there. If you can't catch him this time round, then maybe he will decide to do a tour and you'll be able to see him them. So, make the best of it if you go, don't expect a 4 hour show unless of course, Prince feels like doing that, but so far the shows are about 2 hours + long. Enjoy it and take the memories with you..make the experience work for you that's all.
[[Edited 11/21/06 11:25am]
[Edited 11/21/06 11:25am]

that's right....it is not ranked very high....and you can tell why when you deal with some of the workers there.....i say slackers only in the best possible meaning of the word

You have every reason to be upset. No reason you should have been treated like that especially when "they" dropped the ball. I purchased my tickets the same day of the show (early friday morning 11ish) and when I got to the 3121 entrance I received 2 tickets, I only needed one. It was just me. What a hassle, the clerk told me he would speak to his supervisor who told me he credited the tik back to my account, if I dont see it back on my account to call him, a Matt Burns. This guy is a jerk. Even on my way back home I met some people on the plane who went to the see him had VIP seats and they also had issues and felt that they didnt have a clue what they were doing. Prince should have some meetings with the club and should address some quality assurance issues. The customer is always right. Right?