Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Wynn Resorts Responds to @PhilipBloom

[Update: Philip Bloom just sent me two emails. The first: "You REALLY didnt want to post that blog. You have gone beyond personal. this will not be pleasant for you Steve." The second: "you have gone on a personal attack and said some deeply untrue fucked up things. thank god you have SUCH a litigious society. :-)."]


If you're not on Twitter, you may not be aware that my prior post of Wynn-related bits and pieces set off a firestorm because filmmaking GOD Philip Bloom took umbrage with having his already peculiar version of events at Wynn Las Vegas questioned. It seems he's very, very touchy, and although he has no trouble unloading on the hotel in public and urging his Twitter followers to join in on the bashing, when he is placed under scrutiny, he withers and tells me in a series of private emails that *I* am what's wrong with the Internet.

The background: Bloom, the greatest filmmaker and digital movie pioneer in the history of cinema according to his bizarro followers, got sick when he was in Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters convention last month. He was rushed to the hospital and later a doctor told him that a heretofore-benign allergy to feathers was exacerbating his throat ailment. He asked the resort to remove all the feather pillows and they did so except that they may have left one (of 8) behind. Bloom realized this on the very last day of his trip and decided to make a federal case out of it. His Twitter followers, in fact, believe the hotel almost KILLED him. Really. They've said that and more.

You can read his version of events on his blog. It's not just that there were inconsistencies in his account and an overall whiny, entitled tone but that when fans of the Wynn tried to represent their good customer service experiences in his comments section, Bloom refused to approve those remarks. He claimed that the pro-Wynn people were attacking him because, in Bloom's world, any form of disagreement or dissent is an attack. Just ask the sycophants who follow/read him.

All the Twitter discussion of Bloom's cowardice and discomfort with anything less than sheer devotion may explain why he did, in fact, approve a comment from Wynn Las Vegas late today. I had asked for a response as well, and I received the same paragraph:

As Mr. Bloom already stated publicly, he was a guest of our resort and had an unfortunate experience. We genuinely take such situations very seriously and strive to rectify any problems with a quick response and action. We respect the privacy of all of our guests and don’t and won’t discuss details of their experiences in public. In this case, while we are tempted to provide context which would accurately reflect what actually happened, we opt to take the high road and not reveal such particulars.

That is what we call a "tersely worded" statement. You can just tell they're dying to tell the world what a pain in the caboose Bloom is and how badly he's mangled the facts of the case. But they're taking the "high road," a notion with which Bloom himself is clearly unfamiliar.

I'm sure there's a germ of truth in Bloom's version of the situation. The trouble is, it's also clear he set out to embarrass the Wynn and felt his army of 12,500-ish Twitter followers was a weapon to be used in his personal dispute. He's clearly a high-maintenance kind of guy with an extraordinarily thin skin for someone in the movie business, and I had a gut feeling when I first read his account that he wasn't telling a complete or balanced story to his readers. Now I know for sure he wasn't but that his readers don't much care about the truth anyway.

Only Bloom and the Wynn folks know the true details and the Wynn would never tell, which is something Bloom clearly is counting on. But for as long as I've been covering this city, I have heard only heroic, above-and-beyond customer service stories about this property. This guy was clearly difficult from the word ahchoo.

14 comments:

detroit1051 said...

I had never heard of Philip Bloom until his ridiculous Wynn saga overtook the internet today. I'm tuning out. Bloom and his blog commenters don't realize there are more important issues facing the world than his thin skin and feather pillows.

Philip Bloom said...

and yet this man continues his personal attack against me which is completely out of order.

maybe you think this sort of diatribe is ok by you but not be me.

EC Gladstone said...

You know what, I watched this unfold today, and wasn't going to comment until these last exchanges. As a hotel reviewer, I have had many experiences at all levels of accommodation, both in Las Vegas and elsewhere. I have stayed in the Wynn and Encore several times in particular, and have had many very pleasant experiences there.
However, there have also been errors, in particular with housekeeping (one was in my favor--a maid neglected to find a $500 chip which had been left by the last guest under a table. Yummy!)
Based on his comments, the only thing clear is that Mr. Bloom is a person who stayed in a 5 star-rated hotel and got seriously ill during that stay. Those are the only facts not open to interpretation. His state of mind is understandable. How he chose to react to the incident(s) is another matter.
Regardless, Five Star hotels get persnickety, difficult and demanding guests all the time.
And the one thing that really distinguishes the finest hotels in the world is SERVICE.
In other words: The customer is always right. The customer is always right. And...The customer is always right.
For a representative of Wynn to even imply publicly that the guest was at fault is a serious breach of service ethics. That reflects worse upon them than anything else that happened. Truly "taking the high road" would have meant contacting Mr. Bloom privately and resolving the matter as reasonably as possible.

P.S. No one not interested in Phillip Bloom's rant was forced to read his blog, either.

Unknown said...

I'm a fan of Philip's work, but felt he was perhaps being a bit too whiny over the fact the hotel made an apparently genuine mistake and at least made some initial attempts to make up for it and apologise for it. However the 'free meal' that turned out to be a takeaway pizza as 'compensation' was hilariously tacky and poor on their part, and for a five star hotel seems pretty despicable.

When I read last night that Philip had decided he was totally within his rights to publish what he wanted but to refuse to publish comments I decided he was in a 'wanting to have his cake and eat it' situation. On the one hand it's OK for him to attack an establishment but seemingly not for that person/establishment to have the right of reply. The end-result was entirely predictable - a new blog entry from the seemingly injured party (here) instead!

However where Philip's blog attacked the establishment, this blog has decided to resort to a very personal attack on him (and his 'fans') instead. I'm afraid such a 'bitchy' tabloid-style attack just makes me automatically think he is in the right after all and is justified in his complaints.

Taking snippets of private emails and publishing them without permission is lame and also smacks of prejudice and bias. Adding insult to injury by claiming to "take the high road" by outright refusing to give ANY information on why Mr Bloom's story does not reflect reality, effectively saying "He's a liar but we're not going to demean ourselves by saying why" smacks of cowardice and hypocrisy to the hightest degree.

Bottom line: Given the way they've behaved, would I be tempted to stay at the Wynn. Absolutely not. They may have a valid grievance against Mr Bloom but their handling of the affair has been appalling, and this blog seems to have mindlessly taken their side (looking for special favours perhaps? You're hardly unbiased!) without attempting any real kind of fact checking or justification.

Joey k in cali said...

Ian... You understand that the reference to the bloom thing came in the middle of a long and fairly critical post about Steve Wynn, complete with audio of an nor appearance in which Steve rags on Steve Wynn? As a loyal reader, I can assure you that steves bias is generally for the truth, not to gain favors from anyone. He has strong opinions, but they're always interesting

That said, I do wish he'd tell us what he really knows. I have to think if he's going out on this limb, hes pretty confident and may just not be able to say.

Finally, I think the emails he published served a very good purpose: the proved Philip bloom is a bully. Which I think is what ticked off Steve in the first place.

Jay Gannon said...

To be honest a 5 star hotel is expected to deal with every and any guests whims, regardless of wether they are actually valid ones.
If I had asked for a simple request like that even without a medical reason I'd be lookin to get a serious comp if it wasn't pt thru.
Your not paying for the room in a 5 star your paying for the service.

Jay (who lives in hotels 7 months of the year)

Anonymous said...

I love how Philip Bloom attacks the hotel in public, then when there's the slightest bit of defence of it, he calls it a personal attack against him.

Wow, this guy cannot take as good he gives whatsoever. One rule for him, another rule for others.

I think Philip needs to read or re-read the latest few comments to him on the previous blog post as it might help tone his increasingly diva-like behaviour down a bit.

Seriously dude, sort it out. You're a news camera man with a DSLR, not a Hollywood Director. Get over yourself already.

Lots more love and kisses,

Anonymous Coward
13 years old
xxx

Anonymous said...

Bloom is a prima donna.

Friess is a hater.

Wynn Hotel Las Vegas has shitty customer service.

Anonymous said...

Good grief. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Bloom was harmed because of a left behind feather pillow. After hearing about the seriousness of being exposed to feathers, didn't Bloom have some affirmative obligation to double check the room after housekeeping said they removed them all? Wasn't it in his interest to do so? I have severe allergic reaction to two medicines and it's right there in my file at the doctors' offices and pharmacies I go to and yet whenever there is talk of a prescription or I am having one filled, I make sure to find out if there is any relation to what is being prescribed and the two problematic medications rather than take the chance that there is some confusion/mistake.

Does Bloom drive into traffic when he believes he has the right of way without looking?

And, honestly, how thin skinned can anyone be if they can't take a few comments on blog without getting in a snit?

Wynn's job is to provide a great room, in great condition, great restaurants, gambling, a great spa, beautiful facilities.. special needs are just that, special. Learn to take to some personal responsibility especially if one's health is at risk.

Grow up.

SG - not a 13 year old in my parents' basement, but yes anonymous as I don't need my e-mail to be full of this ridiculous conversation.

jptm said...

thanks for using 'caboose' again, Steve! did you do it just for me?! :)

THE STRIP PODCAST said...

jptm: you betcha

jptm said...

merci beaucoup! ...it's my 'word of the day'.

Anonymous said...

It seems that Philip Bloom can't take any criticism. His blog post about the Wynn Hotel experience seems to be gone from his site. He can be prima donna and rant as much as he wants but can't take any of it back and therefore tries to erase the situation that he himself started.

Anonymous said...

Was Bloom staying in the Tower Suites? Because for a film GOD, to stay in the resort side is pretty ghetto.