Strip club scam

[Bromley Blue]

Alright guys, this is a random one to post on Shrimperzone but its kinda a word of warning/ a please for advice.

On Saturday night I met up with an old mate I met travelling a couple of years ago. I live in London now so we met near Leicester Square for a few beers, watched the Arsenal game and then went on to another bar to meet some girls we knew.

The girls weren't on a heavy one so left after an hour or so and as it was just the two of us we hit the bar pretty hard.

An hour or so later we find ourselves in a stripclub and by this point I'm absolutely hammered. My only real memories of my hours in the club are of spending a bizarrely long time with one of the girls. Rather than having constant dances she was hanging round with me for most of the night and I can remember her being really flirty and giving me a couple of dances even though I said I had no cash.

I can remember not spending much time with my mate whilst we were in there and vaguely remember a bit of an argument between my mate and the girl I was with.

Sunday morning I wake up with a cut across my nose and the contents of my wallet all over the place. I put this down to how drunk I was and tell myself to calm down a bit.

The next day I am checking my bank balance online and I'm around £1000 out of pocket. At this moment my jaw hit the floor and I'm wondering what the hell has happened. I couldnt find out where the money has gone as the debit had not been processed so I had to wait another day. It turns out that I made 5 transactions which amounted to around £1000 that night whilst in the club in question.

I'd like to say at this point that I don't really go to these type of places often and if I did I'd spend at most £50. After doing a bit of research on their website it appears they do a service called table company for £250 an hour. I'm now guessing one of the girls sat down next to me n started being a bit flirty n in my drunken stupor I just went along with it. However at no point was I aware of the extortionate fee and I'm assuming I kicked off when I found out which is why I had the injuries I did.

My bank are obviously not interested in treating this as fraud as all transactions were pin verified and a copper I know says the old bill wont do anything.

If I'd had 3 hours of dances n such then I couldnt really complain as however drunk you get you would realise this isn't free. But for a girl to sit down and be a bit flirty with you and then make out she's giving you dances for free and then charge through the nose for is surely criminal?

Please take what I've said as a warning but any advice is also welcome?!

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

but any advice is also welcome?!

1. Don't go to bongo bars around Soho - it'll cost you... ooh, about a grand.

2. How are you going to prove anything against this club? You were hammered, they were sober, you verified every expenditure by pin. It's your word against theirs - and your word, looked at objectively, looks pretty darn shaky.

3. She can say that you treated her to very expensive champagne because you were trying to impress her (that's the usual line). How on earth are you going to prove you weren't when (a) you were hammered; and (b) you got into a fight with the bouncers?

Gutted for you. I think, however, that you're going to have to chalk it up as one of life's very expensive lessons.

Matt

 

[South Bank Hank]

Just one of a number of threads in the Pub today that is absolutely useless without pics.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Ouch, thats all I can say!

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Bloody hell thats harsh ... i bet you sobered up pretty quickly when you realised what had happened !!!

 

[adwebb16]

You must have punched in your pin number at least 4 times without realising that £250 was being taken out?

 

[Bromley Blue]

No there were a couple for around £30 quid which was probably a few drinks. There were two large transactions: One for £120 and the final one for £590.

MtS I agree whole heartedly. When sober I'm quite level headed and in the cold light of day I can see your points for myself. I was all pumped up for going back up there when I first found out as I was unaware of this table company malarky. I assumed that they'd overcharged me at the bar but after reading on their website I'm 99% certain this "service" is what it went on.

I just think its disgraceful that they don't make you aware that you are being charged for what is happening when it is not glaringly obvious. This place wasn't the busiest and so it made sense to me that the girls might sit with you and try and get you more drunk and up for a dance.

I spoke to my mate the other day and he said he remembers having an argument with the girl I was with coz he came up to her and told her to leave me alone and she threatened to hit him. The more I remember/find out the more sinister it sounds.

 

[J]

Haha... love it. I used to decline dick heads all the time who tried claiming fraud for this. You put the pin in, your transaction. Expensive lesson, learnt.

 

[Berrichonne shrimper]

Sorry but how is this a scam,no offence chap but this is only one persons fault and that person is you,a hard lesson learnt but my sister did spend a long time with you.

 

[McNasty]

Sorry but how is this a scam,no offence chap but this is only one persons fault and that person is you,a hard lesson learnt but my sister did spend a long time with you.

Tony, what did you spend the grand on ?

 

[pickledseal]

You must have felt sick mate. Thanks for the words of warning, not that I usually frequent places like that!

 

[Firestorm]

I just think its disgraceful that they don't make you aware that you are being charged for what is happening when it is not glaringly obvious. This place wasn't the busiest and so it made sense to me that the girls might sit with you and try and get you more drunk and up for a dance.

No offence, but if you can't remember how you got a cut on your nose, you are unlikely to remember if they made you aware of what they were charging you for

 

[SamuraiBlue]

It is possible that they saw you put your pin in for the drinks transactions and remembered it. They could have faked the big transactions and put your pin in themselves so I would say it is worth following up.
Have no idea what you should do though

 

[Junior Toot]

ouch... a grand? Just think of the brass you could have got for that sort of cash.

 

[Berrichonne shrimper]

Tony, what did you spend the grand on ?

Got my sister a new false leg and some cream for her fanny rash,some people eh,what ever happens its never their fault.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

All tho this is outrageous what has happened to you, no one is surprised.
These places operate on well worked scam systems. The girls are the honey pot, smiling at your face, whilst they are fleecing you at every turn. They work on a commision basis, so a drunk sucker with cash and cards like you, is perfect.
Just to round off your unpleasant night, the bigger the fuss you kick up the bigger the beating you get from bouncers that appear from a CCTV room monitoring the scam.

Sorry to be hard saafender.

Rule No.1; Don't go in these places.
Rule No. 2; If you do, do not take any credit cards, and bear in mind that you may be ejected quickly if you take in about 60 quid {Two drinks + 10 minutes girl chat time) as you will be of no value to them.

 

[southend4ever]

What he said above.

 

[Bromley Blue]

All tho this is outrageous what has happened to you, no one is surprised.
These places operate on well worked scam systems. The girls are the honey pot, smiling at your face, whilst they are fleecing you at every turn. They work on a commision basis, so a drunk sucker with cash and cards like you, is perfect.
Just to round off your unpleasant night, the bigger the fuss you kick up the bigger the beating you get from bouncers that appear from a CCTV room monitoring the scam.

Sorry to be hard saafender.

Rule No.1; Don't go in these places.
Rule No. 2; If you do, do not take any credit cards, and bear in mind that you may be ejected quickly if you take in about 60 quid {Two drinks + 10 minutes girl chat time) as you will be of no value to them.

Yeah cheers guys. I've told a few people and everyone has smiled as they've been sympathetic. I can see the funny side to it even though I feel sick to the stomach about the whole situation.

How can I be sure they didnt inform me as to what was going on? Err because I dont normally frequent these sorta places and if they had mentioned it was a paid service I'd have been out of there like a shot. Add to that the fact that my mate came up to her and asked her to leave me alone and she threatened to get him beaten up and you get the picture as to what was going down.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Yeah cheers guys. I've told a few people and everyone has smiled as they've been sympathetic. I can see the funny side to it even though I feel sick to the stomach about the whole situation.

How can I be sure they didnt inform me as to what was going on? Err because I dont normally frequent these sorta places and if they had mentioned it was a paid service I'd have been out of there like a shot. Add to that the fact that my mate came up to her and asked her to leave me alone and she threatened to get him beaten up and you get the picture as to what was going down.

More or less the same sort of thing happened to a mate of mine. He was drunk before he staggered into the bar in Soho alone, last man standing.
A gorgeous very friendly leggy Brunette has started chatting him up straight away at the bar. He says would you like a drink, she says she would love a glass of bubbly, but don't worry as she has a special deal and the barman only charges her £50 a bottle, and you can settle up at the end. He says that's fine and they get the first bottle, to much laughter from them both as it's popped open and they are getting on so well. They only seem to have a glass each out of the bottle when the barman says to the girl, would you like another bottle, she says to my friend that she would love to open another one as she really likes him and she is having a great time. Bottle number two is opened and they drink some more. This sends my mate over the ill/sick drunken state. He asks for her number as he has to get a taxi home quick. He asks for the bill. The bill arrives. £1220, 'This must be a mistake, even this drunk I know it should be £100 for bubbly plus whatever for bacardi and coke.' my mate says. The bar owner comes out from a black door followed by two evil looking bouncers. He says it was Two bottles of Champagne at £500 each, Two hours of the lovely lady's company at £100 per hour, and £20 for the first drink you had when you walked into this bar. It kicks off, she is now shouting him down and telling him that he must of effin well known he was paying for her company, and that she effin well told him it was £500 a bottle and he should get his effin ears cleaned out. My mate refused to pay and took a punch from one of the bouncers that almost broke his jaw, the other bouncer then stamped hard on his thigh, he said 'O.K., O.K., I'll pay.'

The girls phone number was of course moody, the Champagne was cheap plonk. He showed a copper his injuries the next day. They went back to the bar, asked to see the CCTV tape. Sorry the bar owner says, they got wiped last night as it was that time to do the tapes.
The bar owner says the customers are told the prices at the very start by the girls. It's their choice to stay. Also we knew he would get into a fight somewhere after he left this bar, we never touched him.

The copper said there was nothing more he could do without evidence or witnesses. ''Do not go into these bar's in the first place.'' is what he said as a parting shot.

 

[Slipperduke]

Mate, I'm afraid you're just going to have to suck it up and put it down to experience which, as Winston Churchill once said, is just a back catalogue of hideous mistakes. London has been ripping off people for centuries and, every single day, new wallies arrive in town and get fleeced.

Don't worry though, you're not alone. At least you've only been stitched up once. I've been living in London for ten years now, but when I first arrived I was done over twice in a fortnight, which makes me some kind of super-wally.

Ever paid 50 quid for a cigarette butt in tin foil? Oh, I have. Try cutting one of them up with a credit card on a toilet cistern. I don't even want to talk about the second incident....