I sat in one of my favorite clubs the other night and watched a few guys put down credit cards and start tabs. We've all heard of drunk morons getting ripped off, and I saw it once live and in (blurry) color.
I could never do it, but opinions differ.
Would you?
Yes I have used credit cards. The spending gets out of control but sometimes it is worth it.
wince
Not a good idea at all. Too many horror stories.
I have done it, after verifying what, if any, fees applied (and in places I've come to trust and be known), but only for single purchases, never for a tab.
Credit cards shouldn't be used at strip clubs, but I'd go so far as to say they shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary at any place. There are times when you have to use one (car rentals, hotels or trip reservations, etc) but short of necessity, there's no amount of reward points justifying the interest and fees the card companies charge.
Ignoring my own advice, I did it yesterday, but I made sure to control the circumstances. After auditioning five dancers, when I found a dancer willing to fuck, I had enough to pay her, but not for the bottle (VIP). I put the bottle on a CC, but told the waitress "Absolutely NOT !!!" when she wanted to "leave it open" for dances.
I ran a tab a few months ago at a club i frequent. My brother and I had about 7 beers at $3.50 and one stripper drink at $5 and I was charged $21 +$5 tip. No unusual charges have appeared.
Never tempt fate. All you need is one bad experience to teach you to keep the credit cards in your wallet. I learned my lesson years ago to the tune of a couple thousand dollars.
I have never had a problem wtith it. That being said I notice most members frequent much seedier clubs than I do so as always YMMV.
I avoid it in general because I don't want the paper trail, but especially at places that want to hold your credit card and ID when you start a tab (surprised they don't ask for your pin while they're at it), and definitely not somewhere you overhear the staff talking about the owner having money problems.
I used to use a card once in a while to pay for champagne rooms (the club's cut only, I always pay the dancer cash). As I became more of a club regular I decided that the safest way to play was to only bring in the cash I could afford to spend on a visit. That has always worked well for me...
About 6 months ago I witnessed a chilling credit card situation at Uptown Cabaret in Charlotte, NC. There was a young-ish guy at the bar who was so drunk that he had paased out with his head on the bar WHILE STANDING.
A girl came over, woke him up, and talked him into a trip to VIP. It took four tries for him to stumble to the stairs to VIP because he kept leaving behind his shoes while walking barefoot across the club, and then stumbling back when the girls yelled and pointed. Finally, the stripper and a waitress had to work together to "help" this guy up the stairs, all the while the waitress had this guy's credit card in her hand.
Now the UC in Charlotee is a ridulous hustle hut to begin with, filled with little harpies (in my opinion), but that was unreal.
With the shady associations so many SCs have, you're just asking to get rolled! Besides BS charges, your card info may be going straight to the Russian mob, or whatever, so you can get ripped off later.
I don't use standalone ATM machines either, wherever they are.
CA$H is King
First rule of going to a strip club: do not take your credit card into the strip club with you. Figure out how much cash you want to blow and take that amount with you. To repeat, do not take your credit card into the strip club. That's the first rule of going to a strip club.
gator, damn right. If I walk in with $$$ then I know that it is all I can lose. I usually don't even bring my wallet in with me to avoid any later drunken temptations. Not only does it prevent the scam shit, but also limits how much damage I can do to the amount in my pocket. No waking up the next morning and realizing I just dropped $2k.
From a recent review: "great place, girls everywhere! called them and they sent a taxi to our hotel. Free cab ride and admission into the club. got there about 4am. made a large vodka mix for the cab ride but the ride was short so i slammed the mix at the door. usher led us to our seats. got swarmed by girls on the the walk over to our seats and as soon as we sat down. chilled for a while and ordered a bucket of 6 beers for $48. Pretty much blacked out after that. according to receipts, got a half hour dance for $242 and something else for $30 apparently. my friend did as well and he said touching was allowed so that was a nice bonus. i was physically unable to sign my tab so they fingerprinted me for a signature. that was nice of them. text records show that i left at 8:30am"
Using a credit card in a SC is an invitation to a Ripoff.
Bought a drink for a dancer who, upon leaving, said she would be right back. Waitress nods over to her and asks me if I was covering her drink. I stupidly said yes. Got the tab and it included $100.00 added by the dancer who never returned. I lost the argument and had to pay it. Private mail and I will tell Detroiters which club.
I'll repeat what I put in a prior thread- in a word, no. The few occasions when I have done so, or started to do so, staff wanted my drivers liscense along with CC. My personal info is worth a lot more than a lousy $20 B&B charge ( burger and beer). Considering that I've run up a solid 3 figure tab at some good steak places, and they've taken CC without batting an eyelash, stripclub stance towards CC's is unacceptable to me. As prior poster said, cash is king.
I'll admit that I've occasionally used club ATM, I've generally used only those that charge =< $5 fee.
I have used a CC but only in foreign countries, never here in the states. I have regretted the huge fees charged for those times, and of course, alcohol was impairing my judgement.
Seems that those that use caution have little or no problems. The others, well stupid should hurt!
clubber, you may be right and in some clubs you would probably be fine. I guess my problem is that I go to the wrong types of clubs ;)
I am not too cautious at a SC - I want to drink moderately to heavily, work, and get worked by, the girls, maybe find some nice takeout and just have a ball. I also want to be able to bail out immediately if things go south (which they have a couple of times over the years), which I can't do if they have my credit card.
Would not use cc at sc. Not saying I don't trust 'em, but...well, sure I am: I don't trust 'em.
Usually no, but at clubs I've been to for a number of times, I'll buy a drink or 2 on a tab, but nothing else, and I check my statement to be sure no hanky panky has gone on. I guess I pick the right clubs, never had a problem.
vm,
How does MG remain vertical?
beats the SS out of me Clubber. Howdy
I don't even bring my ATM or credit card into the club. I set a budget and stick to it. Even using the strip club ATM will screw you. I know one club where the ATM service fee is $10 or 10% of the amount withdrawn. OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Others he wishes to conform to HIS wishes and desires! What an idiot! And some say pot doesn't kill brain cells.
Wow. Now I feel like txtittyfan. Are you stalking me, Clubber?
Those ATM and credit card fees create so much ill will with the customers I wonder if they are worth it to the strip clubs?
I know one club that photocopies your driver's license when you make a purchase using your credit card. Kind of creepy. They held on to my credit card and driver's license while I was in the VIP. One thing that kept running through my mind back in the VIP was "Geesh I hope this guy is not using my ID/cc to buy stuff online using a computer or his iphone"
I have also read a story of SW that one stripper took a really drunk guy to the VIP. He passed out back there. In order to make his credit card purchase legit they needed his fingerprint so they (manager and stripper) just took his fingerprint while he was passed out and drunk. It was for $1,200 purchase.
I have also read on Dreamgirls (col, oh) review section on stripclublist about a guy who went and did the $275/30 min VIP session. He used his credit card and was billed for it twice. He called Dreamgirls to complain and they were complete jerks about it and refused to cooperate with him. His credit card company though was able to remove the double charge so he only had to pay for one $275 charge instead of both. Probably was a stupid dreamgirls manager running the charge card through twice thinking it did not go through the first time.
Never.
I like the music video for "I support Single Mothers" featuring Tpain where he whips out his costco credit card and throw it to the stripper
In one or two clubs I frequent and with the right bartender, yes. Others, NEVER!