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twitterNightclub nightmare costs couple a bundle
Couple gets eye-opening — and wallet emptying — view of what goes on in one of the hottest nightclubs on the Vegas Strip
Tiffany Brown
John and Tina Henderson pose outside the Luxor on Thursday. The Hendersons are speaking out about their recent experience at LAX nightclub in the Luxor, where they say employees solicited huge tips at every turn, driving the cost of their party’s evening up to about $2,000 and spoiling the experience.
Sunday, March 9, 2008 | 3 a.m.
21st at LAX
Parents share the unexpected experience of their daughter’s 21st birthday at PURE Management’s LAX nightclub.
Beyond the Sun
Come with John and Tina Henderson as they take you through the powerfully expensive night they spent last month at LAX nightclub in Luxor. Warning: It is not for the faint of wallet.
Henderson, 53, is a businessman who has lived in Las Vegas with his family since 1989. He and his wife took their daughter, Marissa, and her friends from Santa Clara University to LAX to celebrate her 21st birthday. He summed up the experience in an interview with the Sun on Thursday: “I was insulted. I felt financially raped.”
John and Tina Henderson go over their receipts and talk about their recent experience at LAX nightclub in the Luxor, which set them back a pretty penny.
THE BEVERAGE TAB
$1,378
IN THEIR WORDS
“Everybody who wants to be tipped jumps on you right away, and I believe if you’re a taker, they stick with you. If not, they move on to the next table.” — John Henderson on the couple’s experience
THE ESTIMATED TOTAL
$2,000
The party of 10 did enjoy the dancing after getting into the club Feb. 16, the weekend before Internal Revenue Service agents paid visits to two nightclubs, including LAX, run by Pure Management Group. But the Hendersons were not happy about the surprises along the way.
They concede they had known little about the nightclub scene, but sought advice in advance from a daughter’s friend who worked at LAX. The recommendation was to get reservations.
They said they did. When Tina Henderson made the call, she said she was told that for a party of 10, the couple would have to buy two bottles of liquor at $375 apiece for the two tables they would occupy, plus pay a 28 percent gratuity. Based on that, John Henderson said, he expected to spend about $1,000 on the evening.
The couple arrived at 10 p.m. They found their daughter and her friends waiting in line outside the club.
Knowing that the group had a reservation, an angry Henderson pushed his way through the line to confront a doorman standing behind a rope that blocked the entrance to the club.
“I said, ‘What gives? We have a reservation for my daughter and her friends from school,’ and he put his hand out and said, ‘It starts here. That’s how you get in.’
“I pulled my money clip out, and I said, ‘What do I need to do?” And he said, ‘A hundred dollars will get my attention.’ ”
Henderson said he handed over $100.
The doorman pointed to the hostess and the maitre d’ inside the club and said, “They’re next.” He walked the group inside to the hostess’s podium. Henderson said he gave her a $50 tip to look up his reservation and gave the maitre d’ $100 to lead the group a few feet farther into the club, where they were told to wait. He kept his money clip out, thinking, “Let’s get this over with.”
“I wanted to be treated properly and didn’t want to make a scene in front of my daughter and her friends,” he said.
About 10:30 p.m., another host with his hand out showed up to escort the Henderson party through the club. Henderson gave him a $100 bill, and the man took the group to two tables in a corner of the club. The group was seated on an L-shaped cushioned couch surrounding two small 2-foot-high tables.
Henderson said he voluntarily tipped the waitress $50 after she brought the group a bottle of vodka, a bottle of gin and a half-dozen cans of Red Bull the girls had requested.
While the girls were on the dance floor, the waitress brought the bill, which the Hendersons said showed the club had charged their credit card $500 a bottle instead of $375. Complaints to a manager went nowhere.
Soon a burly man appeared, identifying himself as the group’s “security guy.” For $100, the man told the Hendersons, he would ensure the safety of the group at the club. Henderson said he paid him. The “security guy” never returned.
“Everybody who wants to be tipped jumps on you right away, and I believe if you’re a taker, they stick with you,” Henderson said. “If not, they move to the next table.”
As the evening progressed, the Hendersons noticed that every time their daughter and her friends got up to dance, the busboy would cart away their drinks, which often were full. The waitress poured new ones.
Henderson said the busboy told him he had orders to “keep the booze flowing.”
“I got the busboy by the arm and got the cocktail waitress, and I said, ‘I do not want to see you touch another drink. We’ll tell you when it’s time to pour another drink.’ ”
As the night wore on, the lines of men and women waiting for the restrooms grew long. Those who paid an attendant a tip could go to the front of the line — thereby making the wait longer for those who refused to tip. The Hendersons said their restroom tips for the night came to about $120.
Eventually a manager showed up, and the Hendersons said he told them that because there was such a demand for tables, they needed to buy two more bottles of liquor to hold on to both of theirs. The Hendersons refused. They said the manager then brought another group to occupy one of the tables the couple thought they had reserved for the night.
The Hendersons said they left LAX about 3 a.m. with a $1,378 tab for beverages alone. Counting the cash, the couple estimates they spent about $2,000.
“It’s really not about the money,” Tina Henderson said. “It’s about the treatment.”
She said she wonders how the tourists who go to LAX or other nightclubs on the Strip feel when they encounter these kinds of hidden costs.
Pure Management referred a call from the Sun about the Hendersons’ story to the company’s public relations company, Kirvin Doak Communications.
Kate Turner of Kirvin Doak said LAX officials didn’t find a reservation under the Hendersons’ name Feb. 16. (The Hendersons provided a copy of their credit card receipt to the Sun.) But she said the club goes to great lengths to satisfy its customers.
“If for whatever reason that didn’t happen with this group, we’d like the opportunity to make it right with them,” she said.
One thing John Henderson said the club should look at is the blatant way its employees solicit tips.
“I don’t think it’s a shakedown,” his wife added. “I think they do it because they can, and because if we don’t pay, there are five people behind us who will.”
Discussion: 34 comments so far…
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Las Vegas has always been a city where better experiences are to be had if you spread the money around or if you are a high roller who spreads the money around out at the tables. Otherwise, you are just part of the masses who covet the treatment that everyone gets. See, that's the idea behind exclusive things whther they be Sinatra shows back in the day or these lame, uninspired nightclubs in the present...there's only a limited number of people who can be treated like VIPS. Was it worth 200 dollars a head? Hard to say...but they did get to sit down (most people in the club by design don't) and they admit the girls who this club is geared to had a good time. Not everyone gets bottle service and if you wait in line long enough you eventually get in. If pappa doesn't want to be a big spender, yet still wants to have his daughter treated well, they coulda gone to Olive Garden or any casino lounge. Instead they decided on one of the hottest nightclubs in town. Clearly this guy did not do his research. Was the revelation that a bottle of alcohol will be marked up to more than 10X its normal cost not enough of a red flag? And he admits he didn't want to 'wait in line.' Why? Because he wanted to be treated differently than the masses and then he quickly figured out that since he wasnt a hot girl or a famous person (or someone whose personality was compelling) that the easiest way to that was to flash cash...and now he's complaining that it worked? Also, shame on this whole group of people for perpetuating the myth that the nightclub scene in Las Vegas is either fun or for everyone. I'm sure part of the real complaint is he didn't get it..."why is everyone here" he must have asked himself. And he's right...why would anyone in their right mind go to a cramped nightclub with lame thunka thunka bass pounding into your skull, idiots screaming and acting like randy mice on illicit substances, all while spending a small fortune for drinks? Why? Because it's cool and will remain so as long as people think it is. So this local who is acting like a tourist should have given his daughter the thousand he intended on spending and told them to have fun...they would have without his whining bringing everyone down.
I wonder if these people claimed their tips that night...Maybe that's who the IRS was looking for?
These clubs are a racket...Shame on owners who let this robbery go on...
The people who run these clubs are too arrogant. Eventually it will be a larger problem for the casinos in the form of lower attendance, as even out of town tourists tire of the same lame nightclub scene involving the usual suspects of rude hostesses, testosterone fueled bouncers and greasy tax evading managers. People just don't see the value in that experience after one or two painful visits and gradually begin to do other things.
This man, for example, would have had a much better time at a smaller casino bar or restaurant where he would have enjoyed a better over all experience on his daughter's birthday. Diablo's Cantina, any restaurant at Caesar's or the Venetian, Sushi Ra, the Red Eight at the Wynn come to mind. He would have gotten better service and not felt used.
I got an idea! I will go to the Lux and pretend that I am charge of making sure that you have plenty of napkins on the table. Boy, let the $100 bills start rolling in.
These shake down artists are about to get fleeced by the greatest shakedown artist of all time --- the IRS.
The irony is killing me :)
Las Vegas has become a money grubbing tourist ripoff. No wonder this town has gotten a bad reputation. It reminds me of the crooked cops in Mexico. I hope the IRS gets em.
Are these folks truly this naive? Look, at any nightclub in town, drinking all night at a table will be about $200 a person. There are plenty of other non-nightclub options they could have chosen that don't require tipping to get the access. This is Las Vegas and EVERY guidebook notes that tipping makes Vegas go 'round. This is nothing new. These people are fools.
and further, it has always been part of the Vegas ethos that CASH is all that has ever mattered. Money is the great equalizer in Las Vegas, and that cuts both ways. Vegas haters like Helen Wells just don't get it.
I'm rooting for the IRS on this one. I hope they send some young IRS agents into the club, undercover, and experience the whole routine, and use their experience for enforcement purposes.
I bet the people running these clubs and working in them, are just as dumb as the clinics still double using vials. I bet these clowns are still taking the cash and not reporting it.
Clearly this is a rip-off, and I am not surprised by the story. However, that said, I don't understand why someone would allow themselves to be taken advantage of and then complain. Ok...so this was a birthday celebration...a special night...if the whole issue REALLY is not the money but the treatment, then why did you stay? It is like the blackjack tables...you have to know when to keep 'hold of your cash and walk away. Believe me, I completely agree these nightclubs are a scam -- but you have to be in control of what happens to you and your money.
This is news?? Obviously these people have never been to a nightclub in Vegas before. That's pretty standard at them all, especially when you want a TABLE!If you don't want to fork out big bucks, take your party to PT's Pub on Saturday night next time.
Anyone that is stupid enough to go to these dumb places deserves to be ripped off....
Who takes home receipts from the club?
Did you guys speak to the daughter?
Did she have a good time?
Yes the victims should have known that Vegas is a rip off - and in the world of the past 50 years where Vegas was the only game in town, perhaps this is just buyer beware. However the world has changed and many, many, many global cities are building huge gambling destinations. If Vegas doesn't want to become an outdated dinosaur with a huge drop in business, then it has about 3 years to clean up its act in how it treats customers or else just like many other American industries, it will be outsourced and all these Vegas club employees will have their jobs shipped to Macau, Dubai, London, or Singapore. Wake UP AMERICA!!
In light of recent events, I might pay as much just to make sure I get a clean scope or syringe at an endoscopy center but not to throw a party for my daughter at an over priced,celeb hosted money pit.
Well, I live in Ohio and this practice of spending an entire evening at a night club getting hit up by leeches for money doesn't sound like fun to me. I had no idea this was going on, and probably won't be going to Vegas. We have good casinos in Indiana, Detroit, and West Virginia where people act like normal.
I have been visiting Las Vegas since 1950, first as a tourist and since 1957 as a supplier to the casino industry. I became uncomfortable several years ago upon seeing all the casinos pointing to the high end rooms for their future revenue. Las Vegas was built upon fair priced rooms,food and good customer service. All convention cities envied the draw of Las Vegas and what they had to offer convention planners in the way of room availability and price to enable them to send all their employees to a convention. Now many are curtailing the amount of people they are sending and reviewing other options for cities, just read the comments from recent conventions. Now read the bad publicity Las Vegas receives about this type of treatment from clubs. Lots of money is made in the short run from these clubs, but at what cost to the long run for us? Think people,think. Las Vegas thrived from the masses and if we lose sight of that we built our reputation on we will not move forward but just tread water and complain about how business is bad
Okay? I read the whole article. First of all you always have to tip the doorman. $100 sounds right to me for a large group of girls, plus two older people. LAX is one of THE HOTTEST night clubs in the country! Actually, the ONLY REASON this group got in for $100 is because they had a huge group of young girls.
As far as tips on the way in, it doesn't sound like many people were holding out their hands. Much lower tips for the reservation girl ($20's) and the guy who escorted them to their table would have been fine with $20!
FINALLY, I'm still STUNNED that these people are complaining about spending 2K for TWELVE PEOPLE.
When I go with my boyfriend and our friends, it's usually 8-10 people, equal mix of girls and guys, all from ages 25-30. I know one of the guys pays $100 at the door, if not more and yes WITH table reservations, and we do two tables as well. I have NEVER spent a night at LAX with a total bill for all of us UNDER $1,500 (bottle bill alone).
This couple simply didn't get enough info before going in. ALSO, the security guy thing is a total scam and if they would have done research, they would have known that! it's been going on at clubs forever!
Seems to me that daddy wanted to be a man and show off his money in front of all the girls and now he regrets it...
LAX is for people with money to spend. I'm there probably twice a month and for the average person going in $500 a person in NOTHING to spend there on drinks and tips and splitting a table. I am a business owner myself and can tell you, YES...if I were to have a club where people are standing in line to get in; the people tipping the most would get in first, including bathroom, etc. AND if I have TONS of people waiting for a table and I have a group taking up TWO tables that are nursing drinks and NOT spending money on alcohol, I would say time is up too.
It may not be right, but everyone needs money and money talks...period.
To losers such as VegasLibraGirl, Bumps, RPJ, and VegasFan ... it is because of people like you that for the first time in my life I am actually rooting for the IRS.
I hope that every last one of these doormen, maitre'ds, hosts, hostesses, waitresses, bartenders, security guards, bouncers, bar backs, and valets gets a one-way ticket to prison. It really doesn't even need to be all of them - just enough to scare the rest of them into treating customers with some amount of respect.
To VegasLibraGirl, what business do you own? Please, share this with all of us so that we can come to your business and treat you and your employees with the same contempt that you feel is OK to be used on customers.
@sundevils: awesome lol.
To sundevils: Amen!!! I don't know about everyone else but while reading the post I kept hearing that song....'Valley Girl' by Frank Zappa....OMG !!! LAX... Okay? That's totally awesome... I'm like freaking out totally....like bag those toenails.
Hey "Sundevil" - your anonymous attack on an Internet comment list is the work of a coward. I'm no "loser," I'm a Las Vegas native who has written about the nightlife and clubbing scene here for 18 years. LAX (and other nightclubs) is simply not for those unwilling to spend money and tip their way through an evening. VegasLibra Girl is absolutely right; plan on paying, or go do something else with your time and money. As I already said, there are plenty of places (bars and restaurants, and even passe nightclubs) where you can go and sit and dance and drink and not have to shell out so much cash. But if you want to play at what is considered one of the world's top nightclubs, then expect to PAY. This is true everywhere, from Las Vegas to Miami to London. Wake up, grow up, and don't attack people anonymously. Go ahead and "root for the IRS" - they'll be banging down your door next. VegasLibraGirl, I also own a business so I think we share a perspective on that. Whereas some folks are satisfied with a Chevrolet, complainers too often expect a Mercedes for Kia prices.
There are a few things that the "local writer" and business owner who think these practices are OK should keep in mind.
VegasLibraGirl and RPJ. If you both feel so strongly about your points, and believe you are right, AND have a business as you say, then why would you not want to take this opportunity for FREE advertising and mention your company name instead of staying anonymous.
RPJ excuse me if I question your credentials here, but..covering the nightclub scene for 18 years…...21 + 18 years = 39 years old still reporting on a 21-30 age demographic nightclub scene? Please share who you write for. As well $2000 for vodka and red bull IS paying mercedes prices but only getting kia quality not the other way around.
The biggest thing the hotels, and you "locals", need to keep in mind is these stories about the night clubs added to the high costs of Las Vegas today are going to hurt YOU.
For a guest who is visiting Las Vegas and spending their hard earned money on a room, meals, shopping, and gambling in the hotel, it is not unreasonable to expect that they should be able to go a venue in the hotel and not get raked over the coals. Las Vegas is a tourist based city that depends on return customers to survive. If you keep screwing the customer they will stop comming. As well the demo & number of guests that go to the club don't fill the hotel. I’m sure if push comes to shove over keeping a night club the hotel would rather see 100% of that $1500 per bottle go into their slots and not risk their license.
Las Vegas is seeing lower numbers already this year, hearing and know KNOWING that as a guest I'm going to get screwed if I want to go out while I am in town, well why bother with Las Vegas when there are other options where I can gamble, and not have to bend over and ger screwed just to go out for drinks and to dance.
Oh Ya one more thing......If as a business you are restricting the use of the washrooms based on tip, not only are the IRS going to be on your back, but the health department is about to be next.
Wow! I had no idea this was going on in Vegas clubs. We'll be in town next month, and now I'm concerned about where we can have a good time at without breaking the bank...are there any normal party spots in town without all that hassle?!?! That's really discouraging...
And they didn't even get kissed! :(
Just because somebody has their hand out, it doesn't mean you give them your wallet.
That club sounds like the strip-joints where men hand over huge amounts of money to impress dancers that view the men as suckers.
My family and friends are more impressed by the amazing food and shows that Las Vegas has to offer for reasonable prices.
I am very glad I read this about being financially raped. I think this is so terrible that the owners allow this to happen and I will never go here even if I have the financial means.
I would love to have the IRS check out all of the staff collecting these tips. Why don't they look at these cash collecting bastards. I doubt that they declare this income.
I live in Manhattan and love the club scene. Obviously I tip the servers. But in 20 years, I have never been solicited by or tipped a bouncer or hostess. I tip bathroom attendants when finished. But no self-respecting club would be built without adequate restrooms. Replacing full drinks is quite illegal. This couple’s experience sounds more like Bangkok. What is really odd is that anyone would defend such treatment. Is it really this bad in Vegas?
the main thing to know here is "They concede they had known little about the nightclub scene". when you know little you open yourself up to get this kinda of treatment.
i imagine 90% of the tips he shelled out where just on the notion he "had" to. to break it down table reservations get treated the best as far as the average nightclub patron goes. no reason to tip the door guy when you are reserved, hes there to look for handouts...dont give it to him. tipping all the people on the way up was unnecessary and ive never seen anyone do it.
almost all nightclubs charge a 20 (not28)% gratuity and its included in the bill thats why they charged around 500 instead of 375. so giving the chick 50 bucks was also unnecessary.
the bathroom thing i can understand the lines get long. but ive never seen anyone tip ppl to go ahead of others. easy solution is to know that there are 2 bathrooms upstairs that are barely occupied, so tough luck there.
its all about knowing your environment. and if i could offer YOU a tip it would be dont tip anyone who asks for it, they probably dont deserve it.
Things are way out of hand, back in the days were there were only a hand ful of clubs like ra, 54, etc.. things were not so insane. Rain kinda started everything when you had to buy a vip area + bottle invidually. after that things here are out of control.
1st of all vegas clubs use a stone age approach to dealing with people. Lets pack as many women in the club, and make guys wait to get in, because guys are willing to pay a lot more to get in. Basically women are being used as carrots while guys are the donkey.
Look EVERYONE hates hidden surcharges, everyone even tries to avoid ATM fees by using certain machines. When you are quoted a price and a tip price. You shouldnt be expecting to pay more. The only people who will disagree with me are people probally working in the night club industry, who love to solicit tips.
All these employees want there hand in the cookie jar. Ive worked in the bar/restuarant industry for 10 years and have never solicted a tip. sometimes if i want to get into a club, ill ask what it takes, but its an instant turn off when someone comes asking for money.
Oh, RPJ. Where to start? Obviously you are oblivious to the nightclub world outside of Vegas. Have you ever even been to a club in Miami or London? In the last year I've been to clubs in both, as well as Amsterdam, Milan, Barcelona, Ibiza and many others. I'm also a nightclub investor myself, and a regular visitor to Vegas. There is a HUGE difference in the club scene. Yes, you get better treatment at any club if you grease some palms, but nowhere else in the world is it as blatant and obscene as it is in Vegas.
Calling LAX one of the world's best nightclubs is laughable. It's not even in the same class as places like Space in Miami or Pacha in Ibiza. Like many places in Vegas, it just has a "fake" feel to it. This may come as a surprise to you, but the Venetion is not he same as being in Venice.
Don't get me wrong - I love Vegas, and usually have a great time when I visit, but the constant "upping the ante" for basic services leaves one feeling ripped off. If I'm slapping benjamins in the hands of everyone I come in contact with, I expect some level of service, not a busboy making off with full drinks just so the club can milk me for more $$. That's just a cheap and blatant ripoff of the patrons.
I just read with great interest this couples treatment. Last Dec. my husband and myself were staying at the New York New York and my parents were staying at the Wynn. I had mentioned to my parents that my husband and I would love to see a show with Chris Angel. A few days into our vacation the parents surprised us with a letter from the Wynn saying that we were on the V.I.P. list and had a booked reservation on the corporate guest list. This particular evening my husband and I met up with my father and proceeded to the entrance of the nightclub where upon we were refused entrance because my husband was wearing running shoes (his diabetes and swollen feet were the reason for not being admitted) Excuse me but we were all dressed up and ready to go, after being rebuffed and ignored at the entrance to the Lax we tried talking to a general manager of the Luxor Hotel who agreed with us and said he would have a word with the door man, never in a million years did I think shoes would be a problem with any club after having spent 25 years working at the top of line clubs in Toronto.
Shame on the Luxor, shame on the behavior, and especially the fact that nobody gives a seems to care, that these clubs think they are exclusive, exclusive my arse, they are there to cater to anyone who feels that shelling out over a grand
will get them in to a nightclub that isn't any better, offers nothing that I haven't seen, and it should be known that not only does this shine a negative light on Vegas, but the hotel Luxor, the nightclub, and the simple fact that we would have been happy to have the invite to a so called exclusive birthday party and some jumped up two bit all important doorman felt that running shoes were not acceptable attire, GIVE ME A BREAK.
Not only as vistors several times Las Vegas this experience not only left us unable to understand but has now left a bitter taste in our mouth and it is with much sadness that returning to Vegas would not be worth this kind of mistreatment and outward bias based on age and medical problems.
Shame on the Luxor, shame on the city of Vegas, and shame on the performer Criss Angel, after having spent almost 5000.00 to visit the fair city of Vegas it was like a kick in the teeth.
But I guess tourists really don't matter to the city anymore, and if you are a celebrity then you are golden.
Seems like it is time to consider Atlantic City!!!!
What a terrible story! I'm sorry to hear that the Henderson's had such a lousy time at LAX.
However, I'm not surprised at all. Pure (and it's related properties) are all like this. The fleecing is part of their corporate culture. Of course, LAX owner Steve Davidovici has a history of shady activities.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/mar...
And don't bother calling for help.. check the campaign contributions to District Attorney David Roger. Pure makes some large ones! (under the name of parent company Touch LLC)
Nightclubbing should be a fun social experience. It has been for me for almost 20 years. People congregate around music and dance; Add a little alcohol, and you've got a party. Bring in some criminals, and you've got Pure.
What happened to the Henderson's was pretty aweful. But I must say that it was Mr. Henderson's decision to pay all of those people. If a doorman held his hand out to me I would probably just laugh in his face and go to another club. It's not like there is a lack of clubs in Vegas to choose from. I have been going to Vegas at least a few times a year for the last 7 years, and I have NEVER even paid to get into a club. I'm sure it has to do with being a girl, but even when I have gone with my boyfriend neither of us has paid.
I know Mr. Henderson just wanted to make the night memorable for his daughter, but I would hope he raised his daughter well enough for her to not want her father to be financially raped and understand when he decided to take his business elsewhere.
I really think that it is the people who pay into this ridiculousness that are the ones who encourage it to continue to happen. If these people knew they would get laughed at when they held out their hand instead of a $100, they probably wouldn't be doing it.