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StumbleTaxicab Authority rejects complaint from 2 strip clubs
A taxi leaves Deja Vu Showgirls in April. Several strip clubs pay cabdrivers bonuses to bring in customers, but several topless clubs want the Clark County Commission to crack down on the payments.
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010 | 10:43 a.m.
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The Nevada Taxicab Authority says there is no evidence that 12 Clark County companies violated any state laws or local ordinances regarding the alleged diversion of customers to local strip clubs.
The board voted 3-0 Tuesday to reject a complaint by Déjà Vu Showgirls and Little Darlings against the 12 companies operating in the Las Vegas area. Chairwoman Stacie Michaels abstained.
The clubs’ complaint alleged that cabdrivers routinely persuade their customers to go to rival clubs because the rivals pay higher tips to drivers for bringing in customers. The complaint says the cab companies are responsible for the actions of the drivers.
Neil Beller, the lawyer representing the two clubs, said he would appeal the ruling to the Nevada Transportation Authority.
The 90-minute hearing was a small slice of a controversy that has played out in Las Vegas for years, but it was the first time in years that a complaint had been fielded by the Taxicab Authority.
Topless and nude dancing clubs have engaged in an escalating battle to attract tourists to their establishments and have enticed cabdrivers with gratuities that in some cases have risen to more than $100 a customer.
Although Las Vegas has an ordinance banning the practice, Clark County doesn’t. State taxi regulations also outlaw the practice of diversion, which occurs when a driver persuades a customer to go to another club after requesting a ride to a specific destination. It happens most often with adult clubs, but also occurs with restaurants and nightclubs.
Beller’s complaint said cabdrivers not only collected higher tips from rival clubs by diverting customers, but they made disparaging remarks about the dancers at Déjà Vu and Little Darlings.
But representatives of the Taxicab Authority said each cab company has policies banning diversion, and drivers caught doing so are disciplined. Authority board members said there was no evidence to suggest that companies willingly allow their drivers to divert customers.
Beller was critical of a three-page report by a Taxicab Authority investigator who interviewed drivers and solicited policy statements from executives showing how they oversee diversion rules.
The report included surveys of 309 drivers from the 16 cab companies operating in Clark County and faxed statements from executives outlining how their policies are explained to drivers and how violators are disciplined.
“It’s the most (lacking) report I’ve seen in all my years of practicing law,” Beller told the board. “If this report is what you’re relying on to determine how the companies are involved, it’s an embarrassment. Tipping is a known happening and a large happening in Las Vegas.”
Beller also was upset that drivers have been allowed to make disparaging remarks about club employees in their efforts to divert customers. On more than one occasion, Beller said his private investigator working undercover as a customer heard from cabdrivers that the clubs’ “girls are ugly, girls are fat and girls have bullet holes in them.” He also alleged that rival clubs have employees who solicit prostitution.
Testimony from Beller, Deputy Attorney General Scott Davis and several cab company representatives indicated that the complaint before the Taxicab Authority was one of several continuing legal actions and ongoing investigations on diversion.
A separate investigation is under way against individual cabdrivers accused of diverting customers and suits have been filed in federal and state courts.
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The Taxicab Authority is an absolute joke!
The fact that a taxicab driver will not take you to the place you requested is a joke. That is there job plain and simple. It is also crazy to think they get $100 a head to drop someone off at a certain place. I do agree most people know the good clubs from the bad but that is the customers decision not the decision on a cabbie that barely speaks English.
Better watch it AnthonyJoeVegas, you might be serviced with a lawsuit!!
If the Nevada Taxicab Authority says there is no evidence that 12 Clark County companies violated any state laws or local ordinances regarding the alleged diversion of customers to local strip clubs then it must be true. The member of Nevada Taxicab Authority are pillars of the community and their honesty is above reproach.
This issue is a perpetual hot mess and needs to be investigated by someone impartial, preferably from out of state. Then there is the ongoing saga of long-hauling. That never happens either. Only in Nevada...
1. if the clubs complaining about it were better clubs that served alcohol they would get more customers. 18 year olds are cheapskates.
2. they have their own limo to pick up people. obviously, clay and the other limo drivers are too lazy to find better people.
3. they take people from their own club and DIVERT CUSTOMERS GOING TO A CAB TO LEAVE TO OTHER CLUBS SO DEJA VU LIMO DRIVER GETS PAID! yes, someone going to a cab in the cab line gets intercepted by a DV employee, asking them if they wanna go to another club, and if they say yes the STEAL THE RIDE AND REVENUE FROM THE CABBIE AND THE CAB COMPANY! yes, so the TA should actually be investigating the DV companies for stealing from the TA!
4. deja vu at one time had 2 of their employees also working at a cab company, probably diverting people from the rhino to their own club.
5. the diversion issue does not start with cab drivers, but limo drivers as well.
6. the diversion issue does not start with cabbies at all, it starts with the DOORMEN AT THE HOTELS diverting club rides to limos, selling people the rhino which pays more so the doormen can justify a limo driver to get more money to give the doorman 50% of the kickback for putting them in the limo that driver drives.
7. from working in the transportation industry in recent time for a short while, i never had to divert anyone from deja vu. first off, i NEVER had anyone that wanted to go to the velvet lion, cheetahs, lil darlings, and deja vu was a very rare request. when people asked me what the best club was i said well, sapphire and rhino are well known names along with (some others), deja vu and (some others) dont serve liqour and cater to the under 21 crowd. i never mentioned any higher paying club was the best, i mentioned the truth. most drivers do the same. the TA and metro pick on drivers so much they even go up and down the cab lines at various places trying to find drivers that deal drugs. the chances of someone losing their permit to drive or their job is not worth the major efforts in diversion.
deja vu properties are not innocent here. they make money off these other clubs as well. so before they start picking on cab drivers, they need to remember that they have their little spys out there working the system as well.
these complaints just need to stop. its retarded. and these people are wasting their own money trying to blame cabbies for something that is their own fault.
all of the above is truth, as i have seen it first hand. oh yea, the TA cop that works that area at night probably wont go back there because he used to make out with some chick behind the deja vu building that used to work at sensations while on duty. oops....did i say that?
This is like a bad episode of Deliverance.
Some colleagues were staying by the Hilton and decided to go out for dinner. They hailed a cab since drinking was going to be had by all.
The cabbie kept trying to get them to go to a strip club. They refused and said they only wanted to go to a certain restaurant. They cabbie relentlessly badgered them. They were so pissed they stiffed him.
Since a member of the Taxi cab authority wasn't in the cab it probably never happened and the boys from Mythbusters can now have a go at it.
Gmag, you are right, Stephen King couldn't make this junk up.
well just about every major city in the nation has permit requirements and it is always on display. if your colleagues would have looked and saw the big bold phone number on the permit and the paper next to the permit with the rates and the diversion law in clear sight they could have called that number and been fine.
actually, they really shouldnt even be whining about it because they got a free ride out of it since they stiffed the driver, which is also illegal and is considered theft of services.
These strip bars are sleazy and corrupt. The taxi authority, mainly Frais are a bunch of old mobsters.
This are the last of old Vegas right here.
the TA and Frias have nothing to do with this issue and being "old vegas mobsters". this is a non legit issue and it is being brought up by idiots running crappy clubs that are accusing cabbies of doing stuff that they themselves do.
This one should be pretty easy for the clubs to prove.
Hire 4 or 5 young actors in their 20's to play a group of buddies in town for a bachelor party.
Give them little mini-Flip camera recorders or iPhones with video cameras and a few beers, then line them up at the cab line at any Strip hotel.
Once they are inside the cab, turn on the cameras, act drunk and rowdy, and in a few minutes they should have on video all of the "evidence" that the Taxicab Authority couldn't find.
A few minutes of hidden camera footage would be all the clubs need to prove their case.
Beller's complaint said cabdrivers not only collected higher tips from rival clubs by diverting customers, but they made disparaging remarks about the dancers at Deja Vu and Little Darlings. ha ha ha ha ha are they saying that the cab drivers called them dancers skanks and that would be demoralising to those girls, Those are just hard working people and the nerve of those cabbies to call them that! ha that tops it they complained to an authority to try and make them others to play fair, lololol It's called competition.
One more thing while in Roman do as the Romans do.
Customer says "I heard xyz club is good, can you take me there?". Is that a question or direction? Like I said before in my post before it was removed, that clubs that are jealous of other clubs being successfull. Then they cry foul and blame it on a cabbie. If a cabbie says women at a particular club are unattractive or overwieght, is an opinion of the driver. Were all entitled to opinions, I don't feel bad for these clubs one bit.
In my 9 years as a cabdriver in Clark County, I never once "diverted." That's a no-no. However, when asked to recommend a restaurant, club or motel, I always chose the one that paid me a commission. That's human nature and not illegal. Face it, it is the business, not the driver, which sets the amount they will pay to get paying customers. If you were in business, which would you prefer - to pay $100s or $1,000s to TV stations or newspapers and hope to get a response or pay someone who actually delivers a paying cutomer to your place of business? If you can't understand that, you better keep working for a paycheck. You'd go bust in a New York minute as a businessman or woman. As for the T.A. It shills for the companies. How do you get to be a member of the board? Political contributions = political appointments. They know which side their bread is buttered on and, almost without fail, will take the side of the companies and their deep pockets.
the TA states that if someone asks what the best club is, you cannot pick one. but if you mention a few then the customer chooses thats ok.
bottom line here, deja vu knows they suck and practice what they dont want drivers of cabs or limos to be doing.
I would never go to a strip club in vegas. They seem to be unethical, unlike the clubs in other major cities. :)
This is off topic but on subject... anyone know why the airport transfer companies won't pick up or deliver to a private residence? Only Strip and non strip/ downtown casinos. I figure it is the power of the Taxi A. and am planing a business that would deliver anyone airport to/from residence shuttle service.
Doomed by the mob?
Doomed.
Taxi service is monopolized in this town. Frais will send their goons to your place with bats. lol
As a former limo driver for Bell Trans..I can tell you those who think kick backs aren't the norm at these strip clubs is living in a dream world. When someone asked me what was the best club..of course I suggested the one that was going to pay me the most money for bringing them. Of course I had to kick some back to the doorman...but I made a **** load of money doing the strip clubs. Sometimes I even offered the limo ride for free if they took my suggestion...
Sevenhills/Petef
Sure Petef, if you have a solid busniess plan, capital, and knowledge of the business, you have a good shot. However, I don't really understand your business plan, but if u want to shuttle people to residenaces at a shuttle busss rate you will loose your ass. That's if what I'm thinking, your thinking. Good luck in whatever it is your trying to do. Sevenhills, I agree with a decent amount of your posts, but your a little off on your comments about the mob.
petef, your business idea is not gonna make you any money because the number of locals that leave the airport by taxi are very limited in numbers, and lets not forget that many locals get rides from friends and family, then you also have the elderly that have half price cab service available to them. current shuttles charge 2 flat rates. strip locales and surrounding areas, and downtown rates. then many of the south strip resorts have contracted shuttles or their own like cancun resort for example. and las vegas airport as a whole is a major tourist airport, unlike say tampa florida where its a mix of everything. in tampa florida for example, there are shuttle bus companies that charge 30 bucks per head and load up fully and take people to places such as pasco county, which is an hour away from the airport. in vegas, traffic allowing, no one in vegas valley is more than 30 minutes away from the port and the port is very centralized. i dont know what the precentage of people that walk thru mccarran are locals compared to business or pleasure but id probably guess, based on when i worked in transport that id say 95% of my rides out of the airport were tourists. while thats not an accurate number of locals vs out of town folks, not too many people that live here take public transport from the port to home. lets not forget, there is also the public bus system as well.
to start, you will need a CPCN number, and overall you are looking at a cost of close to 500000 dollars to prove insurance and other things as well. the NTA is the place to issue these certificates. then you have to go against a board. then you have to fight all the appeals from companies such as AWG, Belltrans, executive, etc etc etc etc. these companies will fight you tooth and nail. the Taxicab authority wont have anything to do with this since its not a cab company you are starting. lets put it this way handicab will never get a cpcn for cab service because of the stronghold companies like frias, yellow, and bell especially have over the industry. A-Cab literally just gave up trying to get the certificate unrestricted to service the strip and the east side (they can only pick up from points west of the I15).
Transportation industry in this town is suffering, and it is cutthroat and extremely juiced in.
not to burst your bubble, but your chances of getting a permit are hard enough.
oh and petef, dont forget....dont post your services online because you can be investigated for gypsy cabbing and pay hefty fines. that the TA will investigate, if not the TA the NTA will and they oversee the TA operations and limo/shuttle operations, as well as tow trucks and anything else that requires a cpcn number/permit.
Dont worry about a CPN number. There are always ways to get around it...always! Ive been doing it for many years. Almost twenty now. I refuse to give in to the government control tactics. No, I'm not worried at all. I have been approached by the goons (TA) many times and no I dont pay them off. They really havent covered all the bases. I wish more could be far from the TA, better service would be the result.
~~~ not a cab, never have been, never will be. Use your imagination.
NEWYORKREBEL go back to New York! You have no idea what you're talking about! If 5 guys got into a cab line, the doorman would load them into a LIMO, not a CAB! But that's not the subject here.
I've been a night driver for 4 years and as far as I know at the current time, all topless clubs (except for DIAMOND AND SHERI'S which are nude w no alcohol) are paying the same amount to drivers, even the DV on Arville which serves alcohol and is topless.
I will tell you the problem we drivers have with DV... THEY RIP OFF THE DRIVERS! Many drivers have been told after the customer goes inside the club that they were comped in or they were local or they were military, etc etc and the club stiffs the driver! (Especially that fat, psycho,long haired doorman @ their Industrial location) Now they have no business and they are whining about a problem they created for themselves because when drivers complained to management, they did nothing about it either.
Hardly anyone asks to go there anyway! They could have had a great gig going with us drivers bringing them people for their after hours club like we did when it was SEAMLESS, but as I said, they ripped us off and at this point, they will never redeem themselves with the drivers.
Ricks has gone down the tube because they have played too many games with drivers as well. Now they have very little business and only a few newer, inexperienced drivers drop there.
The best clubs to drop at are TREASURES, SAPPHIRE, and RHINO because they hardly ever play games with drivers and we appreciate that. We are too busy for BS from CLUBS when have to deal with enough BS while we are out there transporting these losers that we call tourists, dealing with metro and TA and all of their crap too!
diva, especially metro. they think cabbies are on the same level as child molestors and rapists.
There's no difference...ho's are ho's!
Not entertainers, not dancers, but ho's!
These type of actions are bad for tourism. WHat tourist need to do is video phone these drivers and report them..
Since there seems to be a fair number of drivers responding to this article, I need some advice.
I plan on opening a small family friendly show just off the strip in the next month or so and I would love it to be suggested by drivers when asked what can kids see in this town. I also don't mind paying a finder's fee or commission per ticket. How would I spread the word and more importantly, reimburse the drivers for their referrals. Granted, we're not on the finacial scale of the big shows or strip clubs so we're talking 5-10 bucks per ticket referral depending what on what we decide the final price to be.
How does one spread the word?
to nix224: just tell a couple cabbies that there may some cash involved for referrals and you'll have them coming in with their hands out. They are like homeless with a car.
@nix224 I am not a driver but I know that most cabdrivers and limo drivers are NOT paid by the hour so they depend on this referral money to make a living. Impressive that you would like to boost your attendance by helping others to make this living. There is a magazine called "Trip Sheet" that I believe both cab drivers and limo drivers use as a way to find the best places to make a living. My son is a driver in Vegas, and his livelihood depends on doormen, referral money, and "tips" as the owners of these companies don't really care about their employees... No wages unless booked, unaffordable insurance, and long long hours of waiting for a ride just to make a buck. Good luck to all the drivers, someday it would be real nice if the TA made cab companies, and Limo companies, pay these people a decent wage for what they do. You wonder why this is such a cutthroat business and that cabs and limos speed all over town? Hustling for the buck, and doing the best they can...
@sigtwenty Your post seems to reflect an article in the Trip Sheet almost verbatim. Did you read the article, or write it? Cab drivers dissing limo drivers is ridiculous. Any driver knows that if you don't tip the door, you aren't getting loaded on a regular basis. It is the old "grease the palm" scenario to ensure you can fill your wallet... Ethical? maybe not Necessary? you bet, when you live on tips.
can you purchase an existing cpcn and where would I find one. been looking through various business broker sites and have found nothing. we are looking to open a service in reno area but found out hard way need a cpcn. thanks for any info