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Watch those Sin City folks

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  • Watch those Sin City folks

    The first you will learn of the 1 drink minimum mandatory charge at the Sin City Comedy club in Planet Hollywood is when you get in line to enter the theater. There is a sign posted right near the door that there is a one drink minimum for each person.
    We asked our greeter who had showed us our place in line and were met with our first comedy of the evening.

    “Are we required to buy a drink to see the show? We saw nothing of that in the Groupon or on the ticket.” The answer was a head shaking no while a smiling VOICE mouthing, “yes,” ambiguity worth using as material in one of the comedy acts.



    The waitress was more firm on the answer. We had to buy a ticket drink or be asked to leave the theater. For those who did not drink, water was available. She also claimed it was clearly spelled out on the Groupon purchase. But that was an error or a bold faced lie.

    This will not be part of the Groupon coupon which you may have bought for $15, and it won’t be explained to you when you redeem the coupon or printed on the ticket you receive. It adds about 50% to the purchase.

    For $4 you can get a small plastic water with a Sin City label. Imagine the small waters they sell on the strip bridges for a buck. That is the least you can spend. Beer is $7 or $8. So that same sort of Bud Light the casino gives you for free when you gamble adds a whopping 50% to the price of seeing the show.

    I think the show itself is just grand. The mainliner the night I went was John Bizarre who I’ve seen often in Vegas and he was superb in every way. There was a good juggler. And the pretty girls doing a very soft erotic dance between numbers add an alluring ambiance.

    The theater is very comfortable as well. It is not like the old theater I remember from last year. It is no difficult to locate in the casino. There is no maze of stairways to ascend and no series of lines to wait in. We waiting in one line and then were seated.

    But the bait and switch marketing is just another dishonorable attempt to squeeze a few more dollars out of each patron. It is bad enough when such fees are in fine print like resort fees to trick those consumers who do not have a law degree, but when the only fine print is first experienced when it is pops up on a sign propped up in front of the entrance; it is just another example of disingenuous marketing.

    On my second visit the decision to force drinks on customers was said to be that of the owner of the bar. I could not get a last name, just John.
    I am assuming it is this guy, John Padon
    In a case of curious timing, 'Sin City Comedy' bolts for Planet Hollywood - The Kats Report - Las Vegas Sun News

    On that visit I talked to Gilbert before I turned my Groupon into a ticket and he had an entirely different story. He said the drinks were optional, like popcorn in a movie theater.

    Well, I never saw a sign at the movies that announced a one popcorn minimum.

    I reported the threat of the waitress on the other visit to have us ejected.

    “That will never happen.” he said.

    And I think that he took care of me because on my second there were just two polite requests to see if I wanted a drink, which I did not, and no high pressure.

    One thing also to keep in mind is toward the middle of the show both times the prices dropped. They called it a “Happy Hour” special and during this time Blue Moon was just $5.

    But I suggest you ask a lot of questions on the way in and if pressured take names, write them down and inform Groupon. Dropping the name Gilbert might help too.

    It is rather disconcerting to go out for a night of entertainment and feel like you are going to buy a used car. There are other comedy venues where you won’t have this experience. LA Comedy is one. Big Al’s is another.

    I also suggest that you print two Groupon coupons and keep one in your pocket after you have redeemed for a ticket. On my second visit they let me keep my printout. Then there is no question what the deal said. And when Groupon asks for feedback, tell them you resent being bullied into buying an overpriced drink.

  • #2
    Re: Watch those Sin City folks

    Thanks for the info. Good to know.

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    • #3
      Re: Watch those Sin City folks

      Looks like complaints have changed the Groupon and it now requires the one drink minimum in the fine print of the offer.

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      • #4
        Re: Watch those Sin City folks

        That being said, remember that the one drink if it is a very cheezy water will be $4 and if not drinks run from $8-$20. That Bud you get for free playing on machines will be $8 and thanks for the $1 tip sir. When in the market for Groupon comedy, the LA Comedy Club was much cheaper and just as nice except not burlesque. Then the Riviera Comedy was two free tickets using the coupon in your American Casino Guide, and no minimum drink requirement. In fact, the only club with a mandatory minimum on drink requirement was Sin City. I won't be going there next trip.

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        • #5
          Re: Watch those Sin City folks

          Originally posted by dewey089 View Post
          That being said, remember that the one drink if it is a very cheezy water will be $4 and if not drinks run from $8-$20. That Bud you get for free playing on machines will be $8 and thanks for the $1 tip sir. When in the market for Groupon comedy, the LA Comedy Club was much cheaper and just as nice except not burlesque. Then the Riviera Comedy was two free tickets using the coupon in your American Casino Guide, and no minimum drink requirement. In fact, the only club with a mandatory minimum on drink requirement was Sin City. I won't be going there next trip.

          I think drink minimums are more the rule than the exception. That is why they are so willing to give free tickets away, through books with coupons such as the ACG, Goldstar, and often directly. Many comedy clubs will give away large blocks of tickets to fill their rooms, since they know people will have to buy the drinks.

          I was quite surprised when I used my ACG coupon at the Riviera and they didn't require me to buy anything.

          That said, they should definitely disclose up front what money you will be required to spend. If they didn't, Groupon may give you a refund if you ask and explain the problem and why the coupon was misleading. They are usually pretty good about that, or at least they used to be. Although if you used the coupon already anyway, who knows.

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          • #6
            Re: Watch those Sin City folks

            Let me in on the names of these other rooms where there is a forced minimum drink purchase. I know this in not the case at LA Comedy at Bally's and it was so absurd there to the greeter that he made a bit of comedy when I asked about hidden fees and made up a few outrageous ones just to get a laugh. No minimum at the Riviera. None at Big Al's in the Orleans. How about the Brad Garrett show? Or that new standup show downtown, I think it is at the Plaza? There was no minimum at the old Hammer show or the other comedy magic there at the Four Queens. On the contrary, seeing one show usually meant a coupon for the next one and maybe a matchplay as well.
            I'd like to put together and post a list of Comedy places where the ticket price is the ticket price and drinks are only if you want them, a list that would be as a tool for folks like me who like comedy but want to know up front what it will cost. MacKing always required a drink, but the $10 for the drink was the only charge, and it was clear in all the advertisement anywhere. I'm also curious if whether the Sin City comedy has also put the one drink minimum rule clearly in their advertising other than on the Groupon. It is not on the printed ticket. Will it be in the little magazines like 24/7. I guess we have to call every advertised special and find out what the "catch" is.
            It also may be still possible to avoid the Sin City drink with some assertive asking ahead of time, especially if Gilbert is one of the greeters as he made it clear that in spite of the sign, the drinks were optional. I am curious too if you could put the drink off until the Happy Hour special and then get a $5 Blue Moon half way through the show. Nothing is clear and above board; it is all small print and a hidden shell game.
            For me the whole thing is just another issue like Resort Fees. For the consumer it would clearly be better to have prices spelled out and packaged into one price if the fees are mandatory anyway. Not doing that is a ploy to advertise in a disingenuous manner, quoting in advertisement low prices that are just lies and don't reflect true prices at all. Since this seems more and more popular in marketing now, our only recourse is to get the details and list the places that do these underhanded tricks, and those that don't require a minimum drink or have other hidden fees, just as we do for Resort Fees and now we need to begin to do for early check in fees as well.
            I'd like to say I am a great protester and rise in an indignant boycott at all these places.
            I don't. I do the math. My rational self usually just makes the best deals.
            That being said, after that emotionally upsetting confrontation I experienced at Sin City over this stupid cheezy $4 water, along with poor Wild Bill being embarrassed that he had bought the Groupons to give four of us a cheap night out and ended sticking folks with $8 Bud beer, I am just as turned off as if it were a principled decision. It will be a long time before I chose Sin City over the other comedy venues. I want to feel light hearted and happy when I go out to be entertained, not as if what I thought was a class comedy room was actually a version of three card Monte with a street vendor. I am more apt to pay full fare at the Riviera on a second visit, than reduced at Sin City. Actually, if the drink is not wanted I think the math of that works for my rational mind too.
            Jackie Gaughn knew all about this human response as did most of the casinos in the old days. They tried to make us feel comfortable and taken care of and then fleeced us where we expect to get fleeced, with dice and one armed bandits. Then we could chuckle about our losses. I don't get any chuckle out of these other tricks; they just make me want to barf.
            Jackie Gaughn INJacke

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