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Author Topic: Penthouse Cabaret, Kiev-Imprisoned by mafia management in double billing attempt  (Read 7557 times)

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Offline High Plains Drifter

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Went for an advertised caberet/ballet show, but it was never seen after 2 hours. It's just another empty club in Kiev where the girls aggressively solicit hand jobs in private rooms. The locals avoid the place, as I was the only customer in the club on a Saturday night. I was required to pay 1000 UAH up front, but never got a receipt. The girls stopped dancing on stage when I didn't want private dances. They just lied down on the couch on stage. I went to leave and settled the bill for 300 UAH change (not spent). Cash in hand, I went to get my coat but was blocked by the bouncer when the bartender said I never paid the initial 1000 UAH deposit.

An ugly confrontation followed. The manager locked the door with a key and said I was cheating them because I didn't drink enough. Until this point I had received neither a bill nor a receipt. The bouncer assaulted me and threatened to call his mafia friends, and that I would "never leave Ukraine". Eventually, the bartender printed bills that I owed 200 UAH more than originally agreed, but would not give the originals to me. I told the manager that this was no way to run a business and that she was not giving bills or receipts to avoid taxes. Her reply was that I should not tell her how to run her business. I replied that she had no business as I was the only customer in the club. I eventually paid an additional 200 UAH and was able to leave, but no respectable business resorts to this kind of thuggery for what is today $7.36 (U.S.). I never got a receipt from them.  Maybe I could report them to some anti-corruption office?

There are too many other good clubs in Kiev. Avoid this club, and its sister near the olympic stadium, like the plague as the locals do.

Offline Boethius

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Most of such clubs are fronts for money laundering.
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline BillyB

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Most of such clubs are fronts for money laundering.


They can't stay in business with one customer a night so yes, they're making profits elsewhere and using the club as their legitimate business front.


High Plains Drifter, I seen the movie. I hope you're not going to do what Clint Eastwood did in the movie. You can call the local embassy to report them and their theft. Also police reform took place in Ukraine. They're not as corrupt as was in the past. You may want to report the club to the police and they may take action. After you do the report, move to a new location.
Fund the audits, spread the word and educate people, write your politicians and other elected officials. Stay active in the fight to save our country. Over 220 generals and admirals say we are in a fight for our survival like no other time since 1776.

Offline High Plains Drifter

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Most of such clubs are fronts for money laundering.

Then why call attention to themselves like this for 200 UAH?  I could be that the manager was looking to make more for herself.  I don't know the Ukrainian labour code, but it looks to me like the girls are on a straight commission basis.  "Erotic massages", AKA hand jobs, aren't considered prostitution in Ukraine, but prostitution money does need to get laundered somehow, and such clubs could do that and serve as gateways to get new girls into the oldest profession.

They can't stay in business with one customer a night so yes, they're making profits elsewhere and using the club as their legitimate business front.

High Plains Drifter, I seen the movie. I hope you're not going to do what Clint Eastwood did in the movie. You can call the local embassy to report them and their theft. Also police reform took place in Ukraine. They're not as corrupt as was in the past. You may want to report the club to the police and they may take action. After you do the report, move to a new location.

I'll let them guess what else I might do.  The first step is to warn other tourists about what is literally a trap.  I could have put the bouncer in the hospital.  He was a big muscle bound guy who wasn't smart or quick enough to win a nasty street fight, but I didn't think that it was the wisest option.  There was still the manager, a bartender, and two hostesses to call me a liar.   I think reporting them to the anti-corruption people shows the most promise.  How would I do that?

Offline jone

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Then why call attention to themselves like this for 200 UAH?  I could be that the manager was looking to make more for herself.  I don't know the Ukrainian labour code, but it looks to me like the girls are on a straight commission basis.  "Erotic massages", AKA hand jobs, aren't considered prostitution in Ukraine, but prostitution money does need to get laundered somehow, and such clubs could do that and serve as gateways to get new girls into the oldest profession.

I'll let them guess what else I might do.  The first step is to warn other tourists about what is literally a trap.  I could have put the bouncer in the hospital.  He was a big muscle bound guy who wasn't smart or quick enough to win a nasty street fight, but I didn't think that it was the wisest option.  There was still the manager, a bartender, and two hostesses to call me a liar.   I think reporting them to the anti-corruption people shows the most promise.  How would I do that?

You were the target of opportunity at the moment.  They probably weren't going to get any other pay during that time, so taking you on was the only option.  Seems incredible that eight bucks will make or break their night, but it probably was their only opportunity for pay.
Kissing girls is a goodness.  It beats the hell out of card games.  - Robert Heinlein

Offline High Plains Drifter

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They screwed with the wrong guy.  I told the witch this would cost her more than 200 UAH.

Offline jone

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Too much risk on your part to try and take them on.  A lesson that didn't cost you much.  Be glad you got out of there with your face intact.  As for carrying a grudge, I never do.  Too many things in this world worth doing that are blocked by trying to gain revenge.
Kissing girls is a goodness.  It beats the hell out of card games.  - Robert Heinlein

Offline Boethius

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Then why call attention to themselves like this for 200 UAH?  I could be that the manager was looking to make more for herself.  I don't know the Ukrainian labour code, but it looks to me like the girls are on a straight commission basis.  "Erotic massages", AKA hand jobs, aren't considered prostitution in Ukraine, but prostitution money does need to get laundered somehow, and such clubs could do that and serve as gateways to get new girls into the oldest profession.

Because they don't care.  In some towns, anyone who complains about crime/corruption disappears.

It's not money from prostitution.  It's money stolen from privatization, hostile takeovers, the IMF, siphoning Russian gas (which no longer occurs), stealing and selling priceless museum artifacts, drugs, etc.  Same with the building boom in Kyiv, where you see brand new apartment buildings, completely empty.  The woman is probably the mistress/business partner/front of/for some guy who owns the property and the club.

Quote
I think reporting them to the anti-corruption people shows the most promise.  How would I do that?

To get a position in a corrupt system, you have to be a part of the corruption.  So, forget that.  It's a fool's game, and possibly dangerous.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2018, 04:17:02 PM by Boethius »
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline JayH

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They screwed with the wrong guy.  I told the witch this would cost her more than 200 UAH.
Wow -- a tough guy !!
Where exactly are you from?
Have you or do you frequent similar establishments in the US?
SLAVA UKRAYINI  ! HEROYAM SLAVA!!!!
Слава Украине! Слава героям слава!Слава Україні! Слава героям!
 translated as: Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!!!  is a Ukrainian greeting slogan being used now all over Ukraine to signify support for a free independent Ukraine

Offline I/O

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LOL, I naively walked into something similar in Bucharest in '05 - my own stupid fault, thought I was walking into some kind of floor show. When I topped the spiral stairs there were poles everywhere with various shapes and forms of flesh hanging off them plus two gorillas blocking my exit.


Cost me about $100 Euros IIRC to get access to the exit (I'd been there a total of about 16 seconds) which I gladly paid and legged it.... :-[ :-[

Offline JayH

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LOL, I naively walked into something similar in Bucharest in '05 - my own stupid fault, thought I was walking into some kind of floor show. When I topped the spiral stairs there were poles everywhere with various shapes and forms of flesh hanging off them plus two gorillas blocking my exit.


Cost me about $100 Euros IIRC to get access to the exit (I'd been there a total of about 16 seconds) which I gladly paid and legged it.... :-[ :-[

Funny you say that -- I did much the same as you in LA !! Long time ago !
My point in post above--it could have happened anywhere!
SLAVA UKRAYINI  ! HEROYAM SLAVA!!!!
Слава Украине! Слава героям слава!Слава Україні! Слава героям!
 translated as: Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!!!  is a Ukrainian greeting slogan being used now all over Ukraine to signify support for a free independent Ukraine

Offline BillyB

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Cost me about $100 Euros IIRC to get access to the exit



On the bright side, it was free to enter.  :D
Fund the audits, spread the word and educate people, write your politicians and other elected officials. Stay active in the fight to save our country. Over 220 generals and admirals say we are in a fight for our survival like no other time since 1776.

Offline Trenchcoat

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Are you sure it was the Penthouse Cabaret in Kiev HPD, it seems to have some cracking reviews on Google, all 5 stars and plenty of hot scantily clad women :D I can't imagine to think you didn't think to look it up and see what it was all about first ;D

Seriously though I would just leave a real negative review on google reviews summarising in brief your experience. Nothing will hurt them more than a bad google review as it looks like from their website they are looking to attract westerners. Western guys looking for a night out in Kiev will look them up on the net and see the google reviews and the bad ones will make them think twice about making a visit.

They could end up losing out far more money as a result than the few coppers they took off you ;)
"If you make your own bread, then and only then, are you a free man unchained and alive living in pooty tang paradise, or say no and live in Incel island with all the others." - Krimster

Offline alex330

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Seriously though I would just leave a real negative review on google reviews summarising in brief your experience. Nothing will hurt them more than a bad google review as it looks like from their website they are looking to attract westerners. Western guys looking for a night out in Kiev will look them up on the net and see the google reviews and the bad ones will make them think twice about making a visit.

That's your only option tbh. Flood social media with complaints on the establishment. Hire some guys ion Fiverr to do the same in both English and Russian platforms. You will tank their B&M business. Of course that is not the true business like Boe says. They are making real money elsewhere.

You cannot report anything or fight someone like that in Ukraine.

Offline JayH

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You cannot report anything or fight someone like that in Ukraine.[/size]

Correct -- it is not to be underestimated what could happen if a guy handled this in the wrong way.
FWIW -not just Ukraine .
SLAVA UKRAYINI  ! HEROYAM SLAVA!!!!
Слава Украине! Слава героям слава!Слава Україні! Слава героям!
 translated as: Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!!!  is a Ukrainian greeting slogan being used now all over Ukraine to signify support for a free independent Ukraine

Offline I/O

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On the bright side, it was free to enter.  :D
Yep, apart from the pain my eyes felt when viewing the "poles" - crap they were horrible, gravitational issues and so forth.


Was an "experience"... :ROFL: :ROFL:





Offline ML

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Not in the same league, but . . .

A hundred years or so, when I lived and worked in LA.

Ran across a guy I went to university with, and we agreed to meet up for lunch.
He wanted to pay because of some favor I had done for him years ago.

I told him someone had given me a one-time pass to a private restaurant featuring topless servers.

We went and had meal.  Not too exciting and sort of weird to be served food by the gals.

He paid with credit card.  As we were just leaving the door, the gal rushed up to him and handed him cash equivalent to the tip he had included on card.

She said:  The standard tip here is (some such) and if you can't afford it, then here is your money back.

I didn't even ask him what tip he had given, but I am sure it was 15% or more.

We both thought it was pretty weird and neither had any idea how a newcomer was supposed to know their 'rules.'
A beautiful woman is pleasant to look at, but it is easier to live with a pleasant acting one.

Offline High Plains Drifter

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Are you sure it was the Penthouse Cabaret in Kiev HPD, it seems to have some cracking reviews on Google, all 5 stars and plenty of hot scantily clad women :D I can't imagine to think you didn't think to look it up and see what it was all about first ;D

That's the place.  I did check the reviews, and they didn't remotely match my experience.

Seriously though I would just leave a real negative review on google reviews summarising in brief your experience. Nothing will hurt them more than a bad google review as it looks like from their website they are looking to attract westerners. Western guys looking for a night out in Kiev will look them up on the net and see the google reviews and the bad ones will make them think twice about making a visit.

They could end up losing out far more money as a result than the few coppers they took off you ;)

In this day and age, gooning it up for small change is damn stupid.  Yes, people will know.

Because they don't care.  In some towns, anyone who complains about crime/corruption disappears.
...
To get a position in a corrupt system, you have to be a part of the corruption.  So, forget that.  It's a fool's game, and possibly dangerous.

Well if Western tourists are threatened by small time goons, or start disappearing, the Ukrainian government will get a lot more pressure from the E.U. and other Western nations.  Good-bye E.U. membership.  It also will start losing tourist revenue.  I can remember being in clubs in Russia a few years back and noticed the security there, military looking men.  I wasn't afraid of them because I knew they were there to protect the tourists from the low life.  The mafia in Kiev should know that clubs gooning it up can reduce its revenue as well.  Also know that with the "troubles" in the East, Western intelligence agents, (former military people), and special ops forces are about, although not officially.  These people don't always cross borders the normal way tourists do.  Pulling a stunt like this could easily lead to a bloody mess.


Wow -- a tough guy !!
Where exactly are you from?

Lago, in the high plains, Mister.

Have you or do you frequent similar establishments in the US?

No.


Offline Boethius

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I don’t think a lack of men traveling to Ukrainian strip clubs, or for sex tours, or such would be a bad thing for Ukraine.
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline High Plains Drifter

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I don’t think a lack of men traveling to Ukrainian strip clubs, or for sex tours, or such would be a bad thing for Ukraine.

There is a tradition in the region of tasteful topless shows.  Men would take their wives to them in the past.  In recent years this has become massage parlours fronting as strip clubs.  There is a difference.  Advertising a cabaret show, and having only strippers grinding away on poles, soliciting "erotic massages", is something different, and not accurately an establishment called a cabaret.

Offline Boethius

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There is no "tradition" of topless shows.  There were no topless shows before the collapse of communism.  Nor cabarets.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2018, 09:50:51 AM by Boethius »
After the fall of communism, the biggest mistake Boris Yeltsin's regime made was not to disband the KGB altogether. Instead it changed its name to the FSB and, to many observers, morphed into a gangster organisation, eventually headed by master criminal Vladimir Putin. - Gerard Batten

Offline BillyB

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Well if Western tourists are threatened by small time goons, or start disappearing, the Ukrainian government will get a lot more pressure from the E.U. and other Western nations.  Good-bye E.U. membership.  It also will start losing tourist revenue.



You're right but first we need a few volunteers to disappear.


Clubs like the one you were in are "allowed" to exist. Local authorities already heard complaints similar to yours. Another complaint isn't going to change things. Taking matters into your own hands will may get you the revenge you're satisfied with, hurt, jailed, or you may disappear. If you get involved with the criminal elements of society and idiots, expect stupid things to happen.
Fund the audits, spread the word and educate people, write your politicians and other elected officials. Stay active in the fight to save our country. Over 220 generals and admirals say we are in a fight for our survival like no other time since 1776.

Offline ML

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You're right but first we need a few volunteers to disappear.
Taking matters into your own hands will may get you the revenge you're satisfied with, hurt, jailed, or you may disappear. If you get involved with the criminal elements of society and idiots, expect stupid things to happen.

But sometimes ordinary people have to take a stand.

Just yesterday I was in a bar where a guy about 6 foot 4 weighing 250 pounds was yelling and giving everyone a hard time.

Finally I walked up to him, told him him was a PIA,  shoved him in the chest, told him to get out and . . .

to take his guide dog with him.
A beautiful woman is pleasant to look at, but it is easier to live with a pleasant acting one.

Offline Trenchcoat

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HDL it may well be that many perhas most if not all their 7 perfect 5 star reviews are fakes, from their employee's, associates or even fake accounts. Seems strange to me that most of the reviews on the English version of Google reviews are Ukrainian /Russian Names. People pay a lot of attention to the bad reviews as they want the heads up on any sh*t going on. So even one bad review can demolish their income. If they continue as they are and get a few bad reviews no one will touch them with a barge pole. Like someone said on here leave a bad review in the Russian version of review site etc. I think you're right also that gooning it up for a few lousy bucks just doesn't pay these days, what idiots do that don't realise the dodgy old days are long gone.
"If you make your own bread, then and only then, are you a free man unchained and alive living in pooty tang paradise, or say no and live in Incel island with all the others." - Krimster

Offline High Plains Drifter

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HDL it may well be that many perhas most if not all their 7 perfect 5 star reviews are fakes, from their employee's, associates or even fake accounts. Seems strange to me that most of the reviews on the English version of Google reviews are Ukrainian /Russian Names.

The people in the club, the girls, the bartender, the manager, the bouncer, etc., knew some English.  I wouldn't put it past them to write their own favourable reviews.  People here are very image conscious.  The management might also have changed since those reviews were written.

There is no "tradition" of topless shows.  There were no topless shows before the collapse of communism.  Nor cabarets.

The lyrics of Odessa Mama contradict you.  I also have a tour guide somewhere that is about 20 years old that mentions tasteful topless entertainment in nightclubs in Russia.  Human nature being what it is, I don't believe that the commie party bosses didn't have dancing girls at their private parties. 
« Last Edit: February 23, 2018, 02:21:47 PM by High Plains Drifter »

 

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