I've been a customer at Sharky Bar for something like 15 years.

My last visit to Phnom Penh, back in April, I was scammed causing said bar to lose a long time customer.

I was there to enjoy their ribs, for some reason, I find the ribs in Sharky Bar and in fact, other venues in PNH very good.

A lady came in I've known for about ten years. She has of course evolved in to more than a short time date to a friend of sorts. See her each visit a couple times, help her out with money and gifts. Met her at about age 20, now she's 30 something. You get the picture.

So she's there to meet another bloke as I had not contacted her. We were happy to see each other and arranged to hook up another day. I asked her if she wanted a drink. She said sure, and ordered a soda pop which as most here know is $1.50.usd.

My check comes, they run an ongoing updated check, I don't even look at it, as waiting for my meal, and her date comes in, she excuses herself and goes to him.

Then, after my meal I look at my check preparing to pay it and I've been charged $3.usd for her soda. I ask WTF is this? They said it was a "lady drink". I said WTF she doesn't work here and you didn't ask me if I wanted to buy the so called "lady drink" and it was a can of soda pop! Sorry is all I got, they talked with the cashier and that was that, $3.usd.

Now, for all those in the peanut gallery tossing shells, don't worry mates, I can afford the $1.50usd overcharge. Later I called my friend and asked her WTF? She said they give her $1.usd and keep $2.00. I know my friend could use every $1.00 she can find/scam/con but for Sharky Bar to participate and gain .50cents via this scam was all it took.

Final visit. A place I've enjoyed for years now boycotted for scamming me out of .50cents. If you read this, you Sharky Bar, go fuck yourselves. That shit doesn't belong in Phnom Penh.

In many bars where this happens, it is usually the girl that instigates it by asking the bar if they will bill customers who buy her drinks at ladydrinks prices, so that she makes a commission on the drink.

This system is used by both freelancers, and by bar girls or ex-bar girls.

For example if a bar girl knows a customer of hers is going to barfine her and take her out to various bars for drinks the next day, she may go round a few bars ahead of the bar crawl and set up the ladydrink price deal, so that when she duly arrives with her guy in tow, the bars know to charge at ladydrink rates.

It's a questionable practice at best. Some guys don't notice or don't care, and as you say often the girls need all the money they can get, but I still wince when girls ask for this in my bar.

And to be fair a lot of girls going round with customers just take drinks at normal customer prices, even checking with us to make sure we are only charging at normal rates - they don't want to scam their guy.

In your case it was slightly different. The girl was a freelancer working at that bar. Anyone buying her a drink would normally pay at ladydrink prices. You however saw her as a long time friend and expected that her drinks would just be billed at customer prices.

I think it was up to that girl to tell the bar that she wanted to have that particular drink billed as a customer drink. They may or may not have accepted that. After all she was an 'employee' of sorts, making use of their venue to conduct her business.

I have never seen or heard of a bar charging a commission price for a drink for a freelance prostitute.

This is a first

My sympathy's, with you Nok Tang. If I was you I would avoid the place by miles and go to Pattaya . It would never happen to you there.

what the fuck !
lady drinks even at Sharky ???

that's ridicolous, the only reason to go i a freelance bar is because there are no lady drinks and no BS !

Duncan wrote:go to Pattaya . It would never happen to you there.

and maybe that's why it's half empty now ...
they reap what they sow.

Digg3r wrote:I have never seen or heard of a bar charging a commission price for a drink for a freelance prostitute.

This is a first

Most hostess bars have a few freelance girls at them. These girls don't take salary and come and go as they please but a lot of their income derives from the ladydrinks that customers of the bar buy them.

The customer wouldn't be aware which girls were on salary or working freelance. He would just be buying them all drinks at ladydrink prices.

The freelancers at hostess bars are often girls who have 'boyfriends' overseas supporting them financially, but the girls get bored and go back to working at the bars to get a social life as well as some extra income. Whenever the boyfriend visits Cambodia, the girl stops working while he is around.

At my last bar we had one ex-staff-member-turned-freelancer wave her 'serious fiancé' off at the airport at 5pm and then roll up to work for ladydrinks an hour later...

I think it's different at GSM, and maybe at Martini and Sharkeys. I'm not really familiar with how these bars operate. At GSM the girls are usually treated by all the bars there as normal customers.

jah steu wrote:

Digg3r wrote:I have never seen or heard of a bar charging a commission price for a drink for a freelance prostitute.

This is a first

Most hostess bars have a few freelance girls at them. These girls don't take salary and come and go as they please but a lot of their income derives from the ladydrinks that customers of the bar buy them.

The customer wouldn't be aware which girls were on salary or working freelance. He would just be buying them all drinks at ladydrink prices.

The freelancers at hostess bars are often girls who have 'boyfriends' overseas supporting them financially, but the girls get bored and go back to working at the bars to get a social life as well as some extra income. Whenever the boyfriend visits Cambodia, the girl stops working while he is around.

At my last bar we had one ex-staff-member-turned-freelancer wave her 'serious fiancé' off at the airport at 5pm and then roll up to work for ladydrinks an hour later...

I think it's different at GSM, and maybe at Martini and Sharkeys. I'm not really familiar with how these bars operate. At GSM the girls are usually treated by all the bars there as normal customers.

great, but it's not our business how the girls are paying their bills and if they don't like it they're free to get a real job rather than sucking dicks for a living.

asking for lady drinks in a freelance bar is totally dishonest, it's a scam plain and simple and places like Sharky should be boycotted.

I don't recall, nor see above, my indication she was/is a prostitute.

Sharky Bar certainly isn't a freelancer bar per se. Sure, there are a number of freelancers in there at any given moment, but it's a full service bar with food and often live music, perhaps other special events. It wasn't until now known as a bar which scams customers with "lady drinks".

To those making excuses for the "bar", I don't quite grasp your motivation other than it being perhaps some friend of yours place.

It is uncalled for in Sharky Bar. It isn't to repeat, a karaoke joint where said overcharges are expected and one can avoid simply by going elsewhere.

As for "hostess bars" in PNH, I have yet to go in one, nor will I ever pay a barfine in Cambodia.

I never thought I'd have to have my scam guard up at Sharky Bar. As I said, I'm a long time customer and just didn't expect any sort of nonsense like this up there.

The result will not be "lesson learned". No, it will be never to go to Sharky Bar again and of course, to tell people about the scam. I've learned my lessons in brothels and bars all over the world and I know full well when to ask the price in advance of a drink or other services. I was caught by trusting my over a decade of trading with the venue.

All of this must be motivated by the management seeing this hostess concept working in PNH to some extent. Frankly, I don't care that much. I'm not there for Sharky Bar or any other bar.