Here is a copy of the letter I had sent to Bamboo Room the morning after my experience:
Last night I had planned a birthday party for myself at The Bamboo Room in Lombard. It was the first time I had gone out to the club in almost 2 years. I wanted to go out and go somewhere that I knew I would have fun at. I'd never been to The Bamboo Room but I was a huge Boogie Nights fan so I decided to try the Bamboo Room.
I had sent in a list for the VIP list and in the email I received back, it said to ask for Michelle with questions about the VIP booths. I had emailed and left a message for her. When she called me back she was really nice and asked about how many people I was expecting. I told her anywhere from 12-15. I wanted to know what the charge was for getting the reserved booths. She asked if we would have at least a $250 bar tab throughout the night. With all of the people that were attending, I knew the tab would probably double that. She said that they do not charge for the VIP booths, but do request at least a $250 bar tab, and that includes food, drinks and cigarettes. I asked if we had to give a credit card up front and she said no. People could just pay cash or we could run an actual tab. I said that since there wasn't a charge for it, I was interested in reserving a table.
She said that they normally say up to 12-13 people per table is comfortable so if we had more than that, she would see about letting us use another table. She also said that I would be on the list and anyone who gave my name at the door, wouldn't have to pay cover. I was ecstatic! This was turning into a great evening.
When we arrived at the club, Michelle greeted me at the door and escorted us to our table and advised that she would be our server throughout the night and said to let her know if we needed anything. We started ordering drinks and she asked for a credit card. She said that was easier to do than to have to keep paying cash for every round since they had to run a tab to make sure that we hit $250. My husband was VERY reluctant about putting down his credit card but Michelle assured us things would be fine. It was very loud in there but I'm confidant that Michelle said she would let us know when we hit the $250 tab.
So we all started enjoying ourselves. Everyone was drinking and having a good time. A few of the people in our party were ordering shots from the shot girls and paying cash for those. 3 of the girls that came later, never once ordered a drink through our tab. They went to the bar and paid cash for every drink. To my recollection, no shots were ordered through Michelle, and if there were any, it was maybe a total of 2-3 shots. At the end of the night, Michelle hands us the bill and it's $531!!!
My husband said there must be a mistake and he was then shown a list of what was ordered and was also told that in addition to the alcohol bill, we were charged $150 for the booth! That was NOT what was told to me up front and I am very upset that we were charged for this. I specifically asked about a charge for the booth and was told several times that there wasn't a fee, just a minimum bar tab. We exceeded this bar tab so I don't understand this additional charge. I would love to see an actual print out of the drinks ordered as well, because with all of the drinks that cash was paid for, I don't understand how there was still that much money owed.
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I have emailed and left several messages at the Bamboo Room and only received 1 phone call from Lynn Peppinger, the supposed General Manager of Bamboo Room. She called me the Tuesday after I had sent the letter and said that Michelle, my hostess for the evening, was out of town until Thursday. She said she would speak with her up on her return and then call me back. I've yet to hear back from her. Even despite numerous emails and phone calls, nothing has been taken care of. I've already contacted the Better Business Bureau and the Bamboo Room has chosen to ignore those contacts as well. They've received 2 notices from the BBB and have yet to hear back. This is absolutely ridiculous and I will not stop contacting them until I receive resolution on these issues. No one that I associate with will be stepping foot inside another Bamboo Room! I am positively disgusted with the lack of follow up and the lack of Customer Service from this organization.
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