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Thread: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

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    Senior Member red diving girl's Avatar
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    Default feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    so all the girls (at our SF DV) club were recontracted over the past couple of weeks. while filling out the same dull paperwork and "choosing" to be an independent contracter i asked my asst. mgr. if i was agreeing to any changes. he kindly pointed to two sections where the max house fee went up 40 bucks to $200 (oh and theyll charge more than max if they feel like it anyway) and, after the cuts the house takes already from VIP dances, now we only retain 90% of payment (this even after 10% of funny money is taken). so an hour in VIP (which is a tough enough sell already) that a customer is paying $600-675 for, dancers get 450, minus ten % if it was payed on credit card (400) and after house fees and tips could well be well under $300 (if you can sell it at all!) for what is often a lot of "babysitting" (this is SF right?). a half hour could get you less than $150, and theoretically the 3 dances for 100 deal (i rarely choose to sell these anyway) could get you less than the $60 you often earn for them (reg. dance prices 20 anyway!) and yes, they are starting to take these extra cuts at payout.

    i had actually asked when i re-signed if the changes actually meant anything or if they were just ''on paper' and i was assured (hah) that it was the latter. don't get me wrong, i like my club and job very much right now, and am making enough money to feed myself these days. IMO i am hard worker who shows up early, never leaves late and causes very little trouble so am treated relatively fairly, but mgt. does have the ability to make things VERY tough if they wanted to. it seems im always working with the slightest bit of paranoia and leaving many nights with a residual feeling that im being screwed.

    any other san francisco Deja Vu (pretty much all of us!) girls have similar experiences with these new contracts? we already give up at least 40% of what money we bring from customers (not counting the drinks the club sells!). why are they fleecing us another ten percent?

  2. #2
    madmaxine
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Why are they fleecing you? Because they can......

    I heard the dancers at the Deja Vu in Stockton are catfighting over stage rotations due to thin money, and probable management crackdowns.

    I pray the dancers who stay at DV clubs will find a way to screw the clubs over. If I could go back & do it all over, I would have been much more selfish as a club dancer.

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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Red,


    I understand that anytime you are getting one amount and they change it to a smaller amount you feel like you are being screwed. I do understand that you would like to, and should have the option to make as much money as you can.

    However you do not have the right to set policy for the SF DejaVu. You should be prepared to shop your options, whic may mean leaving the club till you find the best combination of money making and job satisfaction. In this situation you have a couple of options. You can go and work in a different club or go independant and do private parties. (Actually there are a lot more options, but these are the two most obvious).

    As a business owner,I would like to point out a few things. In most companies the employees get nowhere near 60% of the money that customers spend, and you should really not think of that as "Your" money. Also the club has insurance, rent sallaries, franchise fees, advertising, paying off local officials, and many other expensese. Your money is strickly profit.

    With that said, if you really want better money without changing clubs, collective barganing has a lot of power. If you can get say 40% of the dancers to agree to negotiate together then you will have power to set terms and conditions of your independant contractor contract. However the difficulties in doing this may make finding another club a much more attractive option.

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    God/dess
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Quote Originally Posted by hangover
    In most companies the employees get nowhere near 60% of the money that customers spend.
    Yeah, well, in most companies the "employees" don't provide 100% of the product being purchased. And in most companies the employees don't take off their clothes and rub against strangers.

    Deja Vu sucks, sucks, sucks. I worked at one for three nights when I was 20 and desperate and swore never to work for one again. Nine years later, I have still never worked for a club with such utterly shitty practices.

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    God/dess Jenny's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Hangover - in most companies the employees get paid. She's not a damn employee.

    RDG - it's because dancers are stupid. I mean all of us. We will accept poor working environment, so we get them. It's that simple. When you keep in mind that the average dancer, anywhere in any city is making a barely subsistence wage - or at least not a lot to spare - it's a completely mystifying phenomena that cannot be accounted for rationally.
    I have taught that the sky in all its zones is mortal and its substance was formed by a process of birth

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    Veteran Member Jo Weldon's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    They're not employees, they're salespeople and freelance entertainers.

    I've heard people compare it to hair salons, but hair salons tend not to charge entry fees and sell drinks. So that's not a perfect comparision.

    Unlike real estate brokers, they often CAN'T come and go as they please. I'm simplifying this, so don't bother to point out that if brokers don't show up early they don't get assigned clients and so on, you know what I mean. And I said OFTEN so don't say IN SOME CLUBS, blah blah. YOu know what I mean.

    And so on.

    It's awful what they're doing. Awful.

    As for collective bargaining, it's not really reasonable to try motivate a group of people to do something along the lines of unionization when vast majority of them are only going to be there for a few years, and maybe not working for the same place during those few years, so that's not the be-all end-all recommendation some people seem to think it is.

    This is just the tip of iceberg as far as getting realistic about this goes.
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    Featured Member Crow's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Yeesh - why does it always boil down to this, I'll never forget one of my ex-boyfriends saying this to me when I was griping to vent about a bad night ( REMINDS ME OF WHY HE'S AN EX )

    Well damn honey, people that work at McDonald's don't make that much!

    You know what? So fugging what, I don't give a furry rats behind about other people. I work where I work and do what I do to make money and when a club gets greedy, I get more-so and you know who gets caught in the middle? The SC patron.

    So all in all everybody gets screwed.

  8. #8
    madmaxine
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Wouldn't the city of San Francisco be wise to undermine the dominance of the Deja Vu corporation in the area? What would generate more tax revenue for the city, several independently owned clubs, or this corportate juggernaut that is probably able to write off a lot of operating expenses in addition to hiding funds when possible? Most clubs do not report stage fees if they can help it, hence the alleged "play room" in the contract, it's for them, not the dancers.

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    Newbie Mmmmmmmmmilo's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Deja Vu SUCKS!!!
    Always has, always will. It's a monopoly with lawsuits going on left & right, all over the country.
    Do you ever perform outside of the strip clubs?
    There are some decent burlesque shows and gigs in SF.

  10. #10
    smartcookie
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    There are no "options" for SF dancers besides Crazy Horse or Mitchell Brothers (which involves a bit more than dancing). Deja Vu owns all but two of the clubs there.

    The only "option" is to travel outside the city to work, which is not a viable option for women who have other jobs, or kids, or school.

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    Veteran Member Jo Weldon's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    >( REMINDS ME OF WHY HE'S AN EX )

    >Well damn honey, people that work at McDonald's don't make that much!

    That would sure make an EX--telling you the standard is minimum wage when you say it's gold (no, diamonds!) LOL

    You're right, never let anybody tell you that you have to put up with crap just because you're making more than you'd make at McDonald's. Like your only two options in life are $5 an hour or stripping?
    Last edited by Jo Weldon; 02-04-2006 at 04:19 PM. Reason: misspelling, my specialty!
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Well, that's an interesting issue - the whole "well you make more than you would at McDonalds". This argument applies to relatively few jobs, and it has something to do with, I think, the idea that we somehow don't DESERVE the money we make. That we are taking something that doesn't rightfully belong to us in the first place, so we shouldn't bitch about a) not having it or b) having to give it away. I think there is a hidden socio-economic agenda too - I mean examine a lot of the (even facetious) website about strippers (reasons not to date a stripper) and there is a lot about how much money we make, and how spoiled we are and how we don't know what it's like to work. What it is getting at is that women who have no skills (or no skills that they are applying) have NO RIGHT to make this money, and we should get out butts back to the pink collar ghetto where we belong.
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    Veteran Member Jo Weldon's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Jenny--

    I've been hearing that "Well don't complain about ANYTHING because you could be working at McDonald's" since I was 18, which was 25 years ago, and I agree.
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  14. #14
    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Just a note - I DID work at McDonalds. I lasted 3 days.

    As per your club. I made at Broadway Showgirls what I make in Sac at a dive club after fees. It all works out in the end I think. I make $1000 at DejaVu and leave with $600 or I make $700 at dive bar and leave with $600. Different structures.

    Im curious why its so hard to sell champ? Thats all i sold while i was there... didnt even give custys another option. Ya want 1/2 hour or hour? Sorry, I dont do single dances...

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    Senior Member red diving girl's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    thanks for the support guys. the most annoying part about all this is that it seems there are fees at every turn. it seeems that DV takes reasonable cuts when you look at them seperatly, and they even structure the way they tell you how much you make to sound it more attractive, but theres the house fee, then the fake money cut, then the cut of the VIP dances THEN the OTHER CUT (?? the new 90%) of dances and often times extra unexplained house fees on top of that. its very shady and dishonest.

    in response to audrey -- i think i would much prefer to technically "make" less but leave with more or the same, i feel less "taken advantage of". also i would be more able and willing to tip the people who REALLY deserve cuts of my money, DJs, housemoms, floorhosts, etc. they also get the short end of the stick when girls are gouged at payout.

    heh, how did you know i work at showgirls? the price structure or do you remember earlier posts that reference it? lately its has been very slow and difficult to make ANY money anywhere in the club. tonight for example by 1:00 am i had about $60 and if someone asked me for a dance or acted like they only wanted a $20 one i refused, either with some cheeky excuse or flat out telling them "id love to have a drink with you and/or go upstaris to VIP but honestly, this night has been so bad, any money from single dances i do will be taken straight from me" which was more than true. when i started dancing at this club, which was my first, i did pretty well (my avg. is actually about the same now), so i think several months ago things WERE a lot better and VIP wasnt quite as much as an impossible sell. tonight was seriously dismal. id say, perhaps three or four girls made any "money" (over $100) and this is a saturday night. i had my ass barely saved by a 1/2 vip by a regular at the final hour, and most nights in the past couple weeks have me being totally lucky, usually with regulars as well.

    i will have to try your selling tactic though! judging from your pictures, it seems you can totally pull off that ''i am unattainable and only available to high rolling gentlemen like yourself'' thing. hrmm ill give it a shot, what do i have to lose these days?

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    God/dess cinammonkisses's Avatar
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    How long have you been working at the Vu Red? It can't be that bad for you, or you would've been left right.

    I dunno, I work at Deja Vu in Cincy and I get treated EXTREMEMLY well. Lizette and I hung out all weekend, and she knows first hand what type of relationship I have with the people at my club. She told me I was "spoiled" hahahahaha I think I am.

    Anywho, from what I've been learning different Deja Vu's do different things. For example...at my club, there is no alcohol, no CONTACT...as in NONE! We give $20 couch dances and other specials throughout the night.

    Vip's are $150/30min and we keep $100. I dunno, for me, I'm alot more comfortable working at a place like this. I'd rather make $300/night doing no contact than $500/night grinding dicks...







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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Sorry if it came off that I think dancer make too much money. That was not my intention at all. I do not think that if I was a woman that I could deal with the stress and dificulties involved in dancing.

    Second I am also an independant contractor who charges a very high houly rate for computer consulting. As an independant I am often put in the same contractual issues that you originally talked about. I frequently have the option of sign the contract as is, or find a different company to consult for (often in a different city).

    Also, collective barganing does not necessarly mean forming a union. It just means getting a group of people together to agree on what you will and will not settle for. (Like when a group of girls get together to make a girl quit) As I pointed out, and others mentioned, this is not likely to happen.

    I also did not know that Deja Vu owned more than one of the clubs in SF. So with that information, I will agree that your options are very limited. It is very unfair when a group of men control the fate of talented and hard working dancers.

    The good side is that the compensation for dacing can be quite good, and hopefully the times you are screwed are not that many that the money makes up for it.

    Good luck to you.

  18. #18
    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: feeling a bit screwed? its little like Deja Vu!

    Quote Originally Posted by red diving girl
    i will have to try your selling tactic though! judging from your pictures, it seems you can totally pull off that ''i am unattainable and only available to high rolling gentlemen like yourself'' thing. hrmm ill give it a shot, what do i have to lose these days?
    Seriously - you walk around like youre a princess - guys notice this... sit, chat a couple songs and have a drink... When I worked there it was pretty slow too so Id make some rounds sit and chat with someone and try to make them want ME in Champ rather than me asking them. Ya know what I mean? When you get your first VIP then you can do it again and again because guys always want the unattainable (the 'busy' girl)... even if shes busy primping and stuff... how do they know you werent upstairs?

    As per the 2/$60s and 3/$100s I never understood why any girl did this? Its so retarded when they take so much... really the only dances that are worth anything are the $20s and the Champ.... and the $20s are out in the open floor so its a bit tacky... like I said, class and the princess mentality works well in a joint like that...

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