1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

How much?

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by Vegas Insight, Mar 6, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2004
    Messages:
    1,925
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    I'm sure this has come up once upon a time, so apologies if you're bored with this idea.

    What is the most ridiculous purchase you have made in Vegas. When I say ridiculous, I mean overly expensive.

    A few things to avoid: hotel rooms. You can spend thousands on a nice suite. Kudos to you if you can afford it. Even if you overpaid for a room on New Year's Eve, I'm looking at the small picture.

    I'm not interested in knowing the most expensive steak dinner, luxury rental car or VIP bottle service you've purchased, either.

    I'm talking simple stuff.

    For example: on Halloween I was at the Guns N' Roses concert at the Hard Rock. Not exactly cheap tickets. It was a long night, so a guy is gonna get thirsty. The cost for a 12 oz. bottle of HR water? $5. I can only imagine how much they charged for the privilege of having a beer. I've seen bigger bottles of water at the ballpark for $4, but that has to be a new low in gouging.

    Another example: years ago we were at the Rio and decided to order a round of Capt./diet for the four of us. We weren't gambling, we were simply in the first lounge you come to when you walk in the main entrance. Perhaps $9 for a one-shot drink is cheap in today's trendy ultra lounges, but I was stunned when I found out four simple mixed drinks cost $36.

    Obviously I'm not homeless, and most of the time I'm remembering how ridiculously cheap I got a micro brew from Ellis Island or Main St. Station. But obviously being gouged for something as simple as a drink is not something I have forgotten.

    What can't you forget?
     
  2. crappie_man

    crappie_man Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2012
    Messages:
    113
    Location:
    Twin Cities Minnesota
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    The $15 Bloody Mary I bought my wife in Encore...it came in the small glasses they serve comped.
    O'shea's made up for it when the cw brought out my White Russian in a 16 oz Solo Cup...Worth the price of a tip!
     
  3. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Messages:
    8,197
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    7 dollars for a 16 oz. bottle of water at the Celine Dion concert at Caesars.

    Woop dee doo, the label on the bottle has a picture of her.

    This was back in 2005!

    I can buy a case of water on sale for $3.50.:Þ
     
  4. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2011
    Messages:
    2,510
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    Water is on my list too, paid $7 I think for a small bottle at the KA theater. I was so hungover and thirsty though I would of paid $20 for it.
     
  5. Terry Benedict

    Terry Benedict VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2010
    Messages:
    1,658
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    15
    $8 for gelato at Venetian. And Caesars, come to think of it.
     
  6. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2004
    Messages:
    1,925
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    i swear you can get a case of water in those paper thin bottles from walgreens for $3.

    i get that your local bar counts on drink sales when they book a band, especially when they charge no cover. and i get that most venues are out to fleece customers as best they can, in their opinion, when they have a captive audience for an event, be it sports, a concert or the performing arts. when they're charging $7 for bottled water, that's criminal. some day i'll make $100K a year and won't have to think twice about dumping a ridiculous amount on the privilege of two drinks. (i'll still be bitter about it, i'm sure.)

    the current rate for one of those 16 oz. aluminum pints at the local ballpark here in minnesota is $8+. we'll assume it's just $8. that makes the beer equivalent to a $72 12-pack. i always wonder how people would react if they went to their local liquor store and found out that all alcohol was priced on the same scale as a $30 12-pack of miller lite. people would be outraged.

    $8 for gelato seems a bit ridiculous, too. in theory they wouldn't charge that much if they didn't sell enough to pay the rent, but then again i wonder how so many retail stores in vegas remain open. whenever i walk through the mall portion of the Stratosphere i wonder how any of them make rent, even during the holiday shopping season. but i digress.
     
  7. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 1999
    Messages:
    44,195
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    My "Purchase of Shame" happened at one of those skin care places. I think it was at Cosmo or Crystals. I got dragged in by an employee and I walked out of there with a teeny tiny bag and a couple hundred dollars less in my wallet.

    I like to think that I'm immune to that kind of hard sales technique, but the sales guy caught me in a weak moment and pushed all the right buttons. When he talked about how easy it would be for me to run the same $$ through a machine, but I wasn't willing to spend it to make myself look/feel better, I actually felt the moment when he made the sale. :)

    To be fair, it really does help the problem he said it would. I just wish it had been MY idea and not his.
     
  8. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2004
    Messages:
    1,925
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    my question in your case would be "how much did you overpay?"

    that's a hefty impulse purchase you made, and i've made them, too, although not in vegas. for what you bought (and as you noted, actually needed at some point or another) did you go home and determine you paid double what you could have purchased the same stuff for?
     
  9. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 1999
    Messages:
    44,195
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    I looked it up online and found that many people paid more than I did. I balked at the price a LOT and he kept bringing it down. Maybe I didn't over pay, but it just felt like it. :)
     
  10. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2004
    Messages:
    1,925
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    I know that feeling.
     
  11. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2009
    Messages:
    4,299
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Overpriced bar drinks. Way over priced night at the Luxor during a big convention to accommodate my best friend who turned out to not be a Vegas Buddy. $100 at Sephora (I blame the booze). I don't feel bad because I've had a lot of crazy deals that more than make up for it.
     
  12. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2006
    Messages:
    5,109
    $30 for The Four Seasons CD
    after seeing "Jersey Boys" -
    in The Venetian Theater gift Shop.
    .
    Easily,Twice the price it should be.
     
  13. bswim

    bswim High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2013
    Messages:
    898
    Location:
    Western WA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7
    Our first trip to Vegas, while waiting for the plane home I popped into one of the gift shops at the airport and it struck me that I knew I'd been to Vegas when I fully expected to pay $3.50 for a 16oz bottle of water. LOL

    Bit off topic but seeing the water price comments reminded me of that. lol
     
  14. billduhcat

    billduhcat Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2012
    Messages:
    387
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    32
    $6 bottle of water from Starbucks @ MGM last fall. Didn't notice it until the lady rung it up, but I was expensing it, so all was well.

    Actually, anything @ MGM, all of which appears to be 20-40% more expensive than elsewhere.
     
  15. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Messages:
    824
    Location:
    MSP
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    My husband and I were super hungover one day. We went to the Mirage and sat down at the machines. We needed something to drink immediately, like didn't want to wait even 5 mins for a server. I ran up to the bar and got 2 SPRITES, no alcohol. $22.00 before tip!

    I was in such disbelief, yet still parched, so I just paid and walked away speechless. We still wonder about that one.... :rolleyes2:
     
  16. StormHawk

    StormHawk Yuma, where I work in software.

    Joined:
    May 13, 2011
    Messages:
    1,125
    Location:
    Yuma
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    1
    2 vodka Redbulls and a Rum & Coke at The Bank - $62
     
  17. StormHawk

    StormHawk Yuma, where I work in software.

    Joined:
    May 13, 2011
    Messages:
    1,125
    Location:
    Yuma
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    1
    I once watched someone pay the $14 Luxor atm fee and get $40 out.
     
  18. Drambler

    Drambler High-Roller

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2011
    Messages:
    787
    Location:
    Columbus OH
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    I paid $16.95 for a small tube of sunscreen at the Mandalay Bay pool. Same tube at home is $3.95. It was buy it or burn.

    I also bought a $27 margarita (before tip) at the Aria pool last summer. I tired to justify it with the "I'm on vacation so f it" attitude but it bugged me later when playing slots I got a drink for just the tip.

    I also got a $7 Heineken at the bar near the Aria sportsbook. Crazy how it's free 3 feet away but $7 at the bar.
     
  19. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2004
    Messages:
    1,925
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    tough call on which one i am more stunned by.

    as for the $62 bar tab, let's assume the vodka drinks cost more because of that uber expensive red bull it is mixed with... they're probably $24 each, making the simple rum/coke just $14. or it's $22 and $18 respectively. either way, those are ridiculous markups.

    but at this point i'm more flabbergasted by the $11 sodas at the bar. i might have walked away and openly scoffed at the bartender, even though it is not his fault.

    although you noted that it was $22 before tip, i sure as hell hope you didn't tip. if i'm being charged $22 for any two drinks, i'm not tipping. if your employer can't pay you a living wage when it charges $11 for soda water, get a different job. forget the "insuring proper service" crap. putting ice in a glass and pressing a button to pour flavored water doesn't warrant a tip, i'd argue, and especially not when you're being raped by the proprietor. i'm sure i'll get savaged for that attitude, but you won't convince me that the bartender still deserves a tip, so don't bother. now, if the bartender is a hot blonde who is falling out of her bra.... not even then.
     
  20. Busyman

    Busyman VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2013
    Messages:
    1,312
    Location:
    Washington DC
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    5
    About $17 a piece for some weak ass drinks at Baby Doll Lounge (inside the Goretorium). The bar maid asked me if I wanted the change and I said of course not...then I found out they charged like an $8 tip on it! (my change was much more than that)

    I wanted to call her a b*tch when I found out but she went back downstairs.

    I demanded my change from the bar maid there.

    Overpriced drinks? Mmk
    Nice tip? Mmk

    OVERpaying on the tip cuz of sneakiness....umm that'll a big HELL NO.

    The sneaky part? She simply came to me telling me the cost. No slip or anything. I paid.

    She threw the actual receipt in the trash and never let me see it.

    What an itchbay.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.