Protect the drunken patron from abuse

For all of the bills that they have passed over the last few years, the legislature has consistently failed to protect the interests of the drunken bar-hopper. This is a legitimate consumer protection issue that has yet to be properly and adequately addressed by the island community.

How many times do inebriated bar patrons have to be ripped off before their slurred, incoherent and babbling voices are finally heard by our elected leaders?

Time and time again, we have heard horror stories about unscrupulous bar owners and managers who have unfairly exploited drunken bar patrons, charging them far more than they ever actually ordered in the first place.

And yet the legislature to this day still refuses to act. For inexplicable and unfathomable reasons, our leaders have chosen to turn away and thus become blind to these profound injustices. They adamantly refuse to protect these poor victims of greedy bar owners, supervisors and scantily-clad hostesses.

I ask you: when will it all end? When will justice finally be served to these notoriously abused bar-patronizing victims?

Something just has to be done about this appalling situation. For many of these hostess bar patronizing drunks do not even know they are being victimized until it is much too late, while many others never come to realize that they have been gouged in the first place.

This is a truly sad and utterly deplorable state of affairs. Indeed, one has to wonder whether the hostess bar industry is bribing many of our congressmen into ignoring the needs of the victimized drunken patron.

It is true that not all bars are bad operators or scam artists. To be fair, some actually demand payment right away and even furnish a receipt upon request. Club Jama, a Saipan Tribune advertiser, is a good example of this good anti-rip off practice. Ritzy’s club is also pretty up front about its charges: all orders are clearly and immediately documented by depositing receipts into a container on your table. Other clubs charge a one hour all-you-can-drink flat rate, ladies drinks included, which is also pretty fair.

Some other clubs, however, probably slip in an extra drink or two, without the drunken customer ever knowing about it. This is where the problem arises, and where the government should immediately step in to rectify the heartbreaking situation, which is really an appalling act of fraud and exploitation.

One idea might be to set up a separate government agency tasked with closely monitoring such abhorrent practices. The Commerce Department could also be involved. Or perhaps an existing government agency, such as the ABC licensing board, could take on added responsibilities and conduct sting operations in conjunction with the
Department of Labor and Immigration and/or the DPS.

Or, alternatively, Congressman Dino Jones might be kind enough to pass a law requiring all bar patrons to sign a receipt acknowledging each order in order to prevent disputes (like they do in club Miss Saigon in Quezon City). That way, you don’t spend a couple of hours at a certain Russian club and then almost have a heart attack when the bill comes up to $450 and the finance chief is not there to pick up the tab for “public purposes”.

We have to protect the poor drinking man as well as the working man.