Partygoers claim their bottle of $350 stolen in club

A group of friends paid $350 for a bottle of gin at an Orchard Road club only for it to disappear while they were on the dance floor.

"My friends and I went to Drip at around midnight and were recommended to get a bottle," said Stomper Rei, who was with four friends at the underground club located at Concorde Shopping Mall on March 30.

After getting a table, the five of them made a drink and got to the dance floor.

"We came back 15 to 20 minutes later and saw that our bottle was gone. My two male friends tried to talk to the bodyguard but we were told it was not their responsibility. My friends tried to talk to the manager, but no one was helping," claimed the Stomper.

"The manager said he would check the CCTV but he seemed annoyed at us and kept repeating he was helping us and taking time out of his work to make this effort for us."

The Stomper shared a video of her interaction with the manager at the club where he said: “You cannot expect all the guys here to be good guys.”

Asked whether they made a police report, the Stomper said: "We did not because it seemed pointless at that point and too much effort. We thought the CCTV should have captured this."

In response to a Stomp query, a Drip spokesperson said it conducted an internal investigation and provided its own version of events.

The spokesperson said: "It is a time-consuming and tedious process to screen CCTV footage as the manager had to pinpoint the exact time frame, which he did not have, with different CCTV angles.

"On top of that, he still had to tend to incoming texts to ensure operations flow, such as the arrival of his other guests, direct purchase/orders from his regulars, ticketing emergencies, occasional inventory shortage issues, assisting with queries from new staff. It is an extremely fast-paced environment.

"The customers were anxious, so they called for another manager to check in with the first manager in the security room for updates."

The first manager was still trying to find the CCTV footage that showed what happened to the Stomper's bottle.

"Although he knew that it was almost impossible to do so at that period of time without interrupting the security department while the club was operational and the CCTV still running, he tried his best to capture the footage.

"When the customers said the manager was taking too long, he offered an alternative solution which was to file a police report and have the authorities handle it as he wasn’t sure how long it would take to fully go through the different CCTV footage.

"The customers were dissatisfied and requested for compensation from the club.

"The manager then explained to the customers that if they did not want him to spend more time checking the CCTV as they wanted to leave, what he could do at the moment was to offer them a jug of gin-tonic since they lost a gin bottle.

"The manager acknowledged their rejection because a jug of gin-tonic is $55 and offered a tray of shots worth $150. The customers rejected that offer.

"The customers suggested that the club replaced the missing bottle with a new one as they wanted to take it out of the club. The manager reiterated our policy of keeping purchased drinks within the premises, as dictated by the licensing protocols.

"The customers then requested a cash reimbursement, which would be possible only from the culprit.

"The customers were dissatisfied with the solutions provided and left without any conclusion. The manager continued to do his work.

"We would like to share that the manager has been with the company since the beginning and is well-loved by many regular patrons as well as his colleagues. He is always kind with his words and thoughtful with his actions.

"We stand our ground in defending his stance after assessing the circumstances. We truly believe he tried his best.

"We sincerely apologise for the experience as we want to provide all patrons with the best experience to the best of our abilities.

"Moving forward, we will be working closely on our internal security SOPs to increase the frequency of routine checks and optimise our surveillance routes to minimise theft.

"We urge all patrons to be responsible for their belongings. While we try our best to help them keep an eye out, it is extremely challenging given the environment."

As for what happened to the missing bottle, the spokesperson said: "We managed to find the exact frames, it was slightly out of angle, but it should still be identifiable with the assistance of professionals from the authorities.

"We have the footage and are ready to cooperate with the officials should an official report be made."