Welcome back to the Eater Complaints Dept. where Eater readers are invited to vent, gripe or praise at will. Got something to say? We're here for you.
From: Anonymous
Date: Monday, Sept. 22
To: Eater Complaints Dept.
Subject: Basix, More Like Basux
___________________________________________
Just want to share with you the details of a disastrous evening at Basix in West Hollywood. Went to dinner with a few friends and we valeted our car since parking in Weho is so difficult at night. While we were at dinner, we asked what time does the valet close so we can get a quick drink at the Palihouse, then get our cars. We were told we'd be fine until 12:30, so we returned before midnight to find the restaurant closed and valet gone. About a half dozen people were all told the same erroneous information and none of us were able to get our cars or keys (one friend wasn't able to go home since her house key was with her car keys; another gentleman had an early morning flight and his luggage and laptop were locked in his rental car).
A single dishwasher let us in to use the house phone and we called every emergency number, all to no avail. The only person we actually were able to get in contact with was the owner's daughter who told us the owner was out of town and couldn't help us. OK, so we're forced to all leave our cars there overnight (the restaurant doesn't open the next day until 11am). But it was what happened after that was truly appalling.
The next day when I went back to get my car, they told me I had to pay $15 (valet was normally $5.50). My friend had been there about 20 min before me and they comped her valet because of their mistake. But I explained there were maybe a half dozen people missing their cars and they refused to comp my valet because they claimed they can't afford the expense of covering the valet of all the people whose cars they kept. Even worse, the manager accused my friend of lying about being comped before checking to see if it was true (the valet finally confirmed it was).
Both of the managers were incredibly rude, refused to make any amends for their mistake and when I explained I had used all of my cash for the cabs I needed to take back and forth, merely said that Gelson's has an ATM. When I asked if he was really going to be a dick about this, seeing as it was their mistake in the first place, he replied yes, he's going to be dick. Lovely. Way to service your customers. One of the managers took my name and phone number and said the GM would call me. Needless to say, it's been 3 days and I haven't received a call. It was bad enough to be in this situation (I could possibly chalk it up to a miscommunication with staff) but to then be treated so ungraciously, with such hostility, is completely unacceptable. They should call themselves Basux.
Sincerely,
A reader
