shady experience at beast

hexatron

weirdest experience at beast tonight:

girlfriend and i stop in around 1, 1:30 for a beer. they're playing nirvana, a few people hanging out, etc and we're happy.

we're friendly and normal to the bartender and order a couple beers. girlfriend hands the bartender $20. he comes back and hands her $2. we immediately realize that he thought it was a ten, and he starts emptying the till and counting cash. girlfriend flags him down and says "hey, sorry, but i gave you a twenty."

"no, that was a ten. i'm positive. i looked at it three times."

now, you see, we're really broke and fairly mindful of how much cash we have. that twenty was sitting around all day, seen by us both, and we grabbed it on the way out. girlfriend protests: "but... i'm positive. i know what i had in my wallet, it's all i had."

"no, it was one of those new tens. with the pink numbers on it. sorry."


so... misunderstandings happen i guess, but we've lived here for three years and keep having experiences in this neighborhood that we never have anywhere else. in the SODA thread, i posted about how the bartender there flat-out refused to serve us one night, well before closing time and amid tons of other customers.

there's a general "we don't like your kind" vibe we get around here, and i know there's a lot of racial tension on this board, but we're in our 20s and white and get it almost exclusively from slightly older white people in the neighborhood. i mean christ, i'm 27. i'm not even that young. maybe it's completely in my head, but like i said, this stuff never happens to us in any other place in the city. anyway, end of rant.

fuckin' thing sucks.

jack krohn

I'm sorry that this happened to you and your girlfriend. I've never experienced anything like this at Beast, but once did at another bar. In that case, we complained to the manager and got out money back, even as the bartender remained highly defensive.

Situations like this make a person look back and wish they had held up the money and pointed to it prior to the purchase, but of course no one should be expected to do such a thing! In the end, it's the bartender's responsibility to pay close attention. I'd bet that bartenders routinely face this line by people who are trying to scam; even though you and your girlfriend do not fall into this category, it sounds like you paid the price for those who do.

Thanks for posting - next time I'm at Beast and there is a male bartender, I'll be careful.

drkman

Maybe you should go back and find out if the register was over that evening. If the bartender is on the up and up, he will remember and give you your money back.

alafairnadia

I would definitely go back and insist on speaking with the manager and/or owner. I know the owner of beast and swear that she is one of the most inclusive people I know. if one of her employees is violating her rules, she needs to know!

arlette

I wouldnt have let it go. Who knows if he does this on a regular basis.I would have spoken to the manager and try to get my money back.

raw

That sucks.

Years ago, I was cash poor and purchased bread at a deli in Manhattan on 1st Avenue with my only cash -- one ten dollar bill. I was not drunk. I had planned on how each dollar was going to be spent. I needed the rest of the cash for transportation home -- I had no wallet, atm card, or anything -- so I was watching every buck. So when I bought the $2 bread and the cashier only gave me back $3 and angrily insisted I only gave him a five dollar bill, we argued. I blew up psycho until he gave me back the correct change. I did not like acting like a maniac, but it worked.

The deli's cashier might have been a jerk, thief, racist, suffering from bad vision or Alzheimer’s, on methamphetamine, or just sleepy...who knows?

Call the manager of Beast. If the manager does not help you, let us all know.

MOD

You know you've posted a couple of times about being "profiled" and judged. Now if I read correctly you say you're a young 20-something and white. I have to ask why do you think it's based on your color/age?

If anything the places around here cater to the young hip couples. Hell knows I look like a white hipster, though I'm not (a lighter shade of brown) and have never felt outcast, even in places like hip-hop ripple and (generally liberal, lifestyle loving) Beast. I just think it's weird.

Can you give us more background on you?

josseleen

At a BH bar I go to sometimes after work, I paid for my drink, got change, took it, ordered calamari while putting $11 on the bar ($9 for calamari, $2 tip), bartender took it, then when I wen to leave he handed me a bill for the calamari.

He's a nice guy I know by name, so I can only think he dind't look at the $11 (a $10 and a $1) and thought it was $2 tip.

It was super super super packed (friday night) so I didn't want to argue and it was really loud, but I did say, uh, didn't you already charge me for this and the bartender said no...

I really hate when this sort of thing happens. I know how busy waiters and bartenders get but I really hated that after insisting again that I'd already paid, he insisted I hadn't. I HATE this -- but errors happen.

Was the Beast bartender trying to cheat you? Probably not. Probably just made a mistake. It sucks but it happens.

raw

Mamacita wrote: You know you've posted a couple of times about being "profiled" and judged. Now if I read correctly you say you're a young 20-something and white. I have to ask why do you think it's based on your color/age?

If anything the places around here cater to the young hip couples.

Maybe in Williamsburgh, but not in Park Slope and I'd have to investigate before commenting on Beast's neck of the woods. In Park Slope, I witness young hipster backlash and smell envy from stroller pushing parents, while most vendors seem keen on pleasing us older pups.

hexatron

Mamacita wrote: You know you've posted a couple of times about being "profiled" and judged. Now if I read correctly you say you're a young 20-something and white. I have to ask why do you think it's based on your color/age?

If anything the places around here cater to the young hip couples. Hell knows I look like a white hipster, though I'm not (a lighter shade of brown) and have never felt outcast, even in places like hip-hop ripple and (generally liberal, lifestyle loving) Beast. I just think it's weird.

Can you give us more background on you?

Yeah... I never, ever said anything about it being based on my color. In fact, I made a point of saying I've only been treated this way by other white people because that's what strikes me as odd. It is weird. I can't figure it out. That's why I brought it up.

Actually, if I can be honest (and probably flamed off this board for eternity... again...), I'm a little jumpy because I see a lot of "hipster" bashing around here, a label I've always found ridiculous and devoid of meaning. Anytime that label is brought up, it carries with it descriptions of the clothes people wear and almost nothing else, and some of those descriptions fit me and the people I care about.

When I first moved here, I joined this board under a different name and I was really excited about the fact that the place even HAD a message board. Someone almost immediately started saying that the whole neighborhood was going to hell because hipsters were moving in. I tried to enter into the discussion and say, (wait for it) "You know, I like Williamsburg. I have fun there. Does that make me terrible?" And I got absolutely bitched out by DevanCF over it, and told that I was the problem with this city. That was my welcome to the neighborhood, and I never came back to the board until a couple years later.

I'm just saying I've had strange experiences in this particular place that I've never had anywhere else in New York, including Bed-Stuy, where I moved here from. This has absolutely nothing to do with race.


PS. everybody else, thanks for being so cool and supportive with your responses. we're going to get in touch with the manager this week and see how it goes.

carnivore

Hexatron wrote: And I got absolutely bitched out by DevanCF over it, and told that I was the problem with this city. That was my welcome to the neighborhood, and I never came back to the board until a couple years later.

FWIW, DevinCF is a total asshole. He hasn't been around here in a while. Hopefully, you won't disappear again!

whyfi

devincf was my favorite person, I only wish that my foot could have been on a first name basis with his ass.

alafairnadia

yeah. I'm going to jump in and say, again, that you should talk to the management of Beast OP. also. as others have said, devincf was an ass on and off online. I went on a blind date with him at soda and it was a disaster of massive proportions.

brookfetish

I'm friendly with the bartender that I believe is in question here. My initial thoughts are that he truly did think you gave him a $10. However, if you are truly convinced, you really should talk to management. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to hear your side of the story and would most likely refund your money...if you approach them in calm, civilized manner.

All in all, it sounds like an unfortunate misunderstanding.

alecorock

Maybe they should take the ten dollars and put it towards purchasing a commercial dumpster, instead of dragging garbage bags across the sidewalk. The years of leaking, reeking filth have literally turned that stretch of the sidewalk black. I'm not really sure how they don't get fined for that.