My Sweet Charity

We Regret: Fundraiser’s Anatole Guests Paid Dearly With Time And $$ For “Complimentary Self-Parking”

Oct 4, 2024 11:20 PM By Jeanne Prejean Leave a Comment

There’s a reason why dessert is served at the end of a meal. Or, why a mint is placed on the pillow before going to sleep. It’s to finish off the moment on a sweet note. Alas, such was not the case at a non-profit’s otherwise stellar fundraising luncheon at the Hilton Anatole today.

As the event finished up just a minute or two past one, guests headed to their cars. Some made for the valet pickup line; others went to the special event self-parking lots that had been designated at the Anatole’s Market Center entrance.

It should be noted that both the valet and self-service options were complimentary.

For those in the valet line and in the north self-parking lot, the parking went as smoothly as could be expected for an event that had around 900 guests.

However, it wasn’t such a pretty story at the south self-parking lot, where a lowered parking arm was firmly in place.

Really? In the past, one took their ticket upon entering the lot, safe in knowing it would be just a take-home souvenir since the arm would be raised sky-high for guests of fundraising events with complimentary service.

But not today. Those who parked in the south lot discovered there was no getting out of there without paying more than $32. And even then it required a type of multi-task game that had drivers scanning a QR code on the entry ticket, providing the ticket number, and supplying their credit card information to seal the deal. Alas, even after successfully going through this rigamarole, all the game’s “contestant” got then was a text back saying, nonsensically, “The valet will have your car in five minutes.” One guest sitting in her driver’s seat looked around the rows of parking spaces, wondering whether a valet would magically appear to drive her out of this quagmire.

The first unsuspecting drivers were sacrificial lambs as they pulled up to the drop-dead parking arm, which was so imposing, it could have been used to prevent crossings at the southern border. Having not played the text-to-escape game yet, the uninitiated got over the initial shock, texted their ticket number, fumbled around for a credit card and gave up their card’s numbers. With cars lining up behind them from all lanes, the pressure was on — a bit like being back in elementary school and sweating through “speed long addition.”

With cars backed up and still more innocent guests pouring out of the hotel into their cars, an Anatole employee who’d parked in a space near the exit appeared to have had enough when she spied one driver failing to meet the text challenge. The employee got out of her car and went to the automated motherboard, where she evidently flashed a card and the arm lifted. She stayed and flashed her card for the arm to lift for another car. Returning to her own vehicle, the employee was rewarded by other drivers who let her back out of her parking space and move to the front of the line.

Then it was back to the business as usual of waiting … and waiting … and waiting. One guest decided that 15 minutes had gone by and things were still not improving. So, she contacted a luncheon event staffer and reported the problem. The staffer was shocked, saying that surely something had gone wrong and the Anatole team would quickly fix it.

Five minutes later, the staffer called the driver back, only to learn that the slo-mo, car cha-cha-cha was still being played and hearing the words, “Yes, I’m still in my parking space.” The driver called a friend explaining why she was going to be late for her next appointment, adding, “I’m thinking about decorating this space to make it a bit more homey.”

Another five minutes went by, but the lowered arm continued playing hardball. The staffer called again and said she’d contacted the Anatole people, who said it was all a big mistake and would be rectified pronto.

It was now 30 minutes into Car Hostage-gate, when the staffer made one final call asking if the driver was on her way yet, only to hear, “No. I’m still stuck in the space.” So now the staffer, who ordinarily makes Mary Sunshine seem like The Grinch, had had enough and marched to the hotel’s front desk to remedy the situation.

At 1:33 p.m. she texted, “OK, they are sending someone over there to the gate. They are aware there is an issue.”

Minutes later, a fellow in uniform came running out of the atrium entrance and made straight for the gate. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief among the trapped guests.

Little did they know that the long-awaited relief now was going to cost them more than their time. As they pulled up to the parking arm one by one, the uniformed fellow had them hand over their ticket — as well as their credit card info. He told one guest, “I saw the long line and knew you needed help.”

R-r-r-ight.

The result of the day’s fiasco: “Complimentary parking” wound up frustrating dozens and dozens of the luncheon guests leaving a bitter taste after a thoughtful fundraiser — and pumping more than $1,000 into the coffers of the Hilton Anatole. The right thing to do would be to a) refund the money or b) refund the money and make an equal donation to the non-profit that was in need of achieving the day’s match.

* Photo credit: Skeeter Hagler