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Ok first of all I am not a fan of rating systems.. And when you add stars to a hotel or any other business it placates it.. I have stayed in some of the most expensive hotels around and some of the most crappy and have had good and bad service at each.
I also have valeted my cars for years and have NEVER had a problem.... Not to say I couldn't but I never have and that's using valet services probably 100 times a year....
As for the Hilton being liable because they have valet parking ONLY.. Not neccessarily...
Some cities allow businesses an opportunity to build their business in certain areas, and the city states they have to provide a valet service and can have no general parking.... Or they can have none at all and their customers must use a parking garage held by the city to park.
So the hotel contracts with a company, many times from a listing provided by the city for their valet services....
And most parking garages do not have cameras, especially not all over, that is why they have security patrols...
Well, the problem is that the valet company is a separate company from the Hilton - BUT there is no self service parking at this particular Hilton either. So I believe that the Hilton is partly responsible for the service quality of the valet company since the Hilton is the entity giving basically no other option if you want to park anywhere near the hotel.
Just an FYI... It's a pretty good possibility that the company that owns the hotel you are dealing with is NOT Hilton Hotels Corporation. It very well could be a management company (aka a franchisee). I worked for a hotel management company that franchised Hilton (mainline) and Garden Inns. Basically, Hilton Hotels gets a management fee and a cut of the revenue from the hotel for the privilege of using the Hilton name, marketing materials, centralized reservations system, and various other software platforms used to manage the hotel. Most hotels will have a sign at the front desk showing who actually owns and/or manages the hotel. This is who you'll be dealing with. In some cases, there is an owner who pays a management company to manage the hotel, neither of whom is affiliated directly with the brand of the hotel. Confusing I know... Hilton does own some hotels as well though. This arrangement goes for pretty much any of the large hotel companies: IHG (Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc), Starwood (Westin, W, Sheraton, etc), Marriott, and Hilton (Conrad, Hilton, Doubletree, Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, etc).
I think the course of action you are taking is good. I would definitely try and take this to small claims court and see if they'll settle. I would still talk to Hilton about it if you need to. If it's a franchised property, they have to meet standards of guest satisfaction or they'll lose their "flag". It's not likely that you'll get some comped nights because you would probably be affecting the bottom line of someone who wasn't involved in this. Nonetheless, they will take your complaint up with the operator of the hotel. Online reviews are very important to hotels and your story should get some attention if you go that route as well. Best sites to post reviews on are Expedia, Hotels.com, and Trip Advisor as they are followed by people in the industry. Bottom line, you still have a few tools you can use to get them to make things right. Good luck and keep us posted!
I am so frustrated. Last week, my husband and I went to the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Austin, and we checked our truck with the valet parking company (a subcontractor of the hotel, a private company). When we left the vehicle in their care, there was not a scratch on it. No, we didn't take photos of the vehicle when we dropped it off with the attendant - who does?
We left the truck there till about 10:15 the next morning. When the attendant brought it down, the pick up area is very dimly lit. The attendant stood between us and the rear view of the truck, and chatted away, starting with the line, "So...do you have a hard time maneuvering this big truck around in these narrow city streets?" My husband said, "Nope, never!" We got in the truck and drove about 2 miles down the road to my son's apartment complex.
We got out and as soon as we did so, my husband noticed a HUGE dent on the rear driver's side behind the tire. I mean - three feet by two feet probably. SIGNIFICANT damage. WE DID NOT DO THIS. It was NOT like that when we dropped the truck off. We did not have any incidents or wrecks or anything in the few minutes between picking up the truck and driving 2 miles to my son's apartment. This damage HAD to have happened while the truck was in the care of the valet company.
So we went straight back - we were gone less than fifteen minutes. The valet manager was very polite and friendly, and we filed a detailed report for their insurance company.
You guessed it - they turned it down. They said "they could find no evidence that they were responsible for that damage." They said, "We recommend that you contact your insurance company."
We have a $1000 deductible. The estimates are for between $1900 and $2000 to fix it. Not only that, this would be considered "our fault" since another vehicle was not, to our knowledge, involved, so our insurance premiums may go up.
I know what I am going to do next, but I would also like to hear your suggestions. We are so mad!!!! I doubt very seriously that we can "prove" anything in a court of law, but the thing that makes me madder than anything else is that basically they are accusing US of lying, when in fact someone in their company IS LYING. They are at fault whether we can prove it or not! I am not going to go gently into that good night!
What I would do: I'd find the valet parking lot, then try to find out what your truck hit, or what hit your truck. There is a good chance that some paint from your truck is still on whatever it hit. Take good photos, then offer the company to make good one last time, or you can promise their company, and His/Her name will be on the 6 o'clock news.
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