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Does Texas have a Better Business Bureau? You could write to them and you could write to the Texas Attorney General.
They may take action as at least saving your incident on file for future complaints. Let the hotel know you intend to do that.
Also, is there a local news station that follows up on issues like yours? They may just show up and ask to interview the hotel manager. These are the kinds of things that get people's attention. We all drive cars, we all use valets at times so this is always our fear.
Just make the hotel manager's life a living hell as much as you can. Call him every day.
I work in the insurance industry and you would be surprised to see what people will do to file a claim against damage they created.
Fact!
With the amount of fraud in insurance claims, companies are under no obligation to accept & pay every claim, just because someone says it happened.
OP is outraged, that she is not believed.
Insurance companies are outraged, because so many people file bogus or unsubstantiated claims, or exaggerate losses or damages, and just expect to get paid!
If the OP did not protect herself, in advance, by dated photographs or video, there is no way that the OP should win her case. She can pursue a scorched earth policy, filing a small claims case, calling the BBB, telling her mommy, starting a thread on CD, etc.
That sucks, but unless you have proof, it's just your word against theirs.
The lesson to be learned here is that you don't let strangers drive your car, no matter how convenient it seems to not have to park it yourself!
You got that right! It's a pity we paid someone to wreck our vehicle and now they won't even file an insurance claim.
I've got a call in to my attorney. I am also going to contact our insurance company and the Hilton today. My hope is that between all that, we can apply enough pressure to them to figure we're not worth fighting and they'll just file the claim. But we'll see. I don't have high hopes.
I KNOW they damaged this vehicle though - and I know that someone there knows it too - and that's the thing that makes me the maddest.
This is the key statement. From a legal standpoint, that is reasonable doubt that it was possible it happened before. The judge most likely would even ask why it was not noted before leaving. It wont be a easy win unless you can submit evidence that proves it happened while under the valets care.
It sucks, but hopefully lesson learned.
I agree that it would be difficult for us to prove it happened while it was with the valet company.
That being said, I think the fact that the valet attendant stood between us and the damage while we were loading up the car, that he himself said something about the truck being hard to manage "in these narrow streets around here," and the fact that the lighting is so dim in the pick up area - all those may help us a bit.
OK, witness reliability, the valet company. They can show how many cars they move in a month, year, etc, damage free, right. That could go a long ways. Even better if they did have a claim that they paid for and admitted fault. The company could very well prove they are a reliable witness.
In fact, the valet company submitted a claim, and the claim got denied. So, the good faith is provided by the valet company but their insurance company denied it due to their investigation.
The proof is needed. Im not saying the OP is guilty at all, but I work in the insurance industry and you would be surprised to see what people will do to file a claim against damage they created.
Good points.
I wonder if our own driving records and our own credit scores (indicators of honesty) would be helpful? My husband was driving and has an EXCELLENT driving record, as well as a credit score of 810, not to mention a fantastic job where paying a deductible really won't hurt us significantly - whereas if the parking attendant wrecked a car, he'd probably lose his job. Which party stands to lose more if they're guilty of the damage?
I may not win it, but I won't go down this easily.
And it's NOT "just like I parked on the street and found a dent in my car." We paid for valet parking - we left our vehicle in THEIR CARE for safekeeping. We specifically paid them to park our car (without damaging it) in order to AVOID a scenario like parking in the street, or parking in a common area where just anyone, not only valet attendants, can zip through and damage vehicles.
The valet company told us that there are not cameras in the parking garage, but I am going to ask the Hilton about that FOR SURE. If they have cameras, I want to see the tapes. Someone in that garage seriously damaged our vehicle while it was in the custody of a valet service and on Hilton property. That's not the same as parking on a public street at all.
I am curious if there is anywhere on your valet ticket to the affect of: "Hotel not responsible for damages incurred while parked with valet."
I can't imagine hotels go around paying out damage settlements. If they did, every scam artist ( Not implying you are at all) would bring their previously damaged car to a valet lot, and then file a damage complaint stating "I swear to god, my car had no damage before I came here. "
I never use valet because of these types of issues. The hassle of dealing with this kind of stuff is not worth the hassle of not valeting the vehicle IMO.
I know I would be furious if I was the OP. I guess it wouldn't hurt to file the $30 claim. Let us know how this goes, and if you are able to work something out, I would be curious to hear. It may make me open to using valet more often. Knowing the hotel can be held accountable for damages incurred during valet would be nice.
Does Texas have a Better Business Bureau? You could write to them and you could write to the Texas Attorney General.
They may take action as at least saving your incident on file for future complaints. Let the hotel know you intend to do that.
Also, is there a local news station that follows up on issues like yours? They may just show up and ask to interview the hotel manager. These are the kinds of things that get people's attention. We all drive cars, we all use valets at times so this is always our fear.
Just make the hotel manager's life a living hell as much as you can. Call him every day.
Oh, I intend to make them wish they'd just paid this claim! Just got off the phone with my attorney and am about to contact my insurance company, who does NOT want to pay this claim when another party is guilty!
You got that right! It's a pity we paid someone to wreck our vehicle and now they won't even file an insurance claim.
I've got a call in to my attorney. I am also going to contact our insurance company and the Hilton today. My hope is that between all that, we can apply enough pressure to them to figure we're not worth fighting and they'll just file the claim. But we'll see. I don't have high hopes.
I KNOW they damaged this vehicle though - and I know that someone there knows it too - and that's the thing that makes me the maddest.
They did file the claim, THEIR(the valet company's) insurance company denied it. Not because they didn't wreck your truck(because the probably did) But because the damage was not noticed until after the vehicle left the property
Unless you have some new evidence to present to the insurance company, they aren't going to change their mind. This would be evidence proving the damage did occur in the parking garage at the Hilton Garden Inn.
I suppose you could write angry letters to the hotel and such, but the only thing that is going to change anything is a lawsuit in Small Claims Court. You can prove your case in Small Claims Court through your testimony.
The key testimony is this:
1. The truck was not damaged before your took it to the hotel and you will testify to that under oath.
2. After you left the hotel you were not in an accident and than you observed the damage later when you got home.
Simply based on that the inference is the damage had to have occurred while it was at the parking garage. Unless the Garden Inn can prove otherwise. Its their problem.
This puts the onus on the parking garage to explain what happened. While the truck was with them they were responsible for its care under a couple of legal theories: They negligently caused the damage or parked it in a place where someone else damaged it. Another theory would be that of "bailment". You paid to have the car parked there and you were entitled to see that your property was cared for in a secure manner because of that.
If this case gets to Small Claims Court they will either lose or settle it. If by some fiasco you do lose, you are only out a small filing fee.
The only decision to be made is whether the $1900 is worth going to court for. It would be for me. Do yourself a favor and don't delay another day. Get this case filed.
You don't know about small claims court, it isn't like TV. this case would never make it before a judge. The first thing that happens is small claims court is you are ordered to go to arbitration with the defendant where you show each other your evidence and see if you can settle the case. What evidence do you have to show the defendant to prove your case? You have nothing by your own admission. If you are unable to come to an agreement, the court will schedule another date for you to appear in front of a judge, with no evidence. It's time consuming, expensive, way too much paperwork, etc.
The valet company knows this, that's why they refused your claim. You will spend far more in money and tie off work than it is worth, with no guarantee you will collect a dime.
Even on the rare chance you would win in court, it's up to you to colect the money, the court can't make them pay. You would have to go through bundles of red tape to find out where their assets are and then file more legal paper for an attachment. The system is against you. I have lived the horror many times and going to court is a losing game. I hold paper worh several thousands dollars in judgement that I will most likely never collect. For your own peace of mind, bite the bullet and forget it or you will lose your mind. Next time you valet park, do what rental car companies do, walk around the vehicle with the attendant and have his sign that the car in not damaged when left in his care. Lots of trouble, but it is the only way.
Good luck,
They did file the claim, THEIR(the valet company's) insurance company denied it. Not because they didn't wreck your truck(because the probably did) But because the damage was not noticed until after the vehicle left the property
Actually, this is what they said - they did not give the fact that we left, as the reason for the denial:
Quote:
We have carefully examined the circumstances surrounding this loss and have sufficient information
at this time to make a proper decision regarding this claim. Please understand that our obligation as
an insurer is not to pay all claims but only those claims which are legally owed.
After evaluation of the facts, we can only conclude that there is no evidence provided to prove without
question that liability falls on Towne Park. There is no indication of negligence on the part of the Towne
Park employee. Therefore, we must respectfully decline to make any payment to you on this claim.
The most expedient course of action is for you to report this matter to your private passenger
insurance carrier, and provide them a copy of our incident/claim report. If they disagree with our
position they will subrogate against us and a final binding decision will be taken in arbitration.
What would one have to do to prove WITHOUT QUESTION that liability falls on Towne Park? Record every minute that the vehicle is stored?
By the way, an aside note which I find interesting - SELF PARKING IS NOT EVEN AN OPTION AT THIS HILTON HOTEL. If you want to stay there, you MUST use valet parking (you also can't park on the street for more than 15 minutes - though I guess you could drive to a parking garage several blocks away and pay to park there).
Just spoke with my insurance company. They took the claim and said that they intend to fight it tooth and nail and so we'll see. They took very detailed notes. One good thing is that this will not go against our rates or driving record because we were not driving the vehicle when it happened. They said that sometimes it just takes a push back from the other company to get at least SOME settlement. I do trust our insurance company (USAA) to fight for us and work this as much as possible - they're very good at that.
I also just spoke with the Hilton's manager, who remembered us. I told him that my complaint was with the valet company, not the Hilton, but since they operate on Hilton property, and since self parking is not an option, I felt that they should know that this valet company DID damage our vehicle and is now refusing to acknowledge that they did so. This is not a good reflection on the Hilton.
I went on to point out that one needs to look at who has the most to lose in this scenario. If we did it, we just pay our deductible and drive on - we have excellent driving records, good jobs that this won't impact at all, and though it's irritating, it won't substantially hurt us in any way. However, the guy who actually DID damage our vehicle would probably lose his job. The valet company would have a bad mark on their record, which is much more important to their business than it is to ours.
Who stands to lose more if they actually damaged the vehicle? That's an important key to this "he said, she said" scenario.
If this Hilton manager and the valet manager don't help me, I am going to file an official complaint with the Hilton International office - as well as with the BBB, the Texas Attorney General, and anyone else I can think of - oh, yes, EXPEDIA, TRAVELOCITY, TRIP ADVISOR, and any other outlet I can think of.
I'll tell them I'm going to do that. All I will say is "When we left our vehicle with the valet parking company at the Hilton Garden Inn in Austin, Texas, it was undamaged. When they returned it to us sixteen hours later, it had been significantly damaged - how,we have no idea. However, we left it with them in good faith, and besides that, valet parking is the ONLY OPTION at this hotel. The valet parking company denied that they were responsible or that any of their attendants damaged the vehicle. HOTEL GUESTS, BEWARE. I would seriously consider staying elsewhere if I was concerned about the safety of my vehicle."
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