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Old 08-27-2013, 11:20 PM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,667 posts, read 60,168,407 times
Reputation: 100981

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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!
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Old 08-27-2013, 11:34 PM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 45,968,514 times
Reputation: 16266
I can't see how you will ever win this. Its just like if you parked on the street and you found the dent on your car. Either claim it through your insurance or not.
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Old 08-27-2013, 11:36 PM
 
14,300 posts, read 14,088,313 times
Reputation: 45408
Quote:
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!
Kathryn:

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.
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Old 08-28-2013, 12:00 AM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 45,968,514 times
Reputation: 16266
That doesn't seem like good advice to be honest. What is the difference in court between these two examples:

1. Person A had previous damage to truck. They swear under oath they didn't.
2. Person B had no previous damage to truck. They swear under oath they didn't.
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Old 08-28-2013, 12:21 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,667 posts, read 60,168,407 times
Reputation: 100981
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359 View Post
Kathryn:

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.

Thanks for the thoughtful response, and considering that it only costs about $30 to take a case to small claims court, that's little enough to gamble with considering we're out at least $1000 if we don't try to take them to small claims court.

My hope would be that they would rather just file it on their insurance than fight it.

I will also file a report against them with the Better Business Bureau. I also plan to file a complaint against their company with the Hilton. I have already contacted my very excellent insurance company and told them that we did NOT damage the truck and explained the situation to them - and they have been a bulldog in the ring in the past when it comes to other insurance companies trying to push them around, so maybe they can help this time.

I will also write letters to the editor of the Austin Statesman, not claiming that they damaged the truck, but telling the TRUTH which is that the truck wasn't damaged when we left it in their safe keeping, and it was damaged 16 hours later when we picked it up from valet parking - and that basically by refusing to take responsibility for the damage, they are accusing us of lying - which I REALLY don't appreciate since they are the ones lying.

And I may think of other creative ways to apply some pressure - all perfectly legal of course.

It may not be provable, but they know it and we know it - they're lying and I am pretty mad about it.

Thankfully, I have the time to fight this. I may not win, but at least they will have a fight on their hands.

I guess about the only thing you can do if you valet park is walk around the vehicle, videoing that your vehicle isn't damaged (time stamped) and then inspect your vehicle from top to bottom when you pick it up. Since I've never seen anyone do this before, I'd say it's a safe bet that vehicles are often damaged in valet parking and these claims are often refused.

What a crock. I AM SO MAD!!!!!
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Old 08-28-2013, 12:27 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,667 posts, read 60,168,407 times
Reputation: 100981
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
I can't see how you will ever win this. Its just like if you parked on the street and you found the dent on your car. Either claim it through your insurance or not.
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.
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Old 08-28-2013, 01:37 AM
 
Location: Southern Arizona
9,593 posts, read 31,537,902 times
Reputation: 11708
Definitely a No Brainer, KA . . . I'd be at the Small Claims Court first thing tomorrow morning.

Keep us posted and GOOD LUCK.
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Old 08-28-2013, 04:51 AM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,687,747 times
Reputation: 29966
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
I can't see how you will ever win this. Its just like if you parked on the street and you found the dent on your car. Either claim it through your insurance or not.
No it's not. When a valet takes possession of your car in exchange for money, they become responsible for its safekeeping.

Nonetheless... to the OP, it's a pretty weak case since you had already driven off before noticing the damage. It shouldn't be an "at fault" accident since it's the equivalent of a hit-and-run. But that doesn't mean your rates might not go up anyway.
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Old 08-28-2013, 05:05 AM
 
Location: SW France
16,544 posts, read 17,306,171 times
Reputation: 29769
Maybe I've been watching too much CSI on TV but maybe the only way to prove your case is to find evidence of where they damaged your truck in their parking lot.

Maybe there is evidence of your paint on a wall or pillar there?

I once returned to a friend's car that had had a brick put through the window and a worthless plastic bag taken from the rear seat.

I tracked the miscreant down and he was hauled off to a local London police station where one of the items from the bag was found in his pocket.

The point I'm making is that there might be something you can do about it yourself.
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Old 08-28-2013, 05:49 AM
 
Location: NoVa
18,432 posts, read 34,215,793 times
Reputation: 19814
I wonder if there are security cameras posted between the hotel, where they drive, and then park the vehicles?

Oops, I just saw where you said there weren't. I think I would check for myself.
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