[androdev]

nc, its true. they cant refuse valet service but there is not enough parking space. so your car just hovers around till parking is found. i found it best to park in some shop (paid) and walk to the restaurant. in bangalore, barton center or bombay store are my choices. close to church street.

[itwasntme]

Agree with Androdev.

Bombay Store & Barton Center have clean, professionally managed and secure parking and you only need to walk through the building to reach the restaurants.

IMHO, we need to change our mindset about secure off-street parking. Is Rs. 50 etc for 2 hours too expensive for our precious cars? A tank-full of petrol now costs about 2k but few people opt for the off-street (relatively expensive) parking just to save 100 bucks!

Penny wise pound foolish I say.

Originally Posted by androdev

nc, its true. hey cant refuse valet service but there is not enough parking space. so your car just hovers around till parking is found. i found it best to park in some shop (paid) and walk to the restaurant. in bangalore, barton center or bombay store are my choices. close to church street.

[theexister]

I never give my car to the valet but a couple of months back had been to Ohri's Banjara & when I told the valet I shall park the car myself the guys told me that I cannot park in their parking if I do not use valet. So I am supposed to park the elsewhere. This is bull****!
And lately there have been 2 thefts related to valets being paid off by a stranger on the pretext of losing the valet ticket and driving away with the car.

[normally_crazy]

I did this at the Taj President once.

Drove up to the hotel entrance, the valet approached me. I told him I was going to park the car myself and he better get in and guide me where to do it. He was flabbergasted. A couple of other guys joined him in trying to convince me but I was adamant. I told them - if you guys do not want me to park, the hotel is the looser.

I got my way

[DriverR]

One small request, in case not already done so, please mentioned the places where you have had the bad experience so that others can be forewarned. Thanks.

[R.P.M]

Similar incident occured with my endeavor sometime back....I normally do not give any of the cars to the valet, i dont mind spending extra time looking for a good parking spot...But that day I had a meeting at the Taj which I was late for, had no choice but to give it to the valet.

When i got my car back I noticed that the left mirror was scraped, the left front bumper clips were broken hence a part of it was sticking out. All i could do was report the incident to the manager and fire the driver...

Thats why it says..."Valet Parking at Owners risk"

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Guys,

remember we had a thread about the valets and their parking earlier?

well this happened in front of me -

i had been to Tian for dinner and gave the valet my car and he reversed it and parked it properly , i stood there till zulu was parked. after a while i remembered that i had left my cell in the car and i went down to get it - as i collected my phone and was walking back i hear a loud THUD

i turn back and see - the valet in a zen has banged head on in to a cycle !!

what happened was the valet saw there was no traffic coming from behind , so he made a quick u turn and proceeded in the wrong direction dint see the cycle and crashed into him !! the poor zen had scratches on the bonnet and the head light bent too but this guy just went ahead nonchantlyand parked it.

i waited for him but then he had jammed the door on impact - God knows what he did after that !! i gave a piece of my mind to the management about the valets !!

but no use - its always written - car parked at owners risk , we are not responsible for theft , damage or anything else!! that clause lets them get away !!

we gotta do something about this guys !!

wat say?? and now i read that a C klasse gone from a colaba hotel !!

*** !!

I am following the no valet rule for donkey years now. I have seen how they handle or rather mishandle cars.
Another thing the zen had a bent headlight and jammed door or a head on impact with a cycle!

[Torque123]

I also came across a similar situation in LIFESTYLE (Ashoknagar -Bangalore). My friend gave his car for valet and when we were done with her shopping and about to leave we saw scatches on the right fender and also on the right side of the rear bumper. Since then i too never give my car for valet!

[Thad E Ginathom]

I was dropping a visitor off at Shelter Hotel in Mylapore.

First, they ask me if I can handle the steep slope to the front door starting on the handbrake. Errr.... yes? I can drive?

Then I say I want to park for one minute to use the toilet, and point to an empty space. No, I can't park there, they will park the car for me. I argued. Eventually, I got out of the car, with the keys, left it obstructing the door and went in to use the toilet.

After the event --- there was a whole street outside, mostly empty. I was just being stubborn; could have parked outside. Oh well...

People who guide you. Rarely, such as driving through a very narrow space, I appreciate it: I can't see both sides! But normal parking? I can reverse into a space, I don't want the added hazard of having to avoid running over the attendant!

I would avoid valet parking situations.

[PVS]

And of late, there have been instances(here in Hyderabad) of things getting stolen from valet-parked cars.

I haven't had any unpleasent experiences with valet - parking as yet! Touch - wood!

[GTO]

I guess I have just been lucky. I give my cars to the Valet all the time, and haven't really had a problem in the last couple of years. I do make sure that I tip them well, though, and get a priority parking spot.

[gendarmee]

Originally Posted by GTO

I guess I have just been lucky. I give my cars to the Valet all the time, and haven't really had a problem in the last couple of years. I do make sure that I tip them well, though, and get a priority parking spot.

Priority spots are the invariably the closest and the safest of all in the lot!

[VBV]

My problems with valet are minor. they change all settings of the driver seat. That can be very irritating. Once I had a major problem though, they parked my friend's car in a no-parking zone.

[Wolfheart]

Hey Guys,

I was just browsing through some old photos and found this snap. The picture that you see below was taken a couple of years ago. I was riding with a friend on a motorcycle near the Andheri sports complex when we saw this commotion and a huge crowd had gathered at the crossroad. While we were waiting at the red light and watching a few constables appeared and tried to clear the crowd. As soon as the crowd dispersed...lo and behold.....this is what I saw



The honda's rear wheels had climbed over the road divider which is almost vertical and is about 20-24 inches high. I left the scene wondering and after going a bit further there was another commotion. A nepalese guard in uniform was running like hell and a few people were chasing him and yelling for him to stop. It didnt take long to figure out that this guy was the culprit. We intercepted him on the motorbike and made him wait till his colleagues(the guys who were chasing him) reached the spot and led him back to face the music.

So from bits and peices of information gathered on the scene we deduced that the nepalese guard / valet was apparently an untrained driver working for a nearby restaurant. The car belonged to a guest who was peacefully dining in the restaurant after handing the car keys to our friend blissfully unaware of the disastrous spectacle that awaited him outside The guard it seems took the wheel in order to park the car. I didn't see it happening but I still can't figure out how a bloody honda city would climb a 20 inch divider in reverse. I didnt stick around to see what explanation the restaurant would give to the car owner but I'm sure that would have been another scene altogether.

So if any of you can analyze the photo and figure out how this happened, feel free to post your comments.

PS: I have stopped using valet parking!

[shankar.balan]

that really looks bad

maybe in future when using a valet parking service car owners should demand to see the driving license of the valet before entrusting an expensive machine to them.

I for one dont like anyone getting near the driving seat of my vehicle - call me possessive or a control freak or whatever you like but boss it is my hard earned car and I would certainly prefer not to have to experience things similar to what is exemplified in this photograph you have posted.