Traumatising valet parking experience: Why I had to call the police

It was late at night and many other staff members at the banquet, who were mostly drunk, started surrounding me and my family.

BHPian mohitm29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Wanted to share an extremely disturbing incident that happened with my cousin brother who had narrated it to me a few weeks back.

We were invited to attend an evening function- Mata Ki Chowki (payers for Goddess Durga) at a Banquet in Delhi (name not disclosed deliberately). The valet drivers were taking keys from the guests and were parking somewhere (assumingly) near the banquet premises. Myself included, many guests started leaving after dinner, however, my cousin was amongst the very few guests who were leaving late with our relative's family of organizers of the event.

When he went to ask for his car key from the valet stall, the people took time to find it. After a long wait, my cousin brother asked to call the manager of the banquet. The manager came out after some time. The valet people took this manager slightly away from the valet stall and were discussing something. The manager met my cousin brother and told him to take a cab back home as the staff was unable to find the key at that moment and that they would search in the morning and would arrange to get the car dropped at his residence in the morning.

This triggered suspicion and my cousin brother started demanding CCTV footage. The manager informed him that the CCTV was not working. My brother kept demanding they search for the car key but the manager kept saying the same statement - that he would get the car delivered in the morning. In the meanwhile, many other staff (mostly drunk) people at the banquet started to surround my cousin brother and his family.

Fearing any mishap my cousin called up police but did not get much help on the first call. He received a second call from the police but that also did not help. My cousin and his family had to go through this traumatic incident for almost 2 hours standing in between a crowd of drunk men untill a third call was received from the police.

On the third call, the officer discussed with the manager of the banquet hall and asked to return the car key to my cousin. The manager instructed one of the valet staff who hesitantly returned the car key. The valet people did not bother to bring the car back to the banquet premises and only guided my cousin as to where the car would be parked.

When my cousin found his car and opened it, he was shocked to see empty liquor bottles lying inside the car and some snacks like nuts lying on the seats which was proof enough that the valet staff was drinking inside his car. The family remained traumatised for many days after this incident.

This incident shockingly exposed the other side of valet facilities at banquets. It was also a lesson that unless it is a 5-star reputed property, we should try to park our vehicles instead of giving keys and relying on valets.

Here's what BHPian for_cars1 had to say about the matter:

Handing cars to a valet is shown as an everyday event in English movies where the star-cast lady or gentleman casually hands over the keys of their convertible to an eagerly waiting valet as they enter a premise.

Have never been comfortable with the idea of handing the keys to a valet and have always self-parked.

I find it intriguing when folks hand over their brand-new car carefree to a valet and forget about the vehicle. For a nominal meal at a hotel, for example, folks hand over their priced possessions to an unknown valet with unknown driving skills. I believe this is indeed a huge risk especially while on tours and away from your home location.

After taking all the pain of driving to a destination, wonder what it takes to just park the car as a final step. But I do respect the viewpoints of folks who may feel the need to avail a valet service to each of their own.

Haven't yet encountered a place where they insist on only valet parking. If you politely mention that you will self-park, you will be shown where without any fuss.

Here's what BHPian Aarhot had to say about the matter:

Valet helps in such places where there is not much parking left within the premises and if you insist on parking by yourself, they give a sheepish stare and a word of caution that there is no parking left in the basement and need to search around the by-lanes (which they will do anyways).

Had to pay a fine for roadside parking that they did when we visited a restaurant a few years back. After this incident, I have been asking them to make sure it's parked inside the parking lot or within the premises. They, anyway don't care for your car as they clearly say "they are not responsible for anything".

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