Caution re free valet parking !

[Goofy's apprentice]

We were at SSR and OKW the first week in May. Stopped twice for dinner, once to the BW area and once to BCV's. In both cases we indicated that we were DVC members (weren't asked to show our cards) and that we had free valet parking. The Valet desk agreed and then asked our names. When we went to check out the $10 charge for valet parking was on our room for each visit !! Out last name is hard to spell and so we were initially amazed that they 'found' our room to charge...but then I remembered that the parking pass was in the vehicle.

In both cases the front desk of OKW and SSR reversed the charges without any hassle and apologized for the inconvenience ( as we are Canadian, it causes service charges when charged to our credit cards, but really not a big deal with the small $ value)

I wonder if this is causing difficulty because of the valet service being contracted out?

Any opinions?

 

[Snookies]

My guess would be similar to yours in that contracting out has resulted in at least a transition period where employees mistakenly charge members for parking. A more definitive opinion might be gathered from someone that had the same experience as you prior to outsourcing. Free or not, I'm somewhat reluctant to valet since the rental company will hold me responsible if the valet dings up the car. Even though my insurance would cover, I'd rather spend that time and effort dealing with other things.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Good point.

Now if I could just get myself out of the situation of cutting my time too close for dinner reservations, I could park my rental myself !

Thankfully the resorts had no issues with reversing the charges. We go through our room charges carefully, but some probably don't.

 

[Pootle]

Just wanted to say hello! It was much nicer speaking to you bobbing around in the OKW pool though

Thanks for the heads up on the parking - the name on the parking pass obviously makes this sort of thing easier now. Glad it was sorted out so easily for you.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Hope the rest of your vacation went well ! Very nice to have met you !

 

[Granny]

I wonder if this is causing difficulty because of the valet service being contracted out?

Any opinions?

I have run into a few CM's over the years who didn't know about DVC valet parking privileges. It never got to the point where they charged my room, but I had to have a few discussions to clarify the perk (please note, they were always very friendly, nice discussions!). One time the valet supervisor came into it and straightened out the CM.

We use the free valet parking a lot on our vacations so it's not unusual to have run into the situation at some points along the way.

I don't think it's due to outsourcing. I just think it's the usual training gap that happens on a variety of topics.

 

[3DisneyKids]

We, too, just had this happen in the first week of May. We used the valet service mutliple time, each time stating that we were DVC (and tipping well) and there were 2 valet charges on our room bill. BWV staff took care of it without any hassle at all, so it was not an issue, but just be sure you check your bill carefully.

While we had a great stay (still working on that TR!) the two down points for us at BWV were valet and bell services. More on this later in another thread, though.

 

[MrsNick]

This happened to us when staying at the BCV in Jan. 2006. Like other posters, we confirmed the free valet prior to the first time we used it, but at check-out were charged. Got the whole thing straightened out with no problem at all, but sort of didn't like that this slows you down when you're on your way to the airport, kwim?

 

[surfer_ed]

Dumb question, never used Valet parking anywhere before. How much do you tip?

 

[CarolAnnC]

We usually tip $2 when dropping off and $2 when picking up, unless luggage is involved and then we add on for the bags.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

We usually tip $2 when dropping off and $2 when picking up, unless luggage is involved and then we add on for the bags.

I do the same.

This whole thread amazes me that they're charging this $10 to the rooms of people from a different resort's valet.

 

[Diana Lyn]

We just got back from 5 nights at BCV and I had the same experience. First 2 times we indicated we were DVC members and we're charged. Here's where the problem begins though--I went over to the concierge desk to get the charges fixed. It took 20 minutes for her to fix them, she printed out a copy of my room charge and I went on my way. I noticed in the car that she actually didn't credit me $20 she CHARGED me an additional $20! So that evening we got back to another conceirge desk CM who had no idea what we were talking about and couldn't see that our bill went up $20 after she fixed it. It took him over a half hour to understand and fix them mess.

They really need to work the kinks out of this system because it was an hour of frustration for us dealing with these charges and we ended up using self park the remaining days to avoid another mishap.

 

[rigsby25]

Do they have free valet parking at AKV?

 

[JimMIA]

It's interesting, but we had the opposite experience during our recent trip. We stayed at BCV and used the free valet there -- which was very responsive and professional, BTW.

One night, we went to California Grill for dinner. Since the Contemporary is not a DVC resort (yet), I expected to pay for valeting the car. However, the valet dude saw my BCV parking pass and asked if they gave me a "card" for free parking at the Contemporary. I said no, and he said he'd take care of it. I don't know what he did, but we were not charged.

 

[CarolMN]

Do they have free valet parking at AKV?

Yes - the addition of AKV was mentioned in the Vacation Magic I just received.

 

[keishashadow]

It's interesting, but we had the opposite experience during our recent trip. We stayed at BCV and used the free valet there -- which was very responsive and professional, BTW.

One night, we went to California Grill for dinner. Since the Contemporary is not a DVC resort (yet), I expected to pay for valeting the car. However, the valet dude saw my BCV parking pass and asked if they gave me a "card" for free parking at the Contemporary. I said no, and he said he'd take care of it. I don't know what he did, but we were not charged.

As registered guests @ CR last Oct. after stay @ BC; the valet insisted that as DVC members we were entitled to "complimentary valet parking"; of course we tipped him well.

I thought this perc was only extended @ the DVC resorts?

 

[JimMIA]

I thought this perc was only extended @ the DVC resorts?

That's what I thought too. However, the way he explained it to us, it didn't really sound like he was talking specifically about a DVC perk.

It sounded more like since we were registered guests at BCV and were getting valet parking there, he wasn't going to double-charge us. He didn't ask for our DVC card.

I wasn't real clear on what he was doing, but since we were getting an unexpected free valet, I chose not to argue with him.

 

[JimC]

Once you pay for valet parking you can valet park for free for the rest of the day at any of the valet locations. Tips are still very much appreciated even though you do not pay.

The valet parking CM at VWL asked us where we were headed one evening and when we said Poly for dinner he gave us a pass indicating that we were VWL valet parkers so we would not need to pay again. I said we were DVC. But he said we could use it as well.

 

[LOLA2]

Do I tip the guy who takes luggage out of car plus bellhop who takes the luggage to room. Or does the bellhop take luggage out of car and up to room?

 

[heathrow42]

We had the same problem as well last weekend. Unauthorized charges for valet charged to our room. I wouldn't have thought to look at the bill before checkout, except that another Dis'er we were having dinner with had read this thread. I went to the front desk before checkout, and had them remove the charges. I am really greatful for this thread, because we had to leave at 5am for our flight, and never would have seen our final bill before we left.

I'm not big on writing letters and such.. but I am taking the time to write to wdw guest communications about this. They really should look into it. If the service was outsourced to another company, they might be getting paid by the car. (i did notice that each valet guy seems to be tracked by the cars that 'he' parks - the valet mgr was handing out valet tickets and writing the serial numbers down in a book next to the guy's name) This may explain why they are charging folks.. because you likely won't notice till you check out, or after you get home! Also, when the hotel reverts the charge - it doesn't actually look like they remove the valet charge (from the valet) - they just give you a $10 credit. The email address to write to is wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Thank you OP for bringing this to our attention!

--Heather