Here it is....the DUMBEST Question Ever! (RE: Valet Parking a Rental Car)

[kristenrice]

If I rent a car, am I allowed to use valet parking???Since the valet drivers aren't "authorized" (or are they?), what would happen if they damage the car?

 

[OKW Lover]

You would attempt to get the valet company to pay for the damage.

 

[Lewisc]

NOT A STUPID QUESTION Flyertalk has had some threads on this issue.
In the past some rental agencies listed valet as an additional authorized driver. Presumably the valet company is adequately insured and will assume liability
I lifted this from a recent post on flyertalk
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33802333-post22.html
Plain and simple, the answer is NO. A valet attendant IS NOT AN AUTHORIZED OPERATOR. I worked at Hertz up until recently. I was a higher level manager (I won't say at which level, but you can make assumptions based on the fact that I managed 250 employees directly, and up to 400 indirectly.) I have intimate knowledge of the internal processes.
If a valet damages a vehicle, the customer receives a report from the hotel valet. We process the damage report for the customer, and regardless of whether the customer took the LDW, we ALWAYS pursue the customer. Should the customer choose to pursue the hotel, so be it, but we always pursued the renter. Reason why...the LDW is invalidated as soon as the keys are given to an unauthorized operator, 100% of the time.
Think of it like this...makeshift parking lot attendant set up outside of a stadium that charges $100 to park there and hires local homeless guy to park cars for 2 hours. That attendant is a valet attendant. It's the same thing as the Valet Attendant at the Bellagio, however, i'm fairly certain that the Bellagio would have little issue reimbursing the renter (hotel guest I'll assume.) Either way, Hertz does not communicate with the third party (valet) and will only hold the renter responsible. I have personally placed renters on the DNR list (do not rent) for giving keys to the valet at their hotel resulting in an incident. That happened often enough that it wasn't a one off situation either. If it was a President Circle customer/ 5 Star, they'd be reminded that they should follow the terms of the contract, but if it was a one time renter (or a Hotwire/Priceline type of renter), its automatic DNR.

 

[kristenrice]

NOT A STUPID QUESTION Flyertalk has had some threads on this issue.
In the past some rental agencies listed valet as an additional authorized driver. Presumably the valet company is adequately insured and will assume liability
I lifted this from a recent post on flyertalk
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33802333-post22.html
Plain and simple, the answer is NO. A valet attendant IS NOT AN AUTHORIZED OPERATOR. I worked at Hertz up until recently. I was a higher level manager (I won't say at which level, but you can make assumptions based on the fact that I managed 250 employees directly, and up to 400 indirectly.) I have intimate knowledge of the internal processes.
If a valet damages a vehicle, the customer receives a report from the hotel valet. We process the damage report for the customer, and regardless of whether the customer took the LDW, we ALWAYS pursue the customer. Should the customer choose to pursue the hotel, so be it, but we always pursued the renter. Reason why...the LDW is invalidated as soon as the keys are given to an unauthorized operator, 100% of the time.
Think of it like this...makeshift parking lot attendant set up outside of a stadium that charges $100 to park there and hires local homeless guy to park cars for 2 hours. That attendant is a valet attendant. It's the same thing as the Valet Attendant at the Bellagio, however, i'm fairly certain that the Bellagio would have little issue reimbursing the renter (hotel guest I'll assume.) Either way, Hertz does not communicate with the third party (valet) and will only hold the renter responsible. I have personally placed renters on the DNR list (do not rent) for giving keys to the valet at their hotel resulting in an incident. That happened often enough that it wasn't a one off situation either. If it was a President Circle customer/ 5 Star, they'd be reminded that they should follow the terms of the contract, but if it was a one time renter (or a Hotwire/Priceline type of renter), its automatic DNR.

This is what I assumed and thank you for the detailed explanation. I am super-paranoid because in the past month, we have had TWO of our personal vehicles hit while parked, resulting in minor (but noticeable) damage. We have full, broad collision coverage on both of them so we are not responsible for the deductibles so no OOP cost to get them fixed, but it is still a hassle. I hate driving on vacation in general, let alone parking, so I dread the thought of renting a car in the first place. I was starting to add valet parking into my budget, but now, I think I will have to retool my plan.

 

[CarolynFH]

@kristenrice, thank you for asking this definitely-not-dumb question!

 

[lockets]

We process the damage report for the customer, and regardless of whether the customer took the LDW, we ALWAYS pursue the customer. Should the customer choose to pursue the hotel, so be it, but we always pursued the renter. Reason why...the LDW is invalidated as soon as the keys are given to an unauthorized operator, 100% of the time.

Wow. Makes sense though. Good to know!

 

[Lewisc]

Wow. Makes sense though. Good to know!

My post was a cut and paste copy. I posted a link to the post on flyertalk.

 

[bumbershoot]

Interesting question.

The one time I've had a valet person damage my car the hotel fixed it immediately. (not disney and it was MY car)

The damage was REALLY obvious, though. The valet guy must have gotten confused with my VW stickshift (going into reverse is tricky if you aren't used to it) and the stick was literally torn up from where the fabric met the plastic of the interior. Really really obvious.

So if you're going to use valet parking, take pictures of the car inside and out just before handing it over, and go over it thoroughly when you get it back, so you can take care of things immediately.

 

[CarolynFH]

@kristenrice, would you consider editing the title of your post, to make the topic clear? I know it’s catchy, but someone might overlook the useful information here!

 

[kristenrice]

@kristenrice, would you consider editing the title of your post, to make the topic clear? I know it’s catchy, but someone might overlook the useful information here!

Done...I hope that helps.

 

[mrsstats79]

I worked in insurance for more years than I like to admit. I refuse to valet park a rental vehicle as I don't want to deal with the hassle of dealing with who would cover the damage. I have left a restaurant when the said it was valet park or nothing.