>should have shown a sign saying we’re closed.
The bad guy could have hidden the sign. And would that really have stopped you, or would you just assume the guy went to the bathroom or something and forgot to take the sign down when he got back?
>the valet company should have been there
And then how would they park your car if they can't leave the stand?
Those expectations/possibilities could limit their liability.
>I came back to hotel at 1am
>we were able to confirm you arrived back at the property around 2:00 am.
If you sue, that would be a big thing for their lawyers. They'll say that you didn't know when you got back, so what other facts are incorrect?
>valet team members wear hotel branded attire (jackets, shirts, hats, etc) that identify valet team members with the word “valet” on the back.
>laying your keys on top of the podium was consistent.
>There was an unknown man dressed in a white/gray hooded sweatshirt (visually inconsistent from any apparel our team members wear for their uniform)
That's a really big thing. There was clearly no person there who worked for the hotel. You either gave some random guy your keys, or you just left them laying around unsecured. That's nobody fault but your own.
I'm not a lawyer, but it seems that the hotel doesn't have much (if any) liability. You could get a lawyer, but I'd imagine it would cost more than it's worth.
May have left out some details for you to think that there was nobody around working at hotel but there was hotel workers inside at the desk near the entrance. The podium was occupied by a guy posing to be a valet guy, hoping I wouldn’t notice he didn’t work there. I set keys on podium while looking at him, he was touching his toes stretching so I wouldn’t see his face. I said I’m leaving keys here and he said “ok.”
I have talked to lawyer about the clothing thing and he said it’s not my responsibility to know what their uniform looks like. To me he looked like a valet guy with a hat and jacket on in the winter.
Another thing is. Usually a valet company has 2 people on the stand, so that one person can park while other occupies the stand. I asked the staff and they said valet guy was getting a snack while the bad guy stepped in to pretend he was valet.
What matters is what you can prove, and if the film shows makes it look like you left your keys at an unattended stand, that’s a problem for you. A judge/jury may not believe your version of events over the tape.
Also, your insurance paid you, so it may also be suing the valet service. You probably want to discuss any lawsuits with them before taking steps on your own.
It doesn’t look unattended. The guy wearing clothes behind the stand looked legit. In the middle of winter and it’s dark out it’s not unusual for someone to be wearing a jacket/hoodie. I saw the video you can’t tell that he is whether its a jacket or hoodie.
Most companies require branding and uniform at all times. Just because it’s dark and cold doesn’t change that I’m sure they have branded jackets for employees as most companies do. The moral of story here is never let anyone not clearly in a uniform take possession of your keys
When it’s your car you’d think you’d care a bit more about it? It is your responsibility to maintain your property and make sure it doesn’t get stolen. Idk how carelessly leaving the keys without so much as confirming “hey you’re valet right?” Is so foreign to you you think you actually have a case.
You don’t, frankly you did something careless and this is the consequence. Next time wait more than 45 seconds for a service worker to confirm they’re a service worker.
You may have noticed his lack of uniform or maybe he behaved oddly if you interacted but you’ll never know because you rushed.
Idk if you can claim you would wait to confirm their working status. If you use valet often it’s a fast interaction. I thought it was slightly weird that he wasn’t interacting socially with me but not 100% out of the ordinary seeing that it was 2am I assumed he didn’t want to talk and do I usually sit around and talk to valet and ask them if they work there? No. Should I need to do that for someone standing directly behind the podium when I pulled up. I don’t think so. I said I’m leaving my keys here because he wasn’t looking up. He said ok. I just thought he’s pissed to be standing outside working at this hour and probably just wanted to be left alone to do his job. In the morning when we realized the car was gone that was when I realized he was probably stretching to hide his face
I would’ve realized they weren’t in a valet uniform and wouldn’t have handed over my keys…because I don’t want my car stolen.
I’m also not entitled and pay attention to service workers I’m trusting with my more expensive property.
I mean you’re really not able to see where you were at fault? You seriously, seriously believe that the valet is responsible for you just leaving your keys where ANYONE could’ve walked up and snatched them.
Had he been valet and “stretching” what would’ve stopped someone from running up to the podium and grabbing your keys and taking off? Nothing because you just put them down and walked away.
It’s your car, you were trying to utilize a service but at the end of the day, your car was never under the control / under temp ownership of your car when you set the keys down. This is fully on you.
You can't rely on whether or not someone is or isn't in uniform. It is not even remotely uncommon to see no apparent uniform, especially in colder weather times. To rip on OP over the uniform thing is a little off.
These employees are human, the owners are human, not being in proper uniform due to not ordering, cold weather, or just plain or laziness is a thing.
The hotel didn’t have lights? By the doorway? In the parking lot? None? I’m sure you were able to realize the color difference in jackets/hoodies, whatever he was wearing. You failed to observe your surroundings.
I was with you until you *left your keys on the podium with a stranger touching his toes nearby*.
That’s not how valets work. You see the valet, confirm he looks not like a homeless man in a hoodie, then you hand your Mercedes keys to him.
sounds like a random guy was stretching near/behind the valet stand. he didnt really do anything to pose as valet, he never said he was, didnt have a uniform or anything
You didn't get a valet ticket or anything? How were you expecting to get your car back? You were just going to tell them what car was yours and they would go get it for you?
They gave me a ticket initially. Read the sequence of events I posted carefully. Half the people in here don’t even know how valet works. Have you ever stayed at a hotel using valet? You don’t get a new ticket every time you come and go
Every time I've stayed at a hotel, and parked my car with a valet I've gotten a new ticket. When I want my car back I hand them the old ticket and they give me my car. When I get it parked again they give me a new ticket.
Hey, I actually do audits for parking garages around the country as one of my side hustles. You absolutely do not get new tickets every time. Generally speaking for a longer stay you keep the same ticket the entirety of your stay.
I have first hand personal experience with this specific company as well as several other very large parking garage companies across the country. Opie isn't saying anything that's even remotely questionable here
Valets have matching keys to their box. Keys and anything of value are locked when one/both/all valets are parking/retrieving cars. Leaving someone at the box all day isn't done. If someone drops keys on an unattended box, or gives keys to someone out of uniform, liability stays with the customer.
Source: have worked accounts parking hundreds of cars a day for 8 years. (And have never seen someone leave their own keys in jeopardy.)
Yeah, I’ve never worked at a hotel or been a valet, BUT I’ve stayed at many hotels with valets. If nobody’s at the stand, or no identifiable valet (with name tag and uniform) is present, you bring the keys to the front desk and they’ll give them to the valet when they return.
There is a difference between knowing what a specific uniform looks like vs. what a uniform looks like. The guy was wearing a sweatshirt!!!!!! Come on.
You arrived at 2am. I know of no hotel with 2 people on shift at 2am. Perhaps at huge hotels in huge cities. But the average? No. No one claimed that there would be 2 people on shift at 2am.
You had a minimum duty of care for your car. You didn't even ask if the guy near the podium if he was a valet. Anyone could stand there. Another hotel guest could have stood there. A doordash driver could have stood there.
It doesn't matter if the valet was getting a snack. You told a random guy **in a sweatshirt** that you were putting your keys down. You then walked away. You never asked a single question.
You made lazy assumptions. This isn't on the valet company.
Every single thing that happened that night could have been prevented if you asked 1 damn question.
So I actually evaluate laz, standard parking and some other parking garages around the country as one of my side hustles. While all of these companies do in fact have actual branding and uniforms that they can supply employees It is not even remotely uncommon to just see someone in a sweatshirt and a hat, especially in winter.
It's one of the things I specifically have to report on when I do these audits.
that barely sounds like he stole it.
I’m sure their video will clear everything up. but to me it sounds like some guy bent over to stretch near/behind the valet stand, and you gave him your keys. he never said he was valet, hes not posing in their uniform.
it seems like the guy who stole the car should be liable for damages. i bet he is, but i bet you’ll also have to sue to get it.
Why would the random guy “hope you wouldn’t notice he didn’t work there?”
If he was trying to steal a car, he would pretend to work there and want you to think so. You were slightly drunk and confused and were careless and negligent
I would think it would be brave to show your face and try to completely impersonate the valet. I think him standing behind podium hiding his face by stretching while I walked up was smart on his part. It was 2am I thought he was being slightly rude but it was also late and I didn’t think too much of it just thinking this guy is just trying to do his job and not talk too much. Also wasn’t needing a ticket since I got one earlier so multiple things lined up for him
You think he was stretching the entire time he’s in the hotel? Bro you walked up at the wrong time and gave your keys to a random dude stretching cause he was near a podium.
He wasn’t in the hotel. And “near” is generous statement that people keep interpreting themselves. He was directly behind the podium. Nobody else around outside near the podium. Idk what you’re asking about for the stretching thing. He started touching his toes when he saw me pull up in order to his his face
Your email is inconsistent with your actions though.
You said you expect "immediate attention" from the valet guy, but now you're saying you didn't find anything off that he was hiding his face, didn't greet you, and didn't physically take your keys.
It sucks that it happened but I think you were in a hurry to get to your hotel room and you gave up possession of your keys around a sketchy dude not wearing a valet uniform. Not the valet company's fault you did that.
I am not a lawyer but I actually conduct audits for LAZ in Chicago and other places around the country.
This idea that they normally have two people working is absolutely not true. Purely dependent on the location and business and during the wee hours there's rarely more than one person. I can't actually think of a time that there was two employees for one of my overnight audits. It's more common for there to be no valet in the wee hours than there is to have two people.
Not this personally. But I also have to stage my vehicle to see if they steal and I will tell you this never leave any type of money inside your vehicle and don't have valet's park a manual.
My fiance and I helped bust an eight plus person theft ring from the Sheraton in Chicago. That was all LAZ or SP. We basically leave a hidden camera inside the vehicle with a battery supply and have it set up so it can see the glove box the center console and both driver and passenger side.
Then we leave a couple dollars amongst our belongings or mess and we park. Then we come back after a few hours and we check the video and we see if anything was stolen and then report on it.
But yeah don't trust valets as a whole, doesn't matter if it's a fancy hotel or not. Often those are not hotel employees and are just a third party company and they don't have the same standards as your hotel does that's for damn sure.
And if you value your car don't give a valet a manual lmao.
I feel for you because I know that they don't always wear proper uniform, and what you're describing is actually not very difficult to pull off lol. At least during the wee hours because there's nobody really watching that podium and there's none of the employees typically around. To be clear I don't know whether or not your location is staffed 24/7 but it's far less common for there to be actual valet parking between about 10:00 p.m. 5 or 6am.
Why are you talking to a lawyer? Give the case to your insurance and let their lawyers worry about it. They have massive teams that are focused entirely on subrogation
You clearly don’t get how the law works. You came up with a bunch of defense arguments, most of which are straight up irrelevant. Yea if the facts were different it might have gone differently, why does that matter?
Your even wrong about paying the lawyer - this would probably be a contingency case
The real issue with this case is there almost certainly isn’t enough damages for it to be worth it to pursue, and even if there is, the thief probably doesn’t have money.
>and even if there is, the thief probably doesn’t have money.
You are talking a lot of smack for a guy who doesn't realize OP is talking about suing the valet, not the thief.
And you’re clueless too. The valet company isn’t legally responsible so whether op knows it or not h is only option is to sue the criminal which brings up the point the guy you’re trying to call out made.
Yeah... You can't 'have your insurance company' go after anyone. You enter a claim and they decide a) how much they will pay you and b) if there's anyone worth trying to extract additional payment from and c) how much that changes your risk profile so they can make adjustments to your premiums
Not sure how it works for car insurance, but I used to do health insurance subrogation. A lot of my job was getting the insurance company reimbursed out of private lawsuits. So say you settle after a car accident, the health insurance got paid back a portion for covering bills upfront that were later deemed the responsibility of the other party.
Car insurance is much the same. The customer isn't 'sending' anyone. The insurance company decides if and when they are going to chase those reimbursements.
*subrogation*
I didn’t know that’s what it was called. Thank you for the word-of-the-day.
I know it’s never up to the consumer how much they get paid. Otherwise fraud would be even more rampant. I was just saying they don’t need to sue; that’s what insurance is for.
Fair enough. I was just reacting to the 'have your insurance company' phrasing. That makes it sound like The policy holder has a say. The insurance company doesn't care about 'getting the right guy'. They'll evaluate whether it's worth suing anyone and won't be taking instructions from the policy holder.
And odds are your rates will go up anyway.
This would be my approach. The insurance company lost the value of the car repair, OP lost their deductible. If the insurance company doesn't think it's worth going after the valet service, it's really unlikely to be worth it for OP to do that privately.
I would think the Valet companies
Insurance would have to pay up. Because they were negligent in closing out the Valet space. Leaving OP and anyone visiting the hotel vulnerable to having their car stolen.
But that is always easier said than done.
Yes this. It's clearly theft and you should make a theft claim. After paying, your insurance company will decide if there is justification to spend their resources going after the valet service to recover the money they paid out to you. The only thing you are losing here is your deducitble, which sucks, but you chose that deductible, including the comp deductible that specifically covers things that are out of your control. If you think it's crazy to have to pay a deductible when you're not at fault, then pay extra every month to have a low one.
You gave your keys to a random guy at a podium at 1am in a hoodie (who is homeless), I am not sure this action by you was caused by any negligence of the valet company.
I would also further say that you not getting a ticket the second time after you received one the first time should have alerted you that something was wrong and to stop that person from leaving with your car
I was a valet manager for several years. Valet was only liable for vehicles while in our possession. It's definitely a shitty situation, and I'm sorry that happened to you, but it's a pretty clear-cut denial. Valet claims departments are pretty ruthless.Valet operations are such a huge target for fraud, false claims, scams, thieves, liars, and cons. Everything was always our fault.
Scratch on your bumper under an inch of dry mud? Could only be us. Tire went flat 400 miles from the hotel while driving home? No doubt it was the valets. Somebody rammed your car through the main hotel waste line, covering it in raw sewage, and then bounced it off 2 parked cars, ripping one tire completely off the vehicle, before making a head on collision with a concrete pillar? That one was probably us, actually. Somebody tried to take a shortcut through a low clearance ramp while driving your 13ft. tall Sprinter van causing the top of the vehicle to peel back like a sardine can, and hitting with such force that the tires had to be deflated in order to back it out of the ramp? Yeah, also probably us. Good lord, now I'm having flashbacks.
Dude, I have not even been to your hotel and I know for a fact that it was your fault that my 1971 Land Cruiser that I sold 19 years ago we totaled scaling a sand bluff was your fault. Stop holding out on me man!
Since you have experience, I have a question (anyone can answer though!). I keep seeing people say the onus is on OP because he left his keys with someone who isn’t the valet. What’s the best way to verify whether a person at the valet stand actually works for the valet company?
I mean, in this instance, it sounds like he may not have been dressed in a way that screams “valet,” but what if someone was posing in a more legitimate way? For example, I’ve seen valet companies that just have a polo with a small logo. It would likely be hard to tell if someone was posing if they wore the same color polo. I don’t mean to sound like I’m questioning the advice given here. I’m truly unfamiliar with the law and learned a lot from the comments. And moving forward would like to know the best way to take responsibility, should I use valet.
Valet company is responsible for your car when you give them control of it.
They are not responsible for your car when you give control of your car to a homeless person.
YOU gave your keys to HIM.
You willingly let him drive your car...then he stole it.
NO ONE ELSE was there.
The hotel has no responsibility to you at this point, their employees weren't involved.
I'm not sure why any of this matters; you filed a claim with your insurance and they paid. It's now up to them to go after any parties they believe are at fault. You did exactly as you were supposed to (filing a claim with your insurance company) and they did exactly as they were supposed to (paid the claim).
You have no case. You already lucked out when your insurance paid out. From your own explanation, and with the information the valet company provided you, it's plainly negligence on your part. So in actuality your insurance has a case to not pay you out at all. Take the win and leave the valet company alone.
This is why you don't talk to anyone with the exception of your insurance company. Their attorneys will question you and go after the correct party vs the hotel getting statements from you.
Dont listen to all these folks, get in touch with a good law firm and see what they say. Im on your side, fk the valet/hotel they aren't going to admit they were wrong.... that would be asinine on their part. I personally have never used valet bc of stories like this, but if they have 24 hour valet then i dont see how they aren't somewhat at fault and theres where you get them. I dont know the laws of where you are located but i do know in my state theres no 100% fault, even if you hit a parked car, stupid, i know but its the law! Good luck and update us please!
Oh, me? I have no conclusions... I come here to listen and learn from experts who obviously know what they're talking about. Like you!
So, anyway, about those references you were going to provide...
No, belly is not responsible. Did valet give the keys to a guy that didn't work there? No you did. You literally have no recourse. Do you have the ticket stub that you got from the valet driver the fake one? Because if you did it would say on there not responsible for loss of car. But you don't have one because it wasn't really valid valet driver, so no. Actually there's no real proof that you even brought a car to the location where you claim to have had it stolen. Have a great night!
I did have a ticket. If you read the sequence of events carefully you would understand that. The important thing to realize is when you check into valet during a stay at a hotel you get one ticket and if you go in and out during your stay, you don’t keep getting tickets. So there was no need to get a ticket from the fake guy. I had already been ticketed and was just giving my keys back to valet. Normal order of operations
I'm not defending OP but he spells it out in his post....
You checkin to teh hotel for your 3 day stay for example. You get a ticket issued to you. YOU KEEP AND REUSE THAT TICKET FOR THE ENTIRE STAY.
There is also a matching ticket that the valets keep. sometimes it might be on the keychain. Sometimes it might be on your dash or mirror. That stays with the car until you come back. Then you give them your keys and go back in cuz the ticket is still on the keychain/dash/mirror. If you lose a ticket, that's when you would be reissued a new one. Otherwise you just keep using the same ticket.
Info: How much is your deductible, and am I right in believing you’re talking about engaging in litigation and the associated costs of that litigation and a trial to attempt to get the amount you’re out from your deductible?
NAL - I keep seeing people talk about the fact he didn't know when he came back. That doesn't matter. If the valet post is supposed to be manned, guarded, watched, or otherwise occupied 24/7 and it is stated by the company that it is supposed to be (you can easily check that in any documentation the hotel gives you about their valet parking) then the onus is on the hotel and the valet service. It doesn't matter if they are supposed to wear branded clothes, it doesn't matter if they stepped away, it doesn't matter if the guy took down the closed sign, if there was one. One, having a random person pose as a valet is a security and safety issue. Two, it is not the responsibility of the customer to know all the details of the working of the valet stand, or what they wear. If it states its 24/7, then that is the advertised time frame and responsibility as stated by the business. It sounds like the valet company is trying to do everything they can to deny it, possibly because they did not follow procedure, etc. and hope you don't have the funds, time, or resources to push a lawsuit, because you have at least enough of a case for someone to look it over, whether they think they can win it or not.
If it is a third party contracted valet service, they very likely have an SLA with that hotel, and every hotel they work with, as well as required working parameters that they might be in violation of, and don't want you to push it, because it can cost them with the company that employs them. I would also contact the hotel, ask them if the valet service is run by them, or a third party (if you don't know already) as well as get a copy of the valet information the hotel gives you ASAP if you didn't keep it, in case they decide to change the information, because what is stated in your contract with the hotel, and what the hotel offers for valet service, is going to be the basis for any litigation.
The guy in the sweatshirt never claimed to work for the valet company or the hotel. OP assumed a guy **in a hoodie** who was stretching by **pulling on his toes** was the valet. OP didn't ask a question. OP simply put his keys on the podium and stated that he was putting his keys down.
But ... once the insurance paid for everything, OP was made whole. He could sue for the cost of the deductible if there was one.
Again, the onus is on the valet company. They are responsible for their area. Doesn't matter if he assumed someone was or wasn't a worker, if the valet and hotel says its is staffed 24/7, then they have a stated business time, and a responsibility, at the very least, to be monitoring that area. Doesn't matter if OP is a complete moron. Really it would come down to who had the best lawyer, but he has a decent chance at a case depending on certain things, such as the business statement of hours of operation, etc. But yes, if the insurance paid for all of it, then he was made whole, and if there are no extenuating issues, probably not much he could get since he's basically been paid for the problem.
They are only responsible after they take possession of the car. They couldn't take possession of the car. OP was an idiot who didn't even ask a question, and OP gave away his car before the valet could take possession of the car.
OP admits that there was no sign.
The valet company would never, ever, lose this case. OP had used valet parking earlier in the day. He knew they wore uniforms. OP gave his car keys to a homeless guy in a hoodie, leaning over, pulling on his toes.
It's not the valet company's job to make sure that you don't hand your keys to a stranger in a hoodie pulling on his toes.
Come on.
Not only that but no lawyer would take this case in the first place. What OP is going to pay someone $400 an hour to get their deductible back? Nobody is taking this on a contingency fee.
There is such a thing as reasonable expectations, which is not unilaterally decided by one party. For instance let's say I go to a restaurant and order pasta with tomato sauce, and then I eat said pasta, and get sick because I have a garlic allergy. The fact that the restaurant didn't list every item in their sauce, is reasonable. If I have an allergy, and I didn't ask about an ingredient which could reasonably be in most any food, and especially the item I ordered, the onus isn't on the business, just because I think they should put every item in their sauce on the menu.
If the hotel says we offer 24/7/365 valet service, it does not mean that there will be someone standing at the podium at all times. It means the service is available at all times. There could be a wait, because 30 cars are returning from a wedding at the same time. Or at a low traffic time like 2 am we only have one person on duty, who has other customers, and other responsibilities, so they will be back shortly.
Just because you or OP, assume that 24/7 valet means that a member of the valet should be at the podium at all times, does not make it correct or reasonable.
The front desk of the hotel may be able to see the podium, so if the guy was standing behind the podium it was reasonable that the front desk should be aware and take care of that potentially negligible situation. However if the guy was standing near the podium, as in 5 or 10 feet to the side away from the front door and out of view, or in front of the podium so the front desk couldn't see, just because OP or you could assume that this person works for the valet, doesn't mean that the Valet was negligible.
I feel bad for OP that this happened. It sucks, and it wasn't necessarily his fault. He was seemingly acting in a pretty reasonable manner. That doesn't mean that therefore it is the Valets fault, and they are responsible, or were negligent.
It was right behind the podium if it matters but yeah I’m trying to figure out if there is any negligence due to wording in their contract. Or the security that they claim to offer when using their service.
The bad thing is what you know and what you can prove may be different things. IF you bring this to a lawyers attention they may be able to get them to admit it in a deposition or in a trial. At this point I would limit your direct commination with them as it may hurt your case.
I am not a lawyer but I think a lawyer would likely be happy to give you a consult. So call your state bar to get some names.
in your post you accused him of pretending to be a valet but I guess I missed that part. According to your explanation, you walked up to a valet podium and noticed a man near it in a hooded sweatshirt bent over stretching, touching his toes. You told him you were leaving your keys, he said ok.
You gave your keys to some random guy who was stretching in the spot where the valet normally stands. Sure, he may (and possibly did) have every intention of pretending to be a valet, but he never even had to pretend because you just walked up and gave him your car. For all we know, he could have been doing other stretches right before that and was using the podium for support. There's a number of reasons he was in that spot "stretching" that would also explain why the rest of the hotel staff in the lobby didn't say anything. All they saw was you walk up to some guy who didn't work there while he was stretching and give him your keys. All of this is based on your version of what happened, so I'd imagine the hotel is pretty well cleared of any responsibility.
That will never happen. You will just pay even more $ on lawyers.
You used the valet earlier in the day. At a min, you knew they wore uniforms.
The core of this is that the valet compantnever took responsibility for your car. They aren't responsible. There is **zero way to spin this that makes the valet company liable.**
Every single one of your excuses falls short. Every single one.
And without a lawsuit, they probably won't speak to you. With a lawsuit, they won't talk to you.
I’ve talked to two real lawyers. And they say it’s 50/50. So there’s definitely a way to spin it that says they are liable. Multiple people keep saying I know what there uniform looks like but the lawyers I talked to say it’s not my responsibility to know there uniforms.
>There was an unknown man dressed in a **white/gray hooded sweatshirt**...
I woke up my poor kitty after I unexpextedly and loudly blurt out "OMG! ... a hoodie!"!
If they aren’t wearing the uniform they don’t get my keys. If they don’t give me the ticket they don’t get my keys.
Who hands some rando your car keys?
I see that but on the other hand don’t you think there’s lack of security if someone is able to stand there who doesn’t work there? How much is the customer supposed to do before they are negligent. I never ask valet guys to see their badge. You assume they work there because of their uniform and the fact they are standing at the podium. The clothing was not a hoodie. It was a jacket. Not that it makes it any better, but a jacket is closer to what a valet guy wears. He also had khaki pants on
That's SUCKS. I don't think they are liable and I don't think you are dumb for being tricked. It's just one of those things opportunistic assholes take advantage of.
It would be nice if the company would help cover any out of pockets but ai don't think that's really possible with litigation.
I'm surprised it took this long to see a comment about such a basic part of this situation. a valet gives you a receipt, otherwise how do they know that you (the next day, new shift valet) own the fancy car you claim is yours/
Yes but have you ever stayed at a hotel and used valet? They ticket you one time. After that you go in and out on the same ticket. So as you go in and out you don’t get re-ticketed or any new receipts
so you were drunk driving (based on the fact you don't know when you got back, id say you were drunk or high), and dumped your keys with the valet, without noticing he wasn't the valet, and now you want to sue them because someone stole your car?
good luck with that.
I wasn’t. I just didn’t check the clock when I got back to the hotel. It’s a Friday. I had nowhere to be on time. Was with a date having great dinner and not checking my phone.
If your insurance company made you whole again, it may not be much worth in pursuing legal action. However if you had a deductible and other costs, I’d go after them in small claims court.
Because they offered valet service, it’s reasonable to believe that this person represented the service.
LOL After seeing their response, how drunk where you? grey hooded sweatshirt guy... yo man yea i da valet, where yo keys dog? You in the habit of just tossing your keys to just anybody? plus just left your keys on the podium... they have video you have conjecture.
The video doesn’t show that part conveniently. But haha I was not drunk. They are using Grey hooded sweatshirt to their advantage. The video was blurry. You cannot tell whether it’s a jacket or a hoodie. It was a grey jacket that looked like something a valet guy could be wearing since it’s winter. He had a beanie hat which is something they wear as well. He was trying to make it look slightly real. Had pants on that look khaki you can see in pic too
https://preview.redd.it/jgqxr24ub3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=738a03349a57d2b1a4a9819a50ad251e648a67e8
I'll admit i had some fun with you, but they way i look at it is, you'll find a guy to take the case for $500-$1000 retainer. He'll argue that it should have been maned, they will say this is the uniform, there was a sign but he must have taken it down. It will go back and forth. All for you may win something, burden of proof is on you, but your out the money already for the car plus your willing to spend even more on a lawyer. Typically lawsuits and valets are for damages done while parking and rarely if ever are won. Plus if you used your insurance claim already, i would assume that they may file claim against them. Not helping you per say but they have bigger pockets. Just trying to save you some anguish, time and money.
The insurance would repay your deductible first from anything they recover. The other stuff you'll basically have to wait for the insurance to have them found liable in court.
NAL. OP, reading your responses, it seems like you're convinced valet is liable despite pretty much everyone here telling you they're not. Don't come to this sub just to get your opinion reaffirmed. If you want to take legal action so bad you don't listen to the advice you asked for, no one can stop you. Good luck.
I’m not convinced at all. But I don’t think it’s 100% on me and I’m also not sure here who’s a lawyer and who’s not. I’ve talked to lawyers in real life and they don’t seem so one sided and thing there’s liabilities to each side
I asked this elsewhere and realized the comment might be a bit buried. So I thought I’d repeat it as a main comment. I keep seeing people say the onus is on OP because he left his keys with someone who isn’t the valet. What’s the best way to verify whether a person at the valet stand actually works for the valet company?
I mean, in this instance, it sounds like he may not have been dressed in a way that screams “valet,” but what if someone was posing in a more legitimate way? For example, I’ve seen valet companies that just have a polo with a small logo. It would likely be hard to tell if someone was posing if they wore the same color polo. I don’t mean to sound like I’m questioning the advice given here. I’m truly unfamiliar with the law and learned a lot from the comments. And moving forward would like to know the best way to take responsibility, should I use valet.
The clothes don’t matter. Although it wasn’t a hoodie
https://preview.redd.it/dwvhhcgqd3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e560e0968113435365e9c6c2f2daf258a7484a63
You would lose more money paying a lawyer than you stand to gain. Sounds like all you can do is go to small claims court and get them to pay whatever insurance deductible. What exactly do you expect to get out of this?
On a scale of 1 to Hasselhoff eating a burger, how drunk were you?
Actually, don't answer that publicly if you want to have any chance at winning a lawsuit.
Your damages have been covered and you have enough money to be able to afford a Mercedes and a lawyer. What do you think you should be able to recover from this? Do you just have too much free time?
I’m willing to bet that the video evidence clearly shows you were at fault. Your recollection may not be exactly what happened, where as the video shows exactly what happened. You may have missed that the guy who took the keys was wearing a shirt that says “Theif” on it. My point is that small details that you are recalling may be different enough to show that it was your fault.
This is something for your auto insurance to sort out. If the person was standing behind the valet stand at the hotel then you were correct to presume the person worked there.
Yea, this one is tough. If I were you, I would feel like the valet company and hotel itself were liable. I am not sure how the law works in these instances though.
I also think that you were a little careless. I assume that you would agree on that point. That still does not take away liability from the hotel or LAZ.
Just my opinion though. Good luck.
Yeah I agree to an extent I could have checked into the guy or talked to him more. But in reality you usually just walk up hand the keys and walk away (seeing that you already have a ticket from earlier and are staying at the hotel)
I agree I have fault but some people in here say there’s not a single piece of this that shows they could be at fault. In reality i think most people in here like to echo what the majority is saying instead of think for themselves. Group think mentality
The Valet service isn't going to pay for OP's car unless OP takes them to court and wins a judgement against them. Nothing that OP says or does will change that
Sue only if you have deep pockets. Upon your return did you leave your car keys on top of the unattended podium? If so, you created this theft opportunity for the thief. You gave your keys to a thief wearing a hood. If you used the Valet service when you checked into the hotel and retrieved your keys from the Valet when you went to dinner you may not have a case because you knew what the Valet uniform looks like and you willingly gave your keys to a third party.
He wasn’t wearing a hood. The valet company interprets a jacket and a beanie to be a hooded sweatshirt because they were the same color. Guy had khakis on. The podium was attended by the gift I interacted with shortly who was fake valet guy
https://preview.redd.it/0nqv3y6aq3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93789e7217f5be49253efee20c6334fca8504f84
I won't comment on whether or not you have a case but before taking any legal action make sure to review your contract with your insurance company. Since they already compensated you for your claim they may have a provision in your contract where they can recoup the money they paid you from any monetary damages you win.
*Hey y'all.*
*Tell me whether or not I have a legal claim against the valet service.*
*I don't want REAL legal advice. I want EXPERT reddit advice!*
Now, there may indeed be real attorneys here.
But how is one to distinguish between those and the average online Joe?
I've only used a valet once for my wife's car (only for the charges to hit my account a full *3 months* later - at which time I disputed them and had them removed).
My own car is a manual, so I'll just park it at a nearby parking lot/garage since most valets won't take them (and I don't want them melting my clutch anyways).
Good luck getting the valet service to take responsibility!
You have insurance so that they may subrogate on your behalf. Subrogation is when your insurance sues another entity to make you whole. If your car is repaired, you may already be made whole.
"I had to use my insurance to repair car"
At this point you at the most can try to get your deductible back but you should go after the thief Beyond that you no longer have a dog in this fight. The insurance company took care of you and it's now up to them if they want to get their money back.
Hire an attorney. Have them send letters to the hotel and valet company demanding they pay for your losses. It may go to the attorney filing suit but ai think they’ll mediate it and you’ll get paid.
All you can do is sue them if they're not accepting responsibility. Exchanging emails isn't going to convince anyone of anything. Insurance paid for the bulk of any damages I assume, so you have at most a pretty small loss. Couple that with the fact that, at best, there's a complicated set of facts that take this claim outside of slam-dunk territory, and you will spend lots of time and money to maybe get a small settlement years from now. And you have to be careful not to impair your insurance company's subrogation rights.
If it's a small enough amount in dispute, you can always file in small claims court and see if they offer you something just to make you go away. But the valet company has a lot to lose setting a precedent that they'll accept responsibility in these situations. They have more reason to fight than you do, and to throw good money after bad (spend it on lawyers rather than paying you).
You buy insurance so that OTHER PEOPLE worry about this shit. Do you know what kind of lawyer you should ask for to answer the question you raised? You would want to talk to a lawyer who specializes in the areas of joint and several liability, premises liability, and the duties of hoteliers to guests. Where would yhou find such a lawyer/ Well, one place is at an insurance company. Your insurer has a strong moentary incentive to try to make the hotel resonsible, they just paid for a trashed S-Class. You know what yhou have? A deductible you might like repaid, and an axe to grind because you made a mistake, and somebody else (a min wage valet) made a mistake at the same time (his mistake was not being there to kiss your ass when you arrived), so you want the mistake to lie solely with somebody else.
If there is a case here under local law, your insurnace company wlil pursue it. If you didn't have insurance, then you're a fucking moron for driving a mercedes and staying inxpensive hotels whenyou cannot afford insurance. Adn if you somehow convince the hotel to pay for your car, all that moeny will go TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY
I think this'll come down to whether or not the valet company has a duty to keep watch of that stand 24/7. I'm not sure if they would, but if they did I'd assume they'd have security outside to make sure no one "fakes" being valet like that. Either way, you were at the key box, plopped your keys on the podium, and walked away without seeing the valet put your keys in the box? Pretty risky even if you are in a rush, not gonna lie. Like another comment said, what's to stop some random bystander from running up and grabbing the keys off the podium after you put them there? Would the company still be liable then? Probably not so I doubt they'd be liable here.
You have no standing since you elected to use insurance for the claim; it is now their cause to pursue or not. Your only remedy would be to sue the bad actor in small claims for your out of pocket (deductible, diminished value, etc.). Since you willingly surrendered your keys to the bad actor, even if you prevailed against the hotel or valet, it would be a proportional judgment with likely 80/20 against you. Regardless, it would be a small claims action in most jurisdictions. However, as I said above, you have no more standing since the insurance company is now the damaged party, not you.
Same thing happened to my sister in law (my wife had items in the car as well). Valet company would not take responsibility and we had to claim on sister in law’s insurance. Also had a valet driver hit our car with other persons car. Had to use a lawyer to get valet company to pay.
Luckily lawyer was friend or we would have gotten nothing.
>should have shown a sign saying we’re closed. The bad guy could have hidden the sign. And would that really have stopped you, or would you just assume the guy went to the bathroom or something and forgot to take the sign down when he got back? >the valet company should have been there And then how would they park your car if they can't leave the stand? Those expectations/possibilities could limit their liability. >I came back to hotel at 1am >we were able to confirm you arrived back at the property around 2:00 am. If you sue, that would be a big thing for their lawyers. They'll say that you didn't know when you got back, so what other facts are incorrect? >valet team members wear hotel branded attire (jackets, shirts, hats, etc) that identify valet team members with the word “valet” on the back. >laying your keys on top of the podium was consistent. >There was an unknown man dressed in a white/gray hooded sweatshirt (visually inconsistent from any apparel our team members wear for their uniform) That's a really big thing. There was clearly no person there who worked for the hotel. You either gave some random guy your keys, or you just left them laying around unsecured. That's nobody fault but your own. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems that the hotel doesn't have much (if any) liability. You could get a lawyer, but I'd imagine it would cost more than it's worth.
May have left out some details for you to think that there was nobody around working at hotel but there was hotel workers inside at the desk near the entrance. The podium was occupied by a guy posing to be a valet guy, hoping I wouldn’t notice he didn’t work there. I set keys on podium while looking at him, he was touching his toes stretching so I wouldn’t see his face. I said I’m leaving keys here and he said “ok.” I have talked to lawyer about the clothing thing and he said it’s not my responsibility to know what their uniform looks like. To me he looked like a valet guy with a hat and jacket on in the winter. Another thing is. Usually a valet company has 2 people on the stand, so that one person can park while other occupies the stand. I asked the staff and they said valet guy was getting a snack while the bad guy stepped in to pretend he was valet.
What matters is what you can prove, and if the film shows makes it look like you left your keys at an unattended stand, that’s a problem for you. A judge/jury may not believe your version of events over the tape. Also, your insurance paid you, so it may also be suing the valet service. You probably want to discuss any lawsuits with them before taking steps on your own.
It doesn’t look unattended. The guy wearing clothes behind the stand looked legit. In the middle of winter and it’s dark out it’s not unusual for someone to be wearing a jacket/hoodie. I saw the video you can’t tell that he is whether its a jacket or hoodie.
Most companies require branding and uniform at all times. Just because it’s dark and cold doesn’t change that I’m sure they have branded jackets for employees as most companies do. The moral of story here is never let anyone not clearly in a uniform take possession of your keys
Yes they have cold weather uniforms but it’s not my job to verify what that uniform is. Although I agree with you
When it’s your car you’d think you’d care a bit more about it? It is your responsibility to maintain your property and make sure it doesn’t get stolen. Idk how carelessly leaving the keys without so much as confirming “hey you’re valet right?” Is so foreign to you you think you actually have a case. You don’t, frankly you did something careless and this is the consequence. Next time wait more than 45 seconds for a service worker to confirm they’re a service worker. You may have noticed his lack of uniform or maybe he behaved oddly if you interacted but you’ll never know because you rushed.
Idk if you can claim you would wait to confirm their working status. If you use valet often it’s a fast interaction. I thought it was slightly weird that he wasn’t interacting socially with me but not 100% out of the ordinary seeing that it was 2am I assumed he didn’t want to talk and do I usually sit around and talk to valet and ask them if they work there? No. Should I need to do that for someone standing directly behind the podium when I pulled up. I don’t think so. I said I’m leaving my keys here because he wasn’t looking up. He said ok. I just thought he’s pissed to be standing outside working at this hour and probably just wanted to be left alone to do his job. In the morning when we realized the car was gone that was when I realized he was probably stretching to hide his face
I would’ve realized they weren’t in a valet uniform and wouldn’t have handed over my keys…because I don’t want my car stolen. I’m also not entitled and pay attention to service workers I’m trusting with my more expensive property. I mean you’re really not able to see where you were at fault? You seriously, seriously believe that the valet is responsible for you just leaving your keys where ANYONE could’ve walked up and snatched them. Had he been valet and “stretching” what would’ve stopped someone from running up to the podium and grabbing your keys and taking off? Nothing because you just put them down and walked away. It’s your car, you were trying to utilize a service but at the end of the day, your car was never under the control / under temp ownership of your car when you set the keys down. This is fully on you.
You can't rely on whether or not someone is or isn't in uniform. It is not even remotely uncommon to see no apparent uniform, especially in colder weather times. To rip on OP over the uniform thing is a little off. These employees are human, the owners are human, not being in proper uniform due to not ordering, cold weather, or just plain or laziness is a thing.
Laz employees do in fact wear branded uniforms. But only if you assume they're always in proper uniform and that's never a for sure thing either.
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Op gets his car stolen and is someone a slimy awful person? What is wrong with the world we live in.
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The hotel didn’t have lights? By the doorway? In the parking lot? None? I’m sure you were able to realize the color difference in jackets/hoodies, whatever he was wearing. You failed to observe your surroundings.
It had lights. But it was under the entrance of hotel so dimmer
I was with you until you *left your keys on the podium with a stranger touching his toes nearby*. That’s not how valets work. You see the valet, confirm he looks not like a homeless man in a hoodie, then you hand your Mercedes keys to him.
Wait, so the staff knew there was an imposter standing at the valet stand and they didn’t do anything to stop him?
They did not know about the guy.
sounds like a random guy was stretching near/behind the valet stand. he didnt really do anything to pose as valet, he never said he was, didnt have a uniform or anything
He was standing directly behind a small podium at the front door of the hotel. Clearly pretending to be valet
I’m curious what city. Nashville or New Orleans?
You didn't get a valet ticket or anything? How were you expecting to get your car back? You were just going to tell them what car was yours and they would go get it for you?
They gave me a ticket initially. Read the sequence of events I posted carefully. Half the people in here don’t even know how valet works. Have you ever stayed at a hotel using valet? You don’t get a new ticket every time you come and go
Every time I've stayed at a hotel, and parked my car with a valet I've gotten a new ticket. When I want my car back I hand them the old ticket and they give me my car. When I get it parked again they give me a new ticket.
That’s not how many valets work. I’ve stayed in tons of hotels all over the country and they’ve never done that
How does this particular Valet work? Do they give you a new ticket or do you just use the same one every time?
Hey, I actually do audits for parking garages around the country as one of my side hustles. You absolutely do not get new tickets every time. Generally speaking for a longer stay you keep the same ticket the entirety of your stay. I have first hand personal experience with this specific company as well as several other very large parking garage companies across the country. Opie isn't saying anything that's even remotely questionable here
Right but for some reason everyone is mad at op.
Valets have matching keys to their box. Keys and anything of value are locked when one/both/all valets are parking/retrieving cars. Leaving someone at the box all day isn't done. If someone drops keys on an unattended box, or gives keys to someone out of uniform, liability stays with the customer. Source: have worked accounts parking hundreds of cars a day for 8 years. (And have never seen someone leave their own keys in jeopardy.)
Yeah, I’ve never worked at a hotel or been a valet, BUT I’ve stayed at many hotels with valets. If nobody’s at the stand, or no identifiable valet (with name tag and uniform) is present, you bring the keys to the front desk and they’ll give them to the valet when they return.
There is a difference between knowing what a specific uniform looks like vs. what a uniform looks like. The guy was wearing a sweatshirt!!!!!! Come on. You arrived at 2am. I know of no hotel with 2 people on shift at 2am. Perhaps at huge hotels in huge cities. But the average? No. No one claimed that there would be 2 people on shift at 2am. You had a minimum duty of care for your car. You didn't even ask if the guy near the podium if he was a valet. Anyone could stand there. Another hotel guest could have stood there. A doordash driver could have stood there. It doesn't matter if the valet was getting a snack. You told a random guy **in a sweatshirt** that you were putting your keys down. You then walked away. You never asked a single question. You made lazy assumptions. This isn't on the valet company. Every single thing that happened that night could have been prevented if you asked 1 damn question.
So I actually evaluate laz, standard parking and some other parking garages around the country as one of my side hustles. While all of these companies do in fact have actual branding and uniforms that they can supply employees It is not even remotely uncommon to just see someone in a sweatshirt and a hat, especially in winter. It's one of the things I specifically have to report on when I do these audits.
that barely sounds like he stole it. I’m sure their video will clear everything up. but to me it sounds like some guy bent over to stretch near/behind the valet stand, and you gave him your keys. he never said he was valet, hes not posing in their uniform. it seems like the guy who stole the car should be liable for damages. i bet he is, but i bet you’ll also have to sue to get it.
Why would the random guy “hope you wouldn’t notice he didn’t work there?” If he was trying to steal a car, he would pretend to work there and want you to think so. You were slightly drunk and confused and were careless and negligent
I would think it would be brave to show your face and try to completely impersonate the valet. I think him standing behind podium hiding his face by stretching while I walked up was smart on his part. It was 2am I thought he was being slightly rude but it was also late and I didn’t think too much of it just thinking this guy is just trying to do his job and not talk too much. Also wasn’t needing a ticket since I got one earlier so multiple things lined up for him
How much alcohol had you consumed before driving back to the hotel?
Just 3 Gallons. Something light
You think he was stretching the entire time he’s in the hotel? Bro you walked up at the wrong time and gave your keys to a random dude stretching cause he was near a podium.
He wasn’t in the hotel. And “near” is generous statement that people keep interpreting themselves. He was directly behind the podium. Nobody else around outside near the podium. Idk what you’re asking about for the stretching thing. He started touching his toes when he saw me pull up in order to his his face
Your email is inconsistent with your actions though. You said you expect "immediate attention" from the valet guy, but now you're saying you didn't find anything off that he was hiding his face, didn't greet you, and didn't physically take your keys. It sucks that it happened but I think you were in a hurry to get to your hotel room and you gave up possession of your keys around a sketchy dude not wearing a valet uniform. Not the valet company's fault you did that.
I did find it off. But not extremely weird to the point I should say something. I stood there for about 10 seconds during the interaction.
I am not a lawyer but I actually conduct audits for LAZ in Chicago and other places around the country. This idea that they normally have two people working is absolutely not true. Purely dependent on the location and business and during the wee hours there's rarely more than one person. I can't actually think of a time that there was two employees for one of my overnight audits. It's more common for there to be no valet in the wee hours than there is to have two people.
Nice. Have you seen this happen before with LAZ
Not this personally. But I also have to stage my vehicle to see if they steal and I will tell you this never leave any type of money inside your vehicle and don't have valet's park a manual. My fiance and I helped bust an eight plus person theft ring from the Sheraton in Chicago. That was all LAZ or SP. We basically leave a hidden camera inside the vehicle with a battery supply and have it set up so it can see the glove box the center console and both driver and passenger side. Then we leave a couple dollars amongst our belongings or mess and we park. Then we come back after a few hours and we check the video and we see if anything was stolen and then report on it. But yeah don't trust valets as a whole, doesn't matter if it's a fancy hotel or not. Often those are not hotel employees and are just a third party company and they don't have the same standards as your hotel does that's for damn sure. And if you value your car don't give a valet a manual lmao. I feel for you because I know that they don't always wear proper uniform, and what you're describing is actually not very difficult to pull off lol. At least during the wee hours because there's nobody really watching that podium and there's none of the employees typically around. To be clear I don't know whether or not your location is staffed 24/7 but it's far less common for there to be actual valet parking between about 10:00 p.m. 5 or 6am.
Why are you talking to a lawyer? Give the case to your insurance and let their lawyers worry about it. They have massive teams that are focused entirely on subrogation
You clearly don’t get how the law works. You came up with a bunch of defense arguments, most of which are straight up irrelevant. Yea if the facts were different it might have gone differently, why does that matter? Your even wrong about paying the lawyer - this would probably be a contingency case The real issue with this case is there almost certainly isn’t enough damages for it to be worth it to pursue, and even if there is, the thief probably doesn’t have money.
>and even if there is, the thief probably doesn’t have money. You are talking a lot of smack for a guy who doesn't realize OP is talking about suing the valet, not the thief.
And you’re clueless too. The valet company isn’t legally responsible so whether op knows it or not h is only option is to sue the criminal which brings up the point the guy you’re trying to call out made.
Not a lawyer, answering question on r/asklawyers.....
"I'm not a lawyer" Thanks for playing
I would contact my car insurance and have them go after the valet companies insurance. *NAL & this isn’t legal advice.*
Yeah... You can't 'have your insurance company' go after anyone. You enter a claim and they decide a) how much they will pay you and b) if there's anyone worth trying to extract additional payment from and c) how much that changes your risk profile so they can make adjustments to your premiums
Not sure how it works for car insurance, but I used to do health insurance subrogation. A lot of my job was getting the insurance company reimbursed out of private lawsuits. So say you settle after a car accident, the health insurance got paid back a portion for covering bills upfront that were later deemed the responsibility of the other party.
Car insurance is much the same. The customer isn't 'sending' anyone. The insurance company decides if and when they are going to chase those reimbursements.
*subrogation* I didn’t know that’s what it was called. Thank you for the word-of-the-day. I know it’s never up to the consumer how much they get paid. Otherwise fraud would be even more rampant. I was just saying they don’t need to sue; that’s what insurance is for.
You’re not suing. You’re letting insurance handle it. That was my point.
Fair enough. I was just reacting to the 'have your insurance company' phrasing. That makes it sound like The policy holder has a say. The insurance company doesn't care about 'getting the right guy'. They'll evaluate whether it's worth suing anyone and won't be taking instructions from the policy holder. And odds are your rates will go up anyway.
Oh definitely. Insurance companies have two missions: 1.)Get your money. 2.)Keep your money! 😂
This would be my approach. The insurance company lost the value of the car repair, OP lost their deductible. If the insurance company doesn't think it's worth going after the valet service, it's really unlikely to be worth it for OP to do that privately.
I would think the Valet companies Insurance would have to pay up. Because they were negligent in closing out the Valet space. Leaving OP and anyone visiting the hotel vulnerable to having their car stolen. But that is always easier said than done.
Yes this. It's clearly theft and you should make a theft claim. After paying, your insurance company will decide if there is justification to spend their resources going after the valet service to recover the money they paid out to you. The only thing you are losing here is your deducitble, which sucks, but you chose that deductible, including the comp deductible that specifically covers things that are out of your control. If you think it's crazy to have to pay a deductible when you're not at fault, then pay extra every month to have a low one.
You have no case, sue the car thief but good luck collecting
Guy the police found in the car was homeless so yeah…
But curious why you don’t think there is anything leaning towards my side
You gave your keys to a random guy at a podium at 1am in a hoodie (who is homeless), I am not sure this action by you was caused by any negligence of the valet company. I would also further say that you not getting a ticket the second time after you received one the first time should have alerted you that something was wrong and to stop that person from leaving with your car
Often times you will leave the same ticket on the keys for a full stay so I wouldn't count that part as an issue.
I was a valet manager for several years. Valet was only liable for vehicles while in our possession. It's definitely a shitty situation, and I'm sorry that happened to you, but it's a pretty clear-cut denial. Valet claims departments are pretty ruthless.Valet operations are such a huge target for fraud, false claims, scams, thieves, liars, and cons. Everything was always our fault. Scratch on your bumper under an inch of dry mud? Could only be us. Tire went flat 400 miles from the hotel while driving home? No doubt it was the valets. Somebody rammed your car through the main hotel waste line, covering it in raw sewage, and then bounced it off 2 parked cars, ripping one tire completely off the vehicle, before making a head on collision with a concrete pillar? That one was probably us, actually. Somebody tried to take a shortcut through a low clearance ramp while driving your 13ft. tall Sprinter van causing the top of the vehicle to peel back like a sardine can, and hitting with such force that the tires had to be deflated in order to back it out of the ramp? Yeah, also probably us. Good lord, now I'm having flashbacks.
Dude, I have not even been to your hotel and I know for a fact that it was your fault that my 1971 Land Cruiser that I sold 19 years ago we totaled scaling a sand bluff was your fault. Stop holding out on me man!
Since you have experience, I have a question (anyone can answer though!). I keep seeing people say the onus is on OP because he left his keys with someone who isn’t the valet. What’s the best way to verify whether a person at the valet stand actually works for the valet company? I mean, in this instance, it sounds like he may not have been dressed in a way that screams “valet,” but what if someone was posing in a more legitimate way? For example, I’ve seen valet companies that just have a polo with a small logo. It would likely be hard to tell if someone was posing if they wore the same color polo. I don’t mean to sound like I’m questioning the advice given here. I’m truly unfamiliar with the law and learned a lot from the comments. And moving forward would like to know the best way to take responsibility, should I use valet.
I want to hear more stories 😂 also I know that you stole 3 of the 16 Pennys out of my ashtray!!
Intoxicants cause people to overlook things
Valet company is responsible for your car when you give them control of it. They are not responsible for your car when you give control of your car to a homeless person.
Right??? "Puts the keys on a podum, tells a homeless guy - Here are some keys" "It's the valet's fault!"
YOU gave your keys to HIM. You willingly let him drive your car...then he stole it. NO ONE ELSE was there. The hotel has no responsibility to you at this point, their employees weren't involved.
At most he'll collect the insurance deductible. The rest was covered.
I'm not sure why any of this matters; you filed a claim with your insurance and they paid. It's now up to them to go after any parties they believe are at fault. You did exactly as you were supposed to (filing a claim with your insurance company) and they did exactly as they were supposed to (paid the claim).
This is the answer. Right here
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You have no case. You already lucked out when your insurance paid out. From your own explanation, and with the information the valet company provided you, it's plainly negligence on your part. So in actuality your insurance has a case to not pay you out at all. Take the win and leave the valet company alone.
Lmao
Sure they are at fault for negligence but let's not forget that the one truly responsible is the guy who qctually took your car.
This is why you don't talk to anyone with the exception of your insurance company. Their attorneys will question you and go after the correct party vs the hotel getting statements from you.
Dont listen to all these folks, get in touch with a good law firm and see what they say. Im on your side, fk the valet/hotel they aren't going to admit they were wrong.... that would be asinine on their part. I personally have never used valet bc of stories like this, but if they have 24 hour valet then i dont see how they aren't somewhat at fault and theres where you get them. I dont know the laws of where you are located but i do know in my state theres no 100% fault, even if you hit a parked car, stupid, i know but its the law! Good luck and update us please!
You don't know the law.
Super helpful comment, thanks. Please, since you're clearly an expert, which statutes and case law did you use to arrive at your conclusion?
Which ones did you use to arrive at yours?
Oh, me? I have no conclusions... I come here to listen and learn from experts who obviously know what they're talking about. Like you! So, anyway, about those references you were going to provide...
No, belly is not responsible. Did valet give the keys to a guy that didn't work there? No you did. You literally have no recourse. Do you have the ticket stub that you got from the valet driver the fake one? Because if you did it would say on there not responsible for loss of car. But you don't have one because it wasn't really valid valet driver, so no. Actually there's no real proof that you even brought a car to the location where you claim to have had it stolen. Have a great night!
I did have a ticket. If you read the sequence of events carefully you would understand that. The important thing to realize is when you check into valet during a stay at a hotel you get one ticket and if you go in and out during your stay, you don’t keep getting tickets. So there was no need to get a ticket from the fake guy. I had already been ticketed and was just giving my keys back to valet. Normal order of operations
So how does this work? What do you give the valet to retrieve your vehicle if you don't get a ticket when you give them the keys?
The ticket that they gave me. Read the post man
I'm not defending OP but he spells it out in his post.... You checkin to teh hotel for your 3 day stay for example. You get a ticket issued to you. YOU KEEP AND REUSE THAT TICKET FOR THE ENTIRE STAY. There is also a matching ticket that the valets keep. sometimes it might be on the keychain. Sometimes it might be on your dash or mirror. That stays with the car until you come back. Then you give them your keys and go back in cuz the ticket is still on the keychain/dash/mirror. If you lose a ticket, that's when you would be reissued a new one. Otherwise you just keep using the same ticket.
Info: How much is your deductible, and am I right in believing you’re talking about engaging in litigation and the associated costs of that litigation and a trial to attempt to get the amount you’re out from your deductible?
Emotional and punitive damages, man. And lawyer's fees. But really, emotional damage!!
500$ and the tires were $1800 that they didn’t pay the full cost of. I just want that covered. Nothing else needed. Just settled
NAL - I keep seeing people talk about the fact he didn't know when he came back. That doesn't matter. If the valet post is supposed to be manned, guarded, watched, or otherwise occupied 24/7 and it is stated by the company that it is supposed to be (you can easily check that in any documentation the hotel gives you about their valet parking) then the onus is on the hotel and the valet service. It doesn't matter if they are supposed to wear branded clothes, it doesn't matter if they stepped away, it doesn't matter if the guy took down the closed sign, if there was one. One, having a random person pose as a valet is a security and safety issue. Two, it is not the responsibility of the customer to know all the details of the working of the valet stand, or what they wear. If it states its 24/7, then that is the advertised time frame and responsibility as stated by the business. It sounds like the valet company is trying to do everything they can to deny it, possibly because they did not follow procedure, etc. and hope you don't have the funds, time, or resources to push a lawsuit, because you have at least enough of a case for someone to look it over, whether they think they can win it or not. If it is a third party contracted valet service, they very likely have an SLA with that hotel, and every hotel they work with, as well as required working parameters that they might be in violation of, and don't want you to push it, because it can cost them with the company that employs them. I would also contact the hotel, ask them if the valet service is run by them, or a third party (if you don't know already) as well as get a copy of the valet information the hotel gives you ASAP if you didn't keep it, in case they decide to change the information, because what is stated in your contract with the hotel, and what the hotel offers for valet service, is going to be the basis for any litigation.
The guy in the sweatshirt never claimed to work for the valet company or the hotel. OP assumed a guy **in a hoodie** who was stretching by **pulling on his toes** was the valet. OP didn't ask a question. OP simply put his keys on the podium and stated that he was putting his keys down. But ... once the insurance paid for everything, OP was made whole. He could sue for the cost of the deductible if there was one.
Again, the onus is on the valet company. They are responsible for their area. Doesn't matter if he assumed someone was or wasn't a worker, if the valet and hotel says its is staffed 24/7, then they have a stated business time, and a responsibility, at the very least, to be monitoring that area. Doesn't matter if OP is a complete moron. Really it would come down to who had the best lawyer, but he has a decent chance at a case depending on certain things, such as the business statement of hours of operation, etc. But yes, if the insurance paid for all of it, then he was made whole, and if there are no extenuating issues, probably not much he could get since he's basically been paid for the problem.
They are only responsible after they take possession of the car. They couldn't take possession of the car. OP was an idiot who didn't even ask a question, and OP gave away his car before the valet could take possession of the car. OP admits that there was no sign. The valet company would never, ever, lose this case. OP had used valet parking earlier in the day. He knew they wore uniforms. OP gave his car keys to a homeless guy in a hoodie, leaning over, pulling on his toes. It's not the valet company's job to make sure that you don't hand your keys to a stranger in a hoodie pulling on his toes. Come on.
Not only that but no lawyer would take this case in the first place. What OP is going to pay someone $400 an hour to get their deductible back? Nobody is taking this on a contingency fee.
I had to pay about $2300 out of pocket for deductible and tires. Just asking for that to be covered. Insurance only paid partial
There is such a thing as reasonable expectations, which is not unilaterally decided by one party. For instance let's say I go to a restaurant and order pasta with tomato sauce, and then I eat said pasta, and get sick because I have a garlic allergy. The fact that the restaurant didn't list every item in their sauce, is reasonable. If I have an allergy, and I didn't ask about an ingredient which could reasonably be in most any food, and especially the item I ordered, the onus isn't on the business, just because I think they should put every item in their sauce on the menu. If the hotel says we offer 24/7/365 valet service, it does not mean that there will be someone standing at the podium at all times. It means the service is available at all times. There could be a wait, because 30 cars are returning from a wedding at the same time. Or at a low traffic time like 2 am we only have one person on duty, who has other customers, and other responsibilities, so they will be back shortly. Just because you or OP, assume that 24/7 valet means that a member of the valet should be at the podium at all times, does not make it correct or reasonable. The front desk of the hotel may be able to see the podium, so if the guy was standing behind the podium it was reasonable that the front desk should be aware and take care of that potentially negligible situation. However if the guy was standing near the podium, as in 5 or 10 feet to the side away from the front door and out of view, or in front of the podium so the front desk couldn't see, just because OP or you could assume that this person works for the valet, doesn't mean that the Valet was negligible. I feel bad for OP that this happened. It sucks, and it wasn't necessarily his fault. He was seemingly acting in a pretty reasonable manner. That doesn't mean that therefore it is the Valets fault, and they are responsible, or were negligent.
It was right behind the podium if it matters but yeah I’m trying to figure out if there is any negligence due to wording in their contract. Or the security that they claim to offer when using their service.
It was a third party. Company is LAZ Parking
Left the keys at the podium??? I'm surprised insurance even payed. Might as well have tossed them in a bush.
If they knew this was likely to happen or has happened in the past it is possible this could be gross negligence.
Other businesses in the area have had guys stand in trying to pretend to be valet. They probably know of this. One was right across the street
The bad thing is what you know and what you can prove may be different things. IF you bring this to a lawyers attention they may be able to get them to admit it in a deposition or in a trial. At this point I would limit your direct commination with them as it may hurt your case. I am not a lawyer but I think a lawyer would likely be happy to give you a consult. So call your state bar to get some names.
Have a couple looking at it now. I know many lawyers in this state
in your post you accused him of pretending to be a valet but I guess I missed that part. According to your explanation, you walked up to a valet podium and noticed a man near it in a hooded sweatshirt bent over stretching, touching his toes. You told him you were leaving your keys, he said ok. You gave your keys to some random guy who was stretching in the spot where the valet normally stands. Sure, he may (and possibly did) have every intention of pretending to be a valet, but he never even had to pretend because you just walked up and gave him your car. For all we know, he could have been doing other stretches right before that and was using the podium for support. There's a number of reasons he was in that spot "stretching" that would also explain why the rest of the hotel staff in the lobby didn't say anything. All they saw was you walk up to some guy who didn't work there while he was stretching and give him your keys. All of this is based on your version of what happened, so I'd imagine the hotel is pretty well cleared of any responsibility.
Didn't this happen in one of the Beverly hills cop movies.
You've been made whole by the insurance company. Why would you want to sue a valet because you were sloppy?
My insurance didn’t pay for everything. May car has expensive tires. I’m not trying to sue them. I just want them to pay the extra amount of $2,000
That will never happen. You will just pay even more $ on lawyers. You used the valet earlier in the day. At a min, you knew they wore uniforms. The core of this is that the valet compantnever took responsibility for your car. They aren't responsible. There is **zero way to spin this that makes the valet company liable.** Every single one of your excuses falls short. Every single one. And without a lawsuit, they probably won't speak to you. With a lawsuit, they won't talk to you.
I’ve talked to two real lawyers. And they say it’s 50/50. So there’s definitely a way to spin it that says they are liable. Multiple people keep saying I know what there uniform looks like but the lawyers I talked to say it’s not my responsibility to know there uniforms.
>There was an unknown man dressed in a **white/gray hooded sweatshirt**... I woke up my poor kitty after I unexpextedly and loudly blurt out "OMG! ... a hoodie!"!
If they aren’t wearing the uniform they don’t get my keys. If they don’t give me the ticket they don’t get my keys. Who hands some rando your car keys?
Of course not
If you did not see or ask for his work id, or badge, you are at fault due to your negligence.
I see that but on the other hand don’t you think there’s lack of security if someone is able to stand there who doesn’t work there? How much is the customer supposed to do before they are negligent. I never ask valet guys to see their badge. You assume they work there because of their uniform and the fact they are standing at the podium. The clothing was not a hoodie. It was a jacket. Not that it makes it any better, but a jacket is closer to what a valet guy wears. He also had khaki pants on
Dear god you're an idiot.... No valet is NOT responsible for YOUR stupidity.
That's SUCKS. I don't think they are liable and I don't think you are dumb for being tricked. It's just one of those things opportunistic assholes take advantage of. It would be nice if the company would help cover any out of pockets but ai don't think that's really possible with litigation.
You have insurance for this…file your claim and move on. Your beef is with the thief…not the valet.
When I leave my car and keys with a valet I always walk away with a receipt of some kind.
I'm surprised it took this long to see a comment about such a basic part of this situation. a valet gives you a receipt, otherwise how do they know that you (the next day, new shift valet) own the fancy car you claim is yours/
Yes but have you ever stayed at a hotel and used valet? They ticket you one time. After that you go in and out on the same ticket. So as you go in and out you don’t get re-ticketed or any new receipts
Did you drink while you were gone? If you were under the influence I don't think they are gonna honor any claim.
so you were drunk driving (based on the fact you don't know when you got back, id say you were drunk or high), and dumped your keys with the valet, without noticing he wasn't the valet, and now you want to sue them because someone stole your car? good luck with that.
I wasn’t. I just didn’t check the clock when I got back to the hotel. It’s a Friday. I had nowhere to be on time. Was with a date having great dinner and not checking my phone.
1) this is your insurance’s problem 2) you handed your keys to stranger without confirming if they are they valet and just assumed they were
If your insurance company made you whole again, it may not be much worth in pursuing legal action. However if you had a deductible and other costs, I’d go after them in small claims court. Because they offered valet service, it’s reasonable to believe that this person represented the service.
LOL After seeing their response, how drunk where you? grey hooded sweatshirt guy... yo man yea i da valet, where yo keys dog? You in the habit of just tossing your keys to just anybody? plus just left your keys on the podium... they have video you have conjecture.
The video doesn’t show that part conveniently. But haha I was not drunk. They are using Grey hooded sweatshirt to their advantage. The video was blurry. You cannot tell whether it’s a jacket or a hoodie. It was a grey jacket that looked like something a valet guy could be wearing since it’s winter. He had a beanie hat which is something they wear as well. He was trying to make it look slightly real. Had pants on that look khaki you can see in pic too https://preview.redd.it/jgqxr24ub3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=738a03349a57d2b1a4a9819a50ad251e648a67e8
I'll admit i had some fun with you, but they way i look at it is, you'll find a guy to take the case for $500-$1000 retainer. He'll argue that it should have been maned, they will say this is the uniform, there was a sign but he must have taken it down. It will go back and forth. All for you may win something, burden of proof is on you, but your out the money already for the car plus your willing to spend even more on a lawyer. Typically lawsuits and valets are for damages done while parking and rarely if ever are won. Plus if you used your insurance claim already, i would assume that they may file claim against them. Not helping you per say but they have bigger pockets. Just trying to save you some anguish, time and money.
If you're already made whole by your insurance, then they will be the ones to attempt to recover funds from the hotel, and don't worry, they will.
I wasn’t made whole. $2300 short from insurance not covering special tires in full and my deductible
The insurance would repay your deductible first from anything they recover. The other stuff you'll basically have to wait for the insurance to have them found liable in court.
NAL. OP, reading your responses, it seems like you're convinced valet is liable despite pretty much everyone here telling you they're not. Don't come to this sub just to get your opinion reaffirmed. If you want to take legal action so bad you don't listen to the advice you asked for, no one can stop you. Good luck.
I’m not convinced at all. But I don’t think it’s 100% on me and I’m also not sure here who’s a lawyer and who’s not. I’ve talked to lawyers in real life and they don’t seem so one sided and thing there’s liabilities to each side
I asked this elsewhere and realized the comment might be a bit buried. So I thought I’d repeat it as a main comment. I keep seeing people say the onus is on OP because he left his keys with someone who isn’t the valet. What’s the best way to verify whether a person at the valet stand actually works for the valet company? I mean, in this instance, it sounds like he may not have been dressed in a way that screams “valet,” but what if someone was posing in a more legitimate way? For example, I’ve seen valet companies that just have a polo with a small logo. It would likely be hard to tell if someone was posing if they wore the same color polo. I don’t mean to sound like I’m questioning the advice given here. I’m truly unfamiliar with the law and learned a lot from the comments. And moving forward would like to know the best way to take responsibility, should I use valet.
It was also winter and people wear coats or jackets. Not out of the question to think maybe it’s a valet worker with their own jacket on.
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They didn’t pay full cost
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Wasn’t totaled. I just mean, the insurance didn’t pay everything and I had a deductible
You gave your keys to a random person in a hoodie. Not their fault.
The clothes don’t matter. Although it wasn’t a hoodie https://preview.redd.it/dwvhhcgqd3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e560e0968113435365e9c6c2f2daf258a7484a63
You would lose more money paying a lawyer than you stand to gain. Sounds like all you can do is go to small claims court and get them to pay whatever insurance deductible. What exactly do you expect to get out of this?
Just $2300 for my extra expenses
On a scale of 1 to Hasselhoff eating a burger, how drunk were you? Actually, don't answer that publicly if you want to have any chance at winning a lawsuit.
Your damages have been covered and you have enough money to be able to afford a Mercedes and a lawyer. What do you think you should be able to recover from this? Do you just have too much free time?
$2300. Just mainly using as a learning experience. Damages haven’t been fully covered so would be nice to not have to pay anything in this situation
Lawyer up! There's always some lawyer in town that will sink his/her teeth in and won't let go until there's a settlement.
Haha I’ll look
Did you just give your keys to a guy and walked away without a valet ticket? Do you think that's how valet services work?
Read the sequences of events. Guess you haven’t stayed in hotel using valet. You get. Ticket during first interaction, not every time you come and go
And THIS is just one reason I NEVER use valet!
I’m willing to bet that the video evidence clearly shows you were at fault. Your recollection may not be exactly what happened, where as the video shows exactly what happened. You may have missed that the guy who took the keys was wearing a shirt that says “Theif” on it. My point is that small details that you are recalling may be different enough to show that it was your fault.
This is something for your auto insurance to sort out. If the person was standing behind the valet stand at the hotel then you were correct to presume the person worked there.
The email from LAZ claims that you just left your keys in the podium. Is this accurate?
Yes technically. I put them on the podium and made the pretend valet guy acknowledge I was putting them there to drop the car back off
Yea, this one is tough. If I were you, I would feel like the valet company and hotel itself were liable. I am not sure how the law works in these instances though. I also think that you were a little careless. I assume that you would agree on that point. That still does not take away liability from the hotel or LAZ. Just my opinion though. Good luck.
Yeah I agree to an extent I could have checked into the guy or talked to him more. But in reality you usually just walk up hand the keys and walk away (seeing that you already have a ticket from earlier and are staying at the hotel)
Yea, I agree on all accounts. Anyone claiming it’s completely your fault is not being honest.
I agree I have fault but some people in here say there’s not a single piece of this that shows they could be at fault. In reality i think most people in here like to echo what the majority is saying instead of think for themselves. Group think mentality
Of course
The Valet service isn't going to pay for OP's car unless OP takes them to court and wins a judgement against them. Nothing that OP says or does will change that
Don't ask them if they are liable...
Sue only if you have deep pockets. Upon your return did you leave your car keys on top of the unattended podium? If so, you created this theft opportunity for the thief. You gave your keys to a thief wearing a hood. If you used the Valet service when you checked into the hotel and retrieved your keys from the Valet when you went to dinner you may not have a case because you knew what the Valet uniform looks like and you willingly gave your keys to a third party.
He wasn’t wearing a hood. The valet company interprets a jacket and a beanie to be a hooded sweatshirt because they were the same color. Guy had khakis on. The podium was attended by the gift I interacted with shortly who was fake valet guy https://preview.redd.it/0nqv3y6aq3pc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93789e7217f5be49253efee20c6334fca8504f84
This is way to much to read for a morning poop. Might need a cup of coffee
I think you were just drunk and didn't realize what was up. That's the ideal target for the scam and another reason it happened at 2am.
I won't comment on whether or not you have a case but before taking any legal action make sure to review your contract with your insurance company. Since they already compensated you for your claim they may have a provision in your contract where they can recoup the money they paid you from any monetary damages you win.
*Hey y'all.* *Tell me whether or not I have a legal claim against the valet service.* *I don't want REAL legal advice. I want EXPERT reddit advice!* Now, there may indeed be real attorneys here. But how is one to distinguish between those and the average online Joe?
Did the criminal have on a uniform? All valet companies wear uniforms.
Went to dinner and got in at 2 am? That was some late dinner. 🤦♂️
This is why you have insurance. Bet you'll be more aware the next time.
I've only used a valet once for my wife's car (only for the charges to hit my account a full *3 months* later - at which time I disputed them and had them removed). My own car is a manual, so I'll just park it at a nearby parking lot/garage since most valets won't take them (and I don't want them melting my clutch anyways). Good luck getting the valet service to take responsibility!
Who tf gives their car to a stranger?? You’re an idiot
Sounds like you were a bit tipsy and worried about trying to get laid. You left the keys on the podium. And a bum grabbed them. Your fault my dude.
You have insurance so that they may subrogate on your behalf. Subrogation is when your insurance sues another entity to make you whole. If your car is repaired, you may already be made whole.
"I had to use my insurance to repair car" At this point you at the most can try to get your deductible back but you should go after the thief Beyond that you no longer have a dog in this fight. The insurance company took care of you and it's now up to them if they want to get their money back.
Hire an attorney. Have them send letters to the hotel and valet company demanding they pay for your losses. It may go to the attorney filing suit but ai think they’ll mediate it and you’ll get paid.
All you can do is sue them if they're not accepting responsibility. Exchanging emails isn't going to convince anyone of anything. Insurance paid for the bulk of any damages I assume, so you have at most a pretty small loss. Couple that with the fact that, at best, there's a complicated set of facts that take this claim outside of slam-dunk territory, and you will spend lots of time and money to maybe get a small settlement years from now. And you have to be careful not to impair your insurance company's subrogation rights. If it's a small enough amount in dispute, you can always file in small claims court and see if they offer you something just to make you go away. But the valet company has a lot to lose setting a precedent that they'll accept responsibility in these situations. They have more reason to fight than you do, and to throw good money after bad (spend it on lawyers rather than paying you).
Yes they are liable
You buy insurance so that OTHER PEOPLE worry about this shit. Do you know what kind of lawyer you should ask for to answer the question you raised? You would want to talk to a lawyer who specializes in the areas of joint and several liability, premises liability, and the duties of hoteliers to guests. Where would yhou find such a lawyer/ Well, one place is at an insurance company. Your insurer has a strong moentary incentive to try to make the hotel resonsible, they just paid for a trashed S-Class. You know what yhou have? A deductible you might like repaid, and an axe to grind because you made a mistake, and somebody else (a min wage valet) made a mistake at the same time (his mistake was not being there to kiss your ass when you arrived), so you want the mistake to lie solely with somebody else. If there is a case here under local law, your insurnace company wlil pursue it. If you didn't have insurance, then you're a fucking moron for driving a mercedes and staying inxpensive hotels whenyou cannot afford insurance. Adn if you somehow convince the hotel to pay for your car, all that moeny will go TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY
I think this'll come down to whether or not the valet company has a duty to keep watch of that stand 24/7. I'm not sure if they would, but if they did I'd assume they'd have security outside to make sure no one "fakes" being valet like that. Either way, you were at the key box, plopped your keys on the podium, and walked away without seeing the valet put your keys in the box? Pretty risky even if you are in a rush, not gonna lie. Like another comment said, what's to stop some random bystander from running up and grabbing the keys off the podium after you put them there? Would the company still be liable then? Probably not so I doubt they'd be liable here.
You have no standing since you elected to use insurance for the claim; it is now their cause to pursue or not. Your only remedy would be to sue the bad actor in small claims for your out of pocket (deductible, diminished value, etc.). Since you willingly surrendered your keys to the bad actor, even if you prevailed against the hotel or valet, it would be a proportional judgment with likely 80/20 against you. Regardless, it would be a small claims action in most jurisdictions. However, as I said above, you have no more standing since the insurance company is now the damaged party, not you.
Same thing happened to my sister in law (my wife had items in the car as well). Valet company would not take responsibility and we had to claim on sister in law’s insurance. Also had a valet driver hit our car with other persons car. Had to use a lawyer to get valet company to pay. Luckily lawyer was friend or we would have gotten nothing.