Parking ticket while valeted

I just received a notice in the mail for a parking ticket received on Sat, Feb 16 at 8:00pm -- while I was dining at a River North restaurant where I had valeted. The violation address is at the same intersection as the restaurant, we got there for a 7:00pm reservation and have a credit card receipt showing we paid at 10:40pm.

Has anybody ever received a parking ticket while their car was valeted at a restaurant? How were you able to deal with it? Do I need to deal with the restaurant or valet company?

I called the restaurant and talked to a hostess, but I'm waiting for a manager to call me back. I won't mention the restaurant just yet -- I'll first give them a chance to own up and reimburse me before naming names.

Looking for some advice... Thanks!

G Wiv had that experience-- and had it handled the right way here.

It is absolutely the responsibility of the restaurant (or the valet co., but you should not have to deal with them, the restaurant should take care of it for you). What in heaven's name are you paying a valet parker for if NOT to have your car parked legally in an area where that can be difficult?

This happened to me once.

I called the restaurant to informed them of what happened. They were very understanding. I faxed them the ticket and they took care of it directly. I assume they then sought reimbursement from the valet company.

I suspect it happens a lot, actually. But you don't see the ticket because the valet co. pays it quietly. The cost of the occasional ticket is built into the price of parking. And so should yours be.

I had the same experience a few years ago at Fogo de Chao. I called the manager and faxed him the ticket and I received an apology from the manager and a check from the valet company within a week. There was no fuss or discussion, it was handled as well as I could have hoped.

well, what really erks me is when the valet people park in meter spots and take parking from the public. besides being illegal, it forces people to use the valet if they cannot find a spot because valet parkers are taking meter spots up. i have seen too many times when a valet driver pulls out of a meter spot to have another valet parker behind to take the spot. that spot never opens up basically. they are suppose to park the cars in their designated lot. why do i need to pay you for parking my car in a meter that i could have done if it was open?

end of rant.

Mario wrote:well, what really erks me is when the valet people park in meter spots and take parking from the public. besides being illegal, it forces people to use the valet if they cannot find a spot because valet parkers are taking meter spots up. i have seen too many times when a valet driver pulls out of a meter spot to have another valet parker behind to take the spot. that spot never opens up basically. they are suppose to park the cars in their designated lot. why do i need to pay you for parking my car in a meter that i could have done if it was open?

end of rant.

If that bugs you a lot, a friend has a method that he uses to get a mild form of revenge. If you are lucky enough to get a metered spot in "valet territory", when you are leaving the spot, invariably someone will observe that you are about to leave, and the vultures start circling. If the person that is waiting to grab your spot is a valet, wave them on, spend some time talking on your phone, applying makeup, reading a map, or doing whatever until they give up and leave. The valet is in a hurry and can't wait forever. Then award your spot to a non-valet driver. Seems like a lot of extra work to me, but I've been with him on occasion and he derives intense pleasure from doing it.

Sounds like others have had this issue resolved fairly easily... my concerns were 1) the fact that there's no proof that one valeted and 2) the potential for the restaurant and valet company to each say the other's the one to talk to.

I'm still waiting to hear back from a manager at the restaurant. Hopefully it'll be cleared up quickly...

BTW, it's fair to demand back the valet fee in addition to the ticket cost, right? I mean isn't the whole idea of paying for valet service is to not worry about finding a legal parking--I could have illgally parked myself for free!

Well, no, I wouldn't expect the fee back if they got a ticket and paid for it. I mean, then they've accepted the risk of illegal parking during your dinner, which is still rendering you a service. In this case, when they didn't handle it like they were supposed to, I suppose you could expect that fee back, but I wouldn't find it worth the $8 to hassle over it unless they were being a pain about it and you really wanted to be one in return.

Just be thankful the valets didn't get into an accident with your car. I saw it happen several times during the year and a half I lived in a condo downtown - overlooking a very upscale River North restaurant.

johnny wrote:Just be thankful the valets didn't get into an accident with your car. I saw it happen several times during the year and a half I lived in a condo downtown - overlooking a very upscale River North restaurant.

A valet totaled my father's brand new BMW a couple of years ago- took it down a spiral garage at about 40 and slammed into a wall at full speed

How do they explain that? Do they wait until you've finished dessert? Do you mysteriously find that a bottle of champagne has been sent over, as you notice ambulance lights flashing outside? Do they park the crumpled heap in front and try to claim it was that way when they got it?

johnny wrote:Just be thankful the valets didn't get into an accident with your car. I saw it happen several times during the year and a half I lived in a condo downtown - overlooking a very upscale River North restaurant.

One that sticks in my memory forever was at the grand opening of Honda Japanese Restaurant some years ago in River North, it was quite the red carpet style opening. A guy and his trophy wife/date pulled up in front in a brand new white Mercedes S-class, still had the sticker in the window. We were all milling about in the foyer with cocktails, so we could watch people coming and going. The valet pulled out hard into the passing traffic, got hit by two cars, made an awful screech and crash right there in front of the restaurant. The man and the woman walking toward us both just totally froze at the sound behind them. The look on their faces was one of abject horror, as if they had just seen a ghost. It truly was priceless. THEY HAD NEVER EVEN ENTERED THE RESTAURANT.

Wow - I knew from my own experience this was a more common occurrence than one may think. No wonder they charge $10 to $16 to park your car. Their liability insurance must be insane.

Maybe I am the odd one here but I do not valet park whether the place in in downtown Chicago or Barrington. I do not like the idea of having liability for the actions of some valet person who I do not know. And i generally drive beaters.

jlawrence01 wrote:Maybe I am the odd one here but I do not valet park whether the place in in downtown Chicago or Barrington. I do not like the idea of having liability for the actions of some valet person who I do not know. And i generally drive beaters.

I'm not a lawyer, although I always wanted to play one on TV. But something tells me that a prospective victim would have to chew through one HELLUVA lot of the valet company and restaurant's liability insurance before it would ever fall back on the car's owner. Although the owner could be named as a defendant in a suit, the owner's insurance company would deal with it. Another good reason to have the maximum uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that your insurer offers.

Thought I'd give a final update...

Talked to a manager at the restaurant where I was ticketed. He said to bring in the ticket and he'd reimburse me on the spot.

About a week later, I was finally in the neighborhood again and ran in to take care of this matter. There was a different manager on duty than the one I'd talked to.

Initially, he said he'd have the valet company cut me a check. When I mentioned that the other manager said he'd pay me cash on the spot and had suggested I pay the ticket first so they didn't increase the fee, he agreed to give me cash. I also asked about getting my money back for the valet fee, too... I wasn't going to fight too hard, but figured it was worth at least asking. Got that, too. So they stepped up and dealt with the situation pretty well... thus I will withhold the identity.

Actually, since they did really do the right thing, maybe you should give the name? I suspect their valet service won't be letting people get tickets any time soon