Although I understand accidents do happen, especially with so many cars in the vicinity but from the looks of the damage, I would question how damn fast the valet was going.

i am actually the owner of the bmw above. (or, was) while the situation was handled very professionally by the edison and the owner of the valet company, we all pretty much agreed that the attendant had to be clocking in at about 40 mph to cause this much damage. and it was a very small parking lot, so i have no idea what he was thinking. i understand that i was pretty lucky that the valet company has taken 100% of the responsibility and has stepped up to the plate. i have heard that is pretty rare.

What a shame, and I’m glad to hear it’s all being handled well. But 40 mph, especially in that lot, seems an over-estimation. Impact zones of cars are designed to absorb/disperse a crash’s energy, not repel it. Thus not much speed is needed to make previously sexy smooth body panels and front ends end up looking like they were reeeeeeeally hammered.

Yikes. These guys are so lucky that the valet service stepped up to say it was their fault. Getting their insurance to pay could be another issue.

Back in the day as a claims jockey the only claim worse than a taxi company was a valey service. Even with witnesses they’d always claim not theirs to pay as the contract limited.

My friends think I’m just being cheap when I would rather walk an extra block or so, rather than let a valet park my car. I self-park where valet is complimentary, too. Too many stories like this (although, this is the worst I’ve seen.) If it can be avoided, I never let a valet park my car.

I’m with Burns. There’s also the issue of letting strangers into your car.

I never valet either…because I’m a cheap skinflint.

I never have my car valet parked, because I was a valet parker in high school. Our motto was “stop on impact.” Oh, and if you have drugs in your car, take them with you when you give the car to valet. Because when they steal them, and oh, they will steal them, it will be pretty hard for you to get them back. Try explaining that the the manager or the police.

I once had my car wrecked by a valet parker. The company took care of everything. They have insurance coverage for stuff like that. It was way easier than the times I’ve wrecked my car on my own.