Question: I’m having a problem with a hotel’s valet parking service, and could use a little help. We recently stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco. We valet parked our rental car and didn’t pick it up until the next day.
A month later we received a letter from our car rental company saying that the car was ticketed in a tow-away zone while it was under the care of the hotel’s valet service. We had to pay a $60 fine plus an administrative fee of $25.
I called the hotel and was reassured that the independent company used by the Mandarin would reimburse us for the ticket. I was promised a call back. A week went by and we heard nothing, so I called the hotel again. A representative said we needed to fax a copy of the citation to the hotel in order to get reimbursed.
I’ve asked the authorities for a copy of the citation at least five times, but haven’t received it yet. After several weeks with no response we appear to be at a dead end.
I’m irate that the Mandarin Hotel would treat guests in this manner. Can you help me get a refund? — Kay Pratt, Philadelphia
Answer: The Mandarin should have refunded your parking ticket immediately instead of stringing you along while you waited for a fax from the city of San Francisco.
But that’s not all it should have done differently. Parking customer cars in a tow-away zone? Probably not a good practice. Playing the outsourcing card (“It’s not our fault — it’s this company we work with”)? That’s also problematic.
No one cares about a hotel’s backroom business arrangements. I mean, does a property send guests to its housekeepers’ union when they need fresh towels? Does it give a customer who is having trouble with its restaurant the number to its wholesale food service distributor? No, it takes responsibility for what happened and tries to fix it.
Instead of excuses, a Mandarin representative should have called you as promised to ask for the necessary paperwork. A casual observer might conclude that the hotel was dragging you along in the hopes that you would lose interest and go away. But I’m sure the hotel just got a little busy.
I think you could have handled this a little differently, too. Once you reached someone by phone, you should have immediately asked for an e-mail address for both the hotel and the valet company. Copying both parties on any future correspondence would have ensured that everyone had access to the case notes in the form of your previous e-mails.
You also overlooked two items. You might have asked the hotel if it would accept any other document besides a faxed or mailed citation. A credit card billing statement, an invoice, or a citation number could have also done the trick. And second, you should have enlisted the help of your car rental agency in securing the necessary paperwork. (Government agencies are notoriously slow, but the odds are good that your agency has a copy of the document your hotel wants.)
I contacted Mandarin on your behalf. A representative said it would accept a citation notice from your car rental company. You faxed the notice to the hotel, and it cut you a check for $85.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
If I were a guest at the Oriental Mandarin and paid to have my car parked, I would be VERY angry that they parked it in the street and got cited by the city to boot. What kind of upscale hotel doesn’t have a garage??
“The Mandarin should have refunded your parking ticket immediately instead of stringing you along while you waited for a fax from the city of San Francisco.”
Chris you owe me a million dollars for quoting me without attribution…. I’m waiting on my check. Come on Chris based on your statement above I should already have my check. Ummm… Are you violating your own advice?
Oh … you want me to prove that you owe me money.
WOW, that’s a standard business practice.
Look …. I think it’s ridiculous that the valet got her a ticket and tried to hide it. I don’t think that the Mandarin asking for proof of the fee a month after checkout is ridiculous. Based on your own writings of rental car scams, I think it’s prudent. In no way has Kay shown that the ticket was written while the car was in the hotel’s care. Did she rent a car and never drive it in San Francisco?
Here’s a hint. Get proof of the charge front the rental car company before paying them. Decline the credit card charge. If you did get a ticket, they’ll have proof. How many other times has Chris reported about damage being passed along that was found days after a rental car was turned in?
Ultimately, this all gets short circuited if Kay gets proof from the rental car company. Once she has proof, she can pass it on.
@John
I don’t think this is at all necessary. You’re being too theoretical. It should be fairly easy to determine the circumstances by which the car was ticketed. Every parking ticket discloses the car’s location when it was ticketed.
Assuming that the car was parked either near the hotel or near the valet’s parking lot. It is inconceivable that a guest would illegally park near a hotel after paying for valet. It is equally inconceivable that the guest would just happen to park next to the valet’s parking lot.
This is particularly true in a City like San Francisco which is a walking town. There is no free parking. No one would park on the street near the hotel after paying $50 or more to valet park.
Under either circumstance, it is more likely than not that the valet illegally parked the car. Perhaps the lot was full or the valet guys were too busy to park properly. etc.
By contrast, if the car was ticket 5 miles, away, its certainly not a valet issue.
And none of this mincing around by the hotel makes any sense to me. Why couldn’t Ms. Pratt have just faxed a copy of the letter she received from the rental company to the hotel as her proof of claim? I mean, is the rental company trying to do the hotel out of money? I hardly think so.
Since the letter stated clearly that the car was “under the care of the hotel’s valet service,” how much clearer could this be? The rental company obviously had a copy of the citation and could also have faxed the same to the hotel, if there was a question. But if I’d been the manager at the Mandarin, the copy of the letter would have been quite enough proof of the claim for me, to satisfy that requirement.
But if you have to get an “official” copy of the citation, don’t just call the city. That’s the sloooow way to get it done. Call the traffic division of the SF Police Department, then ask for their records department. You might even be able to do this online. In any case, ask the clerk for a copy of the citation. These people get copies of wreck reports, citations and arrest reports all day long. This is their job. And it pretty much holds true for any city. You might have to get specific by precinct in a big city like Frisco, but the closer you get to the actual person who handles the actual records, the faster your service will be. Keep drilling down the line and use your Sunday best manners, and you’ll get quicker results. A tip from someone who has worked in the media for nearly 17 years.
@Chicky
I doubt if there is a letter that states that the parking citation was given while under the control of the valet. That’s Mrs. Pratt’s conclusion, which is probably correct.
The more I think about it, the more that I see the hotel’s viewpoint. How does the hotel know that the ticket occured because of the valet. The hotel is right in asking for some proof. Either the original citation, or the follow-up letter, should suffice. Basically, anything that shows that the car was ticketed in the vicinity of the hotel should convince the hotel that it was almost certainly the hotel’s fault, particularly in a city like San Francisco, a walking city.
The hotel was correct in asking for proof of the ticket. However, they fell down on every other aspect of resolving this issue. At $300-plus a night I would expect better customer service and definitely an apology in the form of a free night or discount on my next stay. I don’t expect to be haggling over parking tickets at the end of my vacation – it kind of defeats the purpose of getting away to relax, doesn’t it? Based upon this story I doubt I will ever stay at the Mandarin Oriental again – I can get much better service elsewhere.
Reminds me of the time a valet used my car to beat up his girlfriend. Next thing I know the police have me in a line up and the woman (who apparently made up with the valet) picks out the black guy standing next to me.
Always read off the mileage to the valet and give him the look that could kill.
In San Francisco, it would be the DPT issuing parking tickets (except in certain areas under control of the port authority). If you have the rental car license number, you can look up tickets online.
@MoNgo
Seems a bit adversarial and preemptive considering that the valet actually done anything to you at that point in time.
typo..
the valet hasn’t..
I guess the question I have is “are you ever going to drive that car in San Francisco again?” If not, the heck with it. I don’t know where the driver was from, but I’m assuming it isn’t SF. If not, forget it. I still owe NYC a parking ticket I received in a snowstorm in 1969. Didn’t pay it then. Won’t pay it now.
I would have told the car rental company to work it out with the hotel or their valet service. I’m not paying anything since I didn’t do it. If they put it on my credit card, I’d dispute it. No money of mine would change hands.
And I’d never go to the Mandarin again. Ever.
Shouldn’t the car rental company give you a copy of the violation notice before you pay it its extra charge? In other words the rental company and not you should go to the city and get a copy of the citation.