Valet Parking - do you trust it?
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Joined: May 2006
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From: NYC/FT Lauderdale
W220 M113K
keep in mind that even a $1-2 dollar tip is not bad for a valet... a good valet; meaning one that will run and get cars and actually *work* will easily make $100 for a 6 hour shift... thats $100 cash in pocket or about $16/hr. when i payed out my guys at the end of the night they never made less than $130 for working from 10pm-4am.
now while taking a pic of the kid and warning him might or might not have been a bit of an overreaction, its really a moot point... you are the customer.. its your car... we are talking about mercedes so it's a nicecar that you probably spent alot of money on. you have an absolute right to have the best service possible without any sort of threats, implied or otherwise. no valet should ever be anything but friendly and $10 is not considered cheap. if the attendant cannot keep the vehicle up front for $10 then they can tell you that the pirce up front is $20 (or whatever) but regardless you have a right to excellent service whether you give a big tip or none at all.
I, myself personally very much believe in tipping properly and generously. i tip a minimum of 20% for good service and higher for great service. i tip even when i order carry-out food and i tip well when i valet (but i also keep my car up front). i also however believe in a lousy tip for lousy service and on ocassion if i get crap service i will leave an obviously small tip to reflect it. america is a service economy today and in many ways we do not have much else. yet there are many people who simply seem unwilling to properly provide service. you would think that if you are going to be valeting $100K+ vehicles that you might want to take pride in how you dress yet i had to on many occasions send kids home for wearing ripped jeans or sandles or other amazingly stupid things.
now while taking a pic of the kid and warning him might or might not have been a bit of an overreaction, its really a moot point... you are the customer.. its your car... we are talking about mercedes so it's a nicecar that you probably spent alot of money on. you have an absolute right to have the best service possible without any sort of threats, implied or otherwise. no valet should ever be anything but friendly and $10 is not considered cheap. if the attendant cannot keep the vehicle up front for $10 then they can tell you that the pirce up front is $20 (or whatever) but regardless you have a right to excellent service whether you give a big tip or none at all.
I, myself personally very much believe in tipping properly and generously. i tip a minimum of 20% for good service and higher for great service. i tip even when i order carry-out food and i tip well when i valet (but i also keep my car up front). i also however believe in a lousy tip for lousy service and on ocassion if i get crap service i will leave an obviously small tip to reflect it. america is a service economy today and in many ways we do not have much else. yet there are many people who simply seem unwilling to properly provide service. you would think that if you are going to be valeting $100K+ vehicles that you might want to take pride in how you dress yet i had to on many occasions send kids home for wearing ripped jeans or sandles or other amazingly stupid things.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Encino,Ca.
2007 E63
You guys are tipping for your own inflated egos !
In Los Angeles it is virtually impossible to avoid valet parking. MB's are a dime a dozen and S550s rarely rate the front spots unless they are celebrity driven. I think many of you are tipping to have your car put up front just so you feel important. The front spots in L A usually go to Ferraris, Lambos, RR's etc. Hotels may be a little different depending on their image. One reason I bought a new E63 was so that I did not have to worry about it when I valet parked it, unlike my Porsche which NO one else drives. I'm not that familiar with Philadelphia, but in NYC it seems everyone uses a Car Service, a limo or their own Towncar etc with their driver, if they don't like a Taxi. With Valets assume the worst will happen and don't be surprised when it does.
ps: the in car for many people in the film business in Los Angeles right now is surprisingly not a Range Rover or MB or exoticar, but a PRIUS !
ps: the in car for many people in the film business in Los Angeles right now is surprisingly not a Range Rover or MB or exoticar, but a PRIUS !
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Manhattan
Velvet Fleetwood
NYC parking
BTW: the other night paid $45 for an event at Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, New York. somebody let me know if you find anything remotely cheaper besides street parking which is impossibe to get. 
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From: Manhattan
Velvet Fleetwood
In Los Angeles it is virtually impossible to avoid valet parking. MB's are a dime a dozen and S550s rarely rate the front spots unless they are celebrity driven. I think many of you are tipping to have your car put up front just so you feel important. The front spots in L A usually go to Ferraris, Lambos, RR's etc. Hotels may be a little different depending on their image. One reason I bought a new E63 was so that I did not have to worry about it when I valet parked it, unlike my Porsche which NO one else drives. I'm not that familiar with Philadelphia, but in NYC it seems everyone uses a Car Service, a limo or their own Towncar etc with their driver, if they don't like a Taxi. With Valets assume the worst will happen and don't be surprised when it does.
ps: the in car for many people in the film business in Los Angeles right now is surprisingly not a Range Rover or MB or exoticar, but a PRIUS !
ps: the in car for many people in the film business in Los Angeles right now is surprisingly not a Range Rover or MB or exoticar, but a PRIUS !
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From: L.A., CA
'08 M5, '10 Land Cruiser
But you tip *after* you get your car back so I don't see how this affects your liklihood of bveing robbed. Do you pay up front as we don't do that in L.A.?
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From: Manhattan
Velvet Fleetwood
the valets that I run into will not let you take a front spot until they see some $$$. you can either tip them some on the in and the rest on the out. or just take care of them completely on the in.
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Velvet Fleetwood
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this is a nice site. I like it. thanks for the link
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From: Gaithersburg, MD
2015 S550 4Matic, AMG Sports Pkg, White/Black
So what is considered a "big" tip nowadays? I'm such a suburban nerd, it's been a long time since I regularly valet parked. It's only the last couple of years that we're seeing more and more valet parking here in the 'burbs.
Plus when I last lived in a city, I certainly didn't have the cash to be eating at any place that could spell valet.
So what's a good rule of thumb? And how much will get you parked out front?
Plus when I last lived in a city, I certainly didn't have the cash to be eating at any place that could spell valet.
So what's a good rule of thumb? And how much will get you parked out front?
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From: So Cal
'07 MB Lorinser S550, '06 MB R350, '04 Porsche 911 cabriolet
peace!
Last edited by openwyder; Oct 23, 2007 at 06:10 PM.
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Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Sacramento
Honda
Yes, I'm apprehensive, too. The only place I have used the valet with this car is at one particular restaurant we go to every other weekend or so. We know them well enough now that we know they will leave the car in front of the restaurant.
But so far that's it. My wife thinks I'm crazy, because she points out (correctly) that any valet in the DC/Northern Virginia area has likely parked thousands of 7-series Bimmers with the same transmission control and dozens of A8s with the same type of parking brake. And probably at this point a lot of 221s also. We seem to see 3-4 of them everytime we go out.
But you know how it is with a new car.
But so far that's it. My wife thinks I'm crazy, because she points out (correctly) that any valet in the DC/Northern Virginia area has likely parked thousands of 7-series Bimmers with the same transmission control and dozens of A8s with the same type of parking brake. And probably at this point a lot of 221s also. We seem to see 3-4 of them everytime we go out.
But you know how it is with a new car.
It doesn't take long, but the first couple times are a learning experience of figuring out where the e-brake is, how the gear selector works, etc. When things are slow we didn't let the fledglings handle the "odd" cars, but when things get busy there simply isn't time for that. You get people driving sticks that have no proficiency and me on my first day driving a Prius and getting the Fob stuck.
I'm sure its much better at regular valet service as there's a lot of competition for valets. It's good money with an abundance of would-be valets for not too many positions. I'd only worry about if you had something really unusual... unless your at an event in which case I'd drive a beater. The last one I did was at some guy's house w/ private runway. You back the cars in so during the rush to leave you can get out quicker and two cars were backed into runway lights o_O. Lucked out in that they were both SUVs with high bumpers, no damage to the cars, but I don't imagine the home owner was overly thrilled.
Last edited by Malhavok; Oct 29, 2007 at 08:51 PM.
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From: Mexico/Houston Tx
Porsche, Mercedes & MINI
Valet parking is horrible these days... in the 90's I use to go clubbing and $5-10 would make it for me to park it in front... a few months ago I went out one lady wanted $15 aside the $10 for front parking at another club there was no self parking spaces, the guy (arab) wanted $30 to park it period... for that guy I went to the other side of the parking lot, reverse into it and parked it myself, we went into a tremendous argument, I left the $30 in the windshield and told him I wanted a manager when I went out, he claimed to be the manager, but I didn't take... I told him is not a matter of $30 or not, is the attitude and the abuse, I told him I would leave the $30 on the windshield so he wouldn't think I didn't want to pay, but that I wanted a manager and would talk to the club owner... I went out no one told me anything, my $30 still on the windshield, car perfect... went back gave him $15 and left...
I was a valet in my college years, cost $3, $1 for the mall, $1 for the company, $1 for me... tips anywhere from $1 to $10 and we were more than happy... I was respectful with cars yet the other guys would steal stuff, use cell phones, etc... I did donuts in a couple of V12 Jags and took a couple of Porsches for a spin... most junk would go into the structure and most likely jump the speedbumps and ramps, depending on my mood, but bimmers, benzes and the like had the royal treatment.
Nonetheless these days are another matter... unfortunately I still do 50/50 valet parking when going out and not happy about it at all...
I was a valet in my college years, cost $3, $1 for the mall, $1 for the company, $1 for me... tips anywhere from $1 to $10 and we were more than happy... I was respectful with cars yet the other guys would steal stuff, use cell phones, etc... I did donuts in a couple of V12 Jags and took a couple of Porsches for a spin... most junk would go into the structure and most likely jump the speedbumps and ramps, depending on my mood, but bimmers, benzes and the like had the royal treatment.
Nonetheless these days are another matter... unfortunately I still do 50/50 valet parking when going out and not happy about it at all...
Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 228
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From: Los Angeles
2010 S600 sold
Valet parking is horrible these days... in the 90's I use to go clubbing and $5-10 would make it for me to park it in front... a few months ago I went out one lady wanted $15 aside the $10 for front parking at another club there was no self parking spaces, the guy (arab) wanted $30 to park it period... for that guy I went to the other side of the parking lot, reverse into it and parked it myself, we went into a tremendous argument, I left the $30 in the windshield and told him I wanted a manager when I went out, he claimed to be the manager, but I didn't take... I told him is not a matter of $30 or not, is the attitude and the abuse, I told him I would leave the $30 on the windshield so he wouldn't think I didn't want to pay, but that I wanted a manager and would talk to the club owner... I went out no one told me anything, my $30 still on the windshield, car perfect... went back gave him $15 and left...
I was a valet in my college years, cost $3, $1 for the mall, $1 for the company, $1 for me... tips anywhere from $1 to $10 and we were more than happy... I was respectful with cars yet the other guys would steal stuff, use cell phones, etc... I did donuts in a couple of V12 Jags and took a couple of Porsches for a spin... most junk would go into the structure and most likely jump the speedbumps and ramps, depending on my mood, but bimmers, benzes and the like had the royal treatment.
Nonetheless these days are another matter... unfortunately I still do 50/50 valet parking when going out and not happy about it at all...
I was a valet in my college years, cost $3, $1 for the mall, $1 for the company, $1 for me... tips anywhere from $1 to $10 and we were more than happy... I was respectful with cars yet the other guys would steal stuff, use cell phones, etc... I did donuts in a couple of V12 Jags and took a couple of Porsches for a spin... most junk would go into the structure and most likely jump the speedbumps and ramps, depending on my mood, but bimmers, benzes and the like had the royal treatment.
Nonetheless these days are another matter... unfortunately I still do 50/50 valet parking when going out and not happy about it at all...
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From: NY/NJ
05 C230K SS 6MT, 00 Audi TT 180Q 5MT
where i valet, ny/nj area, $20 tips are rare. the standard should be about $5 i would say. the few times we have been become angry with people is when they tip 50 cents or 75 cents. yes, there are people like this.
if people tip me anything at all in the beginning, i will park their car close. i have even let a few exotics park themselves, resulting in $80 tips simply out of my respect for them and their car. i know what its like to love your car, and i think people appreciate it more when you let them do what they want. what many do not realize is many of us valet guys are paid out of our tips and do not get a salary plus the tips. just my input on the matter, in any case every valet is diffrent
if people tip me anything at all in the beginning, i will park their car close. i have even let a few exotics park themselves, resulting in $80 tips simply out of my respect for them and their car. i know what its like to love your car, and i think people appreciate it more when you let them do what they want. what many do not realize is many of us valet guys are paid out of our tips and do not get a salary plus the tips. just my input on the matter, in any case every valet is diffrent
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From: Mexico/Houston Tx
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From: Miami
'05 S600,' 04 GTO,Ducati 1098S
In Miami, $100 MAYBE gets you upfront in upscale clubs and restaurants on South Beach. Some places its like $150-200 to be infront but when your driving Lambo, Ferrari, Phantom, or Bugatti its worth it. Personally, I park the car myself at Valet and just have my goons stare the Red Jacket Valet down until he starts giving me tips.
jk A nice $50 or $100 goes a long way if you are NICE to the valet and don't break his ***** about stupid s---t like "PLease make sure noone sweats on my Murcielago. I would just die!."
I like riding up in one of my friends cars to clubs because i save $$$ on gas, valet, and have more money for party favors. They are getting expensive I tell ya.
jk A nice $50 or $100 goes a long way if you are NICE to the valet and don't break his ***** about stupid s---t like "PLease make sure noone sweats on my Murcielago. I would just die!." I like riding up in one of my friends cars to clubs because i save $$$ on gas, valet, and have more money for party favors. They are getting expensive I tell ya.
