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Advice on valet shops? 1st valet shop attempt

October 24, 2018 02:34AM
So tonight I had a valet shop with a hotel. When I drove up they absolutely refused to valet my car because they kept asking if I was a guest at the hotel. I told them yes. At this point they kept insisting that I check in first and they would check my reservation and then valet my car. I had no idea how to proceed on this and gave up..

May'be valet shops just aren't for me but thought I would check here first to see if these shops are usually this difficult before completely giving up on them..

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.
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October 24, 2018 02:45AM
You should ask walesmaven, I bet you could PM her and ask her how she would handle that. She does tons of parking shops, valet included.
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October 24, 2018 03:08AM
Usually not that difficult. I did 5 different valet shops, and the only time I had difficulty was when I was doing a valet shop for a Ritz-Carlton condominium. The Ritz wasn’t open to the public, so my name had to be on the list to get in. The MSC company usually set that up for me, and told me the name of somebody who lived there, who I was supposed to be visiting. The last time I did that shop, the security actually called up to the guy to verify that I was visiting him. He wasn’t home and didn’t answer the phone, so that shop didn’t work out lol. But for hotels, I would just say I was visiting somebody, or if they have a restaurant there, say you are meeting somebody for lunch or drinks.
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October 24, 2018 11:53AM
I wouldn’t say you are a guest as that is a whole different valet scenario. They are going to want to tie your name to a reservation. I say I am meeting someone for lunch, a friend who is in town, meeting someone for business. Something along those lines.

Liz
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October 24, 2018 12:20PM
Never say that you are a guest. You instructions should have told you to state that you are meeting someone in the lobby. Add that you will be there 3-4 hours so that they will actually valet park your vehicle and not just leave it on the entry area apron. Doormen are allowed to do that and expect a large tip in lieu of a much larger parking fee. Since you are being paid to evaluate VALET service, you might be paid, if the doorman takes advantage to cut out the valet. I always have been paid if that happens, but I have heard that a few clients will not accept it.

The problen with saying that you are a guest is that the hotel rules may state that guests' vehicles cannot be parked until they have registered so that the fee will be on the hotel folio. The doorman/attendant was just doing their job when they told you to register first and return with your parking pass.

I am curious; was this a cash integrity shop or were you just supposed to evaluate smiles and thank yous?

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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October 24, 2018 12:23PM
Generally not a good idea to say you are there for a meal or drinks because they may lower the parking fee based on you providing a receipt AND may not valet the vehicle because they think you will not be there more than about 90 minutes.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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October 24, 2018 01:22PM
Feel free to pm me if this is a Servimer shop. I'd be happy to help.
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October 24, 2018 01:35PM
dawn,
Lucky knows everything there is to know about the Servimer shops !!

Greetings, LuckyGirl !

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
October 24, 2018 07:15PM
Thanks for the feedback everyone..not sure that I'll do another valet shop..just isn't for me I don't think..but I might try one more just to see if it's a good fit...

Thankfully this shop did get accepted. I was shocked but happy about that.

It was not a servimer shop
and
It was just valet shop..where you go to a different location for a short time and then grade the valet on their services...

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.
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October 24, 2018 07:27PM
Dawn,
Before you quit doing valet shops altogether try one of ours. (If we have anything in your area... I'd be happy to check for you)

Servimer never leaves you wondering about directions/ suggestions on how to be successful. All my shoppers have my phone number and I've helped NUMEROUS shoppers find locations & deal with tricky situations while in the middle of a shop.
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October 24, 2018 08:02PM
@luckygirl0100

Hi Lucky,

Thanks...maybe I'll try one of your shops before giving up completely...

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.
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October 24, 2018 08:07PM
Walesmaven and some others make parking shops work out really well for them by picking up walkable shops in the nearby area (banks, restaurants, etc.).
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October 25, 2018 12:16AM
I have done lots of parking jobs both valet and non valet. I always just vaguely say I am meeting someone. It is not just on valet shops that I have been asked where I am going. Often on a non valet shop the parking attendant will ask where I am going. The company I work for generally has a heads up on their shop sheet if you can expect a sticky situation. There are a few situations I will not go back to.....some corporate buildings have validation for clients so they want to know if that is where you are visiting. If asked I say I am meeting or picking a friend up and give only a first name if they ask. They then inquire as to what company your friend works at and then I will tell them she has an appt and she wants me to call from the lobby. Later if I leave the hotel/office building to go and take a walk or do some mystery shopping and I pass the valet on my way I just say my friend said to meet her at a restaurant down the block.
Just have a rather vague back story in mind....be vague at first but if asked for detail have that ready too. After you do one or two you will get used to it.
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October 25, 2018 01:24AM
Valet jobs are shockingly complex and learning all of the nuances of them takes a good long time. There are a lot of variables.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.
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October 25, 2018 06:31PM
Valet shops can be tricky because some locations will not valet you if they become aware that you are not actually a patron of the business in question. This is especially true for busy restaurants during peak hours, which is usually when you would be required to do the shop, so I usually stick to non-restaurant locations. It's so much easier to give a plausible reason for your visit at a hotel or apartment building.
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October 25, 2018 07:37PM
The flip side of Hoju's comment is.... valet shops are always interesting because there are so many variables. The cash integrity variety are a real education in how many ways cash can be made to disappear from the location's net income ! Some are ingenious and it becomes a source of pride for the shopper to "catch" the trick that is being played at any given moment. The clients who pay MSCs for parking shops that only look for politeness and smiles are missing a bundle of cash !

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
October 26, 2018 01:47PM
@walesmaven wrote:

The flip side of Hoju's comment is.... valet shops are always interesting because there are so many variables. The cash integrity variety are a real education in how many ways cash can be made to disappear from the location's net income ! Some are ingenious and it becomes a source of pride for the shopper to "catch" the trick that is being played at any given moment. The clients who pay MSCs for parking shops that only look for politeness and smiles are missing a bundle of cash !
I think the smiles and politeness valet shops are done to make sure the valets are maintaining the standards set by the hotels to keep the contract going. There are no questions about cash handling, you can pay by credit card and at least half of the ones I've done, I've paid the front desk rather than the valet.
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October 26, 2018 02:00PM
Jennifer,
The cash integrity ones pay better, are more flexible and have shorter reports, if the MSC is Servimer. And the video ones pay exceptionally well for the work required. It's not worth the parking management company keeping the contract if they are being robbed blind by the attendants and/or the doormen at hotels and other sites. At one Capitol hill hotel in DC the cash diversions topped several thousand dollars a week at one point. Some NYC garages were "taken" to the tune of over $100,000; that is all that was recovered from the apartment of one attendant, so the real total was probably much higher. These shops also cover "smiles and thank yous" but without requiring much narrative. I type slowly and can do a report and upload pix in under 15 minutes.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
October 26, 2018 03:58PM
@dawnhu wrote:

So tonight I had a valet shop with a hotel. When I drove up they absolutely refused to valet my car because they kept asking if I was a guest at the hotel. I told them yes. At this point they kept insisting that I check in first and they would check my reservation and then valet my car. I had no idea how to proceed on this and gave up..

May'be valet shops just aren't for me but thought I would check here first to see if these shops are usually this difficult before completely giving up on them..

I said I was coming with family. My family would be checking in, as they had all the luggage and we were meeting to eat at the restaurant. I said my family was in a separate car and would arrive soon, but probably lagging behind in traffic from the freeway. I told them I got there "early." They never pressed me to check in on my ONE valet shop (small sample size, so I dunno if this would help you much, OP). They were really nice actually. They gave me directions to the hotel restaurant and it was easy peazy from there.

Also, they were quite busy and they probably weren't going to waste time messing around with me. They probably barely noticed my situation to even begin to think it was suspicious.

But, I also recall teh guidelines saying to tell them you had family cmoing later to check in IIRC.
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October 27, 2018 07:28AM
I've only done hospitals.
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October 27, 2018 05:42PM
Not just advice I give my shoppers, but scenarios I personally use. I typically do between 20 -30 locations a month myself, sometimes more when the quarterly shops are released.

Hotels, even the high end ones like the Four Seasons & The Ritz.

I'm meeting up with an old college roommate who is in town for business and staying here. No, no I'll pay for my own parking. I would never want it on her bill. I have no clue what our plans are, we may dine at the hotel restaurant, we may decide to go somewhere else. I'll leave that decision to my friend......

Restaurants

I'm meeting a friend for a drink but he is stuck in traffic. I'm going to window shop while I wait.... (then wander around the block & go wherever I want)
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