Tips from a Valet
After spending the whole summer working as a valet for a three-star hotel, I can reflect on a wide variety of experiences good and bad. I have also considered the ways people treat each other and expectations from both the employee and the customer. So here is a valet, giving out tips.
Don't assume the valet is stupid, foolish, and/or willfully incompetent in the operation of your vehicle.
Valets depend on keeping your car safe to earn their wages. Damaged cars and customer complaints reflect badly on the valet, who can be fired if he or she accumulates enough strikes. The only time I have ever seen a valet be careless and stupid with a vehicle is when others (clients or other employees) treated him like he might be.
Being a valet is also quite a lucrative job, if the valet lands a gig with the right people. It's more profitable than working at a Macdonalds', flipping burgers for six dollars an hour. So valets are very rarely valets because they have no other choice, or are too incompetent for everything else. Driving and parking cars sounds simple, but there are hidden complexities.
Don't assume that the valet has never seen or driven your model of vehicle before.
Valets see a lot of cars every day, and people in certain areas tend to buy similar kinds of vehicles. Chances are, the valet has been behind a wheel exactly like yours before. I will say that there are exceptions to this tip, like if there is a special modification to the car to allow access to the "differently able." I drove a van this summer that was outfitted to be conducted with the hands only, since the driver was paralyzed from the waist down, and he had to show me a few tricks.
The valet who parked your car is not necessarily going to be the one who retrieves it.
Just a heads-up.
Tipping:
These are some suggestions for tipping.
Valet garages and parking lots often have very small spaces to economize the use of whatever area is available. There will often be five or six spaces specifically for oversize vehicles like SUV's, pickup trucks, etc. However, it is easiest and safest to maneuver small, deft cars into and out of the spaces. The largest vehicle that a valet can operate comfortably and easily in a small space is probably a minivan, or a mid-size SUV like the Toyota Rav-4. Please leave your F-350 with the modified wheels or your Cadillac Eldorado at home unless you have no other choice.
And finally, the ugly business of:
Theft
Valets, as has been reported in the media and other sources, can be untrustworthy with the contents of your car. I heard of a restaurant that had to fire its entire valet staff after hidden video cameras caught each and every once of them pinching loose change and valuable knick-knacks from the cars they parked. The trick is to treat valets as though they are untrustworthy without actually showing them that you think they're untrustworthy. Take small valuables out of your car when you leave, particularly bills in the space between the seats, cell phones, and detachable GPS screen units. But don't make a show of writing down the mileage and checking the gas gauge. Valets are people too.
Also, don't accuse valets of nonsensical crimes. A woman this summer insisted that the valets had stolen a set of keys from one of her bags, despite the fact that the keys were of no intrinsic value and the doors they operated were on cars several state lines away. There is a human tendency to allocate blame towards those lowest on the social ladder, but try to have reasonable proof--or for that matter, motive--before pointing any fingers.
Don't assume the valet is stupid, foolish, and/or willfully incompetent in the operation of your vehicle.
Valets depend on keeping your car safe to earn their wages. Damaged cars and customer complaints reflect badly on the valet, who can be fired if he or she accumulates enough strikes. The only time I have ever seen a valet be careless and stupid with a vehicle is when others (clients or other employees) treated him like he might be.
Being a valet is also quite a lucrative job, if the valet lands a gig with the right people. It's more profitable than working at a Macdonalds', flipping burgers for six dollars an hour. So valets are very rarely valets because they have no other choice, or are too incompetent for everything else. Driving and parking cars sounds simple, but there are hidden complexities.
Don't assume that the valet has never seen or driven your model of vehicle before.
Valets see a lot of cars every day, and people in certain areas tend to buy similar kinds of vehicles. Chances are, the valet has been behind a wheel exactly like yours before. I will say that there are exceptions to this tip, like if there is a special modification to the car to allow access to the "differently able." I drove a van this summer that was outfitted to be conducted with the hands only, since the driver was paralyzed from the waist down, and he had to show me a few tricks.
The valet who parked your car is not necessarily going to be the one who retrieves it.
Just a heads-up.
Tipping:
These are some suggestions for tipping.
- The valet will probably not expect money for taking the car away. However, the more generosity on your part, the more the valet will like you.
- When pulling up to a high-class hotel, several people may approach the car at once. One will be a doorman or bellman, who will open the door for you and handle your baggage. One will be the valet. If you have a large number of bags, another doorman/bellman will probably assist the first. Tip both of them together (i.e.: give one of them enough money to share between them) but tip the valet separately if you wish to tip him or her at all. This avoids confusion. The same applies to when you leave.
- When a valet is a little late with your car, it's probably not the valet's fault. Valets know that the faster they bring the car around, the better the service they provide. They probably won't dawdle on purpose unless you have been nasty to them. Reasons for hang-ups may include misfiled keys, double parking, and understaffing.
- When a valet is exceptionally late with a car, he or she knows it, and if he or she has any sense he or she won't expect a tip. However, your understanding and generosity is never out-of-place.
Valet garages and parking lots often have very small spaces to economize the use of whatever area is available. There will often be five or six spaces specifically for oversize vehicles like SUV's, pickup trucks, etc. However, it is easiest and safest to maneuver small, deft cars into and out of the spaces. The largest vehicle that a valet can operate comfortably and easily in a small space is probably a minivan, or a mid-size SUV like the Toyota Rav-4. Please leave your F-350 with the modified wheels or your Cadillac Eldorado at home unless you have no other choice.
And finally, the ugly business of:
Theft
Valets, as has been reported in the media and other sources, can be untrustworthy with the contents of your car. I heard of a restaurant that had to fire its entire valet staff after hidden video cameras caught each and every once of them pinching loose change and valuable knick-knacks from the cars they parked. The trick is to treat valets as though they are untrustworthy without actually showing them that you think they're untrustworthy. Take small valuables out of your car when you leave, particularly bills in the space between the seats, cell phones, and detachable GPS screen units. But don't make a show of writing down the mileage and checking the gas gauge. Valets are people too.
Also, don't accuse valets of nonsensical crimes. A woman this summer insisted that the valets had stolen a set of keys from one of her bags, despite the fact that the keys were of no intrinsic value and the doors they operated were on cars several state lines away. There is a human tendency to allocate blame towards those lowest on the social ladder, but try to have reasonable proof--or for that matter, motive--before pointing any fingers.
posted by Fano @ 11:10 AM
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