Generally, customers do not bother to read the coupon given to them before they hand over the car to the valet. Hotels in the city impose all sorts of conditions with the valet parking service. A valet parking coupon says that hotels offer valet service as parking assistance to the guests visiting the hotel and they are not responsible for any damage caused to the vehicle while it is in their care or an injury being caused to any person when the car is driven by the valet. The theft of the vehicle or loss of items from the vehicle is also not their responsibility.
“We are using our permanent staff for the valet service. We have been running the hotel and the valet service for six years, so far we haven’t got any complaints. We have put terms and conditions in order to avoid people keeping their valuables in the vehicle,” says Vijender, manager of Hotel Celebrations.
Andhra Pradesh High Court advocate P. Subhash said that in other countries, the hotel management takes full responsibility if anything goes wrong while the car is with the valet. People can approach the court and get compensated for even small damages. However, the case isn’t the same in India.
“Unfortunately, in India, whether it’s valet parking or sprucing up the rooms, the hotel takes no responsibility for any loss or damage to property,” Subhash added. However, ideally it should not be the “master’s liability” and the hotel should compensate for any loss to the customer due to carelessness of his staff.
“The hotels are using this as a legal safeguard in case a customer complains about damage to their car or something is stolen. But if the car is stolen while in the care of the hotel valet service, the owner can complain to the police,” said Akun Sabharwal, DCP, Central Zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment