I was valet parked outside of Suncruz Casino Boat in Hollywood Florida. I give the guy my car and the keys and I go on the boat. 5 hours later i come back to find that my Kenwood KVT-911dvd has been stolen. There is no damage to the locks or window. No scratches on the windows or doors just no headunit. So I drive up and lose my temper a little with the valet guys. A cop comes over and tells me to leave and to call a number to make a police report. So i go back the next day and get the owner of the valet's name and number and I call him. Obviously he says "Im sorry but there is nothing I can do". Okay now i try to go through my insurance company (Allstate) to get it replaced but it seems that now they have changed their policy to only cover 1000$ of stereo system theft. Keep in mind that this unit was 2500$. When I signed up for the policy i payed for a 2500$ policy for my system becasue thats what they said was the max.

So I think that what happened was, the valet guy took my car, saw that it had a nice tv system in it so he parks it in the lot and calls up his little theif friend and tells him that I have a nice system and that he has the keys to the car. But I cannot prove it.

The very weird thing was that I had a playstation 2 sitting on my back seat which wasnt touched, I had about 2000$ more worth of stuff that was in my trunk that wasnt touched either. Everything in my center console was there including a palm pilot and a bottle of expensive cologne and about 60$ in cash.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should do. I havent claimed it yet from the insurance company and the cop who I spoke to said something about trying to settle this in small claims court. Anyone lawyers out there or anyone have any ideas about what to do next??

PS. Sorry for the long post, I was my longest one ever.

 

Damn that really sux for you. I really hate valeting my car. I know some people who valet and they beat the crap out of those cars. The thing that sucks is many places won't let you park your car yourself. They require you to valet it. Then they say, "we are not responsible for theft or damages occured on your vehicle".

Bastards

 

This sux. Problem is, did they give a ticket stating what Black TL described? They may not be liable. You're best bet is to file your police report and do everything through your insurance.

I would bet they never lock the cars and theft is probably a huge problem there.

A friend of mine, in Los Angeles, recently lost over $5k in Eclipse equipment in his Yukon and the insurance co told him the same thing. Only covered for $1000. Totally sux.

 

Wow, that sucks! However, for $1500.00 I would do a little more checking into the situation. Just because the valet company "says" they're not liable - doesn't mean that's a true (or legal) statement. You may be able to take them to small claims court for the entire amount or just the balance.

Good luck,

V.

 

Sorry to hear man....that's one of the reasons I kept my headunit stock in my car...it holds the systemback, but I don't want to attract any attention. If it were me, I'd be on that valet with a baseball bat. I hope things work out for you.

 

Well I found out 2 things that kind of are making me feel better
1. I talked to the City Attourney where I work and she said that you can still sue them in small claims court becasue the valet attendant didnt tell me to look at the ticket and agree to all the terms.

2. I found my insurance policy and it says in writing that i have a limit of 2500$ of car stereo insurance for this 6 month policy.

So I am going to sue the valet company in small claims court, If I lose big deal i will pay court costs. Then I will claim it through my insurance company. I figure i will get my money from one of them.
Thanks.

 

That sucks to hear. Good luck.

 

Hey, sorry to hear that.
As a rule of thumb, I don't do the Valet deal. I use to be one and let me tell you, they take advantage of cars, especially a hooked up one like yours. Also, security = none. We use to leave keys on the tire (right front, left rear orwhatever). Doors locked ? never. Looks stupid if you locked someone's keys in the car. Also they leave 'em in the car with the windows rolled down (maybe under the seat if you're lucky). Sounds like an inside job cuz there's no damage.

Good luck with the court and insurance. Hopefully one of them will help you out. Just out of curiosity, was your Kenwood purchased with a credit card ? Most credit cards have some insurance policy without you knowing it. Yes you'll have to read the fine print. If you record's good, then it may work out. Couldn't hurt try.

In reference to Valet parking companies, the one I use to work for had a statement/law/policy (whatever you want to call it) that protected them from all liability. So some valet can wreck your car and you'd be responsible. Also, the restaurant has zero liability. Who knows what the laws are. Anyway, Sorry to hear the news. Good luck.

 

You might have done this already, but make sure the policy with that info is your most recent one. There are many times when insureds call in to file a claim, expecting that we'll take care of it. When it turns out that they're policy was changed, they pull out a year old policy .

But I agree, you might as well sue them.

 

Well i am going to talk to my lawyer tomorrow and see what the next move is. Wish me luck!

 

Well, it might be easier for you if you just take the $1000 and run. Obviously they didnt steal the brain for the 911, just the headunit. Ive seen the entire headunit minus the brain new in box on e-bay for $1100 and less. the whole kit for $1300-$1700. You might be able to pull it off with $1000.

 

I've been tempted to hit that cruise up myself... pretty sure I'll be skipping it now.

Good luck in resolving your case.

 

smoke the valet ... tell them there was nothing you could do about it ....

I would fight it ... pay attorney's fees... whatever if there was a chance of sticking it to either of the two parties you mentioned for their lousy responses.

 

There's nothing like the look on someone's face when you serve them with court papers.

Go back to the valet, find out the company name. Sue the company, sue the owner personally, and sue the valet kid himself personally as well. Sue the owner's insurance company.

You can sue the owner for theft and for hiring someone that irresponsible. If when you go he claims that on the ticket he had limited liability, smile and tell him that the standard forms cases across the US are always ruled in favor of the customer, because no one reads standard forms and therefore he has a duty to let you know, in no uncertain terms, of his limited liability.

Believe me, if it was me I'd do it (I'm a lawyer but...) Small claims court is the only place for something like this, because it's less than $6,000.

Your trouble is proving that the tv was there when you got there, and hadn't already been ripped off. Bring witnesses. What will probably happen is the owner of the company will want to settle for half the damages before you go to court, just because its a pain in his neck. It's a personality thing if you are willing to take it.

You also have to tell the insurance the story and see what they'll cover. You can be sure that the valet owner has insurance, so don't forget to make a claim against his insurance company as well.

 

Good point laurel. Just a question, but can insurance companies be named as defendants in Florida?

 

Ah the good thing is that the valet guy (who supposedly had something to do with it) told me that he saw the tv in there. Then another guy who brought the car to the lot the second time noticed that it wasnt there so i have 2 statements that prove it was there and then it was gone. What i hope doesnt happen is that he decides to forget that he saw it there when he goes to court. Well i talked to my lawyer today and we will set a meeting for sometime this week. Thanks for all your support guys, you are really making me feel better about this whole thing.

 

I passed the bar in NY so i can't comment directly, but I'd guess yes.



Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer in Florida. I'm not even a lawyer in NY, I just passed the bar there but got a great opportunity and moved to Toronto. Where I recently got stuck in a self serve car wash, see my post here:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=51627

 

Sounds like you have a good plan. Keep us informed on your progress!

Later,

V.

 

Even if they post a sign that says they aren't liable, doesnt really mean they aren't. You cant just post a sign and have no responsiblity. You think a doctor can post a sign that says, "I will not be responsible for any damage caused by my scalpel."

 

A little off the topic, but don't ever leave valuables in the car and in plain sight. The Playstation 2 in the back seat and the Palm Pilot in the center console is just an invitation for trouble. I learned my lesson when I brought my TL into the Acura dealer for some service. I had about $7 in change in the change bin, and when I got my car back, all but $0.89 was gone. If someone is desperate enough to steal $6 (in coins), then I'd imagine they'd go to much further lengths to steal items of high value.

 

That's hilarious. Who would steal 6 bucks?!

 

suxx man sorry 2 hear that cant trust anyone pisses me off more when s... bags who can afford this stuff just take it....hope one day whom ever stole ur stuff gets a real A$$ beating.....what goes around comes around.....