Hotel Valet Car Damage

[joecool]

A month ago, my company had a meeting at a fancy downtown hotel, and our cars were left with the hotel valet. I got my (new)car back that morning, entered it directly from the driver's side, and left. At my next destination, myself (and at least 3 witnesses from my company) discovered a set of scratches on the right rear bumper. I was unable to contact the hotel for another 8 hours.

The damage to the car has since been estimated at $312. The hotel did an "investigation" in which they claimed that 1) they can prove that it even happened there due to the time it took me to contact them, and 2) it was a public garage (anybody could have hit it), and 3) the valet attendants pleaded innocent (what attendant is going to risk his job admitting to scratching a new car???)

Further complaints to the hotel have been unsuccessful. They are correct that it cannot be proven that they damaged the car themselves, but I CAN prove that the car was damaged during the time it was in their care.

Should I take this matter to small claims court, or will I get laughed out of there?

Thank you.

 

[HomeGuru]

Try it.

 

[JETX]

If you decide to take action against the hotel for the scratches, the burden of proof will be on you to prove that they are the responsible party. This shouldn't be a problem since you said, " I CAN prove that the car was damaged during the time it was in their care.".

So, in practice for your potential lawsuit, I would appreciate your answering the following questions that SHOULD be asked by the hotels attorney:

1) "Please PROVE to the court that the scratches were not on the car BEFORE you came to the hotel."

2) "Please PROVE that the scratches did not occur AFTER you received the car back from the hotel valet".

3) "Please read the printing on the ticket that you accepted from the valet when he accepted your car".

4) "And sir, what PROOF do you have to offer that this alleged damage was in fact caused by the hotel or their agent"?

5) "And, please detail your proof that our client was responsible for your damages."

 

[joecool]

Thanks for your help. "Proof" would have to rely on witness statements (obviously I don't take pictures of my car every day).

1) "Please PROVE to the court that the scratches were not on the car BEFORE you came to the hotel."

I can provide 1 coworker and 1 friend to corroborate that there was no damage to the right rear bumper before arriving at the hotel. When I returned to retrieve something in the car as I dropped it off, I looked directly at the right rear bumper and it was undamaged.

2) "Please PROVE that the scratches did not occur AFTER you received the car back from the hotel valet".

The car was not hit as I drove it to the next destination, where 3 other witnesses would testify that they saw the damage to the car upon arrival at the next destination.

3) "Please read the printing on the ticket that you accepted from the valet when he accepted your car".

I don't have the ticket with me here but it had the usual stuff about not being responsible without "willful acts of misappropriation". I feel the car must have been willfully misappropriated if it was left in a location where it would be easily susceptible to damage.

4) "And sir, what PROOF do you have to offer that this alleged damage was in fact caused by the hotel or their agent"?

I can only offer that the car was undamaged when left with the valet and damaged upon its return. I cannot speculate as to whether the valet attendant caused the damage or it was caused by another driver in the public garage.

5) "And, please detail your proof that our client was responsible for your damages."

My proof is that the car was damaged while your client was in posession of the car, and they are responsible to return it in the same condition in which it was left. I would never return one's personal property damaged and attempt to lay the blame elsewhere to avoid taking responsibility.



Thanks again for your advice.

 

[JETX]

Joecool,

Thank you for your response. It was concise and to the point (that is a valuable AND RARE commodity on this forum).

However, as I see it, your proof is witness statements (how many??) that will testify as to their specific knowledge that something was NOT there. The problem as I see it will be that it will be hard for them to say under oath, "That damage was NOT there", it will be fairly easy for this to become "I am not aware of there being any damage". As you see, these are two different things. One is categorically NO DAMAGE, the other MAYBE no damage.

In my opinion, a moderately good attorney should be able to damage their statements pretty easily.

So, lets cut to the chase... your damages are $312.00. Depending on where you live, the costs of filing a small claims and service is usually less than $100 (lets use that). You will now be into this deal for about $415.00, plus the time and trouble of getting these witnesses to all show up at the designated time.

There is a possibility, depending on the nature of the defendant, that he could offer to settle this as a nuisance suit since it would cost him more to prosecute than to have his insurance (or pocket) pay.

If you feel the $415.00 plus time, etc. is worth it, go for it. The worst you have to lose is the cost of the lawsuit (you would already have the damage cost). And you might gain some valuable experience no matter which way the case folds.
(Though, personally, I believe you will have a hard time winning... bigger surprises happen every day in court.)

 

[joecool]

I agree that it's probably not worth the hassle. In Ohio it is $35 to file for small claims court. I didn't think I would have much since I have zero rock solid proof and no eyewitnesses to the actual accident. That's why I hopped on here before seriously considering the court option. Thanks for your help.