A valet parker is accused of taking a car on a joyride.Valet parking is not an entirely new concept, however it is one that has gained popularity since airport security restrictions tightened, airports became more stressful and even dropping people off in front of the airport became a hassle. As wonderful as it sounds to have one’s car picked up from in front of the terminal and taken care of while you walk right into the check in counter, many people wonder just how far they can trust valet parkers.
Police at one airport in America are currently investigating claims that one valet parking attendant took a car on a joyride before parking it in the company’s secure parking facility, leading many to wonder just how safe it is to hand over one’s keys, even to a professional.
According to Joel Lathrop, there was a quarter tank of gas in his Mercedes and the trip odometer was set to zero when he dropped it off at Gerald Ford International Airport in Michigan on Monday. On Thursday, Lathrop said the odometer read 80 miles and he ran out of gas.
"They put 80 miles on my car while I was valet-parked," Lathrop told The Grand Rapids Press.
The parking group’s manager, Judy Faber, was unaware of Lathrop’s claim. "There's no way these cars can be driven 80 miles," Faber said. "They're driven two miles to the airport and two miles to the parking facility. That's it."
Lathrop isn’t alone either. Max Blake entrusted his wife’s Hummer into the care of an airport valet. The parking company contacted him five days later to announce that the vehicle had gone missing.
Blake was able to recover his car using the General Motors OnStar system but by the time he had, the valet attendant had travelled some 150 miles.
Other drivers in the UK have received parking tickets from pictures taken of their license plate of their car unlawfully parked while they were on vacation.
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