PSA: Be careful who you give your Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder keys to
Imagine this scenario: You've gone out of town for whatever reason, driving your Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. (If we had a Gallardo, you'd bet that taking road trips would be high on the agenda). Anyway, you get to your hotel, surrender your supercar's keys to the valet, and go on with your business. When it's time to leave, they go to retrieve your car and ... it's gone. That nightmare is just what happened to Eric Vargosko when he took his droptop lambo to Atlanta's Intercontinental Hotel. The swank hotel in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood was the last place Vargosko saw his car until it turned up a month later, damaged.
Just as disturbingly, the hotel has refused to talk to Vargosko, and the media isn't having any better luck with them or the Atlanta police. With WWSB TV's consumer reporter on the case, a police report was unearthed which stated that a hotel security camera recorded a valet handing the Lamborghini's keys to two men in the wee hours of the morning. Whether the two men, part of a larger group of seven that had been recorded by the camera while exiting an SUV at 3:30 AM, were thieves or acquaintances of the valet is unknown. Denied satisfaction on the issue thus far, Vargosko's hired an attorney, and will be avoiding the Intercontinental during future travels. Hat tip to Jimmie.
[Source: WWSB TV]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mazda FTW! 3:33PM (4/04/2009)
I don't even hand my Mazda3 keys to anyone else. If I had Gallardo keys, I'd keep them on my restaurant table enclosed in a laser guarded see-through glass box next to me.
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Jake B 4:12PM (4/04/2009)
Too bad we don't live in the age when the cops would turn a blind eye when you beat the living hell out of the punk kid that did this to you. He might be able to hobble home later, and I bet he would never do someone that bad again.
Jared 4:15PM (4/04/2009)
Thats why I park my car also. Valet's are for fat people.
Chris 4:36PM (4/04/2009)
Jared: How exactly do you do that in large city hotels with underground garages that are valet-only? Park it at the airport and walk?
Jared 10:43PM (4/04/2009)
@Chris: Yeah...
all kidding aside, IDK. I live in Jax, so we dont really have to worry about that here. If you live in a big city like that, then you are either more trustworthy of the people around you then I am, or you should consider taking a taxi... If it's big and tight enough to have parking like that, then a taxi shouldn't be that long of a drive...
Tony 1:03AM (4/05/2009)
I think you guys are missing one other important aspect about having a valet, not only is it convenient but if you are driving an exotic it is very dangerous to go into a parking lot at night.
For example my uncle drives an S-Class(I know its nothing special in California, but that is pretty exotic in Winnipeg lol) and he never let valets park his car until he was mugged. I believe that if you can afford this type of vehicle then paying(and having to trust) a valet to park your car is not a bad idea.
Oh yeah and it turned out that the crook had been following my aunt and uncle to their car as they left the Casino. Apparently this happens frequently. lol i've never had this problem myself, but I think it has to do with the fact that I roll in a Camry....
TyWright 3:34PM (4/04/2009)
This reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld giving his Bimmer 535 to a valet and the valet wouldn't drive it because it smelled so bad. So Jerry gave it to car thieves.
I think that's what happened here. Case closed.
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Jacob 10:53PM (4/04/2009)
Actually the valet was the one who made it smell. And he gave it to a homeless man.
TyWright 11:57PM (4/04/2009)
You`re right!!
cardudeATL 3:41PM (4/04/2009)
WSB-TV in Atlanta has one W in their callsign. WWSB-TV is in Sarasota, Fla.
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Quinn Giardina 3:54PM (4/04/2009)
thats right up the street from my house and that really sucks! i'm a valet and used to work at another hotel in atl. the same thing happened there with a range rover and it turned out to be one of the other valets handing the keys out. but yeah i wouldn't leave my gallardo keys with anyone. period.
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Nick 4:12PM (4/04/2009)
"Just as disturbingly, the hotel has refused to talk to Vargosko, and the media isn't having any better luck with them or the Atlanta police."
What a dick move, how can they NOT talk to the guy who's car was stolen while in their custody? If that had happened to me I would have hunted the manager down and given him a loud verbal lesson in front of others.
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Jon 5:53PM (4/04/2009)
The guy clearly has money and has gotten an attorney. He will win. The hotel doesn't have anything to defend itself with.
zamafir 6:38PM (4/04/2009)
Right, but why did it take so long?
2004m3driver 4:13PM (4/04/2009)
Last time I went to south coast plaza I saw a F430 Scuderia double parked way on the outskirts where there were absolutely no cars. That's how I imagine I would park when I take my super car out. Screw the Valet! The exercise is good anyways. (the car was amazing, with its massive composite brake rotors wow! @@)
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Clavius 4:19PM (4/04/2009)
One of the few times I can honestly say... "Sue the Hell out of them!". Not even talking to the owner of the car is just implying guilt and knowledge of it. They should of just let the police investigate the theft fully and unhindered (sounds like the hotel most likely did some grandstanding on the videotapes), and talked to the owner.
Oh well maybe next time I'm in that area I'll be visiting the Vargosko Intercontinental Hotel. haha.
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Alan 4:40PM (4/04/2009)
Valet in Atlanta is out of control. We're the only city that I know of that has valet at a TGI Fridays.
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JuniorMint 12:48PM (4/05/2009)
I believe that Atlanta is also one of the fattest cities in America.
I can only assume that this is not coincidental. :)
BigTeebo 4:56PM (4/04/2009)
Funny how the Intercontinental Hotel seems rather quiet about fake valets scooping up cars. BTW that's the Intercontinental Hotel in Atlanta. You would think that would be bad for business. If this incident occured on the hotel's property, he has a good case.
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paul34 4:59PM (4/04/2009)
I do valet at a major attraction. If we lost your car, that would obviously be pretty bad, and our insurance would pay for it.
I don't understand why the hotel's insurance didn't just pay for it, especially since what happened was verified on the camera.
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