VIDEO: Crooked valet attendants caught in Los Angeles
Click above to watch the video after the jump
It's tough to find a parking spot in Los Angeles, but luckily there are plenty of valets to park your ride for you. The cost ranges from just a few bucks to $20 or more, but when there are places to go, people to see and deadlines to meet, the cost of parking is often better than spending the better part of your afternoon looking for a spot yourself. The problem is, more and more locations have been designated as loading zones and the public parking spaces have been shrinking. The interesting part about this is that the city of Los Angeles itself hasn't been adding the zones – but a bunch of unscrupulous valets have been.
NBC Los Angeles spent a year digging up dirt, and the investigative reporting of the network's Ana Garcia found valets who got into accidents with cars, shuttled co-workers to other spots in customer cars and put up cones and signs illegally. The local NBC affiliate also had cameras rolling as valets parked in front of expired meters, received tickets and didn't tell the car owners. In all, NBC LA and the city's Department of Transportation found over 80 fraudulent loading zone signs, and even after some of the signs were removed, they were back up the next night.
Hit the jump to watch the seven minute video. The investigative journalism is excellent, and the expressions on the faces of the valet workers as they are caught up in lie after lie are priceless. The only bummer is that NBC LA didn't put some cameras in the cars to see if the valets swiped things from people's cars.
[Source: NBC Los Angeles via Consumerist]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Franz 2:37PM (10/02/2009)
Unscrupulous, thieving bastards. I hope people will go to jail for this.
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SteveO 2:40PM (10/02/2009)
lol...the valets or the spammers?
Franz 2:48PM (10/02/2009)
Both! LOL!
Azael 4:07PM (10/02/2009)
After they get out of jail they should be forced to buy a Honda Crosstour and drive it for a few years...
Muscovy 10:43AM (10/04/2009)
rofl@Azael
That sounded just like a Jeremy Clarkson comment.
JohnnyG 2:41PM (10/02/2009)
So, it's taken over a year to investigate this? How long was this going on prior to their investigation? Why aren't these people arrested? NBC LA has footage that could criminally prosecute these ppl. This really pisses me off. These pieces of friggen trash need to be dealt with.
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Tom Winch 4:31PM (10/02/2009)
Living in LA, I know the police will never go after these guys because they're too busy with more important crime. If you get into a traffic accident in LA the police will not come unless there is personal injury involved. I've called the police to complain about people parking illegally and blocking driveways on my street and they never come. I've seen cops drive around cars that were parked illegally and blocking traffic without even stopping to issue a citation. The valet parking issue is extremely screwed here and has been for years. If I go out to dinner with my wife and we can't find a place to park, we go somewhere else before valet parking.
Adis 11:53PM (10/02/2009)
@ Tom
Depends on where in LA you live... You are totally right if your talking about greater LA and Hollywood.... BH, Brentwood, Bel-AIr and the coastal areas... but try doing ANYTHING in Glendale, Pasadena & Burbank and they are on you tail, ASAP! In those areas you cant even smoke in your car!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pasadena is HORRIBLE with parking and the second your meter runs out there is a ticket on it!!! 50 bucks!
futurama 2:47PM (10/02/2009)
Stop watching the videos people! It's not loading on my monitor!!
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ytilanigiroon 2:55PM (10/02/2009)
Your monitor loads video?? AMAZING!!
Runner 2:47PM (10/02/2009)
The valets are no different in the City of Brotherly Love. I commuted there to work for 9 months, leaving my rental car in the hands of valets every night during that time. Many a time I would get the car back next AM with extra miles and damage. This was directly related to how interesting the ride was (I frequently got upgrades as I got to know the counter staff). Corollas were usually unscathed, but the G35 Sedan I got once came back with a nice big ding in the passenger rear. I wouldn't let a valet park my 17 year-old CCM bicycle for me.
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Dan Mosqueda 3:00PM (10/02/2009)
I parked in Philly, paid the guy, and got a ticket. BUT, the ticket was also a fake. We didn't pay it and never heard from them again. These "entrepreneurs" are pretty much organized criminals and should be prosecuted under racketeering laws.
Paul 3:30PM (10/02/2009)
totally depends which part of philly you are parking in - i valet my car all the time in Rittenhouse and even in Manayunk with no issue. I wouldn't do it anywhere else.
the4thheat 2:48PM (10/02/2009)
Just throw a few of these idiots in jail for a while and hopefully the rest of these idiots will stop.
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Paul 2:51PM (10/02/2009)
My iPod and a camera got swiped by valets in LA. Neighbor got her identity stolen by another. Friend of mine got THREE parking tickets in the mail after using LA valets.
They're the worst, most crooked a-holes ever. It's ALWAYS better to spend the time and park yourself here.
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futurama 2:59PM (10/02/2009)
Sorry Paul.. but you should've known better!! Expensive lesson for you!
Jake B 3:02PM (10/02/2009)
For real I wouldn't trust anyone with my car unless I absolutely had to give it up to a mechanic, even then, there is little to no trust!
Paul 5:32PM (10/02/2009)
Yeah, but you clearly don't live in LA: There are times when traffic kept you and you don't have 45 minutes to circle for parking. Or when you get somewhere, you find it's "valet only" parking structures.
It's a reality of living here. Bottom line is to avoid them at all costs (yes $) and never, ever keep anything of value in your car.
izorro 2:55PM (10/02/2009)
Very Good beautiful work by the reporter.
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Venom 2:57PM (10/02/2009)
Excellent video, excellent article.
I won't comment on what seems to be the overwhelming ethnicity of the valets and the valet owners.
If they don't crack the whip and just come in and arrest these guys or fine them so much it is not worth it to do this anymore it will continue.
I say a $1,000 fine for the first time caught and then $10,000 the next time and the third time $50,000 and mandatory 6 months in jail.
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