You won't believe what happened on our last visit home

[TChrist05]

Hello all....returned from a visit home at the Boardwalk two weeks ago. We valet parked our rental car but generally do not use it much. We checked the car back in on Wednesday afternoon 5/11.....went to use it on Thursday night 5/12 and they could not find it....after a couple of hours they located it and gave us a new ticket for the car....they had no explanation why it was not in the place they parked it and why they could not find the keys....anyway, we were leaving to go home on 5/13 and went to get the car....yup...you guessed it....the car was gone again.....so they sent us to get lunch and went looking for it....turned out that there were 2 families with the same last name....they gave our car to them two days in a row....they were not real happy with there cast members not checking numbers on the receipts....and the other family taking our Impala instead our there Mercury.....really bazaar......they finally tracked the other family down at the golf course....he had to bring the car back....and was not real happy about it....you cannot make this stuff up.....but alls well that ends well...but it was tense for a while...
Tom

 

[Tiffster7]

The other family didn't realize they were driving the wrong car? BIZARRE!

 

[BCVOwner2002]

Don't you think the other family should've realized that wasn't their rental vehicle? This is unbelievable. I'm glad we use FL Tours. Annmarie

 

[bunnymkc]

When we were home last time in April of 05 I cut out a Home Depot MM paint chip (lime green of course) wrote our name on it and hung it from the rear view mirror..FOUND OUR CAR EVERYWHERE WE WENT..Try this it works great..


Marianne

 

[AllyBri]

They take your car and then when they have to return it, they get upset. The nerve of them.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The other family didn't realize they were driving the wrong car? BIZARRE!

That's exactly what I was thinking...

MG

 

[bavaria]

HA! I stayed at BWV several years ago, and they couldn't locate my car for over a day! (I don't know if someone else had it, or if it was just lost, or if it went for a vacation of it's own.....) They did give me a free night and were really really apologetic.

 

[Alice Sr.]

The other family didn't realize they were driving the wrong car? BIZARRE!

I have to say unless it was something obvious like we had a black car and they brought me a white car I would have no idea I don't really pay attention to cars, just get in and drive but I promise I will be more observant next time since I have a very common last name.

 

[TLinden16]

Wow. That is something else. I can't believe no one realized it.

Another DISer has had her rental car lost by the Boardwalk people in the past, but they lost it for a couple of days.

ETA: I should have read the responses. Bavaria is the one I was talking about.

Karen

 

[Pinnie]

I have to say unless it was something obvious like we had a black car and they brought me a white car I would have no idea I don't really pay attention to cars, just get in and drive but I promise I will be more observant next time since I have a very common last name.

Same here. Since we travel and rent cars a lot, I really don't pay that much attention to the make but rather the color of the car. A red car is a red car to me. My DH is another story.

pinnie

 

[dianeschlicht]

And that kind of story is EXACTLY why DH refuses to stay anywhere he must valet park. He refuses to valet park, because of things like this.

I can't believe the second family wouldn't realize they got the wrong car! There would be quite a difference between a Ford and a Chevy!

 

[CarolMN]

This is just another good reason why the BW should provide adequate/better self parking options for resort guests - obviously, the valets are not very good with the details!

Best wishes -

P.S. At least the valets weren't taking the car for joy rides or on a beer run or something, LOL!

 

[dianeschlicht]

This is just another good reason why the BW should provide adequate/better self parking options for resort guests - obviously, the valets are not very good with the details!

Best wishes -

P.S. At least the valets weren't taking the car for joy rides or on a beer run or something, LOL!

That's what I thought the answer was going to be when I opened this thread, CArol!

 

[wdwstar]

Did you charge the second family that took your car "Gas Money"
Did bw valet give you a free lunch while they were looking for your car What i dont understand why the second family really didnt notice, what about adjusting the drivers seat & the mirriors.
and thank goodness nothing really bad happened to your rental while it was in the second families possesion

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

All I can say is WOW. WHat if the other people had left and returned the car to their rental company? Creepy.

I was just at BWV and took advantage of valet parking. Never a problem. However, the times that I didn't have my valet number receipt, they pulled up my car keys by last name, and I do have a common last name. It's just odd that the other people would have had a car so similar to yours that they didn't recognize the difference. I like the idea of some personalization hanging from the rear view mirror.

Good thing you have a sense of humor!

 

[CarolA]

I can understand this... I drive rental cars every week. There are lots of times I don't have a clue what I am driving LOL!

It's not as good as the lost Jag... A freind of mine years ago was working parking for the CMA (or some country music award show) at the Opry and they lost a very expensive Jaguar. The VIP wound up waiting until just about everyone had gone home so that basically his car was the only one left LOL!

 

[TChrist05]

I did not think that other people had other experiences like mine, so this is an eye opening experience. The folks at Boardwalk did eventually pay for our lunch at ESPN, but they did not offer in the beginning. They eventually gave us a small room credit to cover the lunch, but my issue was we lost a night and an afternoon of doing things we wanted to do...more specifically going down to the Marketplace and picking up a few last minute things. They do have an issue with parking at the Boardwalk, but I must admit I do like the convience of valet parking. We return to the Boardwalk in September for 4 nights and then 3 on the cruise, so we will see how things go then. I must say that Nelson, who is in charge of the valet at Boardwalk was very apologetic and not real happy with his people...so none of us was real happy at the time....but now, we look back and kind of snicker about it cause these things can only happen to us....

Tom & Marilou

 

[bavaria]

See, for me too it became one of my 'funny stories'. That's how TLinden16 knew about it! It ranks right up there with the time a four star (offsite) hotel locked my keys in the car, and the valet proceeded to break open the car (all the while I am saying 'please don't, please don't' and finally got a manager to come stop them). In that case, the door would no longer close, and I had to get Avis to bring a replacement car.

I'm glad that things worked out in the end and you can laugh (even if they sounded a little reluctant to cover some costs for you). In my case they actually offered me much more than I expected, but I think that they were shocked that they couldn't find the car!!! (And I had to go offsite to get my luggage from another hotel, as I was changing resorts that day, and had booked BW literally from a payphone in the lobby that morning!)

Save the story in your 'funny travel stories' folder in your brain - they come in handy for amusing people if you ever find yourself in a worse travel situation!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

And that kind of story is EXACTLY why DH refuses to stay anywhere he must valet park. He refuses to valet park, because of things like this.

I can't believe the second family wouldn't realize they got the wrong car! There would be quite a difference between a Ford and a Chevy!

I thought my DH was the only nut like this. Actually, I've never minded except at GF. Has anyone ever done self-park there? The regular parking lot is a l-o-n-g walk away.

 

[tjkraz]

...but I must admit I do like the convience of valet parking.

Yeah, sounds convenient to me.

But here's the question of the hour: How did you tip upon receipt of the car?