A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a case about receiving a collection agency notice about an illegally parked car after utilizing a valet at Westin Great Southern Hotel in Columbus, Ohio.
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You can access Westin Great Southern Columbus here.
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Reader’s Email:
I had a reservation at the Westin Great Southern in Columbus, Ohio for the night of March 1, 2024.
The hotel has no self parking, so we turned the car over to the valet service at the hotel. The Westin charged me $35 for the valet parking. I did not pay Laz Parking, the valet service.
All was fine with the car until I received a notice, 6 weeks later, from Parking Revenue Recovery Service, Inc, which is a collection company. The car was parked illegally in a private lot by the Laz Parking valet. The collection notice is charging me for $92 because the car was parked illegally. I think that since it is a collection agency, I will probably get a hard hit on my credit report.
When I call the Westin, the general manager has not been “on property” for 3 days. The Westin turned me over to the parking service. The Westin claims they have nothing to do with the valet service. But the hotel did charge my credit card for parking.
The parking service manager said that it is a “glitch” as the parking lot just installed cameras. That says to me that Laz Parking may have been using the lot illegally until they got caught with the cameras being installed. The parking manager promised to “fix” the situation and he was going to send me an email confirming that. No email has arrived.
I travel only for pleasure. I have decided that I am lucky that I even got the car back. In the future, I will never drive a car into any hotel that does not have their own parking lot, or that uses a valet service. Laz Parking is nationwide valet parking company. I consider this fraud.
The reader should send a certified letter with a return receipt to the collection agency and dispute the debt. This is to ensure that there is a record of the dispute and that it is in writing.
I would also open a case with Marriott customer service against this Westin hotel so that there is a record of it on Marriott’s system.
The reader should also ask for points as compensation for the hassle of going through this.
Conclusion
I find it laughable when a hotel claims no responsibility or has nothing to do with the parking service it has contracted with and from which it profits.
It would have been the hotel’s responsibility to deal with the parking provider to ensure that the issue had been resolved and to send the reader a written confirmation.
This is NOT overkill, considering that it may hurt the reader’s credit report if the collection agency takes actions against takes further actions, and this amount is reported to the credit bureaus as a past due collection.
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