Keychain stolen by Ritz Carlton?

[Tarmac]

I used to have a small Mont Blanc keychain. It was a gift from my gf.

A few weekends ago we went to the Ritz Carlton for lunch. It was $10 valet parking. Handed them the keys.

They gave me the keys of course, when we left.

Today, I noticed, I don't have my keychain on it. Now, you might ask how I could miss this until now, but I have several large keys on there as well as my office building passkey thingy. Everything is black colored and about the same size rectangle, so I missed it until now. Anyway, can't change that, I didn't notice until now.

I haven't given my keys to anyone in the last month or so. I took my car into the shop but I removed the single car key only.

What are the odds that Ritz Carlton stole my keychain? .01%? 20%?

 

[gdl203]

√⅛ "°

 

[LabelKing]

They probably hired some high-schooler or some other form of unreliability for the valets.

I don't like valet parking--you have to pay a fee and are obligated to give a tip.

 

[texas_jack]

valets suck. I've had valets at nice hotels lose a key off of my keychain.

 

[LabelKing]

I don't know if cars still do, but older cars had a valet key. It would only work for the driver's door and the ignition.

 

[Charlie Big Potato]

I remember the Corvette ZR-1 valet key used to prevent taking the car over a certain speed (55?) amongst its more ubiquitous uses such as preventing access to glovebox, etc.

RE: OP - I give the valet's less than 10% likelihood that they lifted your MB keychain.

EDIT:

Here's a quick blog entry about the Vette valet key (I was wrong about the top speed):

To discourage "Dad, can I borrow the 'Vette?" hoonage, GM installed a "valet key." With the safety switched on, half of the LT5's valves shut down, as did half of its 16 fuel-injectors. Rad. This allowed the ZR-1 to scoot about town to the sound and relative fury of 250 ponies — still 5 hp more than the base C4. Once father was in a position to know best, he could turn the valet key and reactivate all the valves and injectors, unleashing the full stable of beautiful horses.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I don't know if cars still do, but older cars had a valet key. It would only work for the driver's door and the ignition.

That's not limited to older cars.

 

[LabelKing]

On TV, I see cars now have some kind of push-button.

I don't know how those work.

 

[Tarmac]

Yep actually I have a valet key - even though my car is old and cheap.

I don't carry around the valet because I got too much crap on my keychain already. Also, I only valet about 3x a year. Also you would have to remove it from your keychain every time you valey, which means you either have a quick-release type of keychain (less secure) or you fiddle with the damn split ring every time.

I guess I should suck it up and carry it around.

 

[lee_44106]

New cars still have the valet key concept.

Valet parking is for tools. Why? You give up control of your vehicle and gotta pay a tip.

 

[FidelCashflow]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I don't know if cars still do, but older cars had a valet key. It would only work for the driver's door and the ignition.

Originally Posted by lee_44106

New cars still have the valet key concept.

But newer cars also have trunk release latches inside the car. The valet key isn't protecting your car from anything.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

But newer cars also have trunk release latches inside the car. The valet key isn't protecting your car from anything.
Good point. I have valet keys that won't unlock the trunk in my cars, but the cars also have interior trunk releases.

 

[lee_44106]

Car driving 101: never leave anything valuable in car, let alone car trunk.

Cororary to rule 101: if there are valuables in the car, don't valet park

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by lee_44106

Car driving 101: never leave anything valuable in car, let alone car trunk.

Cororary to rule 101: if there are valuables in the car, don't valet park
I try to avoid valet parking if at all possible; however, it's not always possible, especially in large cities.

In these parts, restaurants try to have you valet even though their parking lots are next to the building and full of empty spaces. The attendants even try to insist that you valet. In these circumstances, I either park myself or leave.

 

[batorizer]

When I was apartment hunting in ATL a few weeks ago, the hotel I was staying at had valet parking and when I tried to self park, the guys pretty much turned to assholes. After that I didn't feel very bad about not tipping them.