Here’s a Valet Tip: It’s Harder Than It Looks

Doris Weldon holds the clump of keys up to the dim overhead light, shifting her long, curly red hair to one side.

“Is this a Honda or a Hyundai?” the 28-year-old parking valet asks herself out loud, attempting to decipher markings on the key.

“Let me see,” said Esther Goodstein, who is shuttling valets from a film festival fundraiser on Revuelta Way in Bel-Air to distant spots where they have parked nearly 200 cars for the event. “That’s a Honda. I’ll just put on my brights and we’ll see what we can find. We’re not giving up.”

She speeds down the steep, winding streets lined with valet-parked cars. It’s been 20 minutes since Weldon and Goodstein started looking. The streets all look the same, and cars are difficult to make out. Silver looks like white. Beige looks like red. It’s dark. It’s cold. It’s late. Weldon cowers at the thought of facing the Honda’s owner.

Goodstein stops suddenly. “Is that a Honda?” pointing at a silver car. “No,” Weldon replies with a sigh. “It’s a Mercedes.”

Many valets complain that car owners, waiting for their prized possessions to return, have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, that impatient customers assume valets are taking leisurely cruises in their cars when, often, they are scrambling just to find them.

“It’s a lot harder than people give it credit for,” said Troy Perry, the owner of Mission Viejo-based Preferred Service, which parks cars for several restaurants at South Coast Plaza. “It can be a very difficult job.”

Here are some facts about valet parking that drivers may not know:

* Many times, a valet’s job is not just to park, but to look for parking -- on the street or wherever else spots may be available. Many valet companies do not have a parking lot reserved for their customers. Valets must drive around until they find a spot, then walk back to the drop-off area and start the process all over again. Through their repeated treks, they must remember where they parked all those cars.

Although valets often make a note of where the cars are parked, it might be a different person retrieving the vehicle at the end of the shift. The second valet may not know how to get to the street where the car is parked. The note on the car key -- detailing the car’s make, color and license plate -- may also be wrong.

At the Bel-Air party last week, a fuming guest who was waiting for his silver Saab for 45 minutes may not have understood that the valets were hard at work. But they thought his Saab was black.

* Because many keys fit more than one car, you may get back the wrong car with your keys, or the wrong keys with your car. Valets often find themselves parking several cars that are virtually identical, and mix-ups are common. Perry said one customer drove away with the right car -- a Ford Explorer -- only to realize after pulling into the driveway that the house keys didn’t fit. He suggests giving just one key, instead of a cluster of keys attached to bulky key chains, to minimize the hassle if keys go astray.

* Be aware that valets may know how to operate most cars on the market, but not all. They may need some help.

The engine on Honda’s gas-electric hybrid car, for example, runs on electricity at low speeds and makes no sound. So Goodstein worried she was doing something wrong when she thought she couldn’t start the car. It was on the whole time.

“Turn the key, give it a second and when it says ‘ready,’ you can drive,” she now explains in a confident tone. “Sometimes you wish the owners would tell you these things.”

Also be aware that a rare and exotic car will attract attention; and be prepared for your valet to show it off.

“When I get a nice car I’ve never seen before, I like to go to the end of the lot and turn around,” said Angel Resendiz, a valet at Antonello restaurant in Costa Mesa.

That’s not too often, he said. Resendiz said he’s driven most cars on the market. He knows that the new Mercedes has a keyless ignition and the new Cadillac locks and unlocks automatically when the key is within a certain distance. He cringes when he sees a Hummer drive in: Parking the massive vehicle is nearly impossible, he said.

* Don’t leave strange things in your car, or be assured induction into the annals of valet war stories.

“One woman left a 7-year-old in the car,” said Perry, now in his 10th year of owning his valet company. “She told us she didn’t want to wake him up. We left the car right up front until she came out.”

Another woman, at a private party, quickly shoved bundles of marijuana into the glove compartment as Myeisha Phillips, 24, was getting ready to valet the car.

A more common discovery for valets is a dog.

“They become our mascot for the party,” said Goodstein, an actress who has been a valet for about six months. “We’ve met some really nice dogs that way.”

* Valets come in all shapes and sizes. But Perry said the best ones are 5 feet, 6 inches tall. A valet at that height can drive anything from a titanic Hummer to the microscopic Mini, he said.

Back in Bel-Air, Weldon and Goodstein finally found the Honda they were searching for. They had zoomed past it several times before.

Valets realize that what customers don’t know can cost them tips -- which, for many, is the reason they’re in the business. Perry said a good tip is $5, a great tip is $10 and an excellent tip is $20 -- but a customer who has been forced to wait for a car might give little or nothing.

But beware of asking a valet for change.

Once, Weldon recalled, “Someone wanted $4 back from a $5 bill.” But because she keeps her change in her sock, “It smelled,” she said. “And it was kind of damp.”

*

If you have a question, gripe or story idea about driving in Southern California write to Behind the Wheel c/o Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or send an e-mail to behindthewheel@latimes.com.