Odd you could "own" a hotel over either a low speed fender bender and a 17 mile joy ride of a $200k car. They could have totaled it and you wouldn't have been due the value of more than a room or two!
Technically true...but I would have cleaned their clocks in court...and on the evening news. I would have owned them, and Mr. Tisch even admitted such to me in emails, which I still have.
Reading all these stories makes me wonder how lucky some of us are that our cars have not been used in illegal activities, such as drugs or street racing. Then, assuming the car was not wrecked and the valet killed, the car would be confiscated and impounded despite the fact that the owner had no knowledge or involvement in the commission of the crime. I hear of cases on a regular basis where a company car is siezed because the employee is cruising for drugs or prostitutes and gets busted. Last thing we all need is some Sonny Crockett wannabe playing the hotshot in our cars.
Maranello man, sorry to hear what bs has happened when you vallet your car. Im young not able to drive yet so I dont have a story to tell about my ferrari getting trashed. Though I would like a ferrari some day. Anyways, this is like im not sure if many people have seen this movie but "Ferris Bullers Day Off" Ferris and his friend borrow the friends dads ferrari. and they go off on a day in down town. They park the car at a garadge and tell the guy to take care of the car. Next seen you see 170+ mph flying over a hill. Its funny in a movie, but not in real life. Its said to hear what has happened to peoples f-cars...
Well, actually, I had my game face on both times. No emotion, exceedingly polite, quiet, no raised voices or threats or anything. I literally gave them EVERY opportunity to do the right thing. And they failed. It took some trial & error to learn the email addresses of the top bananas...but it only took a couple of hours. And lemme tell you, these guys PAY ATTENTION when your email subject line says "Unfortunate incident involving my Ferrari"...and you mention "on the advice of counsel" in it... Here is some of the actual email exchanges with CEO and Chairman (2 different people) involving the 4 Seasons incident, in reverse chrono order (names changed or deleted): From: "**** ******" <****.******@fourseasons.com> To: ******@******.com Cc: "Nan W" <****.****@fourseasons.com>, "Paul C" <****.****@fourseasons.com>, "Chris H" <****.****@fourseasons.com> Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 15:59:05 -0400 Message-ID: <[email protected]> Dear Mr. *****, I am in receipt of your letter to Mr. ***** and me dated September 6, 2000 regarding the unfortunate incident in which your brand-new Ferrari 550 Maranello was damaged at the Four Seasons Hotel, Austin. I was certainly sorry to learn of this incident and I can appreciate how distressing it must have been for you to discover what had happened. I have investigated the circumstances with the Hotel and understand that Mr. D, the gentleman who backed into your vehicle, has agreed to cover the cost of replacement. Please be assured that, in the event the appropriate payment is not made by Mr. D, we are prepared to cover the costs. I understand that Mr. Paul C, General Manager of the Hotel, has already spoken with you in this regard. I wish to add my sincere regrets that your Ferrari was damaged at our Hotel and my hope that you are soon able to enjoy your stunning new vehicle again. Please contact me if your have any further concerns. We truly value your patronage and look forward to welcoming you back soon. **** ****** President, Worldwide Hotel Operations --------------------------------------------------------------- From: David ***** <*******@*******.com> To: ****.****@fourseasons.com Cc: ****.****@fourseasons.com Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 09:46:08 -0500 Subject: Unfortunate incident Message-ID: <20000906.094617.-147361.2> Mr. X & Mr. Y, I am writing this note to you regarding a highly unfortunate incident that occurred to me & my US$240,000 vehicle at your property in Austin, Texas, and the abhorrent way one of your staff there has chosen to react to it. I reside in Austin. On Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000, at 12:05 PM, I drove up to the entrance of your Austin property to meet a friend, there for a meeting, for lunch, after which I would take him to our home, to spend the evening with my wife & me. I drove up in my brand-new year 2000 Ferrari 550 Maranello, with around 300 miles on the odometer. I had just taken delivery of this special-order masterpiece a couple of weeks before!! The valet instructed me to park directly under the porte cochere overhang at the entrance, literally right in front of the main entrance & the valet stand. He even moved another vehicle out of the way, so I could park where he instructed me. Upon his request, I then gave him the key to my Ferrari. He gave me no receipt tag, but that was not an issue, since mine was a very unique vehicle. It really stood out! I met my friend, had a superb lunch (as always at this property), and together we went outside to get my key & drive home...whereupon the valet informed me that there was "a problem with my car". He told me, and then showed me, that another hotel patron, whose Suburban SUV was apparently parked directly in front of my car, had also gotten his key back from the valet. He then promptly backed his Suburban right into my Ferrari, right in front of & under the noses of the Four Seasons staff. Thankfully, it appears he stopped immediately, before he could total my car with his enormous truck. He was also known to the hotel staff, and is a very regular client at this property. Meanwhile, while all this was going on, I was dining merrily with my friend, it seems. Anyway, there was damage to my brand-new Ferrari. Once I got past the shock of this, I was astounded that something like this could ever occur, of all places, right in front of the door of a Four Seasons Hotel, under the noses of the valets, when they were in full control & care of both vehicles. Thankfully, hotel security had been summoned, and they took 4 digital photos, one of the car & 3 of the actual damage. I have attached them for your convenience. In addition, the culprit, Ron D., and one of your asst. managers, Philip B., appeared, whereupon Mr. D took full responsibility & promised to pay for all the damages in full. My dealer tells me the whole front fascia needs to be replaced. This part is not in inventory, & needs to be fabricated from scratch in Italy, and will take at least a month to reach the U.S. It appears that the entire job will cost around US $5,000, and this estimate has been provided to Mr. D already by the dealer. However, the reason I write this to you, on the advice of my personal attorney, is contained in the email exchange below, between me & Mr. B, your employee. I sought to remind him that, should Mr. D be unable or unwilling to actually make payment, as he promised, that I would hold the Four Seasons Austin hotel to equal liability for the damages, since hotel staff were in 100% care, custody, & control of my Ferrari, and should have exercised rudimentary care & caution with it and the Suburban, another vehicle under their care & custody, parked immediately in front of mine. I am aghast at Mr. B's attitude. My attorney informs me that I am 100% in the right here, as I inform Mr. B below. There appeared to have been absolutely no provisions made to care for a vehicle of such obvious rarity & high value, as one would expect of a Four Seasons Hotel. I liken this to a patron entrusting your staff with a very valuable piece of jewelry. Would you leave it right on the Concierge's desk, or would you look after it properly? I think I make this point adequately to Mr. B, below. I am not shaking you down, nor seeking money at this time. I am confident that Mr. D will make this right, despite me potentially having to wait a month or more to make my brand-new Ferrari new again, on top of the 2 weeks elapsed since this happened. I am merely alerting you to potential liability, and to the cutomer-hostile attitude of Mr. B. Should Mr. D not make good, I absolutely will pursue full damages from the Four Seasons Austin--and I will win. It sickens me that, with only 300 miles on the odometer on my all-time dream car, I can no longer even say that it has never been damaged...and that it happened where I would have thought it would have been most safe--right in front of the main entrance of one of your hotels! Please feel free to contact me at this email, or at the phone number below, if you or your staff would like to discuss the episode further. Best regards, David ***** Austin, Texas 512-***-**** --------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 19:29:08 -0500 Subject: Re: Ferrari Message-ID: <[email protected]> Thanks for your message...but that's the wrong answer. Your employees specifically directed me to park in that location, assuring me the vehicle would be "very safe". Additionally, they had the keys while I had lunch in your cafe. Furthermore, the incident occurred right under their noses. Now, if I were running a valet operation, and a customer drove up in a brand-new exotic car, I would put coned both in front & behind it. So, your people were in 100% care, custody, and control of at least my vehicle at the moment of the incident, and they should have been in 100% control of Mr. D's vehicle as well, since it was literally right at your front door. Furthermore, I agreed to no release of liability on anybody, etc. Now, I am not rattling a saber, Philip. I fully expect Mr. D to make good. But, should he not, my attorney informs me that your employees were directly responsible for both vehicles at the moment of incident, and thus your property also has liability. But I do not expect we will ever need to have this discussion again, eh? FYI, the dealer in San Antonio has required payment in advance ($3,500) in order to order the part from Italy, since it is a special order. I have left that message for Mr. D--he needs to get them the money ASAP, so we can get the part ordered & begin the process of making my vehicle right again. Thank you, David On Tue, 29 Aug 2000 12:48:21 -0500 Philip.*********@fourseasons.com writes: > Dear Mr ***** > > Thank you for your Email of Friday 28th August regarding the incident > last Thursday. I trust the digital photographs that we supplied will > assist in expediting the repairs. We will continue to assist in any > way that we can, but would like to clearly advise you of our position > relevant to the incident. > > We are very confident that as Mr. D fully accepted responsibility > for the accident and the cost of repair as advised on the day, this > issue will be brought to a very satisfactory conclusion between the > two of you. > However, I > must inform you that the Four Seasons Austin is not in a position to > accept any responsibility for the incident in any way. As both > vehicles were parked by their respective owners we were not in the > care, custody or control of the vehicles and cannot be held liable for > any responsibility or costs relevant to the incident. > > If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact > me at any time. > > Yours sincerely > > Philip B > Executive Assistant Manager > Four Seasons Hotel Austin >
If he was to hurt or hurt someone else due the hotel not telling him the truth from the beginning, and allowing him to drive a potentially damaged and unsafe care, he could get a home-run lawsuit.
Always the right way to go about things. Glad to see that there was positive resolve in the end, but still, something you definetly could've lived w/o in the first place. --Dan
