Complaint Review: DFW Airport Valet - Dallas, TX Select State/Province

DFW Valet Parking (dba of DFW Parking and Parking Concepts, Inc. and quite possibly it looks actually part of Dallas Fort Worth Airport?) - DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.   

10/3/13 Thursday.  I use Valet Services almost everywhere I go.  So have quite a bit of experience in what is 'normal'.  This was at Terminal E, Section 35F - Spirit Airlines Terminal area.  

These guys seemed GREAT - easy to drop off and when you get out - they ask you 'when will you be returning and what is flight number'.  I didn't know the flight number, but knew exactly 'when' I was returning - 9am Monday Morning 10/7/13 - as was my friend in the car behind me.   And they advised the cars would be there when we returned. Asked for my cell number and my friends cell number - we gave it.  As well as email.  

ASKING AGAIN - I asked - are you sure we would have cars when we arrived?  Because I had a meeting at 10:30am.  Response - absolutely - not a problem.   And cost?  Only $5/day over the normal airport parking cost.  GREAT - or so we thought.

When we returned at 9am (got there around 9:10) THEY WERE CLOSED.  No signs.  No notice what to do.  No email to us, no text message, no phone calls to us - nothing. We waited for about 10 min thinking they 'might' be late opening.  

Finally realized there was a phone number on the ticket.  We called.  Put on hold several times and hung up on.  Called again.  Put on hold again.  

Then finally advised that location was closed 'due to construction' and no one could park there and we would have to go to the other end of the airport terminal to get cars???   REALLY???   There is 'no' construction going on in the parking lot and cars were coming and going while we stood there, parking and leaving.  

My advise them that the lot is open and operating fine - they did not believe me.  

Advising again - 'you need to go to the other end of the terminal'.  REALLY???  With our heavy bags - and THIS IS VALET SERVICE????    (at this point we realize we need to take photos of the lot open, the time and the valet stand being closed so we had 'proof'.  Ridiculous taht we have to go to this trouble to prove we are telling the truth to the valet company that should be delivering our cars to us).

Then the secretary advised us that her manager (Justin Spurgeon) said both our cars were on "will call" (and that is what the girl that checked us in put on the ticket - nothing about the information we gave her about our flight) and we were supposed to call in advance since we did not have a flight number when we turned them in.   Ahem...   NO... that is NOT what we told her.  That is NOT what we were advised

But - errors happen in business - you just correct it and give courtesy by such error.

It took a supervisor (Justin Spurgeon) to finally get on the phone to rudely agree to 'bring our cars around to 'their own valet stand' and disgruntled that they had to do so.  

At this moment we took photos of the 'closed' valet stand - 9:36 and obvioius cars parking in that lot (see photos).  We had been there for 26 minutes.

When our cars finally arrived - it was around 9:55 (yes, we were there waiting almost an hour now - we could have parked our own cars when we arrived and left immediately after we got back faster).   And they demanded 'pay the valet fee'.  I refused and said there "was no valet or courtesy involved"  I handed the guy $160 for the airport parking fee DFW charges but did not pay the part for the 'valet' portion.  The guy said 'wait - I will have a supervisor come... I refused as they had already had me waiting almost an hour, so we left.

You know - errors happen in business.  I know this and when it happens in my companies - we are always gracious towards our customers.  If an AC goes out on a weekend and it is 100 degrees outside and it cannot be fixed over the weekend - we put our tenants in a hotel until it is fixed.  Airlines that overbook - give you a free ticket.  Food bad at a restaurant - they don't charge you.  It is called 'courtesy' and hoping to get your business again so they can show they are good at what they do.    NOT THIS COMPANY.

They kicked in - BIG BROTHER.   It seems DFW Airport and DFW Airport Valet (a private company owned by Parking Concepts, Inc.) have a unique relationship.  

When we go to 'leave the airport' - we are denied the ability to leave.   We both pull through the booth with over 20 cars behind us - and then are held there unless we pay $160 to leave.  (yes, again).     It seems DFW Airport has no record of us 'paying the $160' to DFW Airport Valet so we can leave.  By the way - it is now like 10:10am - 1 hour since we arrived at the valet podium.   GREAT SERVICE. 

We call DFW Airport Valet (yes - with my friend behind me and over 20 cars behind us waiting to leave) and the secretary at DFW Airport Valet (who we talked to originally when our car was not there as well as others - acted as if they had no idea who we were and what we are talking about as if they did not know what had happened.  This went on passing us around to others for 5 min - yes - with 20 cars behind us stuck between concrete barricades and they cannot leave or back up.

Finally DFW Airport Valet's supervisor (Justin Spurgeon again) acknowledge they received the $160 - but he 'refused' to acknowledge we paid it so we can leave - unless we also pay the valet fee.    

I am lost here - how can DFW Airport 'keep' us from leaving if we 'paid' the Airport Fees as required 'to DFW Airport Valet'????

We disagree for about 10 min about whether they have a 'responsiblity' to acknowledge to Dallas Fort Worth Airport that 'we did pay the airport fee.    The Airport acknowledge while we were there - that if DFW Airport Valet will acknowledge that 'we did pay the airport fee' we could go.  

DFW Airport Valet ( Justin Spurgeon) refused to provide that information.  

At this point I threaten to call 911 to file a report of 'theft of funds' since we gave them the airport parking fee and they are not acknowledging they received it.

FINALLY - at 10:23 they agree to send an 'email' of such payment.  I advise text message would be faster - he advises email willl be sent and hangs up.   At this point - with pissed off drivers behind us, the Dallas Fort Worth Airport security start one by one having cars back up so they can leave and put barricades behind us so no one else gets caught in this concrete barricade.  

Email did not arrive after 5 min, so I call again (5 min is a LONG TIME to be waiting for an arm to lift up so you can leave)  It is now 10:27.  Advise 'no email'.   After being on hold for a few minutes more - secretary comes on and says 'it was sent' and hangs up.

Still 5 more minutes in the barricade, no email (by the way - an officer was standing by my car this whole time on the radio to Dallas Fort Worth Parking supervisor.

So I call again and demand they send it by text.

10:32 - they finally send a text message from 972-574-2407 advising $160 paid, $56.50 valet fee still owed.

What happens when I show it to the officer?   Sorry...    you have to pay the valet fee or we cannot let you go.   

Calling and texting to DFW Airport Valet (aka DFW Valet Parking) - no response.  None.

Advise by text and voice msg that 'if you screw up - it happens, but you give courtesy to the customer. I don't give a crap about $56, but I do care about a company giving courtesy to its customer (me) particularly a company that is 'in the business' of providing courtesy.' and you need to fix this now - call Dallas Fort Worth Airport Parking and advise you screwed up and are waiving the valet fee.  Or I will just ensure it is easy for others to know what your service is like.'.

No response.

I waited 5 more minutes - now it is 10:45 (yes now 1 1/2 HOURS since we arrived at THEIR CLOSED DOWN VALET STAND) - I handed the Dallas Fort Worth Airport Security guy a $50 and a $20 ($70) and demanded them to raise the arm so we could leave.  He insisted on me waiting so he could give me change since only $56 was owed.  I insisted it was not about the money - it was about courtesy and demanded the arm be raised so I could go 'now' to the appointment I was already very very late for.

I sent Justin Spurgeon an email later giving them 1 day to offer a refund and apology and I got no response.  So this posting is my response as promised.

I know Justin is just a supervisor - but at the level he is at - he DOES have the ability to ensure customers have a pleasant experience with the company.  

Therefore this is a failure of DFW Airport Valet (aka DFW Valet Parking, of Parking Concepts, Inc.).

AND of Justin Spurgeon as a manager seeing that he had a customer that was not properly taken care of - he should have done what a good manager normally does.  Ensure the customers uses them again by giving courtesy.  Nope - it was all about getting paid - regardless of their failures.

What were the failures of DFW Airport Valet (aka DFW Valet Parking)?

1. The girl that 'received the car' that works for them putting ALL information given to her about our flight 'on the valet ticket'.  She did not.

2. Not knowing a parking lot 'they operate in' is actually open and operating.

3. NO signage at their Valet Stand if it is closed - to call a number or where you can go to get information (we were on a trip - what if we had 'lost' our ticket?  We would not even have a number to call them.

4. When it was advised to them that we 'did' in fact give information to the girl that took our car - you 'assume' the customer is telling the truth (and drivers of both cars confirmed this).

5. "Immediately" offer to bring car around instead of demanding the customer that is paying for 'valet parking' to have to drag luggage across airport to another location. (which they finally did after we demanded they bring it to us and supervisor was rude about it).

6. Immediately offer a discount or 'something' for making us 'wait for a car for almost 40 minutes instead of acting as if the Customer did something wrong.

7. When the customer gets upset enough that they pay for airport parking and refuse to pay valet portion and leaves - you do NOT HOLD THEM HOSTAGE FOR AN HOUR as Justin Spurgeon and DFW Airport Valet (DFW Valet Parking) did to us at the concrete barricade of Dallas Fort Worth Airport until we paid the full valet fee when they failed in their entire company's concept of service to its customers.

I am an entreprenuer that has built over 40 companies and taken 2 public on the stock market.  I have made mistakes in my life also - but I quickly work to ensure the other party is properly taken care of and 'that' is how I have earned the trust and respect of many.

I have over 30 employees that travel a lot and some have used these guys services before - we are done using them.   And have advised a number of executives we are close to at other companies of our experience (which some now laugh about and refer to as the DFW Airport Valet hostage situation) - thus they will not be using them ever either.

This is NOT about a company making a mistake - that happens.  

It is about a company and a supervisor that have NO CONCEPT of how to provide 'courtesy' and if they make a mistake 'HOW TO TREAT THEIR CUSTOMER.

This is about a company and a supervisor (Justin Spurgeon) that refuse to admit they made a mistake and quickly (or at all) seek to resolve it.  But instead focus on getting paid for sub-par performance for a service they advertise as 'convenient'.

This is where their lack of respect and discourtesy - will now ensure that the word spreads of how they handled myself and an employee and how they used Dallas Fort Worth Airport to hold us hostage.

I am too busy to spend time dealing with such idiotic attitude by a company and its manager Justin Spurgeon, but to ensure they know the damage they can do to themselves by such poor management decisions - this story that will stick with enough people as the DFW Valet Parking hostage situation - as to hurt their business some.  As well as the postings that I now have an employee posting on various other websites to ensure they get the message - a mistake is one thing.  Not handling it well is not forgivable.

DFW Airport Valet

DFW Valet Parking

Parking Concepts

Justin Spurgeon

- you need to grow up and learn how to admit mistake and take care of your customers and not use hard handed tactics - or your business will be posted by your customers as not worthy of people using or as a manager of companies hiring you in the future because you don't know how to handle customers.