[rant] So I drive my a4 to work everyday, and I valet my car since parking is non-existant. All of the valet guys know me and my car, and I treat them pretty well with tips. Well last night at 2:30 AM as I am closing up (I'm a barback), they tell me that they somehow lost my car keys somewhere between driving my car up to the front of the restuarant and the valet stand, which is at most 25 ft away. Of course I get real pissed and continue to tell them that it is their only job to make sure that the customer gets their car and keys back, and that they somehow screwed up the one responsibility that they are supposed to manage. I give the head valet guy my number and he tells me that he will call me first thing in the morning to straighten this out and drive me to the audi dealership for a new key. This calms me down a little, but needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night thinking about if someone finds my key. So i wake up this morning - no phone call. I decide to call the audi dealerships in the boston area, and of course none of them are open on sundays! So right now (and for the next day) my car is sitting on the street with a missing set of keys somewhere around it, with tickets pilling up (that the valets will have to pay for). Man i miss my car...
[/rant]
Anyone know how long it takes to get a new key fob cut/how much?

 

That sucks man; i'd be freaking out too. When i bought my car, the salesman gave me two sets of fob's and mentioned that a new set ran around $75 but i'm not positive on that. If i were you, i'd get the valets to pay for the new set of keys and the tickets.

 

$75?!? I had to pay $180 for my key, and it was just for one of them! (then I realized you could get one on ebay and have it cut[:@])

 

Hmm, Hmm...you don't have a second key, anywhere??? Maybe you should get an extra key cut since the valet will be paying for the computer linking and such. All you have to pay for then is the second FOB.

Good luck!

Cheers!

 

Yea a second key would probably be a good idea.

I still can't believe that they drove the car from a parking garage a block or two away, to the restaurant, and then lost the key somewhere around it.

 

Yea, that's why I always keep that little cheap plastic valet key in my wallet. So I can atleast use the car if I happen to lose the reg key.

 

+1 on the wallet key. It is a good thing to have

 

that sucks dude. i am a valet and crap like this happens unfortunately. i have no idea how guys misplace keys ( well usually someone well leave it in their pocket and it can fall out in another car) besides that its not really that hard of a job. the company should cover all costs of a replacement key.

 

An Update:

I finally got to drive my car home last weds night after getting 2 new keys shipped by Audi from NJ. Final cost for the keys...almost $300, which the valet company paid for.

I wish this would be the end of the post, but the rant continues...

So tonight after work (around 2:15 am) I get in my car (which the valets parked infront of the restaurant), and I can't put the the car in gear! I was literally using two hands to try and make it get into any gear and it wouldn't budge. I let it sit for a minute, try again, and it finally goes into first, but now its bogging down way more than normal and the car starts to slightly shudder. I happened to offer two other bartenders a ride to their car, and they watch me struggle to get the thing to move down the street, every shift change is forced. When I stop to drop them off I can smell something burning (which I assume is my clutch, I've done a few hard launches to remember that smell). When I finally get to my parking garage, I discover that and I can't get her into reverse, but when I shut her off - she will shift cleanly. Obviously something isn't lining up, or is locked up with my clutch, any ideas on what the hell the valets did to my car?

 

i left my 2nd key at home, just for that type of an incident