We’ve heard of valets destroying cars while driving them, but what happened at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco on April 17, 2014, is surely something new, as the Prior Design Audi R8 suffered damages in the hands of a hotel employee when the fire department was called in to get him out of the car…
Evidently, the hotel valet suffered a disc herniation while in the tuned R8 and required professional help to get him out of the vehicle. According to Prior Design, the operation caused around €10,000 (about US$13,600) in damages to the modified R8.
Well, accidents do happen and you can’t blame the valet for that, but Prior Design says it specifically asked the hotel management to not let anyone drive the car. However, the hotel cited its own rules that the owner cannot park his/her own car and this is what happened, according to a press statement that Prior Design sent to us:
“After sitting behind the steering wheel, the hotel staff suffered a herniated vertebral disk and could no longer step out of the car without help. After approximately six police officers and eight rescue paramedics had virtually “stormed” the vehicle within the scope of the rescue operation that was launched, severe trails of damage were left on the interior fittings of the Audi that are refined with carbon, Alcantara and the most sophisticated nappa leather.”
Prior Design’s problem with this is that the hotel denies any accountability.
“The hotel has so far declined liability for the damages of about EUR 10,000 suffered in the aftermath of the operation even though the sportscar was handed over to a hotel staff at the time of the damage,” said Prior Design.
Whether the hotel should be liable for the damages from a legal-point of view is something we do not know, and while we can understand the tuner’s frustration, one thing we will say is that, the absence of any reference to the unlucky valet’s situation or even a “we wish him well” remark in Prior Design’s press statement is highly unfortunate…
By John Halas
PHOTO GALLERY
