A new South Surrey-based business aims to provide a no-fuss ride home for people who don’t want to drink and drive.
Valet On The Way claims to raise the bar for businesses that get both clients and their vehicles home by offering a higher standard of service, providing better insurance coverage than other services and by allowing people to reserve rides in advance.
“What’s been happening in the industry is people just call in and hope for the best,” company president Louise Girard said.
“We’re getting away from that.”
Valet On The Way estimates people who want to get both themselves and their vehicles homes safely can wait up to five hours to get a ride home for them and their car on New Years’ Eve.
The company says a single call to its toll-free number will dispatch two drivers in a backup car to meet the client anywhere.
The cost, according to the online estimator at the Valet On The Way website, varies with length, with $32.65 for a five-kilometre trip and $54.20 for a 20-kilometre journey.
Since it launched in August, the company has been promoting its service with “Valet Girls” who are dressed like night-club hostesses and go into into local drinking establishments to pass out promotional literature.
The company has ambitions to expand beyond the Lower Mainland. A Victoria licensee just opened for business last week, and a Kelowna licensee is expected to begin operating within the next two weeks.
A Valet On The Way pamphlet says the company intends to expand into other Canadian provinces and the U.S.
Girard said the company does not compete with taxis, which offer a different kind of service, or with charitable groups that do not offer a year-round service.
She said Operation Red Nose – the Christmas-season service that gets drivers and their cars home – has even sent overflow clients to her company.
For information, call 1-855-879-8624 or visit www.valetontheway.com