A holidaymaker who paid £66 for a week's 'meet and greet' parking at Stansted airport has ended up hundreds of pounds out of pocket after their car was damaged and they were hit with penalty charges.
The reader, identified only as RGW from London, booked through the price comparison website compareairportparkings.co.uk. The plan was for their car to be collected from the short-stay car park, parked off-site while they were away, and then returned to them at the short stay upon their arrival back in the UK.
However, upon returning, they were kept waiting for four hours before being told the car was ready. It had evidently been in an accident, and a repair quote for the smashed front came to £4,000. The short-stay car park had no record of the car ever having left, so RGW had to pay a £477 parking ticket on exit. Stansted staff reduced this to £250 after an explanation.
Later, RGW received a £100 penalty charge notice from Stansted for breach of parking conditions. Compareairportparkings refunded the £66 booking fee but told RGW to take up the case with the operator, which is not responding to calls or emails. The police said it is a civil matter.
This incident highlights the dangers of cheap parking deals offered by price comparison websites. An investigation by consumer group Which? found that some companies operate under generic, ever-changing names and may be the same as the comparison sites that recommend them. Unscrupulous outfits sometimes dump customers' cars on roadsides, building lots, or in official car parks without paying.
RGW's booking involved multiple companies: Swift Meet and Greet, Airport Parking Deals (terms and conditions link), Travel Extra Deals (trading as compareairportparkings), Parking4u, Nation wide Parking, and Safe Meet and Greet. This web of entities made it nearly impossible to determine the contract holder.
Stansted initially said it could not help because the contract was with a third party, but after being questioned by the Guardian, it reversed course. It cancelled the £100 PCN as a 'gesture of goodwill', reviewed ANPR footage, and concluded that the car tailgated another vehicle through the exit barrier after drop-off and returned to the car park shortly before the flight landed. The airport refunded the parking fee.
Stansted has issued a cease and desist letter to Safe Meet and Greet, which it claims is operating an unauthorised meet and greet service from its car park, and is liaising with trading standards. Essex trading standards declined to confirm an investigation but advised customers to report concerns to Citizens Advice.
Consumers are advised to book through official airport websites and check reviews on independent platforms. However, RGW still faces the repair bill, which may lead to higher insurance premiums in the future.
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