Car 'Valet' (Parking) company damaged car

[Frimley111R]

I'm currently battling ********** at Gatwick. i used them in the past but always with an old car but this time had to use my Megane RS with 19" alloys. The drop off point is at the top of a very tight car park and when I collected my car I noticed that they'd kerbed both front alloys, one of them must have been done minutes before! I pointed this out, took photos and complained immediately. They said their T&Cs stated they took no responsibility for damage and I said they had a duty of care. They offered to refund my parking fe of £66 and then increased to £80 to close the matter. I'm not having that! Any for you gone through this successfully?

No naming and shaming please - No problem. I'll be doing that on the rest of the internet

Edited by Frimley111R on Wednesday 30th September 12:48

[TooMany2cvs]

What'll it cost to refurb the wheels?

[ruggedscotty]

small claims court - if the vehicle was damaged when you got it back then it is their problem as long as you have before and after pictures.....

[Big E 118]

I would guess a refurb would be about £80 per wheel plus VAT, I think I'd settle at 50/50 if you could get that out of them without having to resort to court.

If anyone has to take a decent car to Gatwick/Heathrow please look at this link first http://garaged.com/services/airport-valet-parking/

No links to me other than the company is owned by a fellow PHer and I know a number of happy customers.

[MrBarry123]

Big E 118 said:

I would guess a refurb would be about £80 per wheel plus VAT, I think I'd settle at 50/50 if you could get that out of them without having to resort to court.

If anyone has to take a decent car to Gatwick/Heathrow please look at this link first http://garaged.com/services/airport-valet-parking/

No links to me other than the company is owned by a fellow PHer and I know a number of happy customers.

I'd also take 50/50 if I was in that position and put it down to experience. In the future OP, either take an option where you take your keys with you or leave it with a specialist, not just a run-of-the-mill parking company.

RE: garaged.com - I'm one of those happy customers and would no longer leave my car anywhere else when travelling from either Heathrow or Gatwick.

[TooMany2cvs]

So if we're looking at £200-worth of repairs, everybody's happy to go 50/50, and the parking company have offered £80... then we're just about there, right?

[Frimley111R]

Yeah, lesson learnt. TBH I always took my old SAAB before so it was never an issue. I'd never take a decent car again.

[Jim1556]

Renault and Decent used in the same sentence?

Weird!

Hope you get it sorted bud, boils my piss when people don't treat other's possessions with respect! (French car or not)

[bad company]

I have heard of several incidents like this. I would never trust my pride & joy to one of these parking firms.

[Frimley111R]

Yep, if you've got some old shed to drive around then that'd be ok but never ever trust them with anything you care about.

I'm off the small claims court with these fkers atm.

[CAPP0]

I've had a few people rip into my comments on here before about things I've seen go on re valet parking, but I honestly can't see why anyone with even half a passing care about the vehicle would ever hand it over to any of these. Sorry to hear, OP, hope they sort it for you.

[ironictwist]

Frimley111R said:

Yep, if you've got some old shed to drive around then that'd be ok but never ever trust them with anything you care about.

I'm off the small claims court with these fkers atm.

Sorry to hear about your woes Ross! Let me know next time chap (We have many mutual friends after all!)...Scenarios like this were exactly why I setup my company. I didn't want to leave my car at the airport in long stay, but I didn't trust the vast/anonymous & easily unaccountable valet parking companies either

[Frimley111R]

Yes, lesson learnt. Always had an old car to do this but not this time. Just sent a legal letter to them and copied in Gatwick. The battle is well and truly on.

[Frimley111R]

Thought it worth an update on this...

So, I communicated in writing with the company who offered me my money back. At £110 per wheel to refurb them I told them 'No'. They then offered £100 and for me to take down my Google/Trustpilot reviews of them with 1 Star rating. I said no again and applied to small claims court for £450, essentially £220 for the wheels, £35 for the application and £200 for the PITA.

When you apply you can also use a mediation service by phone and so I went for this today. They agreed to pay £220 if I take down my reviews (there are a ton of other 1 star ratings on there anyway so no prob with that). Incidentally they did suddenly say I had signed a piece of paper when dropping off my car to show wheel damage and that they took photos too (lying ****!).

Anyway sorted now.

[randlemarcus]

Get the agreement in writing, clear the cheque from them, and then send that to TrustPilot. Fairly sure they will come down hard on them for buying bad reviews out.

[Frimley111R]

I might just do that...

[ozzuk]

I don't think I'd have agreed to change the feedback - at most I'd put there was an incident but they resolved it.

[slk 32]

randlemarcus said:

Get the agreement in writing, clear the cheque from them, and then send that to TrustPilot. Fairly sure they will come down hard on them for buying bad reviews out.

Don't expect trust pilot to do anything, they get paid by the valet company

I had my yodel trust pilot review removed for being overly critical