Gatwick First Parking gone bust, cars missing.
Discussion
Kermit power said:
I'm only just down the road from you in Ewell. That does seem like an awful lot of effort to save on a minicab fare from Sutton to Gatwick!
Cool. As I have nowhere suitable to store my car off road can I park my car on your drive for 2.5 weeks from August into September? Probably not gone bankrupt in the traditional sense.ie broke. Probably ceased trading to avoid paying business rates etc. Company will likely re emerge like a phoenix from the ashes. Happens a hundred times or more each day. There will be plenty of money but lots of unpaid creditors.
ashleyman said:
Kermit power said:
I'm only just down the road from you in Ewell. That does seem like an awful lot of effort to save on a minicab fare from Sutton to Gatwick!
Cool. As I have nowhere suitable to store my car off road can I park my car on your drive for 2.5 weeks from August into September? 
tty enough to be bothered about leaving my car on the street for a couple of weeks. Up until we moved about 12 years ago, my cars were always parked on the street, and would frequently spend fairly extended periods unattended without anything ever happening to them. Assuming that your car is parked on the road most nights anyway, what do you think is going to happen to it whilst you're away for a couple of weeks?
I could understand if you were having to leave a soft top supercar in the the middle of Hackney even overnight, but for a normal car in a normal area which is usually not parked off-road anyway, I don't understand the concern...
wiggy001 said:
ashleyman said:
I would still have to get myself from my house to Sutton train station which is either a 30 minute walk with luggage or a 15 minute taxi ride each way.
Either you walk incredibly fast or your taxis are actually bicycles!Kermit power said:
ashleyman said:
Kermit power said:
I'm only just down the road from you in Ewell. That does seem like an awful lot of effort to save on a minicab fare from Sutton to Gatwick!
Cool. As I have nowhere suitable to store my car off road can I park my car on your drive for 2.5 weeks from August into September? tty enough to be bothered about leaving my car on the street for a couple of weeks. Up until we moved about 12 years ago, my cars were always parked on the street, and would frequently spend fairly extended periods unattended without anything ever happening to them. Assuming that your car is parked on the road most nights anyway, what do you think is going to happen to it whilst you're away for a couple of weeks?
I could understand if you were having to leave a soft top supercar in the the middle of Hackney even overnight, but for a normal car in a normal area which is usually not parked off-road anyway, I don't understand the concern...
Or park it on the road on the single yellow I usually park on and come back to a few tickets.
Or I can try and find a bay in a local street and hope the local people don't do anything to it such as drive into it again. We've recently had a few cars and vans get stolen so leaving the car is a small worry.
It's all about wanting to enjoy my holiday and not worry about my car.
tali1 said:
How did they go bust - given that they had at the last count 120 customers ? Would have have thought they were making a healthy profit on that -esp given free street parking
Seems Umar isalso director of Basmati Rice - has he been......cooking the books?.....................
A bit of quick maths...Seems Umar isalso director of Basmati Rice - has he been......cooking the books?.....................
Edited by tali1 on Thursday 20th July 21:05
120 cars is very low numbers for a business like this to make money. if you consider most people go away for 1-2 weeks, that means they were only having 10 cars in and 10 cars out every day. To be competitive, they would have to charge less than £20 a day for parking, which is what it costs to park in the official car park, and less than £10 a day to compete with some of the major off-site car park companies that have official status.
All of that, plus taking money to pay for the staff who do all the meeting/greeting 24 hours a day, means they would need more than 10 customers a day to survive.
Shakermaker said:
tali1 said:
How did they go bust - given that they had at the last count 120 customers ? Would have have thought they were making a healthy profit on that -esp given free street parking
Seems Umar isalso director of Basmati Rice - has he been......cooking the books?.....................
A bit of quick maths...Seems Umar isalso director of Basmati Rice - has he been......cooking the books?.....................
Edited by tali1 on Thursday 20th July 21:05
120 cars is very low numbers for a business like this to make money. if you consider most people go away for 1-2 weeks, that means they were only having 10 cars in and 10 cars out every day. To be competitive, they would have to charge less than £20 a day for parking, which is what it costs to park in the official car park, and less than £10 a day to compete with some of the major off-site car park companies that have official status.
All of that, plus taking money to pay for the staff who do all the meeting/greeting 24 hours a day, means they would need more than 10 customers a day to survive.
HughG said:
It's not about the no of car movements but how many they are being paid to store. Splitting the difference on your numbers, say £15/d/car, 120cars = £1800/day which sounds sufficient.
Given that they don't have proper business premises to store them on, that shouldn't be the problem at all. But I don't think they were charging £15 a day, that's a bit rich for this, otherwise you're better using the alternatives offered through the approved schemes. probably gone under for "other reasons" as has been speculated on here.
bad company said:
Shakermaker said:
bad company said:
Shakermaker said:
some of the residents went as far as cutting tyres on the vehicles left across their road/driveway etc.
That'll be criminal damage then. 
A good reason not to leave your car with a company with a dubious reputation then.
I park a shed at the airport to avoid this.
I must have used M&G parking at least 20 times in the last 5 years, if not more.
Not once have I had a car returned to me with more than 20 miles on it (i think 12 is the most but i'm being 'generous' here) and other than the odd bird pooh it's always been in the same condition i left it in apart from almost every conceivable adjustment of the steering wheel and seats being wrong and having to turn the radio back up so I can hear Radio 4 (FWP, FML).
But then I have always booked the official M&G. I'd also add that it is only the Golf that i leave with them.
In all honesty I just could never go back to waiting in the rain with a bunch of holidaying families with hyperactive or hyper pissed off kids for some every 20 minutes bus to pick me up each end of my trip.
Not once have I had a car returned to me with more than 20 miles on it (i think 12 is the most but i'm being 'generous' here) and other than the odd bird pooh it's always been in the same condition i left it in apart from almost every conceivable adjustment of the steering wheel and seats being wrong and having to turn the radio back up so I can hear Radio 4 (FWP, FML).
But then I have always booked the official M&G. I'd also add that it is only the Golf that i leave with them.
In all honesty I just could never go back to waiting in the rain with a bunch of holidaying families with hyperactive or hyper pissed off kids for some every 20 minutes bus to pick me up each end of my trip.
I always use long stay car parks whenever I fly, which is fairly frequently. It's not particularly expensive, especially if you book a good while in advance, which I often cannot do.
The one at Gatwick unfortunately requires a short bus ride (I prefer Manchester where I can walk) but it's only 5 minutes or so.
The difference in cost is not worth the risk in my view.
The one at Gatwick unfortunately requires a short bus ride (I prefer Manchester where I can walk) but it's only 5 minutes or so.
The difference in cost is not worth the risk in my view.
Super Slo Mo said:
I always use long stay car parks whenever I fly, which is fairly frequently. It's not particularly expensive, especially if you book a good while in advance, which I often cannot do.
The one at Gatwick unfortunately requires a short bus ride (I prefer Manchester where I can walk) but it's only 5 minutes or so.
The difference in cost is not worth the risk in my view.
Absolutely The one at Gatwick unfortunately requires a short bus ride (I prefer Manchester where I can walk) but it's only 5 minutes or so.
The difference in cost is not worth the risk in my view.
Why anyone would trust a stranger with the keys to their car is beyond me.
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