Airport Parking Issue
Author
Discussion

TheHighlander

Original Poster:

1,674 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Left my RS at Airport Parking for 2 weeks.

We usually use the same company but for some reason my misses booked another company which is about half a mile down the road.

Took the car there as usual and dropped it off, they parked it for us and they keep the keys (usually I park it and take the keys)

Its quite a small parking area and that's fine, I zero'd the miles and took a photo of the clocks before I left and have come back with 1.2miles on the clock.

I was told my car was not moved once and it must be a error with the photo I have taken.

I have asked for CCTV footage but they are yet to provide this.

There is no way in hell they have clocked up the mileage parking the car as its about 30metres from reception the where it was parked. It was sat for 15 days.

It was 4am and I was pretty tired and didn't want to start having a debate there and then I just said i would be in touch and called the next morning.

Where do I stand with this?

tenpenceshort

32,880 posts

248 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
If there's no damage, don't waste any time over it. Just use a different company next time.

As an aside, I'm not sure what zeroing the clocks would achieve, as I'd imagine someone could park up and zero then again?

speedking31

3,963 posts

167 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Yes, better to take a picture with a random number on the clocks because that would be virtually impossible to replicate.

TheHighlander

Original Poster:

1,674 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
I took a photo of the actual miles aswell.

Yea it was a blonde moment zeroing the trip meter and I realised that after it.

No damage from what I can see.

Hol

9,316 posts

231 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Yes, but the odo reading would be 1.2 miles higher as well.


Hopefully, all they have done is driven it around the block.
I once found that a guy in a specialist garage had actually taken mine home in the evenings.

TheHighlander

Original Poster:

1,674 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Its not been taken home at nights as its out the way from everything.

Aye the odometer was up the miles. Not sure where to go with it as its more annoying than anything because a car like that would only be taken out to be abused if that makes sense.

tenpenceshort

32,880 posts

248 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
If you've suffered no damage, weigh up the stress and effort of taking it further (and risk of losing more than you have to date), against just not using them again. Principles are not good premise for this kind of dispute.

k99

547 posts

199 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Difficult one, if it was 10 miles it would definitely be worth following up.
Probably been taken once up and down the road near the car park. It would be difficult to cause much engine or clutch damage in that limited distance.

TheHighlander

Original Poster:

1,674 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
tenpenceshort said:
If you've suffered no damage, weigh up the stress and effort of taking it further (and risk of losing more than you have to date), against just not using them again. Principles are not good premise for this kind of dispute.
Yea I understand what you mean. Its just the principle of the issue. They have 24hr CCTV ect I have asked them to check it ect

Its more annoying than anything you know.

HD Adam

5,155 posts

215 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
They have undoubtedly taken your money and then your car to a field, unsecured industrial estate or side street and parked the car up for the duration of your trip.
On the day you collect, they go and retrieve your car making out it was in their car park all along.
0.6 miles to the unsecured parking and 0.6 miles back. Hopefully, not ragged to the redline when cold for either of those trips.
Common practice for shady airport parking and, unfortunately, you get what you pay for.

I've left my cars at various airport hotels where you get a stay and park for 14 days deal and always been asked to leave a key "in case" they need to move it.
I leave a key that doesn't fit and that won't open the central locking.
A few times I've been told that they needed to move the car for some bullst reason and that my key doesn't work.
My usual reply is "Oops, must have left the wife's spare key that I carry" and smile as I walk out biggrin

Corpulent Tosser

5,468 posts

276 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
The park you usually use is 1/2 mile away, the one you used this time is small.

Could it be due to lack of space the car park has done a deal with the larger one to store your car there until just before you were due to return ?

Mileage is about right !

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

264 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Corpulent Tosser said:
The park you usually use is 1/2 mile away, the one you used this time is small.

Could it be due to lack of space the car park has done a deal with the larger one to store your car there until just before you were due to return ?

Mileage is about right !
My thoughts to with a possible side road space involved...

Without whishing to sound all multi directorships about it though I really don't see why people who are 'that' worried about their car don't pay the extra for 'blue chip' parking. Heck even if I am leaving the Golf with them I have found that the extra £20 for valet parking is more than worth the st and hassle of car recovery when tired, fed up, 3am, pissing rain and a bus ride to the depot. Not to mention the heart failure stopping knowledge that even if you are delayed getting to the airport it's a case of park, throw keys and run to check in as opposed to find car park, check in with big queue of clueless punters, wait for bus to terminal, etc, etc.

TheHighlander

Original Poster:

1,674 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
Tosser - That sounds about right actually as the car had some mud splatters on it.

The place we usually park and have done for years have had no issue and usually valet the car for me just this time I let the misses loose on booking.

No damage has been done I'm more curious than ever now to find out what's been going on, called them about 1 hour ago and the manager is going to call me back.

glasgowrob

3,349 posts

152 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
at the end of the day they don't have your permission to be driving the car other than parking it,

suppose technically you could claim TWOCing


doesn't matter how many miles they have put on it they've still took it out without your permission who knows what they've been up to.

stewjohnst

2,479 posts

192 months

Wednesday 25th June 2014
quotequote all
i left my car with an airport parking company in Manchester and the dirty beggars left fag ash in it for me, phoned them on the way home when I spotted it on the centre console and got no redress.

A fairly scathing review on Facebook and I got a response within 3 minutes and eventually they agreed to pay for my car to be valeted. For those interested a search for s 1 star review of something like Apples Pineapple Hotel Parking (or abbreviations thereof) on facebook may find my responses...

Hol

9,316 posts

231 months

Thursday 26th June 2014
quotequote all
Rude-boy said:
y thoughts to with a possible side road space involved...

Without whishing to sound all multi directorships about it though I really don't see why people who are 'that' worried about their car don't pay the extra for 'blue chip' parking. Heck even if I am leaving the Golf with them I have found that the extra £20 for valet parking is more than worth the st and hassle of car recovery when tired, fed up, 3am, pissing rain and a bus ride to the depot. Not to mention the heart failure stopping knowledge that even if you are delayed getting to the airport it's a case of park, throw keys and run to check in as opposed to find car park, check in with big queue of clueless punters, wait for bus to terminal, etc, etc.
I have never really found the buses to be a problem, but these days anything over a weeks stay is more economic for my family of 4 to get a driver to take us door to door.

50miles each way costs us about £110 quid plus a tip.
That is for both journeys - Out & Home. (55p a mile)

ismellburning

136 posts

169 months

Thursday 26th June 2014
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The place a car ends up in an airport car park is never the place you leave it when you drop of the keys though, is it? You park outside the shiny arrivals office, then the car gets carted off somewhere less glamorous till you land, whereupon it's retrieved and dropped back at the office for your convenience.

0.6 of a mile doesn't seem terribly outrageous for a larger facility, although like most here I've heard horror stories about shiny cars used for fun, parked in unsecured places etc etc. The fag ash story here's a shocker redface

blueg33

46,904 posts

255 months

Thursday 26th June 2014
quotequote all
Using the train into Paddington, you can see massive parking lots that Purple Parking move the cars too after they have been dropped off nearer the airport. You see the same near Birmingham airport

I would never use them as I won't leave my car overnight by a railway line. The track cleaning trains can leave iron filings all over your paintwork, these can be a bugger to get off

jbsportstech

5,069 posts

210 months

Thursday 26th June 2014
quotequote all
1.2 miles is not much to get upset about abut it sounds like they took it to another location and only keep the cars onsite for the day you retutn.

I dont like people driving my car, at least you got it back ok.

I once parked a company car at a hotel. Their carpark was jam packed and they ask me to leave the keys incase they had to move it to let people out. It was a work do and they booked the hotel so thought ok.


When I checked out the next morning and asked for my keys to be told my car was not onsite and had to wait 40 minutes for someone to bring it back from a location they described as there overflow site! I would like to know were they took it!

DIW35

4,205 posts

231 months

Thursday 26th June 2014
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
The track cleaning trains can leave iron filings all over your paintwork, these can be a bugger to get off
That will actually be brake dust, as track cleaning trains are generally only used in the autumn to try and keep leaf mulch off the rails. Look at any structure close to a railway line and it will be covered in a dull brown coating which, as you say, is a bugger to get off.