Car alloy kerbed/damaged by meet and greet company

The Chemist

The Chemist

The Chemist

Associate
Joined
18 Jun 2012
Posts
597
Location
North/East London
Hi guys,

Recently used "we deal parking" to book a meet and greet parking service at Gatwick South Terminal on the 14th of June during a recent 5 day holiday to Istanbul. "We deal parking" have good reviews, but what I didnt realise is that they subcontact to other companies. The company that parked my car "myairport parking" has horrendous reviews with regards to late returns and damage. They took nearly 2 hours to return the car and on receiving it, I was welcomed to a massive 20cm ish kerb damage to the front offside wheel - so much so it damaged the plastic hub cub and took a good chunk of the metal allow away.

I confronted the driver who claimed he didnt do it and to email the company.

I emailed both "We deal parking" and "myairport parking" - safe parking told me to take it with my airport parking and my airport parking responded with this poxy email:

Hi X X,
Thank you for your email. We understand your concerns, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. As stated in our terms and conditions, specifically sections 4.5 and 4.6, we do not accept liability for mechanical, structural, and electrical failures of any part of your vehicle, including windscreens, glass chips, clutches, tyres, registration plates, and alloy wheels. Additionally, we can only be held liable for loss or damage if it is proven to be caused by the negligence of our employees.
We encourage you to review the complete terms and conditions, which can be found at the following link [insert link to terms and conditions]. If you have any further questions or require clarification, please feel free to reach out to us.
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This is the damage to the wheels. I have pictures of the car prior to handing it over to them with undamaged front wheels.





Is this a small courts claim then?
 
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Unfortunately, this is rife. It was on the watchdog part of The One Show a few weeks ago, and the "companies" are pretty much unreachable, so it will never be dealt with directly.

A small claims court is likely the only way you'll see some justice.

Did you check the mileage before and after? Not only were people's cars damaged by these scum, but they were clearly using them for other purposes, as some had hundreds of additional miles added to the clock!
 
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That has had a good whack, I'd be getting a wheel alignment check done and adding the cost of any alignment work to the claim.

I used to use these types of services all the time but since coming back to my (thankfully company provided) car to find two whacking great boot prints / scuffs on the steering wheel and A pillar I'll now only use onsite long stay and keep the keys with me.
 
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Ayahuasca said:
as some had hundreds of additional miles added to the clock!
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Something which seems sadly rife in this and related industries - even garages, even with relatively reputable companies, is to use customer's cars as hire cars...! I would go absolutely mental if I ever had proof mine was used like that.
 
Just looking at the title I thought to myself is it worth it to chase them?
Looking at the photos though that's horrendous that's not a scrape while parking but they have hit the kerb at some speed. Sadly I imagine court will be the only way they pay out.
 
The bends are quite sharp in the car park and I had to go quite slowly around them myself when going up the floors of the airport so I guess they just floored it. Im actally annoyed as I dont usually use these services for this reason and prefer a taxi - it was a joint holiday with my cousin and he cheaped out so we did the meet and greet parking. There's also a knick in the side wall of the tyre so I have claimed for the cost of an alloy wheel refurb, a new tyre and a new hub cap.

The mileage is sound and I checked periodically on the tesla app and it was kept parked under some roundabout for the duration it was with them.

I've filed a SCC claim for £470. Lets see how it goes.
 
Get a wheel alignment and buy a new wheel trim and move on with your life. It's frustrating, but the amount of time and money that this will cost you to chase will be far more than what you'll get from the company/court. Negative reviews are about the only comeback that you can hope to achieve here I think.

If it were a 20" diamond cut alloy then it might be worth pursuing.
 
XeNoN89 said:
It still amazes me that people use these airport meet and greet companies.
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Exactly. Just pay the extra to park yourself properly. Not worth it unless you drive a banger that you don’t care what happens to it.

Went to a similar valet parking place in central London, and saw how tight they try ram these cars into spaces and juggling them around, that I’d never let anyone park unless a proper valeting service at a good hotel or restaurant etc that would take responsibility.
 
If you paid by card could you not do a chargeback for poor services. Then it will be on them to respond.

I did it with something a few months back. The bank tried to contact them, couldn't either, so they refunded me.
 
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Nasher said:
If you paid by card could you not do a chargeback for poor services. Then it will be on them to respond.

I did it with something a few months back. The bank tried to contact them, couldn't either, so they refunded me.
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That's unlikely to cover the costs, and the parking company will probably just write it off, as it's cheaper than responding to a SCC claim.
 
does the Model Y itself provide any photo/video evidence of the damage incident
(otherwse, is there a particular photo app that would give , say, geotagged photos ? )
 
XeNoN89 said:
It still amazes me that people use these airport meet and greet companies.
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Have to agree with this, so many horror stories at ALL airports for these types of services and I have seen some of them first hand with friends. I can understand how for a big family this sort of service works, but for me pay more, park at the door and remove a big chunk of uncertainty. I certainly don't want to leave the keys to my car with a 3rd party full of low paid youths.

For this event OP, I would seek a lawyer and get some letters going.
 
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I hope the OP has luck but my feeling is they will need to write this off as experience.

I do think that saving a £70 - £80 on a fortnight parking at an airport, despite spending many many hundreds or even thousands for a family holiday is utterly illogical. I learned a long time ago that some random car park attendant or valet cares not one jot about your car. Especially one that even tells you they accept zero liability.
 
I always use Meet and Greet - very conveniant. I did have an issue one year when the car turned up with a few extra miles and looked like it had been used in a dirt rally. Despite several complaints, i received nothing.

M&G are great if nothing goes wrong, but if it does go wrong, then the likelihood of a payout or correction are very slim.
 
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It wouldn't surprise me at this point if such companies tried to swap your entire vehicle for something that looks not even remotely similar, worth half the value.
 
I would never trust another company to drive/look after my car if i was on holiday. Would rather save the cash and park the car myself generally in what i would consider one of the safer spots in the car park :D
 
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