The cowboys in your car: Which? investigation reveals rogue airport meet and greet operators speeding and stealing money from vehicles
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A new Which? investigation has used GPS trackers to expose dodgy
parking firms operating at London airports, uncovering cases of
petty theft and cars driven over the speed limit. Which?
often receives reports of rogue airport meet and greet parking
services, and when it asked members recently about issues they'd
faced, some reported having to hire a taxi to track down their
vehicle on their return, or missing their flight as a result of
long waits at drop-off....Request free
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A new Which? investigation has used GPS trackers to expose dodgy parking firms operating at London airports, uncovering cases of petty theft and cars driven over the speed limit.
Which? often
receives reports of rogue airport meet and greet parking
services, and when it asked members recently about issues they'd
faced, some reported having to hire a taxi to track down their
vehicle on their return, or missing their flight as a result of
long waits at drop-off. Which? found rogue operators could easily be mistaken for legitimate companies – often companies operate under multiple names, which can be switched once they start attracting poor reviews. Quick Park, an off-site meet and greet service at Heathrow recommended by comparison site Deals4Parking, proved too true to its name. Which?'s GPS trackers captured it being raced down the A4 at nearly 70mph in a 50mph zone, an offence which if caught by a traffic camera, could result in maximum penalty of up to six penalty points or even temporary disqualification. Its website promised parking in a patrolled location equipped with CCTV, and crucially, Park Mark accreditation, which would mean it had passed a police risk assessment. In reality the GPS showed the car left in the back garden of an abandoned rectory five miles from Heathrow. The British Parking Association (BPA) confirmed to Which? that this is not an accredited Park Mark site. When Which?'s investigator attempted to collect the car, it took multiple unanswered calls and ultimately an 80 minute wait before the keys were handed back – all without even a cursory check to confirm Which?'s reporter was indeed the car's owner. Once inside, they found £4.50 in change had been stolen.
Which?'s experience
at Heathrow with Mayfair Parking was not much better. At the time
of booking, the site appeared on the first page of Google search
results and was also promoted on comparison sites Parking4You and
Ezybook – making it appear legitimate at first glance. However,
Which?'s GPS trackers revealed Mayfair Parking's drivers speeding
on four separate occasions during the 10-mile round trip from
Terminal 5, and when the car was handed back, £4 had been taken,
along with some sweets. It was the only service to use a Park
Mark accredited site, but when Which?'s investigators visited,
they found much to be desired. Rather than the securely locked
car park they expected, they were able to drive straight and in
and wander around unchecked. The BPA said it was satisfied that
the site met the current Park Mark standard and would be checked
for suitability for the new AM-GO standard in due course, a new
higher standard for operators themselves. Approved operators will
be fully insured, staff will be qualified, uniformed and carry
ID, and they will use designated drop-off and pick-up zones, as
well as using Park Mark accredited parking sites. Mayfair
Parking told Which? it strongly disagrees with its findings but
apologised if items were stolen from the car. Which? investigators were unable to see its Ts and Cs until after the booking was complete, but they showed the company is shameless about the shortcomings with its service. It warns that in some cases cars will be parked in locations without CCTV, can be parked in fields, in compounds up to 15 miles from the airport, or even in a public facility. One alarming line noted: “While our overflow car parks have a hard standing surface, it is important to note that some of our car parks lack the necessary planning permission for airport parking.” During the vehicle's stay, Which?'s GPS noted it moved from Gatwick's official Orange Car park to an offsite location, which appeared to be industrial wasteland behind a petrol station. On collection, no proof of identity was requested, and the car was returned dirty and muddied both inside and out. Three pounds in change had been taken, and previously sealed water in the driver's door had been swigged. Which? also found that some comparison sites may be part of the problem. For example, when Which? searched for Heathrow parking with the Deals4Parking comparison site, it offered seven providers to choose from, all with suspiciously high ratings of 4.9 out of 5 stars. But when Which? dug deeper, it found none of the seven companies appeared to exist independently of Deals4Parking. Just two of the options listed – Quick Park and Greg Maurice – were listed on Companies House, where it emerged that both recently incorporated firms shared a director. That director resigned last year from a firm called Falcon Parking Ltd – the trading name of the comparison site Deals4Parking.
Hiding behind a
comparison site might help rogue traders absolve themselves of
responsibility when things go wrong. The BPA told Which?
relatively few providers have appropriate insurance to operate a
meet and greet service, and most rogue traders are completely
uninsured – particularly worrying given the number of reports of
vehicles returned damaged.
Rory Boland, Editor
of Which? Travel, said: -ENDS- Notes to editors:
(NB - Flying Scot
is not a WRP as its sites are not Park Mark accredited)
Case study
Which? advice for booking airport parking:
In response to
these issues, the BPA has launched a new Approved Meet and Greet
Operator Scheme (AM-GO) which, by focusing on the operator rather
than the car parks, aims to stamp out rogues. Approved operators
will be fully insured, staff will be qualified, uniformed and
carry ID, and they will use designated drop-off and pick-up
zones. All sites, including overflow car parks, will be ParkMark
accredited. And crucially, the BPA will carry out regular
operator assessments and site visits. Failing companies will be
sanctioned, before being removed from the scheme entirely if they
don't improve. The aim is to help consumers choose a firm with
confidence. And if things do go wrong, the BPA has promised to
mediate on any escalated complaints. AM-GO will be rolling out
across UK airports over the coming months. Find out if an
operator is part of the scheme at am-go.co.uk -Try hotel deals: If you have an early flight or live a distance from the airport, it's worth checking parking deals that include a hotel stay. Which? found a night's stay at Heathrow's four-star Radisson Blu, with a week's worth of parking and shuttle transfer to the terminal, for £195. The standalone charge for the room was £100, making a week's secure parking just £95.
- Sign up to save:
Airports prefer you to book direct and offer discounts if you
sign up to their mailing lists. All our WRPs also offer sign-up
and promotional codes of 10-15% for those who book direct via
their websites. If you're a Tesco Clubcard member, you have the
chance to turn every £5 in vouchers into £10 to use with Gatwick
and Manchester provider APH.
Rights of Reply: Mayfair Parking told Which? it strongly disagrees with its findings, asserting it operates in a professional manner. It apologised if money was stolen from the car and said it was prepared to take appropriate action and return anything that was stolen on provision of further evidence. It also noted the car was stored in a BPA accredited site, picked up promptly and returned safely. A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “London Gatwick has no relationship with any alleged rogue ‘meet-and-greet' parking companies, even though many of them have ‘Gatwick' in their name. Legally these firms can operate on the airport as long as they do not break our bye-laws. “If passengers are considering using a third-party meet-and-greet parking provider, they should check for positive reviews on Trustpilot, or other reputable review sites. The British Parking Association also has some good advice. For complete peace of mind, we would however strongly recommend that passengers use official on-airport parking.” A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We do not endorse any operators other than Heathrow Airport on-site official parking, even though some may have “Heathrow” in the name. Under competition regulations we do have to allow them to operate. If choosing to book with a third-party, passengers should look for positive reviews on Trustpilot, or other reputable review sites, or Trading Standards' Buy With Confidence accreditation. If any incidents occur with a third-party operator we would always advise passengers to register a complaint with their local Trading Standards as they can then investigate, we have also established a direct link with trading standards and send all complaints to this contact to support any investigations or cases they are building against these companies.” A Google spokesperson said: "Protecting users is our top priority and we have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms. We enforce our policies vigorously, and the ads flagged to us have been removed and the accounts suspended. We continue to invest significant resources to stop bad actors and we are constantly evaluating and updating our policies and improving our technology to keep our users safe." Quick Park, Gatwick Airport Parking Spaces Ltd and Kar Parking Heathrow did not respond to requests for comment. About Which?
Which? is the UK's
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