[Anonymous]

[JeffD]

I feel compelled to let you know about the terrible experience I had on Sunday evening.

I arranged valet parking at Heathrow through Heathrow Parking 24 7 Ltd. I was quiet happy with the way my booking was handled at check in. The driver was waiting for us when we arrived at T5. It all went horribly wrong on my return. We were told to call the company when we had reclaimed our luggage. I called there office at 19.14 and was told my car would be returned in 30 minutes. After 45 minutes I called and asked for an update. I was told they only had one driver working and he was caught in traffic and they could not give me an estimate of when I would be reunited with my car. After several more calls my car was delivered at 21.04 hrs. The car was filthy and covered in bird excrement. I also noticed that they had clocked up 15 miles.

I found the attitude of the despatcher lacked all customer service skills and very very rude. He did not even offer an apology for the long wait for my car.

I would really urge everyone to avoid this company, there are plenty of other more reliable companies offering the same service.

[SimonS1]

Reviews on Tripadvisor are shocking.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k6123878-Meet_and_greet_Heathrow-London_England.html

The combination of mileage, bird excrement and ‘stuck in traffic’ means it has probably been dumped on wasteland somewhere around West London.

Still as some reviews allege they have no insurance you at least got the car back intact.

If it helps we found Purple Parking to be excellent.

[JeffD]

@simons1

Thank you.
I have used Purple parking on many occasions and agree wtih you that they are excellent. I have also used various companies at LGW and always found the service excellent. Just a shame there are some rogue companies out there.

[LuganoPirate]

There was a recent piece in one of the Sunday’s about these off airport car parks. Some used fields, others parked in industrial areas on the road. I think I’d rather take a taxi than use some of these operators.

[deeteegee2]

I have always found Purple Parking great. They don’t need to be called when you land and my car was always waiting for me, even when the flight landed early and we were unusually speedy through Immigration and Baggage. Used at T4 & T3

[goldaviator]

When you book short stay parking in advance through Heathrow Parking, its normally about a third of the drive in price making it a very attractive option. Its then just a hop, skip and a jump to check in and the car is right there when clear immigration.

[Alex]

I had a bad experience at Heathrow too – with a company called Heathrow Parking 24 -7.,- I think they are still trading but from different addresses.
My car has cream upholstery and was nearly new – it came back on time and I was met – but the car had a large stain on the rear seat upholstery – I think a combination of chewing gum and oil. Even a professional valeting company failed to remove it and a new seat swab was £400. Every time I sent a letter of complaint to their addresses – including their registered address – it was returned unopened even when sent by registered mail. That is a good way to deal with customer complaints!

Like others report – the car had more miles additional on the clock than I would have expected, the back seat was full of crisp papers and drink cans and the radio was tuned to the Parkistan cricket match!! Never again. I now use the Heathrow Carparks and keep the car keys firmly in my pocket. The service is just as fast – you just need to get the transfer bus. Last time got a really grumpy driver at T4. but the car was safe.

[Tim2soza]

I use BAA valet parking in T5 every time. The car goes from the upper level to ground floor, with no more than 0.1 miles on the clock. It is kept under cover. On the one occasion I arrived a day late, forgetting to tell them, it wasn’t a problem. Simply paid the extra day at £27 and all sorted. I once booked T5 only to find out my BA flight was leaving from T1. Called them en route and it was switched over with no fuss at all.

[kin3kin]

thank you for sharing.would avoid using this company in future

[Janbeegee]

Thanks for the warning.
Used Purple Parking dozens of times at LHR (T3 and T5) and at LGW, perfect service always.

[seasonedtraveller]

I recently booked ‘Easy Park’ meet & greet at MAN – booked through the purple parking website.
Despite calling them when I was 20 mins away from the terminal (as they request you to), I had to wait 15 mins for them to turn up and 25 mins for them to return the car.

My car went into the parking sparkling clean but came out, 5 days later, a filthy dirty mess (inside was fine) – so bad that I had to clean the rear screen in order to see out properly.

I made a complaint to Purple Parking but got no response at all.

[FDOS_UK]

seasonedtraveller – 20/09/2015 11:31 BST

Having started to use MAN regularly again, after a break of about 30 years, I have the same experience with the chauffeur parking services and it is obvious they are parking the cars in fields.

Having said that, I used the official ‘Meet & Greet’ service (somewhat of a mis-description, as you drop the car off in a car park and collect from there) and it came back with £850 pounds of damage to the roof, for which they are denying responsibility.

I have just sent a letter before action and will sue them for the repair costs, if they maintain their stance.

So I guess parking at airports is not as good as it should be.

[Author]

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