Priority Parking Luton (APCOA) - using my car!

pmw5

Hi everyone,

I've recently come back from a 2 week holiday - I used the meet and greet parking service from Priority Parking at Luton Airport operated by APCOA.

I reset the trip counter on my car at the time of drop-off and when I collected it, it had approx 25miles of unauthorised driving on it! I queried this with the attendant who got extremely aggressive and told me to write to their customer services.

I emailed APCOA customer services, sent a copy to the MD of APCOA. and also gave the details to Luton Police. The police said it was a civil matter, however have called back twice since as they are apparently looking at a number of similar incidents of unauthorised driving but mostly with different parking providers at Luton Airport.

The initial letter I've had back is a joke. Two lines, referring to a "Parking Enforcement Notice" which is obviously not what I wrote about. They've used a standard template referring to a reference number box which is blank (since I didn't get a parking enforcement notice) - I find this disappointing given the seriousness of the incident.

What should I do next? I don't feel like I'm dealing with a company that prides itself on good customer service, and I'm not confident I'll get a satisfactory response.

What would others do?

At one end I could drop it and forget about it? At the other end I could claim compensation through the small claims court. One of my colleagues at work told me to get a quote to hire my model car (BMW X5) for 2 weeks, and then sue APCOA for that sum through the small claims court since they have used my car for 2 weeks.

I quite like that idea - it's caused a lot of stress (the aggressive man at the airport caused my wife to burst into tears) and to me it's effectively stealing my car and driving it around. Someone used it for their own pleasure when it was supposed to be locked in a secure compound.

It seems this is quite wide-spread as the same problem was featured 2 weeks ago on Watchdog, but for Heathrow.

Any suggestion or advice appreciated.

Thanks.

esmerobbo

Seeing they quote "Your car will then be waiting for you right outside the terminal when you return with less than 0.2 miles on the clock" I think you are entitled to an explanation to were your car has been!

http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/content/7/168/priority-parking.html

johnfarquhar74

or you could try raising the issue with BBC Watchdog, you can't be the only one this has happened to and it might embarrass the company into some action!

pmw5

Well I've had a reply...

Apparently they've done interviews of staff who all say my car wasn't driven...

They've also said there is a log of when cars go in and out so it couldn't have been driven without it going in and out of that log...

So they say there's nothing to substantiate my claim that it was driven for 23miles unauthorised.

I've replied saying I have proof, in the form of a photo of my car's trip reader upon collection, something which I've offered them but they haven't asked for. I also pointed out if someone, or a number of people wanted to use client cars, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to bypass the log.

I've asked them to review their response...

I feel strongly about this. Not just because I paid them to keep my car secure and someone's been driving it around, but also to make them take notice and stop it happening from someone else. It's also caused a fair amount of stress.

Next steps may include BBC Watchdog, Trading Standards, Legal action - if I'm not satisfied with their next response.

UncleZen

Stories similar to this were featured on Watchdog last week I think, at Heathrow.
They left cars fitted with cameras and trackers with a company and found them parked in unsecure places, public car parks and using then to drive the staff around in at high speed.

fivetide

I'd not rely on the trip meter, anyone could reset that.

Does the pic include the actual mileometer? Was the chap there when you took the picture? If you don't have a witness I think you'll find it very hard to say you have proof that they have done those miles.

That said, there have been several programmes on this. the cars are often stored a fair distance away as land by the airport for parking is expensive. they are also driven hard from the examples I've seen.

Personally, I'd rather get the shuttle bus and park myself just to be sure!

5t.

iolanthe07

If you have something like a Micra or i10 you can be faily sure that your car will be left in peace when parked with these people. If you have a Porsche - well, what do you expect?

sukysue

You expect the service you pay for.

pmw5

sukysue wrote: »

You expect the service you pay for.

EXACTLY!

I expect my car to be SAFE and SECURE not being driven around by someone when it could have a prang, or be thrashed, or be knicked from their drive or wherever they were parking it...

(It has a tracker - how I wish I had paid for the premium service as the company would have been able to dig out the details to see exactly where it had been those 2 weeks. I've only got the standard service where they only start tracking it from the moment I call them to say it's been nicked...SHAME! )

pmw5

fivetide wrote: »

Personally, I'd rather get the shuttle bus and park myself just to be sure!

5t.

Yeah going forward I think we'll do the same. I only used this service as we needed to take our child seat and bags and young children etc - meet and greet service makes life a lot easier in this respect - but I shall never use that service again at Luton.

esmerobbo

Still time for a NIP to arrive with a bit of luck one of the users of your car got caught on camera!