Stress Free Parking! Don't make me laugh!

anxious_mum

I have just come back from a week in Greece, which is my annual 7 days away from teenage boys, work and real life in general. This time, I booked the car park at the airport through a company called Stress Free Parking. They meet you in the short term car park, take your car away and then bring it back when you have landed. A very convenient way to do things, I thought, as I was on my own with a rather large suitcase which doesn't always behave.

Everything went well on my departure, the bloke was really pleasant and professional, so I went off on my hols quite happily.

When I landed, I rang the number provided and told them I was waiting for my luggage. The lady said 'Go out to the short term car park where you dropped off your car, you will be met there with your car'.

Lovely. Apart from, when I got there, there was no car. Just an irate man who was looking for his Mercedes, as I was looking for my Volvo. Then a man from Airparks turned up after about 20 minutes and asked us if we were Stress Free Parking. Not any longer, we both said.

It turned out, Stress Free parking use Airparks to store the cars when their customers go away. Its just that this time, the Stress Free people hadn't turned up for work, so no one knew where our cars were. The lady who had answered my call worked for Airparks, not Stress Free, she just answered the Stress Free mobile phone that was on her desk!

I have to say that the Airparks people were really good, they took us to their office (off Airport), gave us tea and coffee and continually tried to reach someone from Stress Free. Eventually, they got hold of Little Stu, who was on his day off. Big Stu should have been working, but he had gone AWOL. Little Stu agreed to come and sort it out, so after an hour's wait, he arrived and went and got our cars.

The other bloke was going mental, threatening to call the police because, as he said, his car wasn't there, so it was theft!

Let's say it was an experience, and one I don't intend to repeat. I sent an email of complaint to them today, but I'm not holding my breath. The Airparks staff, who were excellent and didn't have to help us at all but went out of their way, have said its not the first time they've had problems with Stress Free. Their attitude is 'so what, one complaint doesn't bother us'.

I think I should get some compo, as I didn't get what I paid for. What do you think? Is it worth chasing? Has anyone else had problems like this? Has anyone got any information as to where Big Stu is? Did he turn up for work today or is he still missing in action? :rotfl:

brettcta

how much compo? i reckon at least £15,000 per cup of tea you were made.

anxious_mum

No, the tea was quite good, even though it was out of a machine!

Azari

anxious_mum wrote: »

No, the tea was quite good, even though it was out of a machine!

I think he's being sarcastic.

Although the 'compensation culture' is getting out of hand, I think this is a case where you really should get something for both the added stress and time wasted.

On the other hand I wouldn't hold out much hope with such an amateurish outfit.

Jo84_2

Have you called their customer service? They may offer you some sort of refund?

I came across this company when I was looking for parking at Gatwick, I always check companys using trust pilot.co.uk, more reliable than tripadvisor.

JoJo

anxious_mum

Can I factor in something for being cold through no fault of my own? As I had left a 33 degree temp and come back to this rubbish weather, I had to shiver in the car park in a thin cardi for a while before I was taken to the Airparks office! It was like coming home in the autumn! What's going on?

Jo84_2

anxious_mum wrote: »

Can I factor in something for being cold through no fault of my own? As I had left a 33 degree temp and come back to this rubbish weather, I had to shiver in the car park in a thin cardi for a while before I was taken to the Airparks office! It was like coming home in the autumn! What's going on?

Haha! Yea we went from heatwave to floods in a matter of hours!! :eek:

anxious_mum

Blimey, I have just had some really nice phone calls! The first was just after I had posted this thread. Paul from Stress Free Parking called me regarding my email this morning. We had a chat about what happened, he made a call to verify things, then he called me back to offer me a 50% refund.

His customer service was second to none, and I am very happy with the outcome. He also offered to help me out when I fly out of Birmingham, which I do most weeks, as anyone who knows me knows.

Then, Paul rang me a few minutes ago to ask if I had posted on MSE!!! I said I had, and I also said that I would update my post with his great response.

This, to me, proves that MSE is a force in its own right. If service providers check sites like this for comments, then that is all to the good as far as I'm concerned.

So, I wasn't happy with the initial service, but the outcome has been good. In fact, I can't remember the last time I received such excellent customer service as this. Thanks Paul, you've done your company a great service tonight. And thanks MSE for being such a valuable tool.

mttylad

A good response.

Every company can have problems if someone does not turn up for work, it's not always the companies fault and they did sort it out within an hour (ish) so you just had a bit of inconvenience.

Next time though you know to just use airparks.

sillygoose

50% refund is hardly doing you a favour as you only got half a service anyway so your no more than square, plus you suffered the inconvenience for free, he would have to do a bit better than that before making me post his praises so highly!

Noctu

sillygoose wrote: »

50% refund is hardly doing you a favour as you only got half a service anyway so your no more than square, plus you suffered the inconvenience for free, he would have to do a bit better than that before making me post his praises so highly!

Absolutely agree, I wouldn't use this company even after seeing their response.