Meet and Greet - late surcharge

Kip65

Hello. I booked 15 days of airport parking (meet and greet) via an online comparison agent. I chose a cheap one and booked it. The confirmation I received was from the agent. In the small print it mentioned a £10 surcharge over Christmas. There is also some small print saying the company is only an agent and that you are subject to the car parks own T&C's but no mention of what they might be or where to find them.

Anyway as I turned up at the airport and was met and greeted, the driver eagerly circled a section on their paperwork saying that there was a £10 surcharge if I got back after 00.20 am (my flight was due in at 11pm, so this was a bit of a worry - had I known I wouldn't have booked this car park.

Sure enough my flight was delayed and I was met and greeted at about 1am. The driver told me I had to pay £10 cash before I could have my keys. I insisted on a receipt (that he didn't have) and after being held up for about 15 minutes due to phone calls they arranged a receipt.

Do I have any legal grounds for a complaint? First off I wasn't made aware of the car parks t&c's , secondly can a car park hold your car hostage until you pay the fine? Also can they charge so much? I paid under £5 a day for car parking, so a £10 charge was equivalent to over 2 days car parking for being 40 minutes beyond their 00.20 cut off?

Any help appreciated.

richardw

Did they go for any joy rides in your car?

tomtontom

Name and shame then put it behind you. How much effort do you want to make over £10?