Tailgating out of Manchester Airpor Carpark

RichardGroves

So my friend paid £60 for a meet & greet company to take her car while she flew from Manchester Airport for 4 days - she booked it through Parking4U with a company called Easy Airport Parking, but when she arrived she rang them and rudely was told to meet them in Short Stay Carpark at T1. She drove there, parked and waited and then when the guy arrived handed the key as well as £6 for the exit barrier. 

When she came to pick up - the car was in the exact same spot she left it in front of the security cameras. She had to wait 40 mins for the guy to come with the key where he explained that the guy she'd given the car key to had been fired and the car hadn't left the carpark. While my friend was processing this, he guided her into the passenger seat and said there's only one way out of here, I'll drive. He then proceeded to tail another vehicle out at high speed.  

So the car was in the short-stay car park for 4 days. I've checked out reviews of the company - never seen so many negatives in one place - at least 3 other customers had the same issue although in the other cases they had to make their own way out of the carpark - in one case at considerable cost, and about 30 people over the past 4 years report their vehicles being returned badly damaged so I reckon my friend got off lightly.

Not sure what to advise my friend to do - should she report it to the airport and hope they take pity on her plight, the police - would they care? Or just wait and see what happens? While she's almost certainly liable for the parking charges, my feeling is that CCTV would show that she wasn't responsible for the dangerous exiting manoeuvre, but if left too long the CCTV evidence may be deleted. 

I know that the airport supposedly have technology to catch tailgating according to an article in the Manchester evening news although I can't find any reports/stories of people being fined. 

UncleThomasCobley

If your friend paid £60 to Parking4U, then they have a contract with them and it would need taking up with them. Possibly with Easy Airport Parking but it sounds as though Parking4U is just a dodgy intermediary.

As far as how much we can assist, it will probably require someone with more experience of the law. For now, they don't appear to have any parking charge from an unregulated private parking company.

Coupon-mad

Either:

Wait and see if she gets a PCN then she nominates Easy Airport Parking as the keeper from DATE to DATE and tells them what their driver did and suggests the Airport investigates.

Or be proactive and report this to the Airport owners NOW, by email this week.  There must be a Contact Us portal or email. Take screenshots of the report. Then she can point to that report, if a PCN arrives and she can then properly deny being in charge of the vehicle at the time.  No liability.  At Airports only the driver is liable and it was not her and she's reported the incident to the Airport already.

I prefer that second approach.

RichardGroves

Yes- I prefer the second approach too.

I kind of think though that legally, the keeper as far as the parking goes is her, not EAP. I may be wrong, but the law appears to talk about the person PARKING the car. It was her that drove into the carpark, read the signs and parked. I would suspect that a contract with another company to MOVE the car that wasn't fulfilled wouldn't relieve her of that obligation.

fisherjim

If there was CCTV how would it prove who was driving, it will be ANPR which will home in on the VRN?

I really would never use these meet and greet services there have been so many reports over the years of such things happening, parking fines, speeding fines, cars left in residential streets for weeks, cars left in fields stuck in mud, cars that have been driven hundreds of miles, and even cars  written off.

A fee of £60 is far too cheap and should also ring bells, and to give their driver £6 for the barrier after following their instructions and payment is daft.

The time to look at reviews for anything from buying a washing machine, hotels, holidays or parking is prior to purchase not afterwards.

She will now have to wait and see what transpires you can't pre empt anything until something happens.

Some dreadful reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/parking4you.co.uk?page=2

RichardGroves

fisherjim said:

If there was CCTV how would it prove who was driving, 

She was parked in front of CCTV cameras - quite distinct from the APNR cameras at the exit. They should have recorded both incidents, the key handover, and the key return and the stranger taking the driving seat.

Coupon-mad

RichardGroves said:

fisherjim said:

If there was CCTV how would it prove who was driving, 

She was parked in front of CCTV cameras - quite distinct from the APNR cameras at the exit. They should have recorded both incidents, the key handover, and the key return and the stranger taking the driving seat.

She should point this out and demand they kick this company out.  Maybe the Airport can get it, if quick.

I say they were the keepers whilst they had the keys, not her. 

The POFA Schedule 4 defines 'keeper'.

fisherjim

RichardGroves said:

fisherjim said:

If there was CCTV how would it prove who was driving, 

She was parked in front of CCTV cameras - quite distinct from the APNR cameras at the exit. They should have recorded both incidents, the key handover, and the key return and the stranger taking the driving seat.

Try it but you don't stand an earthly getting that, in effect she has admitted to being an accomplice to bilking.

The other thing to do is get the £60 back from the company she booked it with (Easy Airport Parking) that didn't provide the service they were contracted to do.

This in all likelihood will turn into a right mess.

When the inevitable NTK drops on the mat, further help will be available here. 

RichardGroves

fisherjim said:

Try it but you don't stand an earthly getting that

 in effect she has admitted to being an accomplice to bilking.

Getting what??
What do you think she'd be trying to "get" here? 

Also an accomplice is defined as someone who helps another commit a crime. Given that my friend had no foreknowledge of what the guy was going to do, nor could she reasonably be expected to guess, there's no way she could be defined as an accomplice.

Coupon-mad

I think she can show herself as an unwilling victim of a dodgy company.  Tell the Airport now.

fisherjim

RichardGroves said:

fisherjim said:

Try it but you don't stand an earthly getting that

 in effect she has admitted to being an accomplice to bilking.

Getting what??
What do you think she'd be trying to "get" here? 

Also an accomplice is defined as someone who helps another commit a crime. Given that my friend had no foreknowledge of what the guy was going to do, nor could she reasonably be expected to guess, there's no way she could be defined as an accomplice.

Getting the CCTV images.

I understand all this and sympathise of course, I see that she wasn't doing anything bad, what I am saying is that she will be dealing with a PPC that won't be bothered about any of this that will refer to terms and conditions saying she left without paying, and an airport that has handed over it's car parks to them to manage who will probably wash their hands of it all. 

The other booking firms are not associated with the airport.

You will have to try all avenues but it won't be as straight forward as you imagine using your approach.