Scammed by airport valet parking

Jono_56B

Last year I purchased parking with a meet and greet company based around Gatwick airport to park my vehicle while I was away. Unfortunately on our return, the company we parked with had lost our key which meant we had to take an Uber home we also had to fork out a substantial amount of money to have the key fob replaced from the manufacturer. It was essentially a scam. I have been trying to find information about the company we parked with "365 parking Gatwick" or "365 valet Gatwick" however it seems the company has now closed and set up again under a different name. Therefore I am seeking to make a MCOL claim against the price comparison site through which I was introduced to this unscrupulous company which is "www.comparetheparking.co.uk". 

Can I please get some advice? It would be greatly appreciated. Like how are companies able to suddenly disband and set up under a different guise? How is a seeming reputable company like compare the parking allowing such unscrupulous people to list their services on the website. 

Thanks in advance. 

eskbanker

I suspect it'll be good money after bad to try to make a claim against the comparison site, who are unlikely to have any liability regarding the performance of the services by the parking companies.

1.4 Compare The Parking acts only as a booking agent for the service provider for the featured car parks. It does not itself provide the parking services.

1.5 You will be contracting with the individual car park and will be subject to their Terms and Conditions which may contain exemption clauses and limit each company's liability. Car Park's full Terms & Conditions will be available on request.

[...]

Section : 11 Limitation of Liability

• 11.1 These Terms and Conditions apply only to bookings made directly through this website.

  11.2 As a booking agent for the service provider, Compare the Parking is liable to the customer only for losses directly arising from any negligence of the company in processing a booking.

  11.3 The total liability for Compare the Parking to the client for all claims arising from the use of this website and materials is limited to the cost of the client's booking including both parking and booking fees paid to comparetheparking.co.uk as per the contract.

  11.4 A customer cannot include us in MCOL or any legal action as a result of a dispute with the actual service provider. If a customer starts any legal proceeding due to a dispute with the service provider and involves us in that claim we reserve the right to claim our legal fee/admin costs and any other charges that may incur as a direct or indirect result of that case.

https://www.comparetheparking.co.uk/terms-conditions.php

la531983

On the face of it, "losing a key" isnt a scam, its an unfortunate accident that even a reputable company could do.

Is there something you arent telling us here?

Okell

I know this is shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted, but I would never dream of leaving my car keys with a "valet parking" service. 

You're probably lucky that they only lost the keys and didn't add a couple of thousand miles to the car or wreck it in a joyride.  Although if they'd wrecked it you'd at least get the insurance.  (Or would you if you had given them the keys?).

If you are leaving your car at an airport, only leave it with one of the official airport car parks where you don't have to leave your keys.  "Valet parking" might seem cheaper but it's often a false economy.

Your chances of successfully suing comparetheparking are approximately zero.

prettyandfluffy

Okell said:

I know this is shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted, but I would never dream of leaving my car keys with a "valet parking" service. 

You're probably lucky that they only lost the keys and didn't add a couple of thousand miles to the car or wreck it in a joyride.  Although if they'd wrecked it you'd at least get the insurance.  (Or would you if you had given them the keys?).

If you are leaving your car at an airport, only leave it with one of the official airport car parks where you don't have to leave your keys.  "Valet parking" might seem cheaper but it's often a false economy.

Your chances of successfully suing comparetheparking are approximately zero.

I used to work overseas on business and because of back problems I couldn't manage heaving luggage in and out of the car, onto trolleys, airport buses etc so I used a meet & greet parking service at Gatwick.  They were excellent, I always saw the same person and never had any problems at all and they always had a luggage trolley for me and lifted my bags for me.  They weren't the cheapest but they were good, had been in business for several years with plenty of customer feedback and I think that's the lesson here:  DO YOUR HOMEWORK before booking.  Cheap isn't necessarily good.

born_again

Always better to go via actual Airport website for options. Far less likely to get some fly by night co will will just park your car on a street somewhere, rather than one of their secure locations.
Might not be as cheap. 

https://www.gatwickairport.com/parking.html

TELLIT01

Okell said:

I know this is shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted, but I would never dream of leaving my car keys with a "valet parking" service. 

If you use a valet parking company you have no option but to leave the key with them.  There are reputable companies around but you do need to check things out carefully.

Jono_56B

eskbanker said:

I suspect it'll be good money after bad to try to make a claim against the comparison site, who are unlikely to have any liability regarding the performance of the services by the parking companies.

1.4 Compare The Parking acts only as a booking agent for the service provider for the featured car parks. It does not itself provide the parking services.

1.5 You will be contracting with the individual car park and will be subject to their Terms and Conditions which may contain exemption clauses and limit each company's liability. Car Park's full Terms & Conditions will be available on request.

[...]

Section : 11 Limitation of Liability

• 11.1 These Terms and Conditions apply only to bookings made directly through this website.

  11.2 As a booking agent for the service provider, Compare the Parking is liable to the customer only for losses directly arising from any negligence of the company in processing a booking.

  11.3 The total liability for Compare the Parking to the client for all claims arising from the use of this website and materials is limited to the cost of the client's booking including both parking and booking fees paid to comparetheparking.co.uk as per the contract.

  11.4 A customer cannot include us in MCOL or any legal action as a result of a dispute with the actual service provider. If a customer starts any legal proceeding due to a dispute with the service provider and involves us in that claim we reserve the right to claim our legal fee/admin costs and any other charges that may incur as a direct or indirect result of that case.

https://www.comparetheparking.co.uk/terms-conditions.php

Thanks for that advice and on the face of it you're pretty on the dot with your assessment that CTP will just dodge liability. However is there any organisation to complain to about CTP's conduct? I mean surely as a reputable business it seems dishonest to list dodgy companies when it is well-known in the media that there are such companies scamming people. Surely there is some toothless ombudsman body I can contact to have them exact some gummy revenge on my behalf? 

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2022/12/12/gatwick-airport-warns-against-rogue-meet-and-greet-parking-companies/

eskbanker

Jono_56B said:
Thanks for that advice and on the face of it you're pretty on the dot with your assessment that CTP will just dodge liability. However is there any organisation to complain to about CTP's conduct? I mean surely as a reputable business it seems dishonest to list dodgy companies when it is well-known in the media that there are such companies scamming people. Surely there is some toothless ombudsman body I can contact to have them exact some gummy revenge on my behalf?

I'm not aware of any ombudsman that would cover a site like that, but on what basis are you categorising them as a "reputable business"?  Their site looks cheap and cheerful and the companies they list (in a random dummy quote process) don't appear to include any particularly well-known brands, so they ought to be treated with caution, but that doesn't mean they've actually done anything wrong as such, in that it would be quite a high bar to hold them liable in any way for the conduct of one of the providers they list.

daveyjp

'Reputable company'?  The website doesn't give any company name, just an address.

If you search that address on Companies House there are 349,990 matches (there are probably more, but the system maxed out).   Its a holding address for dozens of companies.

Who knows which of those companies and directors operate what is an unsophisticated website which could be knocked up by a GCSE IT student,

born_again

Only Registered domain name on: 16-Sep-2021