I used Gatwick Airport ‘meet & greet’ but came home to a nightmare – I was hit with £600 bill… and they blamed me
A WOMAN who used a parking company at Gatwick Airport claims she came back from holiday to find a nightmare £600 bill.
Jo Timson, 58, was stung with the big fine after she claims a ‘meet and greet’ parking company failed to collect her car.
Timson parked her car into short-term parking at Gatwick on February 3 as the recently divorced woman flew to Spain to spend time with friends.
She said the company named Drive, Park and Fly should have then collected her car and stored it in their own car park for £78.99.
But, she said she returned from Malaga to find her car in the exact same spot.
Timson then found she was being stung £600 for parking in the short-term car park for a week.
Gatwick Airport said in a statement that it has nothing to do with Drive, Park and Fly and parking companies were allowed by law to operate on the airport.
She said that everything went awry after when arriving for her flight to Spain there was no one there to meet her and collect the car.
Timson parked her car in a short stay park and through a phone call she was told to leave her keys in the car.
She told the Daily Mail: “I should have thought something, perhaps was off. But I didn’t have a clue. I’d never use this kind of thing before.”
Then after returning from Spain at 1.30am on February 9, she called Drive Park and Fly to get the car back, but they didn’t pick up.
It took another dozen calls and Timson standing in the cold and dark for her to get through to the company.
But they revealed that they had never even picked up the car and it remained in the short term parking spot where she had left it.
Timson says the company blamed her for not following the right guidance, but she says she did.
She also claimed a person from the company called her a “f****** liar” over the matter.
“With everything going on in my life I just felt I had been lumbered with more bad luck.”
Despite the car not being moved she claimed the keys had been moved onto the dashboard and said the motor could have been stolen.
At 2.30am she went to the Gatwick parking office and said the official there recognised the story she told and said it had happened before.
Initially, she faced a £600 parking bill for the week-long stay in the short term park, but the airport then shaved the fee to £300.
“I just felt humiliated, and when I stood [in the Gatwick parking office] I became upset I just felt completely embarrassed. I felt a complete fool.”
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “London Gatwick has no relationship with any alleged rogue ‘meet-and-greet’ parking companies, even though many of them have ‘Gatwick’ in their name.
“Legally these firms can operate on the airport as long as they do not break our bye-laws.
“If passengers are considering using a third-party meet-and-greet parking provider, they should check for positive reviews on Trustpilot, or other reputable review sites.
“The British Parking Association also has some good advice.
“For complete piece of mind, we would however strongly recommend that passengers use official on-airport parking.”
The Sun has approached Drive Park and Fly for comment.
Brit holidaymakers warned of HUGE bills as ‘rogue meet & greet’ firms at major UK airport park motors in wrong spot
By Jacob Jaffa
BRIT holidaymakers have been warned of the risk of huge bills thanks to “rogue meet and greet” firms parking cars in the wrong place at a major UK airport.
Drivers have faced charges of up to £100 thanks to shady unregulated companies posing as reputable parking services.
Gatwick Airport is one of the nation’s busiest and best, but the site has been targeted by a crop of unscrupulous parking businesses.
One driver claimed last year that he had to make his way home in a taxi after one such firm allegedly lost his Mercedes.
Another claimed that her motor had been taken on a 200-mile joyride while she was overseas.
Now, West Sussex Trading Standards have teamed up with the county’s police to urge travellers to take care when booking airport parking to avoid being ripped off.
The agency explained that it receives regular reports from customers who have had bad experiences with the services, but airport bosses say there’s nothing they can do.
Customers have reported issues including their vehicles being dumped in short-stay car parks while they are on holiday, leaving them facing a £100 penalty notice when they return.
