Heathrow Airport Parking Scandal: "Unofficial" Operators Steal Thousands of Vehicles
A wave of car thefts at UK airports, particularly Heathrow, has left thousands of travelers stranded and in a state of panic. Meet-and-greet services that were supposed to provide secure parking for vehicles while their owners are away have instead been used by thieves to steal cars.
Tference Baxter, whose car was stolen last year after he booked a meet-and-greet service through the comparison website Compare Your Parking, is now pursuing a claim with his insurer. He says he feels like the guilty party, despite having done nothing wrong, while the parking company seems to be able to "walk away and carry on trading" without consequences.
Baxter's story is not an isolated incident. Customer reviews of Park At Airport Ltd, one of the companies accused of stealing cars, reveal similar experiences, with some reporting theft, lost keys, or receiving penalty charge notices for parking breaches or unpaid ultra-low emission zone charges.
According to Sussex police, they had closed their investigation into the matter due to a lack of evidence. However, they remain aware of ongoing concerns about the practices of some parking providers and are working closely with trading standards authorities to address these issues.
A recent investigation by the consumer group Which? found that some comparison websites operate in cahoots with unscrupulous parking firms, often prominently listing rogue operators in search engine results. This can leave consumers "easy prey" for thieves.
To avoid falling victim to such scams, travelers are advised to read reviews of providers before booking and check if they bear the Park Mark logo, which indicates that their facilities have passed police safety checks. Most airports do not yet have a list of approved parking operators, but some, like Heathrow and Birmingham airport, have signed up to the British Parking Association's quality-control initiative.
The cheapest deals are often too good to be true, as they may come with hidden catches. Travelers should be cautious when booking meet-and-greet services, especially those that seem significantly cheaper than average.
In a bid to reassure consumers, Heathrow airport has launched an approved meet and greet parking operator scheme called AM-GO, which requires member companies to uphold a code of practice. However, more work needs to be done to root out the problem of unscrupulous parking operators preying on unsuspecting travelers.
A wave of car thefts at UK airports, particularly Heathrow, has left thousands of travelers stranded and in a state of panic. Meet-and-greet services that were supposed to provide secure parking for vehicles while their owners are away have instead been used by thieves to steal cars.
Tference Baxter, whose car was stolen last year after he booked a meet-and-greet service through the comparison website Compare Your Parking, is now pursuing a claim with his insurer. He says he feels like the guilty party, despite having done nothing wrong, while the parking company seems to be able to "walk away and carry on trading" without consequences.
Baxter's story is not an isolated incident. Customer reviews of Park At Airport Ltd, one of the companies accused of stealing cars, reveal similar experiences, with some reporting theft, lost keys, or receiving penalty charge notices for parking breaches or unpaid ultra-low emission zone charges.
According to Sussex police, they had closed their investigation into the matter due to a lack of evidence. However, they remain aware of ongoing concerns about the practices of some parking providers and are working closely with trading standards authorities to address these issues.
A recent investigation by the consumer group Which? found that some comparison websites operate in cahoots with unscrupulous parking firms, often prominently listing rogue operators in search engine results. This can leave consumers "easy prey" for thieves.
To avoid falling victim to such scams, travelers are advised to read reviews of providers before booking and check if they bear the Park Mark logo, which indicates that their facilities have passed police safety checks. Most airports do not yet have a list of approved parking operators, but some, like Heathrow and Birmingham airport, have signed up to the British Parking Association's quality-control initiative.
The cheapest deals are often too good to be true, as they may come with hidden catches. Travelers should be cautious when booking meet-and-greet services, especially those that seem significantly cheaper than average.
In a bid to reassure consumers, Heathrow airport has launched an approved meet and greet parking operator scheme called AM-GO, which requires member companies to uphold a code of practice. However, more work needs to be done to root out the problem of unscrupulous parking operators preying on unsuspecting travelers.
I don't think they're entirely at fault though - it's like, they trusted a service and something went wrong, you know? These companies are supposed to be reliable, but it looks like some of them aren't. 
The comparison websites should probably do more to vet the operators too, instead of just listing them as options. I mean, it's easy to get caught up in the cheap prices and not think twice about it... but that's not fair to the people who are getting scammed out of their cars. 
Heathrow's new scheme sounds like a good start, though - if more airports follow suit, we might be able to crack down on these dodgy operators for good. 
these "meet-and-greet" services at airports are literally just an invitation for scammers to steal cars 
i mean, how hard is it to do a background check on a company before booking their service? apparently, not hard enough... 
the cheapest deals are always the ones that seem too good to be true and it seems like some comparison websites are happy to enable these scams 
. I have friends who travel all the time and they're always stressing about where to park their cars. Now it sounds like some meet-and-greet services are just scams and stealing people's cars?! That's so not cool 
. I would never book with someone that cheap anyway, but now I'm even more paranoid about those deals 
. My friends who travel have been saying they need to do their research on parking places now and make sure they're legit before booking... it's just not fair that some people are getting taken advantage of 
.
And I love that they're reminding people to read reviews and check for the Park Mark logo - it's all about being informed and making smart choices 
The biggest problem here is definitely transparency, so let's hope more companies start playing by the rules and being honest with their customers 
. Can't even trust meet-and-greet services anymore. I mean, come on, who steals a car from someone's own airport? It's just not right. And to make matters worse, the scammers are still out there, making it easy for them to swindle people with cheap deals that sound too good to be true 
It's not fair at all! 
I mean, can you imagine feeling like Tference Baxter, thinking it's your fault for booking a meet-and-greet service? 
But we need more than just a logo to make sure these scammers get caught and punished. We need real action! 
. Travelers need to be super careful now, read those reviews and check for that Park Mark logo 
. Can't we get some better regulation on this stuff? 
. And the worst part is that these companies are just walking away with no consequences 
. But, like, what about the consumers who got scammed in the first place?! 
. And to all my fellow travelers out there, please be careful when booking meet-and-greet services! Don't trust the cheapest deals 
!
the fact that these parking companies are basically getting away with it is just wild... they're just "walking away and carrying on trading" like nothing's wrong